- 08 nov. 2017, 18:37
#2711290
Saturday, July the 8th : Stage 46 : D-Day, the longest day !
Rozzano (Italia) – Milan – San Remo (Italia) 310kms, D+ 2023m
4.40 a.m. : I’m walking up for the most important day of my trip. My day’s goal is to start from Milan at the sunset (5.40 a.m.) and reach San Remo befor the sunrise (9.40 a.m.). I have only 16 hours to ride the 300kms of the longest professional cycling classics, la Clasicissima. I used to ride at an average 20km/h with my old bike and my backpackage, i will only have one hour of breaks all day long. And by break i mean just the time to eat and drink enough to reach the next breakpoint. My mind should never stop to focus on the ride and we are saturday, which means a lot of trafic along the sea-side. Plus, i finished two days before Il Lombardia, one of the 5 cycling monuments, the one for the climbers. I recovered enough yesterday at the hotel, but my bike is pretty wasted. I will be not able to change my bike gear, making the whole route with a 39*24 development.
The challenge seems impossible as my condition is not at the best after a long trip around Europe, from France to the black sea, from Turkey to Italy and i failed making the 4 others cycling monumentum : as i lost my route in Paris Roubaix and had a mechanical fail on the cobblestones sectors, a non-motivation the day after in the tour of Flanders, and i didn’t success to realize Liège-Bastogne-Liège or Il Lombardia because i am not a climber. But Milan San Remo is the one done for me ! I enjoy long distances trip, as i am never tiring up and the few climbs i need to do are not difficult. However, i will have to main points to manage during this day : the weather will be warm this noon and i have no time to recover on the shadow as i usually does, and i don’t know how my body will answer to the 250kms wall i will for the first time try to break, as my longest day was 230kms along the Danube river, one month ago, really far from the 300kms of todays…
4:50 a.m. : Second alarm ringing. Stop thinking ! Let’s go to ride ! Today, every single move, think, breathe shall be dedicated to my main goal and i already lost 10 minutes thinking ! But i am enjoying the importancy of the moment, i already prepared my breakfast and package for today, i eat as much as i can right now (bread, tomatoes) because i am not sure to have times after. Outdoor, it is still dark, but the sun will rise quickly…
5:40 a.m. : I finish my breakfast. A 40 minutes breakfast as i am really slow to make everything and i am not really awake. Maybe the fresh wind will help me, let’s go outside ! I have a large smile when i am going out from the hotel, the receptionist ask me why : i am going to San Remo
A last quick check to my bike and i am going down to Milan, at the formal starting point of the Milan San Remo, via Chiesa Rossa. Milan San Remo is the unique classic which never changed its route. I will ride on the same roads than the legends who won la Clasicissima : Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Arnaud Démare… i am really proud, just to be here and trying whatever the results because i feel all this history and every single meters i am making.
5:55 a.m. : I am entering in Milan City. I make a U turn, and take a photo to immortalize the moment and let’s it started ! I am clearly not awake this morning, as i didn’t sleep that much yesterday night. I already have 10 minutes late, i am not really confident this morning. But the road is straight on, large, and there is nobody. I can see cars on the opposite way of workers going early at work but nobody leaves a city at 6 in the morning ! I am so taking the SP35 national road to Pavia and Genova but i recognized yesterday a biking road along the main road and the canal, leading to Certosa di Pavia. I am taking it, to ride safely.
6:50 a.m. : I am passing through Certosa di Pavia (km20). My speed is allright but i still have my late. I try to keep this speed but i am not going enough fast to warm my legs, and to wake up : i don’t want to tire myself early, and i usually need a really long time to warm up before a competition, i am not that much worried, sun is slowly warming up the wheather. To manage my only one hour break, i forecast to make stops each 50kms, of 10 minutes maximum, to eat, drink and fill my flasks. For the first day of my trip, everything is chronometred, calculated.
The Ponte Coperto, over the Tessino river, at Pavia (km29)
7 a.m. : I keep that slow speed but i start to fall asleep. I am yawning to much, and my habitual introspectional thinkings i have to kill time when i am biking are starting to turn into … dreams. That is a strange sensation : my legs continued to move, but my brain is sleepy. Suddenly, as i move aside to let pass a car, i go out from the road (only for few cm.) I have a reflex, going back from my dreams and turn back left, to go back to the road. I fall, at a slow speed, but the head touched the floor. Thanks to my helmet. I am seeing stars and some automobilists stops to ask me if i am fine. At this moment, maybe i didn’t have a healthy face but i said « va bene, va bene, tutto va bene ». I know me and this fall was my really waking alarm. I going back to the bike, furious against myself, sprinting to warm once for all my legs, my body, my mind. Come on, 280 kms to go !
