September, 2014. A year after I started road cycling. I just came home after riding the GO-Classic. A tour in the region where I live. I did a total of 178km that day. “Never again”, I promised myself staring at the ceiling laying on my back on the floor. August 30th, 2015. I set myself a goal: riding the Transcontinental Race in 2017. A few weeks later I complete my first 200km brevet. July, 2017. I am in Geraardsbergen at the start of the race I dreamed of riding for 2 years. This is “The Story of Cap 225”.
If you haven’t read part 1, you can find it here: The Story of Cap 225 (part 1)
I slept some hours at Check Point 2. It is just past midnight when I prepared my bicycle to continue. It is still very warm. My Wahoo ELEMNT records 28C. Next stop is Monte Grappa. A 19km climb, average gradient 8.1%. On the tracker I see two riders riding in front of me. Would be nice if I could catch up with them. The first part of the climb was going pretty good. A section with a lot of hairpins. Occasionally a car was passing by, but it was a quiet and dark climb. The valley filled with lights, breathtaking view. The second part of the climb was horrible. Steep sections and I didn’t have the right gearing on my bike. That means I had to walk. Early in the morning I reached the top of Monte Grappa. It took me about 6 hours (including some naps).
