Giovanni Prosperi World UltraCycling Challenge Bratislava to Rome

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Race report:

On August 11, 2024, at 8:59 AM, I embarked on one of the most significant challenges of my life from Hlavné námestie, the main square of Bratislava. This adventure was meant to symbolically unite the nations of my wife and myself, connecting her homeland, Slovakia, with mine, Italy. The goal was ambitious: to set the record for the fastest ride from Bratislava to Rome.
The start was exciting, but I knew the route I had chosen wouldn't be easy. The summer heat was at its peak and would soon become a real challenge. As I rode through Austria and Italy, the temperature never dropped below 40°C during the day. On a particularly tough stretch between Venice and Rimini, I had to face headwinds with temperatures reaching 43°C. But Umbria provided one of the toughest surprises: during a climb in Madonna del Piano, just before Todi, my Garmin recorded a temperature of 50.2°C, an almost unimaginable heat, surpassed only during my 2021 RAAM in the California desert, where it reached 51°C.
The challenges didn't stop at the heat. One of my two bikes became unusable early on due to a suspicious noise from the bottom bracket. The routes I had prepared with Strava turned out to be unreliable in many places, leading me onto non-existent roads, forcing me to improvise multiple times. Google Maps for bikes became my ally in these situations, but it also led me onto unexpected dirt paths. And as if that weren't enough, a strong storm hit me at the Umbria-Lazio border. Despite the bad weather, after a 30-minute break in the car, I decided to continue in the rain, determined to reach Rome.
Despite all these adversities, there were moments that made the journey special. The breathtaking landscapes along the route gave me strength, and the fact that August 12 was my birthday added a special emotion to every pedal stroke.
The preparation for this challenge was far from ideal. In the previous months, I was still recovering from the accident at the end of the RAW, exactly two months ago. I tried to plan the route as best as possible, but there were evidently errors. I take responsibility for that, but Strava also failed me, leading me onto highways or even non-existent roads.
Fortunately, I wasn't alone in this adventure. By my side was my support team: my wife Katarina, her brother Jozef Junior, and her father Jozef Senior. They did an incredible job, and I can't thank them enough for their commitment and dedication.
Finally, on August 13, at 11:00 PM, I reached Piazza del Popolo in Rome. The joy of having achieved my goal was immense, but so was the exhaustion. Shortly before arriving in Rome, I received a message from my best friend Antonio with Antonello Venditti's song "Bomba o non bomba," and listening to it as I entered Rome was truly emotional, perfectly in sync with the protagonists of the song's lyrics.
This experience taught me once again the importance of managing oneself in difficult moments. Even though the original 1100 km route became 1140 km due to deviations, and even though I had hoped to complete it in less than 45 hours, it ended up taking the full 62 hours. Every kilometer traveled had immense value.