187.44 miles
14:16:47 moving time
1,932ft gained
13.1mph average
After a very deep sleep and a full belly from the previous nights feast, I zombied out of bed and achingly pulled my bib shorts and jersey on just after 4am.
Carrying my packed saddle bag, frame bag, handlebar bag and bottles never got any easier and I stumbled to get my bike out of the room behind reception and was greeted with a startled looking night receptionist. He handed me a free packed lunch which was well received and maybe lasted till 6am, until I couldn’t wait any longer.
The sunrise was the best of the race so far and the first few cool hours sped away with relative ease towards the Croatian border.
Wanting to spend the last of my Serbian Dinar, I took a rest in a cafe just before the border just around 11am. I then cycled the long straight road to the border. Lorries were lined for about 2 miles before the border and I pedalled straight past, waited 5 minutes or so and was in Croatia.
With the roads being pretty flat, I was making good progress and the only thing slowing me was the traffic through Slavonski Brod and my detour to the first McDonalds stop of the race. The air conditioning and ice cream didn’t help either.
The heat and flat roads were really getting to me in the early afternoon and I had to stop more than I wanted to for water and to seek out shade.
As the sun started to dip, my mood and speed rose and the smooth tarmac of Croatia compared to potholed Serbia was a nice addition to this.
Riding into the dark I was heading for Kutina and I got there around 11pm. Pizza on board I checked into the hotel, showered, ate and collapsed into another deep sleep, not at all ready for another early alarm.
Jordan Matthews 
Well done Jordan. How do you manage to keep going from 4 in the morning to 11 at night 😳 Have a lie in one day 🙂
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Haha, this is just a write up from my race last year, not from now. Sorry to confuse you! I just want to get it wrote down so I don’t forget!
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