B-HARD | Bosnia & Herzegovina's Premiere Ultra-distance Bicycle Race & Brevet

Well, B-HARD turned out to be very hard! Rode as a pair and ended up finishing with just under an hour to spare.

First time riding as a pair so didn't anticipate how much extra faff time there would be. However, was great to share the experience with one of my best mates. Felt a lot more 'fun' than other races/audax' I've done.

Bosnia is a super interesting place, very beautiful in parts. Pretty serious climbs, a good few close to 2000m so pretty challenging.

Will try to put together a proper ride report in the next few days when I can recall a bit more.

Big shout to @cybernck who was incredibly helpful the whole time. Would really recommend this race to anyone on here, has a really nice feel to it.

Hardly took any photos but here is the last time we saw Strasser at the start.

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Bet there is lots of people who have only seen that guy's butt 😆

@cybernck I'm having a close look at this (thanks for moving the date so it is clear of my daughter's birthday!).

I'd like to avoid flying if possible, without driving all the way there and back. Do you know what the best way to get to Banja Luka from London by train / bus / taxi?
Train to Zagreb then how would I get from there?

I dnf'd
:(

A few thoughts ( will probably post more later as I have long train journey home!)

1. Very good route. Lots of thought has clearly gone into it to keep riders off main roads when busy. There's not many lanes here so it's not easy, and traffic round the cities is not nice, but it's mostly avoided.

2. Very well organised event. I'd definitely recommend it.

3. Beautiful countryside. Stunning, mostly limestone, scenery - lots of gorges, etc.

4. It is kind of packaged as a 4 day event, and the umca and audax accreditations are based on this. But actually I should have ignored that and just ridden it. I'm not really interested in those accreditations anyway.
   That was my big mistake. I booked my travel and work stuff around 4 days. I then fell off the 4 day schedule then I was screwed as no more time. It wasn't my ride that was wrong, it was my plan. I did have some knee issues that slowed me a bit but that was manageable.

5. I'd not done a 'short' ultra before but I reckon they are harder than the long ones in some ways. Mainly the higher average kms per day (above) and temptation to cut sleep right back. Basically you need 280km per day to finish the TCR. For this you needed 310. Achievable (for me) if it was an easy flat route, but it's a hard, hilly one!

6. It's a pretty strong field. Only a couple of us were over 50, it was mostly very lean and fit looking guys in their thirties and fourties, and a few capable looking women too. They all sailed past me on climbs! I was near the back of the field by the middle of day 2.

7. Weather was amazing. Sun all the time. A bit hot mid afternoon but not crazy.

8. Driving was not too bad. They do do this thing where they overtake coming towards you and expect you to get in the gutter. And I did have two close passes today, but at no point did I think I was actually going to die.

9. One guy was a DNS because he did actually die last week. Puts it all in perspective.
   .

I guess it's hard for parents but time crunching events never seems to work. I like the buffer either side to prep (or deal with broken bikes) and afterwards to socialise and/or spend some time in the place while not riding.

What was the climb/distance? This has been on my todo for a while now but not sure I'm motivated enough for 'racing' hilly things.

I guess it's hard for parents

Yes - the reason I had to get back is for the annual dads' school camping trip!

It's a classic mistake to time crunch but I didn't even realise I was making it, I just accepted the view it was a 4 day event without thinking about it. I might even have got round but the stress would have built up, and I would have stopped enjoying it.

This year was 1225km / 18600m
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/47083789?privacy_code=bDVymGMXWKWPv96UphDbyYPfX01mbihB
?privacy_code=bDVymGMXWKWPv96UphDbyYPfX01mbihB

That's what El Piri had in ~780km. So, budget enough time and it should be almost pleasant :)

All road?

Yes. There was a short bit of gravel in the bit I didn't do, and some bits of broken road, but most of it was smooth, fast tarmac. Just needs enough time!

Although the bit I did - the first half 0 is the easy bit. It's not flat, but the second half is significantly hillier with some steep stuff. It goes up the mountain by Sarajevo where the TCR went up off-road one year - but this stays on the road.

That dirt climb was a bastard. Maybe we can find some time (more than 4 days :)) for this next year.

Yes - I was hoping to be able to ride up to the turnoff for it, look at it, and keep riding straight past!

It's a much harder course than I was expecting when originally looking at the route. Apart from the climbing (which is hard) I couldn't say exactly what it is. Possibly the harder sections being towards the end maybe.

I'm contemplating do it again next year solo and maybe making a bit of a trip out seeing some other places in Bosnia.

Cool film here of the race from last year, well done @cybernck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhss_Np5QSo

Just watching this now.

Presume the 1200km brevet is the same route as the race? So, the missus and I could ride it together?

Yes, I believe so. From memory I think the brevet gives you slightly more time than the race.