Postcards from the Balkans

In May, the first edition of The Accursed Race took place. The first fixed route, no-fly, off-road race from Lost Dot. Exploring the Balkans — the heartlands of the Transcontinental Race — the route took riders through Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. We caught up with Josh Ibbett on how he found it - a TCR winner, who finished in third place at The Accursed Race this year.

Before The Accursed Race my biggest concern was getting there.

I’ve ridden enough races in enough different countries over the years that the thought of riding through wild and remote mountains did not phase me. However the thought of trying to navigate the European train network with a bike was enough to keep me up at night. As is often the case with pre-race nerves, a lot of it is in our heads and there isn't too much to worry about. Although stressful, and a little inconvenient at times (not to mention expensive), I managed to navigate a packed train from Zurich to Milan and then onwards to Ancona without upsetting too many fellow passengers.

By the time I had managed to upset the train conductor with my poor bike packing and placement, I was only 10 minutes from Ancona so I made it in one piece.

The pre-race stress was soon replaced with excitement after an overnight ferry crossing to Durres in Albania, followed by a 100km cycle to the start town of Shkoder. In actual fact, the pre-race adventure was enough to remove any pre-race nerves whatsoever, so there was a remarkable calm around the start line on a rainy Tuesday morning which gave it a different feel from the start. One where we had all arrived with our own stories.

Being the first edition of the event meant that there was a relatively small field of riders assembled. After the first hour-long climb and rocky descent, the field was sufficiently spread out that most people were riding solo. Towards the end of the first day I settled into third position and this is where I stayed. I was keen to ride my own race knowing that I was pacing myself in order to finish strongly in the later stages of the event. I spent the best part of a week in my own dream world, travelling at my own pace and setting my own schedule. It meant I was able to enjoy the beauty and ruggedness of the Balkan landscapes without any external pressure to ‘race’. In hindsight, I was maybe a little too chilled, opting for four hours of sleep each night and snoozing my early morning alarms multiple times each day, but I was happy just being out there and pleasantly surprised by both the toughness and the beauty of the course.

As the race approached the second half, my body really started to move well and I began to edge back towards the lead pair some 50km ahead. Heading into the penultimate night of the race I decided that it would be time to make a move and try to close down the gap. I was climbing well and not wasting time, so I figured that it would be possible to get very close by drastically reducing my sleep for the night. However this plan was soon derailed by a series of unfortunate events. First I ran out of food with an hour to ride to Checkpoint 2, then a large electric storm closed in totally soaking me, before I finally managed to have a small crash in a water-filled pothole one kilometre from the checkpoint. After this, the lure of a warm shower and the first sleep of the race in a bed in Peshkopi trumped my hunger to try and catch the leaders. I accepted that it would be third place for me. The final couple of days were spent enjoying the scenery, sharing the odd glass of Raki with the locals and cursing the roughness of the trails crossing the mountains. A last day sense of humour failure didn’t last long and I timed the final climb and descent of the race with the sunset allowing me a dreamy, golden hour cruise back into Shkoder to take 3rd place and a well earned cold beer.

I've ridden a couple of Trans Continental Races which have been put on by Lost Dot over the years, so this wasn't a complete unknown in terms of what to expect. Or so it seemed. The route was spectacular, and it's always hard to picture it or visualise it when it's a first edition. You really do have to ride it to understand the terrain, and I'm grateful I got to experience areas I'd passed through previously on the road from higher up and different viewpoints. The people I met were generous and welcoming, and my reservations about travelling to and from the race were turned into memories I won't forget in a hurry.

Words by Josh Ibbett, photography by Josh and Matt Grayson (Lost Dot).