8:20 a.m. : First break at Casteggio (km48). Café are open and i am testing my « fast stop protocole » one espresso, one croissant and an orange juice please ! I fulfill my flasks at the toilets, i don’t want to have fresh or cold water from the bar complicated to digestate, with the warm weather. I take one ration from the 1kg dates i bought yesterday and turn back to the bike into times. Dates are the perfect fruit for what i am doing : my backpackaging (8kgs) got what i need for my three months journey and i just have a small place to store food. Dates got a high « energetic density » as it is dry fruit, i can store it in my little pocket, and the 1 kilos will give me the energy for all the morning.
Overview of Casteggio (km48)
The second relay is going better : the road still flat and i have now short clothes as the wheather is optimal for a biking. I found my position on the bike, not tiring but enough efficient, as i have a side-wind. My morale is increasing. However, i need to be careful on this part of the route, as the road is changing after Casteggio to go to the west, when i went south at the begining, to pass a river before taking the way of the passo del Turchino.
10:50 a.m. : Second stop at Novi Ligure (km94). I am now 20 minutes late. I stop in crowded the city center, it is the market day. To break faster, i take a cold pizza piece in a backery and a bottle of soda. Waiting for the coffee to be ready, i fill my flasks. I am managing it well, but i slowly get later … am i failing the longest time trial of my life ? During this break, i start to worry about the shinny weather, and the climb of the Turchino on that conditions, where it will be hard to have water supplies.
Wineyards and landscapes around Novi Ligure (km94)
Third relay, so far so well, the last one of the morning. I need to pass the Turchino to reach the mediterrannean coast before making the half-time break, close to Genova. If i success this, my San Remo should be easy to conclude. I see mountains going closer and closer at each kilometers, i can not escape from a first and long false flat. I wisely decide to make an extra-stop at Ovada (km118) just before the Passo del Turchino, as my flasks get empty only after 1 hours of ride. What if i will stop every hour like this ?
I am now entering in the Passo del Turchino valley, and after riding lonely most of the morning, i see a lot of bikers enjoying the wild and green landscape. It’s awesome, some of them are slow as i am, and i can catch their backwheel, or get them as a target point, trying to keep the gap. Those little games help me to pass the kilometers and break up my lonely routine. The Passo del Turchino is the longest climb of Milan San Remo, and now i understand with sprintors enjoy this classic : the climb is regular scheduled around 5 %, i don’t have complication staying in my 39*24 and i have the pleasure to see there is a lot of shadow on those critical midday hours, i am in the middle of the forest. This is a nice place to bike and enjoy the wild.
Landscape between Ovada and the Passo del Turchino, with the train who made me stop few seconds
1:50 p.m : Passo del Turchino (km142). I am 30 minutes late but i made an extra stop. I will go down through a quick descent to the rivera, the mediteranean coast between Genova and France. I passed the main climb on perfect conditions !
The city center of Genova, close to Voltri (km154)
2:10 p.m. : Fourth stop at Voltri (km154). This is half-time ! I find a backery and improve my fast stop protocole : i asked for a big piece of Foccacia, the speciality of Genova. As i finished my dates, i take away an other one in my pocket. This meal is perfect for me : bread, sugar, sometimes vegetables added. I will go for it until San Remo ! I am now at half-time and i realize i get late from my difficulties to warm up this morning but my legs are okay, as i had a slow speed to preserve them until the money time, starting with the Capi, at 240kms. But to catch back the time, i will need now to push harder on the flat section before the Capi, to try to arrive before the night !
I am now enjoying the seashore of Ligurian coast, on a flat road. Today is Saturday, and there is a lot of people on the road (professionals don’t have this problem) but i am now on my best relay, my legs are warmed enough, my brain is aware of the trafic, and as the tiredness is coming, the adrenaline makes me confident on my moves, i am going fast and managing the trafic.
Savona marina (km184). You can see how is the trafic for the last 150kms in this photos : car overtaking everytime from everywhere !
3:30 p.m. : Fifth stop at Savona. I get faster last relay (22-23kms) and i took back 15minutes less late. Everything is going well, i feel i can manage the distance, the adrenaline covering the tiredness, the legs continuing turning as a routine. For the next relay, i continue this speed, but i get more and more concentrated on trafic issues along the marina.
