Well last week i returned from Serbia so this post is proberly a week late, but on the return i had one day off then another race, then the next few days i spent some time on the bike to unwind. There is much to talk about my time in Serbia from the hot sticky weather to the food so i will proberly lose track at some point trying to cover everything i can remember.
My trip started by leaving home here early to be at the teamhouse by 8am where myself and 3 other staff members Eddy, Nico and Stefan along with Sam would make the 2 day 1700km drive. Five of us driving and 5 riders flying. Sam had to make the drive with us as he was a last minute replacement for Sven and the plane tickets could not be changed.
By half way through the day it was already 3 countries done and i was further down Germany than i'd been before, so from here it was all new. Austria was the first new place and my impressions are good, the terrain is awesome. Nearing the days end and some 900 or so kilometres done we made our scheduled stop over in Graz. The next morning we were on the road at 9am so we could make our destination in Serbia around 3pm. Soon we were out of Austria and going through Slovenia breifly before continuing the journey into Croatia and finaly entering Serbia, so four new countries in one day. Each border control we would have to open the truck so they could see what was inside. You leave one country where they check inside, and drive 500m to the next border where they check again. All was ok and we drove on.
We arrived at our destination of Beograd a little later than we thought it would take but the hard part of finding the hotel was upon us. With the Belgians relying on their faithful GPS so much, reading a map was going to be hard work as the GPS was useless here. After some breif circling we got a map but Nico gave up on it as the signs were all in Serbian but the map was in English. Two hours later and some frustrating moments we found the hotel when all the teams were just rolling out on the tours parade lap, but our guys were just flying out of Dusseldorf.
There was enough light left in the day to get the bikes ready as it was a 9:30am start, so Eddy and i made use of the time. We had some old guy hanging around while we worked, a dodgy looking fellow that insisted on helping us unload bags, move bikes, pack the truck and finally carrying our bags to our rooms. Eddy had had enough, so he paid him 2 euros and sent him on his way, i dont think he was too happy with the tip. There were also some kids hanging around watching us work and asking questions about the race and the team. When they realised we didnt speak Serbian one of the boys would run to his friend and ask the question to his friend that would translate so he could say the question in english, he was quite good too for a young boy. In the end he came back with his bike where Eddy fixed a problem he was having with it. It made his day.
The first stage took us from Belgrade to Loznica, just over the boarder into Bosnia where Matt got in the winning break and found himself in the top 10, so our tour was off to a good start. But the mountains were coming and Matt eventully had to withdrawl due to a knee problem after 3 days.
Each day we struggled to find the hotels as the tour organisers didnt tell us which hotel we were in until the end of the stage and finding them was also a mission as there was no map in the tour book, just the name if you could understand it. I think everyone just followed everyone else and took the chance if they were at the right hotel. We took that chance once, to find we were at the wrong hotel after unloading all the bags.
Now this is still a poor country so the hotels were far from luxury, thou most were ok. We had a bed with clean sheets and a shower, thou sometimes cold. Our worst room was on the first day in Loznica where the room for Eddy and I was directly under the slanted roof. We had a bath instead of a shower so you had to sit in the bath to shower. You couldnt stand at the toilet to piss because the roof was too low, and the smell of the bathroom i wont mention, but it wasnt Eddy or I. A basic foam mattress was ok but Eddy only had a very thin one and could feel the chipboard he was lying on. He woke up in the morning to find he had bites over his legs from bed bugs possibly.
