18 days, nearly 5,000 kilometres and 47,512 metres of climbing. Aneta Lamik takes us behind the scenes of her unsupported ride across Europe in the Transcontinental Race reveals how she managed her route, rest and everyday life on the road.
TRANSCONTINENTAL RACE NO. 12: ANETA LAMIK’S STORY
- FROM NORWAY TO GREECE BY BIKE
- THE TCR NO. 12 ROUTE: TRONDHEIM TO KALAMATA
- ROUTE STRATEGY AND NAVIGATION IN AN ULTRA RACE
- MY TCR SETUP: WHY I CHOSE A GRAVEL BIKE
- REST ON THE ROAD: LUXURY OR RACE STRATEGY?
- EXTREME WEATHER: FROM NORWEGIAN FROST TO GREEK HEAT
- ADVICE FOR CYCLISTS
- RIDING FOR A CAUSE: DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
FROM NORWAY TO GREECE BY BIKE
My name is Aneta Lamik. I am an ultracyclist, WUCA world champion in the unsupported women’s under-50 category, and the first Polish woman to complete the Race Across America solo. I have thousands of kilometres of ultra racing behind me, yet every route brings a new set of decisions. This time, the road took me across Europe, from Trondheim in Norway to Kalamata in Greece.
The Transcontinental Race (TCR) is no ordinary bike race. There is no single prescribed route from start to finish, no support vehicle, no feed stations and no organised accommodation. The organisers define mandatory parcours and control points; everything in between is up to the rider.
In a self-supported ultra race, you plan your own route, decide where to find food and water, when to rest, where to sleep for a few hours and how to deal with mechanical problems. You also need to be ready for wildly different conditions, from Norwegian nights at -3°C to 46°C heat in Albania and Greece.
That is why the TCR tests far more than physical endurance. It puts your equipment, logistics, mental resilience and decision-making under severe fatigue to the test. It also means facing difficulties head-on and learning to manage your own fears and doubts.
For me, the race had another purpose that mattered far beyond finishing within the 20-day limit: I was riding for people living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
THE TCR NO. 12 ROUTE: TRONDHEIM TO KALAMATA
The race started in Trondheim, Norway. The opening kilometres led through Scandinavian landscapes and included the mandatory parcours in Røros and Flåm. To cross the Baltic Sea, I headed towards Moss, Strömstad, Gothenburg, Halmstad and Trelleborg, where I caught a ferry to Poland.
In Poland, my route took in Świnoujście, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Głogów, Strzegom and Paczków before reaching Praděd in Czechia, another mandatory section. Next came Slovakia, via Dolný Kubín and the required Jasná-Chopok parcours in the Tatras, followed by Salgótarján and Kecskemét in Hungary.
From there, the route continued across the Balkans:
· Croatia: Osijek
· Bosnia and Herzegovina: Srebrenik, Sarajevo, including the mandatory ride along the bobsleigh track, and Goražde
· Serbia and Kosovo: Priboj, Nova Varoš, Tutin, Rožaje in Montenegro, Peć (Peja) and Djakovica (Gjakova)
· Albania and North Macedonia: Kukës, Peshkopi and its mandatory parcours, Debar, Ohrid and Leskovik
· Greece: Ioannina, Antirrio, the ferry to Petra, then the coastal road via Pyrgos to the final control and, at last, the finish in Kalamata.
A list of place names barely captures the rhythm of the journey. Norwegian fjords, long mountain climbs, fast stretches of tarmac, broken Balkan roads and relentless heat gave every day a completely different character.
In total, I rode nearly 5,000 kilometres and climbed 47,512 metres, averaging almost 280 kilometres a day for 18 days.
But averages say little about the real effort or logistical challenges. There were demanding climbs, mandatory parcours and unexpected obstacles: no overnight ferry from Trelleborg to Świnoujście, which meant waiting for the morning sailing, and the Melissopetra border crossing between Albania and Greece, closed from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., which I reached at 10 p.m.
ROUTE STRATEGY AND NAVIGATION IN AN ULTRA RACE
In the Transcontinental Race, route planning matters just as much as physical preparation.
The organisers set mandatory control points, but each rider chooses how to travel between them. There is also a long list of prohibited roads, based on both traffic regulations and race rules. Before the start, you spend hours studying maps, elevation profiles, road surfaces, shop opening hours and possible places to sleep.
Flexibility matters most. Weather, road conditions or a closed shop can turn a perfect route on paper into an impossible one on the ground.
Water planning was crucial. Roadside springs are a welcome feature in the Balkans, but you cannot assume that every petrol station will remain open through the night. In high temperatures, running out of water quickly becomes a health risk, so I always planned my range with a generous safety margin.