Pietra Ligure (km214) just before the capi, little climb along the sea as we getting closer the Alps and the french border
5:10 p.m. : Sixth stop at Pietra Ligure (km 214). I need to stop after only 30kms because of the loud wheather and my need to drink and fill my flasks getting empty too fast … Hopefully, i am faster as forecast and i can manage to stop more.
It was my last stop before the capi. Capi are short hills to pass from one city to an other one. There are 3 famous capi in my way i need to pass to reach San Remo’s bay. Surprisingly, i have the strengh to pass the capi, with the same development as a flat road ! Hormons kill my pain, and that feeling makes me more euphoric. I feel like i broke my phisical limits, kind of second breathe. The feeling i am doing Milan San Remo, and the fact i am right on times makes me going further !
The lighthouse of the Capo Mele (km240)
I am overmotivated, i have a crazy reaction seeing the start of the Capo Mele (km240), i loudly laugh « here it is starting ». Making 300kms is not an impossible challenge anymore : only 50kms to go, i can do it into 3 hours, and it is 6p.m.
On the top of the Capo Cervo, a car overtake me badly. I overtake it back on the descent and overpass also a scooter. My brain is now focusing on « killing the pain » anaethetizing me slowly, i am less aware of trafic dangers. At the end of the stop, i have the priority but a car from a right road i passing ahead of me. I overtake it on the left side, as they were no cars going on the opposite way. I briefly scream at the car when passing me back but i want to keep my breathe to focus.
10 minutes later, a trafic jam in front of me, no cars going in the opposite way. I slowly pass through. I see a scooter on the floor, blood, a woman screaming and crying loudly. I pass over without a stop. I am ashame of myself but what can i do ? My body acting strange i am not feeling anything anymore : pain, fear, sadness are over.
Imperia (km254)
7p.m. : Seventh stop, just after the last capo, Capo Berta (km253). I take a pizza and a soda but i am not able to walk. Stoping my bike and my legs, my brain retake the control : i have a strong headhake. I am confusingly ordering the food, the only table is tooken by waiting teenagers. I eat and drink on the floor on the street.
I am back to ride and once again i feel nothing. I look at my legs, and i am feeling like i am watching a go pro, at home on youtube : i see legs turning, landscapes passing, cars overtaking me. Sometimes, my head try to come back, but i am out of control : sometimes i get warm, sometimes cold. I put my winter jersey at a trafic light when the guys on the car at my left are shortless. Maybe i felt the wind and i overreacted. 1Km after, i take it off, it was too warm … Also, sometimes i am angry, sometimes i want to vomit. I don’t have enough energy to digestate my pizza maybe. Sometimes legs are hurting, calling me back they are a part of me, like two rocks trying to move painfully. However, i am going well and keeping a 20km/h speed, as a memory of the last fifty day i do it, as a routine without i don’t know what do it. I also start to have tingling at the left arm and close to the heart. I had the same tingling after a stressful afternoon in Croatia, last sunday. Maybe i start to feel the stress i had before and after the scooter accident. But it is too hard to think, minutes and kilometers are going faster, over those strange reactions and feelings.
I am following the route, i have 40kms to do, in my head, i did it (i am not feeling how i am wasted) because 40kms, for a trained biker, is the kind of distance you do as a regular training. Not such a big deal. But i am starting to pay my too long stop at the Capo Berta, after 4 hours of overspeed. I need to focus on the way, i am close to the mythical final. I am in my bubble, incapable to enjoy the beauty of the rivera.
Then, i see an indication to Manie, a climb some edition did. No, i am not climbing this one !
It was imposible for me to make a monumentum without losing my way : I noticed after San Lorenzo al Mare to go left to climb La Cipressa. Excited at the idea to make the last two climbs of the route, with maybe, the same state of tiredness of the professionals, i go left. But after 1km, i see it is not going to the Cipressa. U turn … At the following village, i see the indication « Cipressa 5,8 » Here we go !
The climb is once again scheduled, i keep the same development as my heart start to be tired of pedal fast i make my legs work this time ! Everywhere on the macadam, motivation writing for the pros who climb this famous road to Cipressa. Bronzini for the women, Degenkolb and Nizzolo for the men, in a way i am feeling like one of them. I am slowly going up from the seashore and the San Lorenzo bay is going further at each turn of the hill. Then, after a U turn on the right side, i see on my left San Remo’s bay
8:10p.m. : Here is La Cipressa (km270) and as i memorized the final, i don’t have problem to recognize the city-center and the descent which leads me to the start of the Poggio of San Remo. Going down to the seashore, i am making the 10kms flat before the Poggio with a wide smile, enjoy the moment. For the people around me, i should seem really crazy ! My head let me in peace for the last kilometers, and my legs managed the distance perfectly ! I deserved the right to climb the Poggio (km286) !
