The day after the company offsite, I needed to go back to Zurich. I started at 8:30 in the morning and decided that I wanted to get at least past Barcelona into France, due to the political situation in Catalonien, I did not consider it a good idea to stay there overnight.
It was a beautiful day, sunny, around 25 degrees all day long, and I made good time. By 17:00, I was already 100km before Barcelona, by 20:00 behind the Border in France. So I covered already over 1200km, and I was still going strong.
So I decided to get one more pistop, drive the tank to empty and see how it goes. Had Dinner at 23:30 somewhere in France and decided, heck, it‘s another few hundredth kilometers to get home, it‘s not worth getting a hotel for.
So I continued on, and all was fine until I arrived around Geneve, Switzerland. The temperatures have dropped by now (around 2:30 in the morning) to 3C degrees, and boy, I did not plan for that. I was now wearing my under layer, a functional T Shirt, a light pullover, a wind stopper softshell jacket and my Klim Badlands Pro, but it was cold.
I did have warm hands and a warm behind, but the rest was cold… On the other hand, by 4:00 i got seriously tired, and nothing wakes me up better than 2C cold wind when you open the helmet and let that air strike you.
Arrived home at 5:00 in the morning, after 20 1/2 hours of riding and 2120 kilometers. Take that, IBA.
Was this a good idea? I don‘t know. I thought about it during the ride, and i think one reason I did this, is that, heck I am getting older. Lot‘s of things my younger self could do, I can not do as well anymore. But the one thing I can do much better is concentrate, get my strength back by digging deep into myself. I guess I had to prove to myself that there is at least one thing I can do better.
Gear critic: the Klim Badlands Pro is, imo, still the best or at least one of the best suites on the market. 2 degree to 34 degrees easily doable (just missed a better thermal underlayer).
The RT performed flawlessly. As expected.If there is one bike (that I know off), that I think capable of bringing myself to go that kind of distance without cursing all the way, it is this bike. On the contrary, beside the last 2 hours it was a joy to be on the move.
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