Bulgaria 1200k

My first impressions of Bulgaria were good.............

The people were very welcoming and the weather was hot.  This is the story of my cycle ride of 1200Km which had to be completed within 90 hours.  I was looking forward to staying at the Monastry in the Mountains, and riding along the Black Sea coast but I did not envisage I would be sleeping on the forest floor at midnight on one of the mountain passes, or be battered by potholes as much.

The Audax Club is an international cycling organisation with its headquarters in Paris.  The various clubs around the world organise long distance cycle rides which can be any distance but over 200Km is considered long distance.  All rides must travel along the routes specified and to check people follow the route they must check in at control points along the way.  It is an experience and more so when the ride is long enough to take several days, as the riders must find sleep along the way.  

The Bulgarians have organised this 1200Km ride starting in Sliven and taking a loop along mountain passes and back.

Good Luck 

From Bourgas Airport it is about half a mile to the Seahorse hotel where I spent my first night with Tiho Obrenovitch, Jutta Urenjak (Tandem), and Mike Thompson(Ribble bike).

The next day I took a quick look at the Black Sea and then we rode to Sliven.  On the way we stopped at the Bourgas checkpoint where the first Bulgarian dog was encountered.

The temperature was up to 40C and my feet were burning.  At the roadside there were fresh water springs with water troughs where we immersed our feet in an attempt to keep cool.  After a few hours and onto a cobbled main road, was this the state of things to come.  No just 1 km of cobbles through a built up area of  "Sredec".  We met an Englishman living in Bulgaria who left England due to the immigration but then warned us about the Gypsies in Bulgaria.

 

Close to Sliven I rescued a tortoise from being crushed by traffic as it made its way accross the highway.  After this tortoise rescue there was a squashed one further on, some survive some don't.  On this journey we were acclimatising to the heat and amazingly heavy clouds emptied onto the hot tarmac and we received a steam wash.  I"ve never cycled through steam before.

The Audax ride started from the highest building(a hotel) in Sliven, but the best place to stay was a couple of miles out on the hillside "Hotel Chateau Alpia".  This hotel has nice rooms and a basement for the bikes.  The majority of the cyclists are here so that"s good reason enough.
 
Bulgaria is a cheap place to stay with my double room at about £10 a night, TV, shower etc all in.  

Relaxing at the hotel it was too hot to move, but in 24hours we would and it would be fast.

At the bike check we were given cards to attach to the bikes and labels to fasten to our drop bags.  The drop bags were handed over at the ride briefing held at the Alpia Chateau.  The numbered badges had our photos on them, so I suppose officials would be able to match bike with rider.

27 riders were entered and 25 started the ride.  Full details are on Lazars" website http://svs-cycling.s5.com/ and his link on RUSA had attracted Jo from the USA.

Returning to the hotel from the prologue ride riders struggled up the steep cobbled drive reaching the hotel covered in sweat.  As they arrived panting in the heat I was wondering how these riders will survive in the 1200Km of heat ahead.

That night a we had a good meal and made our bikes ready for the morning.  Up at 4.0 am, a breakfast bun, checkout and ride out at 4.30am, to arrive at the start before 5.0am.

 

Many were dressed for a cool night, I wore shorts arm warmers and reflective waistcoat.  We started at 5.0am with the French-German tandem in the lead.  Soon the pace was around 30Kph.  I was taking my turn at the front but the switch round of wind breakers was only amongst front riders allowing tailgaters plenty of rest.

It was 185Km to the first control at Plovdiv, the sun came up before we reached it.  A burning sensation on my legs began so I was overheating on a climb which  dropped me off the front group, so I stopped to take off my reflective waistcoat.  When will I learn to stay back?

I reached the control about 9.0am, and bought sunglasses as I had left mine at the hotel.  I had a sandwich coffee and drinks, filled my water backpack, and applied sun tan cream factor 25.  I had gone a bit too fast and I had stomach ache so I could only take liquids.  I filled my backpack with fizzy water to help settle my stomach on route.

For this stage I teamed up with the tandem as Mikey (alias Mike Thompson) just arrived.  I had stomach ache which I eventually cured with lots of fizzy water and iced tea.  Filling a bag pack with fizzy water makes it blow up like a water balloon and the water squirts out wherever it can, so its not advised.  The next control was a Sofia > Pancharevo at 347Km then to the Monastry.   Steep descent, potholes, boulders, and mist, fortunately no traffic, but my front light started failing from the bouncing over unexpected potholes.  At the bottom we went under a very high overpass but it was so misty I couldn"t see more than about 10 metres in front.