The climb is easy as the Cipressa, but shorter. But now, my legs start to tell me their limits (my limits actually) I finish me up, using a stronger development to pass the last kilometers. I wanted to make the Poggio as fast as i can, but at this time, i just try to finish it. Then, at a curve to the right, i see on the floor « 300 »wroten. Threre Sagan attacked last edition ! I stand up and try to accelerate, as i am seeing the final of the last edition. 300M later, i see « 1000 » thanks to who forgot the 1, i finish the last kilometer as slow as i can, just trying to finish it. I can not play anymore.
I am not confortable with selfies but you can imagine my face as the rider in red and black trying to stand up!
9p.m. I reach the top of the poggio. I had a 15km/h average speed for the 2hours final, it is time to sleep now. I stop at the top of the climb, to figure out the end : now, only a fall can kill my dream and i have 40minutes to descend to San Remo. I put my night fluo clothes, as the sun is going down and it starts to be cold. I put also lights on my bike.
In the middle of the descent, i see the San Remo indication, intense joy, i raise my arms, that’s it : i done Milan-San Remo in one day whatever happens next ! Then, i hear something falling down on the road. I forgot to close my bag… I stop to take back my maintenance tools spread over the road. Well done !
Arrived in San Remo, i see people partying. It’s saturday night and everybody is out. Cars are everywhere and i lost the final way to get me to Via Roma, the finishing lane. As a reflex, i try to ask beautiful women where is Via Roma. But my boorish and half breathing style is not helping. As i was walking with my bike on the main street, i asked a young man and he showed me the way, adding a « bravissimo ». Nice from him i finally need to turn left then right to the porth direction. I finally arrive at the Via Roma. Maybe at 9:30p.m. i don’t know exactly. I done the 291kms from Milan to San Remo, in 15h25, 19km/h average, with the breaks and a little side-wind at the end. It was the perfect day to do it, and i will never remake this again, i swear !
My bike at the Via Roma, San Remo
I am happy of my day and i want to celebrate. I go to a pedestrian street, park my bike and go a nice restaurant to eat. Even i was looking dirty, i was welcome and i had the time to change myself and wash my head at the toilets before going on the table. Tonight, i am almost looking like a regular tourist enjoying a sweet summer evening. I ate like i never ate. I get out from the restaurant almost at midnight.
I’m leaving looking for a place to sleep. But every single place is private here and i don’t want to spend so much for a hotel. I start to climb to go far from the sea and the touristical place and after 500m, i see a garden. I climb the wall, pass my bike over, and sleep under the windows of the house. Fortunatelly, no one saw me, my bike is standing close to me, layed down on the grass...
Record of the day's route !
Rozzano (Italia) – Milan – San Remo (Italia) 310kms, D+ 2023m
4.40 a.m. : I’m walking up for the most important day of my trip. My day’s goal is to start from Milan at the sunset (5.40 a.m.) and reach San Remo befor the sunrise (9.40 a.m.). I have only 16 hours to ride the 300kms of the longest professional cycling classics, la Clasicissima. I used to ride at an average 20km/h with my old bike and my backpackage, i will only have one hour of breaks all day long. And by break i mean just the time to eat and drink enough to reach the next breakpoint. My mind should never stop to focus on the ride and we are saturday, which means a lot of trafic along the sea-side. Plus, i finished two days before Il Lombardia, one of the 5 cycling monuments, the one for the climbers. I recovered enough yesterday at the hotel, but my bike is pretty wasted. I will be not able to change my bike gear, making the whole route with a 39*24 development.