MY TCR SETUP: WHY I CHOSE A GRAVEL BIKE
ROAD BIKE OR GRAVEL BIKE?
Most of the route was paved, so a conventional road bike would have been lighter and faster. In the end, I chose a gravel bike with 32 mm all-road tyres and a tubeless setup. Two factors made the difference:
· Technically demanding gravel and rocky mandatory sections.
· The gearing range available on my gravel bike.
A bike for the Transcontinental has to be versatile. The 32 mm tyres, with reinforced sidewalls and a light tread, offered a good balance of speed on tarmac, security on gravel and comfort in mountainous terrain.
ELECTRONICS IN ULTRACYCLING
Power management is a key part of race strategy. Navigation is useless when its battery is flat, so charging my devices was often the main reason for choosing a night indoors.
My essential equipment included:
· Repair kit, pump and spare parts.
· Electronics: phone, GPS bike computer, GPS tracker, lights, power banks and a battery for the SRAM electronic drivetrain.
REST ON THE ROAD: LUXURY OR RACE STRATEGY?
During the 18-day race, I stayed in a hotel or guesthouse only five times. The other nights I slept wherever I could: on restaurant verandas, at bus stops, in playgrounds and gardens, in changing rooms at bathing areas, on a bench in a churchyard and even beside the Albanian-Greek border. Sleep was purely strategic: a few hours to reset the body before getting back on the road, often before 3 a.m.
MY SLEEP SYSTEM
In a long-distance race, every gram matters. I therefore kept my sleep system to the absolute minimum:
· MAGIC 100 ZIP ultralight down sleeping bag
· MOSQUITO BIVI insect-proof bivy
· LARCH tarp, used as a shelter during stops
Time spent off the bike counts in the TCR, so being able to set up my sleeping place quickly was a major advantage. I could take the Cumulus Magic 100 Zip and Mosquito Bivi out of the saddle bag and lay them on a bench, wooden platform or any other suitable spot in just a few minutes. I used this setup in temperatures from around 3 to 25°C. On warm Balkan nights, the bivy alone was often enough; when the temperature dropped, I added the sleeping bag. At times I felt slightly cold because I preferred sleeping in underwear to putting damp cycling clothes inside the bag.
I rarely needed the Larch tarp for rain protection. When sleeping on a bench, I used it to screen the bike beside me, cut the wind and block the glare of passing cars. It also gave me a little privacy.
COMPLETE YOUR SET
EXTREME WEATHER: FROM NORWEGIAN FROST TO GREEK HEAT
TCR No. 12 exposed riders to dramatic temperature swings. The race began in Norway, where night-time temperatures fell to -3°C. Clothing choices had to be precise: enough protection to avoid getting dangerously cold, without burdening the bike with unnecessary weight.
Further south, temperatures across the Balkans and Southern Europe rose above 40°C, reaching an extreme 46°C in Albania and Greece. Riding in that heat required a different approach: slowing the pace, drinking more often and carefully managing my heart rate on long climbs. You cannot fight the weather in an ultra race; you have to adapt to it.
ADVICE FOR CYCLISTS
SAFETY AND LOGISTICS IN THE BALKANS
Cycling through the Balkans is an unforgettable experience, but it calls for a few extra precautions:
· Stray dogs: aggressive packs can pose a genuine danger to cyclists.
· Food and water: many petrol stations close at night. Always carry more food and water than the planned distance appears to require.
· Hospitality: despite the challenges, people across the Balkans showed me extraordinary kindness, often offering help and water.
HOW DO YOU PACK A BIKE AFTER THE RACE?
Getting to the start meant flying from Gdańsk to Trondheim with my bike packed in a cardboard box. The return from Kalamata was more complicated. I dismantled the bike and wrapped it at the bus station using stretch film, bubble wrap and foam bought from a local art shop. From there, I travelled to Athens and flew back to Poland.
RIDING FOR A CAUSE: DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
The journey from Trondheim to Kalamata was more than a sporting achievement. From the outset, the race carried a deeper meaning for me. I wanted to use the reach of the Transcontinental Race to raise awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare genetic disorder that causes progressive muscle degeneration.
Throughout the route, I symbolically carried people living with DMD with me. Their names and signatures were printed on my cycling jersey.
An ultra race has a finish line: after 18 days of effort, I reached Kalamata. People living with DMD and their families cannot simply leave their course. Their fight for mobility, rehabilitation, access to treatment and medical care continues every day. I hope this journey helps raise awareness of DMD and supports the families who live with the condition.
PLANNING A BIKE RACE OR A LONG-DISTANCE TOUR?
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