Pre Offseason Chronicles
Two days, three famous climbs, and my last races of the year
This post comes after my biggest break from Substack so far, and hopefully the biggest one I’ll ever take- roughly 5 weeks had passed since I last posted here.
I’m currently in Israel, enjoying some home time and my season is officially over now. It’s been full with the highest highs and lowest lows and this is how being an athlete feels, I guess.
On Saturday I raced my last race of the season- Israeli time trial nationals. Time trial (or just TT) is that weird bike race with the funny helmets. Each rider starts by himself and needs to ride a certain course as fast as possible- The fastest rider wins. It’s often called the race of truth. It’s you against the clock. I love TTs.
When I crossed that finish line on Saturday, my offseason began, but before I’ll write about that, let’s jump back to Italy.
My Last week abroad, Adventure Time
On my last post I left you with two races remaining in Italy- both of them were flat crit races where I rode offensively and did my best, they were quite fun but it is not my style of racing and there was actually nothing to write home about, so I won’t.
After those two races I had a few days left before heading back home, So I decided to go on a small adventure. I planned to do a mini bikepacking trip- ride from the team house near Verona up to the alps, spend the night in Bormio and ride back, doing some epic climbs on the way such as the Passo Tonale, Passo Gavia and the Passo Mortirolo.
I planned on doing 262 kilometers with 4400 meters of climbing on the first day, and 296 kilometers with roughly the same amount of climbing the second day. Around 10 hours on the bike per day. Nothing beats big days on the bike in the mountains.
I bought a bikepacking saddle bag, a small frame bag, packed some clothes and shoes and off I went. I have never done anything like this before, but I thought, well… it’s just three or four training days crammed into two isn’t it?
Exploring
On the due day, I woke up super excited, had a huge breakfast and started riding. My bike felt weird, heavy and non-responsive, which makes sense when you are carrying an extra few kilos in the shape of a bikepacking saddle bag. After about two hours of riding I was in a new territory, a place I’ve never been to, an unexplored road. Now I began to get really excited and happy.
When I got closer to Trento it started to get cold and after a while it also began to rain. It might not be accurate, but I swear it kept on raining for the next 5 hours straight.
My fingers got cold and numb, I had no choice but to follow the Garmin route I planned. I was in a city center, one hundred percent sure there’s some faster way to get through it but searching for an alternative route wasn’t an option.
That was the point in time I realized I needed to dedicate myself to the adventure mindset, finding my inner explorer rather than stressing myself over the ride’s metrics. I was riding on beautiful roads and not so well-maintained bike paths, praying I won’t puncture as it was impossible fixing a puncture at this point.
I got closer to my destination in Bormio, riding through Val di Sole and started climbing Passo Tonale. Then It was truly cold, when I finished climbing it was around 5 degrees Celsius and my feet were soaked. I looked for a bar or a coffee shop at the top to have a drink and get a bit warmer. I knew I still have Passo Gavia left, and that it’s around 0 degrees up there at 2600 meters altitude.
At first it seemed like all of the coffee shops and restaurants were closed, but eventually I found an open one. I had two cups of tea and two cups of hot chocolate milk, one “con panna” (Italian for with whipped cream) and one without- sitting there barefoot with paper towels in my shoes. After that altitude training camp in Andorra back in March, I consider myself some kind of an expert in dealing with the cold. I filled my aluminum bottles with boiling hot water and kept on going.
Descending was harder than climbing, especially because how cold it was.
Equipped with hot water I froze my way down to Bormio, got into the hotel I booked, went out for a huge dinner and then went to sleep. I thought about the places I saw and the roads I’ve ridden. It’s crazy how the bike can take you places. I was just pedaling.
The way back
Again, I woke up early even though a bit later then yesterday because of the hotel’s breakfast times. I had a big meal and started my way back; first stop was the Passo Mortirolo. Another legendary climb. It is really steep and carrying my bike up that climb with all of that gear was the main struggle. During this climb I thought about athletes who actually race for those kinds of time durations- racing 9 and 10 hours- I really don’t know how they do it, Mabe I’ll find out someday. I kept on riding and it was marvelous. After four hours or so, I could really feel the fatigue kicking in, I had one more climb to go, and then I should be closer to the team house. I was approaching lake Garda. I planned a different route for the way back, to check as many boxes as possible off of my bucket list.