The challenge seems impossible as my condition is not at the best after a long trip around Europe, from France to the black sea, from Turkey to Italy and i failed making the 4 others cycling monumentum : as i lost my route in Paris Roubaix and had a mechanical fail on the cobblestones sectors, a non-motivation the day after in the tour of Flanders, and i didn’t success to realize Liège-Bastogne-Liège or Il Lombardia because i am not a climber. But Milan San Remo is the one done for me ! I enjoy long distances trip, as i am never tiring up and the few climbs i need to do are not difficult. However, i will have to main points to manage during this day : the weather will be warm this noon and i have no time to recover on the shadow as i usually does, and i don’t know how my body will answer to the 250kms wall i will for the first time try to break, as my longest day was 230kms along the Danube river, one month ago, really far from the 300kms of todays…
4:50 a.m. : Second alarm ringing. Stop thinking ! Let’s go to ride ! Today, every single move, think, breathe shall be dedicated to my main goal and i already lost 10 minutes thinking ! But i am enjoying the importancy of the moment, i already prepared my breakfast and package for today, i eat as much as i can right now (bread, tomatoes) because i am not sure to have times after. Outdoor, it is still dark, but the sun will rise quickly…
5:40 a.m. : I finish my breakfast. A 40 minutes breakfast as i am really slow to make everything and i am not really awake. Maybe the fresh wind will help me, let’s go outside ! I have a large smile when i am going out from the hotel, the receptionist ask me why : i am going to San Remo
A last quick check to my bike and i am going down to Milan, at the formal starting point of the Milan San Remo, via Chiesa Rossa. Milan San Remo is the unique classic which never changed its route. I will ride on the same roads than the legends who won la Clasicissima : Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Arnaud Démare… i am really proud, just to be here and trying whatever the results because i feel all this history and every single meters i am making.
5:55 a.m. : I am entering in Milan City. I make a U turn, and take a photo to immortalize the moment and let’s it started ! I am clearly not awake this morning, as i didn’t sleep that much yesterday night. I already have 10 minutes late, i am not really confident this morning. But the road is straight on, large, and there is nobody. I can see cars on the opposite way of workers going early at work but nobody leaves a city at 6 in the morning ! I am so taking the SP35 national road to Pavia and Genova but i recognized yesterday a biking road along the main road and the canal, leading to Certosa di Pavia. I am taking it, to ride safely.
6:50 a.m. : I am passing through Certosa di Pavia (km20). My speed is allright but i still have my late. I try to keep this speed but i am not going enough fast to warm my legs, and to wake up : i don’t want to tire myself early, and i usually need a really long time to warm up before a competition, i am not that much worried, sun is slowly warming up the wheather. To manage my only one hour break, i forecast to make stops each 50kms, of 10 minutes maximum, to eat, drink and fill my flasks. For the first day of my trip, everything is chronometred, calculated.
The Ponte Coperto, over the Tessino river, at Pavia (km29)
7 a.m. : I keep that slow speed but i start to fall asleep. I am yawning to much, and my habitual introspectional thinkings i have to kill time when i am biking are starting to turn into … dreams. That is a strange sensation : my legs continued to move, but my brain is sleepy. Suddenly, as i move aside to let pass a car, i go out from the road (only for few cm.) I have a reflex, going back from my dreams and turn back left, to go back to the road. I fall, at a slow speed, but the head touched the floor. Thanks to my helmet. I am seeing stars and some automobilists stops to ask me if i am fine. At this moment, maybe i didn’t have a healthy face but i said « va bene, va bene, tutto va bene ». I know me and this fall was my really waking alarm. I going back to the bike, furious against myself, sprinting to warm once for all my legs, my body, my mind. Come on, 280 kms to go !
8:20 a.m. : First break at Casteggio (km48). Café are open and i am testing my « fast stop protocole » one espresso, one croissant and an orange juice please ! I fulfill my flasks at the toilets, i don’t want to have fresh or cold water from the bar complicated to digestate, with the warm weather. I take one ration from the 1kg dates i bought yesterday and turn back to the bike into times. Dates are the perfect fruit for what i am doing : my backpackaging (8kgs) got what i need for my three months journey and i just have a small place to store food. Dates got a high « energetic density » as it is dry fruit, i can store it in my little pocket, and the 1 kilos will give me the energy for all the morning.
Overview of Casteggio (km48)
The second relay is going better : the road still flat and i have now short clothes as the wheather is optimal for a biking. I found my position on the bike, not tiring but enough efficient, as i have a side-wind. My morale is increasing. However, i need to be careful on this part of the route, as the road is changing after Casteggio to go to the west, when i went south at the begining, to pass a river before taking the way of the passo del Turchino.
10:50 a.m. : Second stop at Novi Ligure (km94). I am now 20 minutes late. I stop in crowded the city center, it is the market day. To break faster, i take a cold pizza piece in a backery and a bottle of soda. Waiting for the coffee to be ready, i fill my flasks. I am managing it well, but i slowly get later … am i failing the longest time trial of my life ? During this break, i start to worry about the shinny weather, and the climb of the Turchino on that conditions, where it will be hard to have water supplies.
Wineyards and landscapes around Novi Ligure (km94)
Third relay, so far so well, the last one of the morning. I need to pass the Turchino to reach the mediterrannean coast before making the half-time break, close to Genova. If i success this, my San Remo should be easy to conclude. I see mountains going closer and closer at each kilometers, i can not escape from a first and long false flat. I wisely decide to make an extra-stop at Ovada (km118) just before the Passo del Turchino, as my flasks get empty only after 1 hours of ride. What if i will stop every hour like this ?