 

We met up at the gas station before heading for the Monastry (at 440Km).  At the monastry we had really nice welcome and I had a great hot shower.  I had some of that cold white Bulgarian soup(Tarator), yogurt drink, Bulgarian Salad which is mainly cucumbers diced with some tomatoes, bread and beer.  A few hours(4) here and then breakfast, more yogurt drink, as usual no milk in coffee.  On leaving down the hill past the not so friendly dogs we passed farmers holding onto their dogs struggling to get at us.  Mikey in front of me used his water bottle to squirt the chasing dog, then when it was my turn to be chased, the dog just went back home, too hot.  After all the cyclists have gone that will be it for another year.

This put me back on track and at Troyan the control was deserted at first, but I managed a stamp and got off.  

People were selling strawberries at the roadside so I bought some but too many really to eat and my fingers were getting too red so I gave these to a Bulgarian at a water fountain on the way up the Shipkovo pass.  I passed the inviting and massive open air swimming pool in Shipkovo.

 Towards Shipkovo it was another climb and holding on out of the saddle taking it slowly upwards sweating profusely the flys were swarming round my face deciding which bit of sweat to taste first.  Once over 1000 metres the views over the valley below trees covered the mountain sides.  The descent down kept going and it was a shock at the bottom to find a cycle unfriendly grid which needed to be crossed at an angle.  
 
I remember going on some very flat fast roads, still with lots of potholes.  I bought a tea shirt at Veliko Tarnovo for the night ahead, and took some photos.  Then I managed to find my way to the town of Popovo where I had 5 hours sleep.  An  organiser (who got irritated because I could not speak German to him) spent the whole night shouting which was hard to sleep through.  Mikey and Robert Gray were in the same room and had the same problem.  I had five hours sleep and all the other bikes had gone bar one(Jo's) when I got up.  I set off on my own.  The next stop was a basement in a village town of  Isperith.  Here I had caught up with some other tired riders.  I set off again this time with an escort of two youths showing me where the turn was after about 2Kms out from the village.

and sometime later I met with the tired riders I had met earlier.  We were back together, and I stayed with them through Kaspican where we stopped for ice cream and drinks, temperatures up again into high 30C and we found the Varna control.   Arriving at Varna onto a large hotel paved balcony facing the sea.  The tandem was there they were getting ready to leave.  I had a quick 10 minute snack and left with them.

It was dark as we cycled through the Varna tourist centre which congested with people coming out of bars and discos on holiday topped up with alcohol, the surface flooring was marble slated with lots of shops bars and a mosque.  The heat rising from the pavement kept us too warm.  On climbing out on the motorway shoulder there were terrific views of the sea and the stars in a superb clear sky.
 
As we approached the next pass I was tired and needed sleep.  So I had a lie down on a wood decking at the deserted roadside of a bar.  I awoke and took the road downwards quite cold in the windchill and then the start of the pass which was flat with a very gradual climb quite long through the forest.  Once over the main summit and descending I was tired again so I had another to sleep close to a spring water outlet where there would have been lots of human activity and therefore low animal activity.  It had been pitch dark when I laid down and light enough to see around  when I woke.  In the early hours timber trucks were coming past so I felt the need to sit up and wave even though I was officially still asleep, so they would know I was ok.

Soon I arrived in Burgas and the Kraymorie cafe where I met Mikey.  After breakfast we rode together until at Yambol where I went completely through the town and had to go back to find the garage control.  I thought a secret control was when the organisers jumped out to surprise you somewhere on route, but this secret control meant that you found the control yourself, clearly marked on the routesheet, and you got a stamp yourself.  Something"s been lost in translation.
 
I lost sight of Mikey and travelled the last few miles wondering if he was behind or in front.  Eventually arrived back to find Mikey and received the fantastic welcome and my tankard of beer and champagne at the end ride party.  I asked for a massage, the burley and large masseur asked women or man.  I said I didn"t mind so he said both and he did my top part and she the legs.  After the massage(recommended) I fell asleep.  After a while I was woken to join in the celebrations.

We took a taxi back having too much alcohol to cycle.  Next day a train ride to Burgas a short cycle ride along the coast road to the Seahorse hotel pick up the bike box and get the plane, simple.

The whole ride was well organised, all the people were very friendly and help was at hand from roving helpers in cars.  The weather was so hot and warm at night,  I was in shorts all the time.  Showers and sleeping was available at all the stops I made, and I felt safe sleeping out.  

The riders formed about 4 groups, the Anglo American, Danish, Swede and English man group taking the lead, but a small group of Bulgarians in front of them with a 72year old finishing first putting an hour between them.

We were behind this, 4 people from Yorkshire, with a French German Tandem.

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