As we went into the mountains the hotels were slightly better as they were at ski resorts, but at most of them they were a mechanics frustration as there was a search for water and power. The first 3 days we were cleaning the bikes by hand, using my trusty Park Tools chain cleaner and then drying it off with a rag. Eddy was wiping down the frames with a damp sponge then drying them off. By the 3rd day we got to wash the bikes properly but it took about another two teams to join up hoses to get something that would reach the nearest tap. At one point we were running water from a bathroom on the 3rd floor, then it was the trick to work out what joiners and spliters you needed so everyone around you had water. The water was important for us has we needed it to run the washmachine. So we worked close with the Belgium team of Fidea to assure we both had water and power and did some of their clothes washing in return. We also gave the English guys a hand with some washing and allowed them to store a spare bike in our truck as they only had the one car for the tour, and that was their team car which was a little Opel corsa hatchback, not an ideal team car but it was better than the Niva Lada they were offered by the tour. The cars were a real eye opener here as they would be put off the road in most other places.
Something else to mention on this tour in Serbia is the food. After a while racing is racing and i think behind all that is where its interesting reading, so tell me if im wrong. By the 3rd night Nico was tired of the food the hotels were serving. Now the way it basicly works is that the tour organisers pay so much which only allows certian dishes and amounts to be served as thats all the money allows. The more money the tour has the better everything is. If the tour was a 2.1HC rather than a 2.2 catorgry, the food and hotels would be much better cos the chance of better quality riders and teams coming is higher. The level of the race always comes down to how much money is put in which then determines what quality of teams you get, so they put in what ever they can and get what they can get as far as teams go. You can only afford what you can afford.
Anyway, the first day for dinner was a grilled chicken fillet with cold pasta and rubber style pancakes. The next day for breakfast there was rolls on the table and we were served 2 hot dogs with a dollop of mustard and jam on the side. Stefan had been earlier to the supermarket and bought some proper breakfast food so each day we had an eski full of stuff. I pushed the hot dogs to the side and just had Nuttella on bread rolls with a glass of juice. You couldnt even get proper coffee, and we know what cyclist are like with their coffee. Eddy had one that was just warm milk and was all lumpy, MMMM.
So by night 3 Nico had enough and we went out to a pizza place and got some proper food, but they had no pasta to serve so it was pizza all round. It just took a while because the kitchen could only cook 2 pizza's at a time. At least the next day we had a good choice of a hot breakfast or a cold one. The next hotel was a nice one, 15km down the slopes from where the finish was in Kopaonik. A ski resort place called The Junior. We had a nice 3 course lunch when we arrived and a really nice dinner, basic but it was filling. The room was nice and i scored the double bed. Friday was a late start as the tour was not allowed to start before midday, we had a long transfer in the morning but i think it was to do with it being a religous day. This meant for Eddy and i it would be a late finish. With the hassels of finding water and power along with all the work to do it was 9pm before we got to eat, but dinner was only until 8:30. So myself, Eddy and Stefan headed down the local strip to find a bite to eat ending up a a place where we indulged in a gyros with fries, it was good but i've had bigger ones at my local fish shop back home in Oz. The place we were in this night was called Vranje and it was going off. The Euro 2008 championship was on and all the cafe's were crowded with people watching it on a plasma. I ventured out for a quick beer with a couple of the riders [who i wont mention] to get a taste of the real Serbia. I can say they know how to enjoy themselves here at night time from what i breifly seen and what i heard from that night. My night ended around 10 as the work duties were not finished. I had to check on the washing, but some Nob had parked on the hose and cut off the water supply. So i sat up until 11:30 when the car had moved, waited for the wash cycle to finish so i could put it in the dryer which was around 1am. In the morning the electric cable had been unplugged, so i immeadatley checked the dryer to find it was still wet. We've never had so much drama with the washer and dryer before.
So the days went by and the food was still average, saturday morning breakfast was just rolls as usual and a plate with a slice of ham, fetta cheese and a boiled egg, thank god for the breakfast eski. I spent my days snacking on bars and waffles as breakfast was light. That same day at the next hotel was another lunch which us four staff sat down to have before sweating it out in the heat. From the lunch Nico decided that we would not have dinner here either, so it would be another pizza downtown at a cafe watching the football [the real football us Aussies call soccer] on yet another plasma. Thou this night we could get pasta. Bjorn ordered a family pizza which was huge and Sam and Eddy got a large which was big enough also while Nico and Stefan went the calzonie. The rest of us got spag bog which after another lengthy wait was very disapointing. Nick had to make sure he had the right meal as he thought it would be much bigger, as we all did. I couldnt let Nick go hungry so i passed him my serving, he needed more than i did. So for me it was some sweet rolls and muesli bars for dinner.