I am now entering in the Passo del Turchino valley, and after riding lonely most of the morning, i see a lot of bikers enjoying the wild and green landscape. It’s awesome, some of them are slow as i am, and i can catch their backwheel, or get them as a target point, trying to keep the gap. Those little games help me to pass the kilometers and break up my lonely routine. The Passo del Turchino is the longest climb of Milan San Remo, and now i understand with sprintors enjoy this classic : the climb is regular scheduled around 5 %, i don’t have complication staying in my 39*24 and i have the pleasure to see there is a lot of shadow on those critical midday hours, i am in the middle of the forest. This is a nice place to bike and enjoy the wild.
Landscape between Ovada and the Passo del Turchino, with the train who made me stop few seconds
1:50 p.m : Passo del Turchino (km142). I am 30 minutes late but i made an extra stop. I will go down through a quick descent to the rivera, the mediteranean coast between Genova and France. I passed the main climb on perfect conditions !
The city center of Genova, close to Voltri (km154)
2:10 p.m. : Fourth stop at Voltri (km154). This is half-time ! I find a backery and improve my fast stop protocole : i asked for a big piece of Foccacia, the speciality of Genova. As i finished my dates, i take away an other one in my pocket. This meal is perfect for me : bread, sugar, sometimes vegetables added. I will go for it until San Remo ! I am now at half-time and i realize i get late from my difficulties to warm up this morning but my legs are okay, as i had a slow speed to preserve them until the money time, starting with the Capi, at 240kms. But to catch back the time, i will need now to push harder on the flat section before the Capi, to try to arrive before the night !
I am now enjoying the seashore of Ligurian coast, on a flat road. Today is Saturday, and there is a lot of people on the road (professionals don’t have this problem) but i am now on my best relay, my legs are warmed enough, my brain is aware of the trafic, and as the tiredness is coming, the adrenaline makes me confident on my moves, i am going fast and managing the trafic.
Savona marina (km184). You can see how is the trafic for the last 150kms in this photos : car overtaking everytime from everywhere !
3:30 p.m. : Fifth stop at Savona. I get faster last relay (22-23kms) and i took back 15minutes less late. Everything is going well, i feel i can manage the distance, the adrenaline covering the tiredness, the legs continuing turning as a routine. For the next relay, i continue this speed, but i get more and more concentrated on trafic issues along the marina.
Pietra Ligure (km214) just before the capi, little climb along the sea as we getting closer the Alps and the french border
5:10 p.m. : Sixth stop at Pietra Ligure (km 214). I need to stop after only 30kms because of the loud wheather and my need to drink and fill my flasks getting empty too fast … Hopefully, i am faster as forecast and i can manage to stop more.
It was my last stop before the capi. Capi are short hills to pass from one city to an other one. There are 3 famous capi in my way i need to pass to reach San Remo’s bay. Surprisingly, i have the strengh to pass the capi, with the same development as a flat road ! Hormons kill my pain, and that feeling makes me more euphoric. I feel like i broke my phisical limits, kind of second breathe. The feeling i am doing Milan San Remo, and the fact i am right on times makes me going further !
The lighthouse of the Capo Mele (km240)
I am overmotivated, i have a crazy reaction seeing the start of the Capo Mele (km240), i loudly laugh « here it is starting ». Making 300kms is not an impossible challenge anymore : only 50kms to go, i can do it into 3 hours, and it is 6p.m.
On the top of the Capo Cervo, a car overtake me badly. I overtake it back on the descent and overpass also a scooter. My brain is now focusing on « killing the pain » anaethetizing me slowly, i am less aware of trafic dangers. At the end of the stop, i have the priority but a car from a right road i passing ahead of me. I overtake it on the left side, as they were no cars going on the opposite way. I briefly scream at the car when passing me back but i want to keep my breathe to focus.
10 minutes later, a trafic jam in front of me, no cars going in the opposite way. I slowly pass through. I see a scooter on the floor, blood, a woman screaming and crying loudly. I pass over without a stop. I am ashame of myself but what can i do ? My body acting strange i am not feeling anything anymore : pain, fear, sadness are over.
Imperia (km254)
7p.m. : Seventh stop, just after the last capo, Capo Berta (km253). I take a pizza and a soda but i am not able to walk. Stoping my bike and my legs, my brain retake the control : i have a strong headhake. I am confusingly ordering the food, the only table is tooken by waiting teenagers. I eat and drink on the floor on the street.
