Mighty Carpathian mountain ranges such as the High Tatras, the Beskids and the Sudetes separate Poland from its southern neighbours – the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The landscapes exude a rustic and wild charm while the views from the mountains are as breathtaking as the steep roads leading up to them. A journey through southern Poland on a road bike promises challenging climbs on narrow mountain roads and shows you villages and stretches of land where time seems to have stood still. This is the landscape where most of the third edition of the Race through Poland took place.

The Race through Poland is a self-supported bikepacking race. This means that the riders are not allowed to accept any outside help. In addition, they have to plan their route themselves, except for a few predefined sections called ‘parcours’. In doing so, the busy national roads are off-limits. After the common start, they have to reach four fixed checkpoints and the finish. Since the clock never stops ticking, the main thing is to pause as little as possible. As a result, you often ride deep into the night. As the third edition of the race took place at the end of September, the days were shorter and the nights colder.

Although Poland is easy to reach from Germany, I’ve rarely been there. After my big goal, the Transcontinental Race No. 8, was postponed for a second time due to the pandemic, I registered for the Race through Poland with relatively short notice. I rode the race on my Specialized Roubaix with 32 millimetre wide tyres. This made it possible to cope with the frequently rough roads and the odd gravel track. I had a sleeping bag and a sleeping mat with me but, in the end, I didn't need them because I just rode through two nights and found a room at the right time on the other nights. Nevertheless, I wouldn't have wanted to be without them, if only for the comforting certainty of being flexible in my choice of sleeping spot.

I had ridden several long-distance races before, some of which were many times longer, but despite its relatively short distance of just under 1,500 kilometres (930 mi), the Race through Poland was one of the toughest for me. One factor was certainly the sometimes terrible condition of the roads, which really shake you up. In addition to some pothole-strewn roads, there were two long gravel sections. One of them was part of a predetermined section, the other I had deliberately chosen when planning the route in order to save a few kilometres. The whole thing was also made more difficult by the countless steep climbs. Piko, the brains behind the race, took a mischievous delight in sending us over some of the nastiest roads in the country. Three months later I was still feeling discomfort in my Achilles tendons and my fingertips were partially numb. It wasn't until around Christmas that I had fully recovered.

Some of the photos in this Collection are by Tadek Ciechanowski and Adrian Crapciu.