At around 8 hours into my ride, I was so tired I just wanted to get home, everything annoyed me and I was super irritable in my own thoughts. Luckily, I was alone…
It was getting dark but at least the weather was nice and I had a tailwind all along the Garda lake’s coast road. I thought I saw a black cloud in the horizon but there was nothing to worry about. I should be back home in an hour and a half. Then… as always, it hit me. Or I hit it. That black cloud got closer and all of a sudden, I’m in the middle of a thunderstorm, and it’s dark.
Please, please, I mustn’t get a puncture now. I didn’t. I got back home safe and sound and cold and wet and mainly happy. I contemplated stopping in Verona for dinner, but skipped it. It was the most fun I had on a bike in a long while.
Best decision ever.
The Aftermath
As I mentioned above, in my head it was only four, five-hour rides crammed into two days. I planned on going to Verona for a cupping (coffee tasting) event on my favorite specialty coffee there the next day and do my favorite loop the day after that.
What actually happened? The next day I was shuttered, I woke up at 15:00 and couldn’t get out of bed. My body was fighting me, trying to digest all of the fuel I put in it and I wasn’t able to eat much. I was afraid that stomach bug was back. A day later I was back to normal, but I can’t imagine what are the consequences after a race that long.
Back Home, Finally
After all of the goodbyes from the team and my housemates I went to the airport and back home to Israel. It’s been a really good period and I even managed to do one of my best races ever. As I wrote on my post “Uncertainty”, rephrasing my goal and focusing on the process, making this worthwhile and fun, worked. That being said I left Italy with mixed emotions. All I could think about was what’s next for me, as I have no certain plans for next season. I knew I’d need some time to process and think things through. I came back right on time for a good old “Yom Kippur” ride on empty highways to try and answer some of those questions. If you don’t know what “Yom Kippur” is, I explained about it on my first ever post here, go check the explanation…
TT Nationals
Our Time Trial nationals got postponed from June to the 25/10. Three weeks after I landed in Israel. I always planned on racing, but feeling the way I did, after such a long season I didn’t know If I had three more weeks of being laser focused in me. My coach and I decided we are going for it, and that we register for the elite category of the race. I was more focused than ever, leaving no stone unturned. I managed to do that for exactly a week before I cracked. I really wanted to do the best I could in this race and being that focused on the second half of October led to a subpar mental state to say the least. I needed to back off a tiny bit. It became almost impossible for me to differentiate between my uncertainty about my future, and delivering my best performance on the day, because I love it, regardless of what happens.
Still, I prepared the best I could, and I truly believed I had a chance for the title on the right day. After being stressed out for a week, race day came. My main struggle was, as always, the good old dissonance between “I can only do my best” and “What if my best won’t lead to the outcome I want”.
Eventually I managed to get third on the day, sharing the podium with two World Tour riders. I am really proud of this result, and owe a huge thank you to everyone around me.
That’s a wrap for my 2025 season. It’s been a very long one.
My Usual What’s Next/What Now Subtitle
Now?
Now I need some rest. I won’t ride my bike or think about cycling for the next couple of weeks and try to be a normal person for a bit. I’ll be catching up with family and friends and then think things through.
I’ll probably go out for a run, exaggerate and won’t be able to walk for two days, you know… a regular cyclist’s offseason. Maybe I’ll also write an offseason review or an offseason guide for this Substack.
To be perfectly honest, I don’t know what will happen next season, or have any idea what I’ll decide to do but I will post here and update you.
Whether I’ll be a gravel privateer, announce a new team I have joined, to or write an “I’m stopping cycling manifesto”, you’ll be the first to know.
As always, thank you very much for reading this, I immensely appreciate it.
Until next time,
Yonatan
BOKER TOV! Dear cousin, thank you for writing your adventures, it is a pleasure to read. I look forward to your next chapter and very curious to see how things will unfold. Your determination is admirable! 💖
As always thanks for sharing. a very interesting read. I'm jealous of your bike packing trip! Best of luck in whatever you do next year and stay in touch!