I am back to ride and once again i feel nothing. I look at my legs, and i am feeling like i am watching a go pro, at home on youtube : i see legs turning, landscapes passing, cars overtaking me. Sometimes, my head try to come back, but i am out of control : sometimes i get warm, sometimes cold. I put my winter jersey at a trafic light when the guys on the car at my left are shortless. Maybe i felt the wind and i overreacted. 1Km after, i take it off, it was too warm … Also, sometimes i am angry, sometimes i want to vomit. I don’t have enough energy to digestate my pizza maybe. Sometimes legs are hurting, calling me back they are a part of me, like two rocks trying to move painfully. However, i am going well and keeping a 20km/h speed, as a memory of the last fifty day i do it, as a routine without i don’t know what do it. I also start to have tingling at the left arm and close to the heart. I had the same tingling after a stressful afternoon in Croatia, last sunday. Maybe i start to feel the stress i had before and after the scooter accident. But it is too hard to think, minutes and kilometers are going faster, over those strange reactions and feelings.
I am following the route, i have 40kms to do, in my head, i did it (i am not feeling how i am wasted) because 40kms, for a trained biker, is the kind of distance you do as a regular training. Not such a big deal. But i am starting to pay my too long stop at the Capo Berta, after 4 hours of overspeed. I need to focus on the way, i am close to the mythical final. I am in my bubble, incapable to enjoy the beauty of the rivera.
Then, i see an indication to Manie, a climb some edition did. No, i am not climbing this one !
It was imposible for me to make a monumentum without losing my way : I noticed after San Lorenzo al Mare to go left to climb La Cipressa. Excited at the idea to make the last two climbs of the route, with maybe, the same state of tiredness of the professionals, i go left. But after 1km, i see it is not going to the Cipressa. U turn … At the following village, i see the indication « Cipressa 5,8 » Here we go !
The climb is once again scheduled, i keep the same development as my heart start to be tired of pedal fast i make my legs work this time ! Everywhere on the macadam, motivation writing for the pros who climb this famous road to Cipressa. Bronzini for the women, Degenkolb and Nizzolo for the men, in a way i am feeling like one of them. I am slowly going up from the seashore and the San Lorenzo bay is going further at each turn of the hill. Then, after a U turn on the right side, i see on my left San Remo’s bay
8:10p.m. : Here is La Cipressa (km270) and as i memorized the final, i don’t have problem to recognize the city-center and the descent which leads me to the start of the Poggio of San Remo. Going down to the seashore, i am making the 10kms flat before the Poggio with a wide smile, enjoy the moment. For the people around me, i should seem really crazy ! My head let me in peace for the last kilometers, and my legs managed the distance perfectly ! I deserved the right to climb the Poggio (km286) !
The climb is easy as the Cipressa, but shorter. But now, my legs start to tell me their limits (my limits actually) I finish me up, using a stronger development to pass the last kilometers. I wanted to make the Poggio as fast as i can, but at this time, i just try to finish it. Then, at a curve to the right, i see on the floor « 300 »wroten. Threre Sagan attacked last edition ! I stand up and try to accelerate, as i am seeing the final of the last edition. 300M later, i see « 1000 » thanks to who forgot the 1, i finish the last kilometer as slow as i can, just trying to finish it. I can not play anymore.
I am not confortable with selfies but you can imagine my face as the rider in red and black trying to stand up!
9p.m. I reach the top of the poggio. I had a 15km/h average speed for the 2hours final, it is time to sleep now. I stop at the top of the climb, to figure out the end : now, only a fall can kill my dream and i have 40minutes to descend to San Remo. I put my night fluo clothes, as the sun is going down and it starts to be cold. I put also lights on my bike.
In the middle of the descent, i see the San Remo indication, intense joy, i raise my arms, that’s it : i done Milan-San Remo in one day whatever happens next ! Then, i hear something falling down on the road. I forgot to close my bag… I stop to take back my maintenance tools spread over the road. Well done !
Arrived in San Remo, i see people partying. It’s saturday night and everybody is out. Cars are everywhere and i lost the final way to get me to Via Roma, the finishing lane. As a reflex, i try to ask beautiful women where is Via Roma. But my boorish and half breathing style is not helping. As i was walking with my bike on the main street, i asked a young man and he showed me the way, adding a « bravissimo ». Nice from him i finally need to turn left then right to the porth direction. I finally arrive at the Via Roma. Maybe at 9:30p.m. i don’t know exactly. I done the 291kms from Milan to San Remo, in 15h25, 19km/h average, with the breaks and a little side-wind at the end. It was the perfect day to do it, and i will never remake this again, i swear !
