PORTUGAL’S MOST SAVAGE RIDE GOT EVEN FASTER!

EPISODE #207 –
I’m back at the Tróia-Sagres event for the 3rd year in a row… and it just keeps getting harder and harder each year! I’m doing it with the TGV boys again this year and as always they do what they do best and ride it at a ridiculously fast pace. In fact the fastest they’ve ever done it… what a challenge and what a team to be doing it with. That was certainly an experience, one I won’t forget in a hurry!
STRAVA STATS: https://strava.app.link/F9OXrLWahZb
If you want to check out previous years here’s the last two years I’ve done it.
TRÓIA-SAGRES’24: https://youtu.be/9z_f1gaQCM8?si=EFAp6VD5dLA1e-HA
TRÓIA-SAGRES’23: https://youtu.be/snY-vpP67Zs?si=mnm9LfLQDKtHJfxd
——
10% OFF AT ZWIFT – CLICK BELOW!
US
Zwift Ride with KICKR CORE 2
UK
Zwift Ride with KICKR CORE 2
EU
https://zwiftinc.sjv.io/c/5916964/3258790/20902?subId3=1WqGuSfM
(If you leave the website and come back later to make a purchase, please come back here and click this link before you checkout)

*********************************
25% OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE OF STYRKR PRODUCTS
USE CODE: THECYCLINGTATTOOIST
https://www.styrkr.com/thecyclingtattooist

Thanks for watching, please like, comment & subscribe!
Thomas “The Cycling Tattooist.”

————– L – I – N – K – S ————–
Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCyclingTattooist
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thecyclingtattooist/
Tattoo Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/martineztattooer/
Cycle in Paradise – https://www.instagram.com/cycleinparadise/
FAAST Crew – https://www.instagram.com/faastcrew/
Strava – https://www.strava.com/athletes/thecyclingtattooist
Zwift – https://www.zwift.com/uk/athlete/5aba3a63-716a-4bdd-9721-25b7bf9c7e62
Email – cyclingtattooist@gmail.com
——– P – A – R – T – N – E – R – S ——–
Maap Apparel – https://www.maap.cc
Styrkr Nutrition – https://www.styrkr.com/thecyclingtattooist
RCA Coaching – https://www.roadcyclingacademy.com/
———– C – R – E – D – I – T – S ———–
Film & Editing: Thomas Martinez.
Intro Music: Press 1, Lukas Got Lucky.
Intro Film & Editing: Joe Simkins, Karl Kolecava.

