1.30 am, Bissen, Luxembourg. Fire alarm in the hotel I checked into the evening before. It was cold and wet when I arrived there. Yet more rain to come. As I only brought a bivy and left my tent at home, I decided to go for a powernap in a warm bed and hit the road again at 3 am. Normally the weather would be better by then. Wrong. Think again. After only 3 hours of sleep I was brusquely awakened by this loud penetrating sound. False alarm, but I was awake anyway. So, I decided to pack my things and leave. Surrendering myself to the rain, my loyal companion till the finish the next day.

I knew the track. It was the third time I participated in the event, A-cross the 3: 11.000+ verticals over 500 km pure offroad (MTB!) through Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. The first time I took on the challenge in duo with my partner who build the track. I didn’t finish. Last year I tried again, solo, and I finished under epic circumstances. We had snow on the last day, in May! This year, due to Covid, this unsupported bikepacking adventure, was held at the end of September. We wouldn’t get any snow, but we did get a lot of rain and cold temperatures. My goal was to finish faster and on time this year which I managed.

Does it get any easier when you’ve been there before? No! However, you are probably better at accepting things. The track is a continuous up and down, an elevation profile that doesn’t contain any flat parts. Or at least I don’t remember them. I had the feeling I was climbing all the time since the descents go by so fast. Sometimes a bit too fast…Bang! I fly over my handlebars and don’t land so soft. A downhill single track. Slippery. After checking my bike, it seems okay. Am I okay? I wait a few minutes to stand up, my body hurts but nothing seems broken. Okay. Off we go. I know heading on is the best thing to do in such a case, to let my blood run through my muscles again. Easy on from now on. Fortunately, it was my only real crash, though there were other tough parts too. Like that one time I made a mistake in navigation and ended up in the dark on a narrow foot path along the rocks. I had to sit down and slide my bike over me to progress. But hey, things always seem worse in the dark.

Imagine. At the start we were all in short sleeves still doubting whether to take rain trousers. So happy I did. It was my third ultra-event in a row this year. In June I did the HOPE-1000 in Switzerland and in August I completed the French Divide. All of them in Covid-style, meaning no group start. Ladies first, four of them, two would finish. But still, so grateful it could take place.

Was ACT3 different than the years before? It was. There have been some minor changes to the track, but that didn’t make the big difference. The season with its different conditions made all the difference. The forests were dressed in autumn. You’ll spend a lot of time between their trees and leaves. In Belgium you’re cycling off road almost all the time, as remote as it can get. I also crossed a lot more riders. Nice encounters, sharing the same experience, although the experience is different for everybody. Beautiful to everyone though.

ACT3 impresses. Germany, with the bigger hills like in the Eifel, Luxembourg with the technical single tracks (not always my cup of tea – although I love them) and Belgium with the treasured Ardennes.

Did I enjoy the views? I certainly did, well, at least till it started to rain and wouldn’t stop. Then it was just keep moving to stay warm, fighting against the sleep as the cold short nights weren’t really helpful to get my body recovered. The last night I was lucky to find a shelter so I could stay dry. Dry, not warm though, as the hut had no windows and there was this continuous howling wind. So, I put on all the clothes I carried along with me and dressed like this I would ride till the finish. That last night after only one hour of sleep, two other riders arrived. Again, awakened too early, but in such heavy conditions it’s nice not to be alone. I left them at 3 am, they would follow me a little later. I don’t remember so much of that last part of the track. The only thing I could think of was not stopping too much, everything being wet and cold. I was so happy when I was standing under this warm shower at the finish. Satisfied.

Words: Anne De Smet

Photography: Jeroen Tiggelman