My bike at the Via Roma, San Remo
I am happy of my day and i want to celebrate. I go to a pedestrian street, park my bike and go a nice restaurant to eat. Even i was looking dirty, i was welcome and i had the time to change myself and wash my head at the toilets before going on the table. Tonight, i am almost looking like a regular tourist enjoying a sweet summer evening. I ate like i never ate. I get out from the restaurant almost at midnight.
I’m leaving looking for a place to sleep. But every single place is private here and i don’t want to spend so much for a hotel. I start to climb to go far from the sea and the touristical place and after 500m, i see a garden. I climb the wall, pass my bike over, and sleep under the windows of the house. Fortunatelly, no one saw me, my bike is standing close to me, layed down on the grass...
Record of the day's route !
Dernière édition par Le sucre sportif le 08 nov. 2017, 19:17, édité 1 fois.
Je m'en souviens encore comme si c'était hier
incroyable cette journée !!! 
)
Mais finalement, j'étais dans une sorte de fatigue chronique depuis quelques semaines, toujours un peu à l'ouest pendant les pauses, c'était devenu un état habituel et quand je suis parti, je me suis un peu peur à ne pas me réveiller. Sur la fin, l'adrénaline et l'endorphine faisaient leur effets, j'étais clairement dans un état second sur la fin, et c'est parce que je faisais MSR que je suis allé aussi loin. En tant normal j'aurais fait plus de pauses et je me serais arrêté à la fin du premier capo. 
. Je ré-escalade le muret, passe le vélo de l'autre côté, et me rends compte que mes sensations sur le vélo ne sont pas bonnes. En fait, ma roue arrière est voilée 
. Mais pas suffisamment pour gêner ma conduite, les pneus ne touchant pas les freins. Pas si grave que ça donc. Je me demande pourquoi ce voilage. Après y avoir réfléchi ces derniers mois, je pense que c'est dû à une mauvaise attache du vélo dans le parc à vélo. Où le passage du muret. Pour l'instant c'est sans conséquences 
Mais je n'y résisterais pas, voyant un journal disponible à la table d'à côté. Calmejane s'est imposé en solitaire ! Hier restera une journée doublement mémorable donc 
. C'est à 30kms, ça devrait être jouable ! Une averse arrive et je me réfugie, après quelques kilomètres, chez un primeur et en profite pour prendre un deuxième petit déjeuner. La journée va être longue je le sens !
. Je grimpe en forçant avec les bras et les épaules, le coup de pédale est saccadé, je suis lassé de ces efforts qui n'étaient, jusqu'à hier, pas subis. Heureusement, la côte est brève, et je me retrouve à longer un petit bras de mer le long de la falaise, je vois de l'autre côté la bannière tricolore ! Me voilà enfin de retour 
Je prend mon troisième petit déjeuner, et enfin rassasié, décide d'aller, comme prévu, faire le col d'Eze, motivé par le panneau N7 
Passé Monaco et le Cap d'Ail, je retrouve du trafic. La nationale se transforme en autoroute et me voilà perdu 
. Nickel, je devrais tenir jusqu'à demain matin sans problème ! Je me pose à un café et commence à enquiller des diabolo-orgeat, pendant que les tables voisines enquillent les pastis 
. 
J'arrive dans le Var, terre de cyclistes et je me remets à grimper en direction de Fréjus. Comme à San Remo, impossible de trouver un abri pour dormir, tout autour de la route n'est que résidence grillagée ou forêt protégée. A chaque hameau, j'ai le droit comme accueil à une pancarte "voisins vigilants" 
. Est-ce un riverain venu faire ses remontrances ? Je suis un chouïa parano aujourd'hui 
. Je n'ai pas eu de soucis en Europe de l'Est, je ne vais quand même pas en avoir ici! 
. Je n’en suis pas loin, et c'est plus ou moins sur ma route. Après avoir repéré la route hier, quand je me reposais devant le TdF, je décide de mettre le cap sur Sault. Mais je dois auparavant traverser le var réputé vallonné.
. A Fayosc, je m’arrête sur la place du village, à l’ombre des platanes, et continue de me réhydrater, c’est ma deuxième journée de récupération en vue du Ventoux. Comme j’ai quitté les grands axes, je demande au serveur de m’aider à décider quelle direction prendre, car il y a plusieurs routes possibles faisant une même distance, mais je souhaiterais grimper le moins possible 
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