Test Ride – May 12 &13

With the idea that one fully loaded test ride would be a smart idea before cycling 3300 km across Europe I ventured into Montenegro. The plan was simple: ride to Virpazar along the Montengrin side of Lake Shkoder, then on to the city of Bar, before camping along the coast close to Ulcinj on the Saturday night. Then on the Sunday morning I would cycle the 2 hours back to Shkoder and be ready for my trip to the YMCA Europe General Assembly in Kiev, Ukraine that afternoon.

I had deliberately selected roads I had not ridden on before in order to check how detailed the maps were and deal with the ‘psychology’ of not always being sure exactly where you are that I will encounter on the road.

Many lessons were learned or reinforced during this test ride:

The climbs in the Balkans are steep and hot and the ‘big rig’ (bike + trailer) climbs much more slowly than the bike alone. I obviously already knew this but I managed to find some truly brutal climbs on the Saturday morning.

1. The descents are laced with gravel and are treacherous and it is tough to make up time lost on the climb
2. The food in the Balkans is excellent
3. My spokes are getting brittle and continue to break – lately, I have been breaking a spoke every 3rd ride.
4. Carry water purification tablets and always fill your water bottles when the opportunity presents itself as stores are much more infrequent.
5. Bicycle disc brakes can overheat and fail just like truck brakes – having to walk 9 km off a mountain, to the ‘safety’ of flatter roads, due to lack of stopping power is not fun.
6. Pushing a thorn back into a puncture will seal it – yes, this worked and I was happy to save time not replacing inner tube/sealing tire due to time lost already truing wheel due to broken spoke.
7. Locals often do not camp and do not know directions to campgrounds which are not signposted.
8. Pasta is always welcomed after a hard day in the saddle

It was a good ride overall with all systems (bike, trailer, tent, sleeping pad/bag, and stove) being thoroughly tested. However, the distance I covered was significantly less than I had intended – 112 versus 160 km. Thirty of these kilometres were lost in time due to the problem with the brakes and as soon as I return from the conference I am currently attending I will be replacing the brake pads and re-adjusting everything – it really is very scary to have your brakes fully ‘on’ and still be accelerating downhill.

Overall I feel my 3 biggest issues are likely to be: the sun, broken spokes, and lack of signage indicating where I am and on which road. My plan is to start riding early each day (7 am) and put in about 100-120 km by 1pm before taking a long lunch to avoid the afternoon sun. I will then get back on the bike at 5 pm and complete my daily distance. I have scoured bike shops here in Kiev and acquired 20 new spokes – fingers crossed they ARE the right length.

However, my lost distance has raised some concern that my aggressive riding schedule may be out of reach on some days. So, ‘rest’ days may become ‘ride’ days.