I spent the first two days in the car with Nico and then swapped with Eddy to ride in the second car with our local guide who was a taxi driver named Ivan i think, but i just called him crazyman. He drove his old Toyota corolla down the mountain decents like it was a Porsche. He was a good driver thou and this gave me a chance to take in the scenery of Bosnia [thats the 5th new country] and Serbia. You can see the poorness of the countries here with houses half built and put together anyway they could, mostly clay and sticks. There would be ruins from the war that is clearly visable in some areas and gives you a frightening reminder of what went on here and what the people of this beutiful country must of went through. But the people seem happy and friendy [thou we did keep a close eye on our stuff] and look to enjoy life with what they have, and they come to life at night as i guess there's not much to do during the day as work would be slim in the smaller towns we passed through. There was thou some slightly wealthier townships we passed that had newer housing, but it was only the bigger cities with the modern technology. The second car wasnt as comfy as the air conditioned Fiat, so i would sit in the old Toyota sweating from just sitting there.
As for the race for me in the car it was'nt too eventful, just handing out bidons mostly due to the warm weather. I did have one wheel change in my time in the car but Eddy seemed to have struck all the work when he was in the car. Stefan was in the truck each day and would leave just before the start in order to get to the feed zones as there was limited road access. Stefan would then have to follow the peloton and wait for a chance to pass in order to get to the finish. But as the race was on main roads it wasnt too hard. The job of second car would be to follow the last rider. Up the mountains we would follow the last guy for a bit then go up the road to see to the next guy and do this back and forth until the finish.
By the tours end we had four out of six make it to the finish and only two flats.
On the last day Nico had decided to make the trip for home as quick as possible, so we had some lunch put on by an hotel near the finish which was the best meal so far. We organised the bags so the riders had some things for the extra nights stay before their flight home. Nico wanted to stop at Novi Sad where he was catching up with a friend, an hour or so later and some wine and we were off to Wien for our half way stop over. For this we drove up through Hungary [6th new country and 9th in total for this trip] past Budapest, with making a stop for some roadside dinner which was a sandwich and a pastry for me. By this time it was well dark and we arrived at a hotel on the outskirts of Wein just after midnight. Again we had the drama of opening up the truck at the boarders. Leaving Hungary one guy checked it, then we drove up to the booth to hand our passports in where that man wanted to check it. Then 500m onto the Austrian boarder they checked it at the booth, there was two officers just 2 metres from the booth, but they also wanted to check and not until we had locked the truck and drove that 2 meters. What a pain in the ass.
The next day we made the trek for home, but the truck was not good. Towards the end of the tour it was losing power at times. The start warming light was on which meant water in the fuel filter. We thought we had some dirty fuel, so i drained the filter but it was still not good as we again had no power. Then when we filled up and the truck it was fine we drove all the way back with full power, but the filter light was still on. After two and a half hours of driving we made another Nico stop where he wanted to catch up with a female friend that was on a cycling tour in the area between Passau and Linz in Austria. This is a great area to ride your bike, with great terrain thats hilly but not too hilly and right on the huge river Danube. A place i wouldnt mind coming back to.
Eddy did most of the driving as i didnt have my driving licence with me, so after him downing some cans of No Sleep drink [thats what it was really called] we made it home around 10pm Monday night with the boys arriving just 10 minutes before us from their flight. I then made the trip home to Eersel and crawled into bed some time after 11:30.
So that was our only tour for the season. You can look on the team website for some more stories and photos im sure. I will have to continue the work hunt to get some more tours, otherwise my posts will be on single day races which are'nt that exciting.
Cheers
Funky
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