In recent years, I have developed a bit of a new Christmas tradition. And like myself, thousands of other cyclists all get involved with a ride that is 200 km long. And if that wasn’t hard enough, they also ride it as fast as they can. This is Troy to Sarres 2025. >> It’s about time we do this, sister cycling. So yes, another year and another time that I’m taking on the Troy Sarres ride. This ride is an absolute beast. As I said, it is 200 km long, but that’s not the difficult part. The thing that makes it so challenging is the fact that you get all kinds of local teams and clubs all coming to do this ride. And naturally, it creates a bit of competition. Now, this certainly isn’t a sanctioned event, nor is it a race, but that doesn’t stop everybody treating it like that. But anyways, without further ado, let’s get straight into what was going to be an epic day out on the bike. And if all of that wasn’t difficult enough, well, we had to get up before the sun had even come up. So that was it. We was on our way. We had ridden down to the ferry port and we’d got ourselves on the 7:30 ferry which was going across to Troyer where the ride would be starting. It was quite a nice morning. We got to see the sunrise above the water, but I’ll be honest, it was a little bit cold. I’m already regretting my choice to wear shorts today. I was hanging on for the uh last opportunity to wear shorts, and yeah, I’m frozen. I know people from the UK are going to say that I’m soft, and I am because it’s 12° right now, and I’m shivering. Don’t judge me, okay? I’ve acclimatized, not built for the cold anymore. I’m a huge fan of the channel. >> Oh, man. Nice to meet you, man. >> All right, let’s do this. All right, that’s it. We’re off. Now, I don’t know if you caught that, but I very nearly got taken out by a humongous pothole. This bit of road that goes from Troyer down the peninsula is absolutely horrendous. You really have to have your wits about you. There is potholes absolutely everywhere. But once you get off of there, they do start to clear up a bit. And as you can see, we are absolutely hammering it along. The pace started off absolutely rapid. You got Pedro there on the front. He is the TGV president and he is always absolutely drilling it on the front. I don’t know what he has for breakfast, but he is just an absolute machine. You can see we are absolutely tearing past other groups on the road. And that is one of the really cool things about doing these rides with the TGV. They definitely have a presence out on the road and people know exactly who they are as they come h hurtling past. But anyways, as you can imagine, traveling at this kind of pace, you really do eat up that distance very quickly. We had actually managed to knock out over 50 km already. Everyone was settling into the effort. But I have to be honest, at this point, I was worrying a little bit that I wasn’t going to be able to hold this pace for the whole ride. Hey man, how are you? >> So there you go. We had made it to the first planned stop of the day. And as you can see, they don’t muck about. They’ve got two support vehicles that carries everybody’s stuff for them. Everybody can then load up on their snacks and get rehydrated. Unfortunately, I had forgot mine and I left mine in the car, so I had to have a couple of gels and that had to do. So, we’ve just had a bit of a break. We’re 77 km in and the pace has been absolutely outrageous. 40.8 km an hour to be precise. Uh that is disgusting. This is actually my third year doing this ride with these guys and I’m pretty sure that uh we’ve never held over 40k an hour at this point. So I mean I can only hope that that’s going to come down a little bit because >> if it stays like that There’s a there’s a strong chance I’m going to bonk or something. Is that right? >> Anyways, I think we’re going to be getting going again in a minute by the looks of it. The next stop is planned at about uh 150k I believe. So then we will have another 50k from there to the finish. And uh by that point I’ll be ready for bed. So, we was back on the road after our pit stop and clearly everybody had fueled up massively and was raring to go because the pace just went straight back to warp speed. As you can see, there was a few moments where I was getting a little bit of rest on some of these descents, but they definitely do like to pedal down some of them as well. So, you have to take the rest where you can get it with these boys. But, I was hanging in there. The sun was shining and I knew traveling at this pace that second pit stop would be coming up very fast. Desperate times. I am in a bad way. I’m hoping that this sandwich can save me. So, you know, on the last stop when I said that the pace was 40.8 and uh I was hoping that it was going to drop. Well, it has, but not by a lot. We’re still averaging 40.4 km an hour, which I mean, we’re 160k deep now. Like, I didn’t even think that was possible to be honest. But my legs are feeling it. They certainly know that they’ve done that. This is hard. All right, we’re back on the road and I am getting horrendous flashbacks. I was in a pretty bad way at this point last year actually. I remember talking to the camera right about now. Seems it’s a yearly occurrence that I’m in the hurt lopper around this point of the ride. But there you go. Obviously won’t learn my lesson, will I? One positive is the weather has taken a nice turn. We got a bit of sunshine. It’s lifting the uh spirits a bit. Um, it has been quite windy though. So, uh, you know, when you’re running deep bad boys like these, the C60s from Shimano, it’s, uh, yeah, when you get them gusts, it can make your bum twitch a bit. So, we was really starting to hone in on the finish line now. We had about 10k left to go at this point. Anybody else this far into a ride would probably start to relax a little bit and ease off the pace. But no, not these guys. This is the point where they dig in. They push even harder. And that is exactly why these guys are made from different gravy. There is just nothing quite like a TGV ride. Heat. Heat. Well, well, it’s true what they say. It never gets any easier. You just get faster. Oh my god, I feel like I’ve been beaten up with a baseball bat. Oh, my back is in pieces. >> Please don’t invite me again. >> Yeah, that’s three years in a row ticked off. And it’s got progressively faster each year. >> Oh, I’m dead. I’m dead. >> Just thought you bring a gravel bike. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> As if the ride wasn’t hard enough. You guys have got no excuses out there. This guy’s 14 years old and he brought a gravel bike to the party. I mean, >> just to make it a little bit >> Yeah, man. >> Good. >> Yeah, man. >> Pretty good. I’m not coming back next year, though. >> No, no, I’m not coming back, man. >> So, that was it. The pain was finally over. And I tell you what, I was glad that it was over. That was absolutely brutal. There is no other way to describe it. Once we finished the ride, as we always do, we headed to a local campsite where we all got cleaned up before the coach come to pick us up and take us home. Because I was feeling worse for wear, I took it upon myself to head back into town and treat myself to a cheeky pizza because, well, I definitely deserved it. And don’t worry, I didn’t sneak off and have pizza on my own. I did take a few back for the guys as well. And talking of the guys, what an absolute bunch of legends. I’ve said it before in other videos I’ve done with the TGV, but they are honestly such a great group of guys. Every single time I turn up to one of these rides with the TGV, they honestly treat me like family. So, a massive thank you to each and every one of you. You have made this another special ride that I will not forget. Anyways, I’ll stop waffling on. I hope you enjoyed this video. I just want to end it by saying merry Christmas. I hope you have a great one and I’ll see you next time. That’s right.