Dayvo
just passin' through
- Location
- 59° 50′ 5.55″ N, 10° 47′ 41.89″ E
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/205-6-miles-in-a-day-but-just-the-once-summer-2016.185409/
The date had been penned in for quite a while (first Friday night/Saturday morning after midsummer so as to get the maximum amount of daylight hours).
The old adage 'fail to prepare and you prepare to fail' seemed to be going around my head, mainly when I was asleep, causing me a few anxious weeks of doubt. But I was reasonably confident, had a new bike for the job and the forecast was good. Until Friday afternoon, when the previously tinderbox-dry area I was going to be cycling through was now getting heavy rain with thunderstorms to follow.
I caught the train to Alvdal, arriving at 22:50, and got ready in the waiting room. Filled my bottles and Camelbak and sat and watched the rain fall, wondering WTF I was doing. I was going to start at midnight, but a break in the rain at 23:30 was enough to get my arse into gear. It wasn't dark, just a gloomy overcast grey and the road unfurled in front of me like a graphite ribbon. It rained for the first two hours, so I had to peer over my yellow-lensed glasses every now and then so I could actually see something.
About 03:00 I thought it would be wise to have a short kip, so I dozed in a forest with thousands of mosquitoes for company, but for once I didn't care. Only my right wrist was exposed, and the buggers devoured that. 40 minutes later I was back on the road, but hadn't got any warmth in my body. It was as though I had cold (old!) blood slowly pumping around my body. After a bite to eat and a coffee at a petrol station I felt stronger and the sun appeared above the range of hills in Østerdalen (The Eastern Valleys) and dried me out a bit. The next three hours were the best part of the whole ride: gentle downhill, good road surface, very little traffic and wonderful scenery.
At 07:00 a headwind blew out of nowhere and remained for the next 12 hours, which meant that even with a downhill, I still had to pedal otherwise my speed would slow to a standstill.
I took food and drink breaks about every 90 minutes or so, as my biggest worry was that I'd bonk, so I didn't need much encouragement to get me eating something tasty and filling. The weather was sunny and warm and still the roads were very quiet. Stopped at a bus stop and slept for 40 minutes, feeling surprisingly refreshed when I woke up, although it took a minute or two to realise I wasn't dreaming.
I eventually got to Elverum after 175 km and had a long food and drink break at a petrol station. Next destination was Kongsvinger (95 km away), but I set off the wrong way, only realising my mistake after noticing I had a tailwind some 20 minutes later. A quick about turn (and a few swear words) and normal service was resumed.
Saturday traffic was beginning to get busy and FAST but the road was wide enough for me to be comfortably towards the verge without causing any sixpence/two bob moments. Long straight roads are boring, and hard work with the headwind but I could think of worse things to be doing.
At 15:00 I stopped at a petrol station and had a couple of ice creams and a nice long sleep in the shade of a tree. Half an hour later I woke in AGONY, experiencing cramp in both legs (inside of the thighs) for which I didn't know how to stretch out. It took a good 20 minutes before I stopped walking like Douglas Bader and was able to get back on two wheels again.
I still had about 60 km to Kongsvinger and was beginning to tire, mentally more than physically, and felt as though I was just staring constantly at the space a few yards in front of my front wheel, not really seeing anything to the side. The Camelbak earned its money today making for easy access and large supply (3 litres) of water.
The last 20 km to Kongsvinger really dragged and I started to struggle. I got there at 18:50 and with a total of 290 km. I had 40 to go to achieve my target (330 km in 24 hours). The distance from Kongsvinger to Lillestrøm was 80 km and I felt that that was out of the question: I needed only 40 km but my plan seemed scuppered as the train to Oslo wasn't due for 90 minutes. As I sat around wondering what to do, I started to stiffen up, so I thought at least I could get to 300 km and spin for 10 km around Kongsvinger to help flush out the lactic acid that had built up.
Just under an hour and a half of looking ridiculous spinning around the town half a dozen times, I had 300 km under my belt. But still needed 30 more.
I was determined to reach my target and on reaching Oslo Central Station I knew the route back home that would take there. A flat 12 km along the Oslo Fjord, another 15 km to Oppegård and back to my road and a couple of laps around the park to take me to 331 km.
It was probably the most physically and mentally challenging activity I've undertaken. Would I do it again? In a word: would I fukk! Riding a loop for 4, 5 or 6 hours, or having a 6-8 hour day on a tour, that's fine, but having a target instead of a destination makes it for too much of a challenge. I'm glad I did it, but it was a one-off.
Even though I did this, I can't even begin to imagine the drive, effort, WILLPOWER needed to attempt and maintain a record attempt Steve Abraham and Kurt Searvogel, and other mega audax riders possess.
One more thing I'm proud of: I happily ignored all the other cyclists I passed because today (Saturday 25th June) and for one day only, I was a serious cyclist.
