TARNo2 // May 23rd: Racing For Raki

Words by Andrew Phillips

Photos by Matt Grayson, Michael Drummond, and Sam Dugon

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Writing this in the hazy aftermath of a raki-soaked finish party, inspiration comes in trickles rather than floods, and Thorsten (the Traveler Hostel kitten) sits sleepily on my lap, occasionally stretching his legs far enough to select and then delete an entire section of text. Flashbacks of the finish party light my memory; raki, pizza, raki, stories from the road, raki, a few perfectly timed finishers, raki, speeches, fireworks, and more raki.

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Thorsten (the cat) rolls over and starts sleepily cleaning his little face, the end of his tail twitching lazily. Thorsten (cap 35, human) is still at the tail of the race, and showing no laziness as he continues inexorably towards the finish line, regardless of the recently-lapsed timecut. Behind him, Andrew Hatton (04) represents the tip of the tail, and despite going dark on tracking for some time yesterday, has carried on his steady march towards Shkodër.

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Yesterday’s finishers had started early, with Frieder Backu (19), making it home at 03:41 CEST to find Oliver Neumann (31, DNF) and Xhulio Lazri (Traveler Hostel owner) waiting to welcome him in. Pressing the doorbell he was validated at the control remotely by volunteer Julian Manrique (TCRNo10 cap 202), waiting patiently to welcome Frieder remotely, from Colombia. The trio sat up til the early hours until the German lawyer succumbed to tiredness for a few hours, before still rising ahead of me in the morning, and looking fresher too. 

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Next in was Urs Mannhart (36) at a much more civilised 09:26. He was pounced on by race reporter Tom Probert, eager to get his claws into the next bout of Urs’ fathomless wisdom. Instead of claws, pads were the order of the day. Urs finishing the race with just two remaining. He gave us more details of his search for parts in Laç: “in my mother tongue, latsche means to walk very slowly without any motivation”, a name that seemed apt to a despondent cyclist with a broken bike.

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Just under 3 hours behind him came Elias Backmund (16), who told us of his ever slowing race, as he became more and more at the mercy of a painful knee. Despite this, he’d managed to stay just ahead of Joss Ridley (25), who became the second ever person (after Christian Dupraz, cap 12) to complete Lost Dot’s triple and hang a TAR race cap next to his TCR and TPR ones.

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Back in the present, Thorsten (kitten) brushes his head against my hand, thoughts of scratches clearly on his mind… A man who had also had thoughts of scratches on his mind was Spike Morris (34) who arrived a few hours after Joss to a street full of applauding riders, a grin on his face, the tough moments now just a reflection in his mirrors.

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As the party began, the atmosphere changed slowly from a feeling of relaxed accomplishment to one of a festival-like celebration. Bonded by the rigours of the trail, stories were traded of bears and wolves, rain and snow, thirst and hunger. As this last became a growing theme, pizzas were ordered, consumed, and reordered, with Markku Leppälä (26, first and only Finnish to finish) arriving just in time for the last few slices of margherita at 20:53. 

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His timing was good, but the real connoisseurs played cat and mouse for the Maglia Nera behind him: the last rider to make the GC cut-off, and even more prestigiously receive the final hero’s welcome as the party is in swing. James van der Hoorn (22), and Francois Bruyere (18) had been tussling for the final place all day, looking for that sweet spot that would see them finish last but just in time for the Accursed Express at midnight. At one point, James would recount how Francois had passed him as he sat by the road changing his brake pads, delivering a few words of advice as he did so: “GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER MAN, WE’RE REALLY TIGHT ON TIME, YOU GOT TO GO, YOU GOT TO GO!”.

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As we waited, we made merry. Christophe Dijkmans (14), and Enes Xhafa (Traveler Hostel) were chief makers of mischief, with Adrien Liechti (volunteer), Mike Drummond (CP2 photographer), and Taylor Doyle (Media Manager), all too eager to be led astray.  Homemade raki was poured and repoured, until at 23:01 James wheeled into sight out of the darkness to a rapturous reception, more raki, and the review “ludicrously difficult”. Thirty-two minutes later, and just 27 minutes inside the GC cut-off, a cool-headed Francois arrived to an even more raucous greeting from the expectant crowd to claim his place as this year’s Maglia Nera and his glass of Enes’ home brewed raki.

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All too soon it was time to load the bus, with volunteers, riders, photographers, and race reporters piling onto the Kosovan coach, ready to be conveyed to Croatia. Emotional goodbyes were made, with a notable mention going to Michael Niven (30). Michael had scratched early due to knee pain, but had returned to Race HQ to become the soul of TARNo2 — this year’s legendary mother — as he looked after people’s physical and emotional needs upon their return to Shkodër. As he left, it was unclear if the tears he shed were for the emotional growth and the friends he’s made along the way, or simply because he’s going to miss this small semi-feral kitten.

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Scratch Report:

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No Scratches (other than anyone who’s been playing with Thorsten)

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