I made it back late Sunday night.
I thought Corsica was awesome…..a really good job of planning — nice places to stay and outstanding riding route. The company was great as well. I will just have to come back and do the Beauty.
I will definitely come back for more “Far and Away ” tours. Working on scheduling issues right now and trying to cut back on working. Spain trip is a possibility next spring. Will keep you informed.
Thanks again for a great trip to Corsica.
Alexandra
On the tours, we run into a little of everything:
Goat herds in Spain:
Hungry elephants (India):
Helmet stealing monkeys (India):
Cockroaches in Laos (yes he did):
Mr. Ed in Spain:
Hens with chicks in the oven, literally (Turkey):
Woolly sheep (Croatia):
Water Buffalo riding kids (Laos):
Laotian crocs.
Slovenian pooches:
Graeme’s mascot (everywhere):
Curious horses (Corsica):
Stone tigers (Vietnam):
Corsican Mtn Goats:
Wild boars on fenceposts (Corsica):
Snakes (Thailand):
I don’t like it, but it’s a different way of life (Burma):
…no animals, but they really did for me….and I appreciate it (Burma):
There’s more, but our Marketing VP said, “You’re OK up to here!” I’ll stop while I’m ahead.
Don Rhatigan unexpectedly passed away in his sleep on September 20, 2008 while on a biking tour in California.
Don had come with us to Laos back in 2005 and was scheduled to come with for the “Tour d’ Indochine” this November. Don was an avid cyclist and a lover of Southeast Asia. Some of you will no doubt have read about his return cycling trip through Japan after being away for 40 odd years which appears elsewhere in this blog (see “Don’s Deja Vu”).
I will remember Don as someone who always had a story and who always, always loved to ride. He was a very strong rider and that only comes about by doing. Don’s wife, Diny, said “he was able to to do till the end what he liked best: biking”
No daily posts for this tour. I was too tired and so was my computer…it balked and threw some fits. Suffice it to say that Alexandra, Dan, Graeme and Chantal tackled the challenge in stride. Upon occasion, The Beast bit back….I mean literally bit back…a resident pig nipped Chantal on the rump!
Those that have done this tour will understand.
Here are a few selected pics. I have recovered sufficiently to post them.
The Welcoming Committee…..
The riders
The ride up the coast to Bastia:
Stop in St Florent:
The girls:
Me:
The pig, working up to the assault.
Dan taking refuge, after the assault:
Sunset in Zonza:
With Chez Maddy in San Giovanni:
The first of 3 big climbs from Corte to Propriano:
It’s a little hard to capture some of what happens on tours.
Part of the deal is food. It’s not always fine dining with white table cloths (although, at night, it usually is).
Everyone is on their own for lunch. Who would have thought you could find big ol’ burgers in Slovenia? Once we found them, it was tough to resist. Especially when they are man sized burgers that have you contemplating what life without burgers might actually be like. As it turned out, given the “bunnage” to meat ratio of these, life might actually be a lot better. It was kind of like eating a loaf of bread, with a side salad. It did take two hands though.
It isn’t all big burgers. We had some great fish and seafood including these trout on the ride into Tolmin. The restaurant is right above a pen where they have live trout. Slovenia is known for world class fly fishing for trout.
After a long day in the bike saddle, what might be better than to stop in the lounge at the hotel and relax with a cup of coffee or a tall cool one?
….it certainly is not, however, to spend more time in the saddle…..a horse saddle. But that is exactly what we did in Tolmin. Giddie up, cowboys (and cowgirl)!
Brian flew the coop this morning so it is down to me in LJU.
It’s kind of cold and overcast so more of a walking day than a biking day. This isn’t really a big city but it seems like everytime I go out in it to explore, I come across something sort of funky and kooky. Perhaps, it is because the population is so young. The average age can’t be much over 30.
Anyway, near the Hostel Celica (a prison turned Hostel…..where you literally check yourself into jail), I came across what looks to be an artist compound. Lot’s of professional looking graffiti and funkadelic galleries. You can find some of this kind of thing all over town, but this place has to be the nerve center. Check it out:
The best for last. If you are going to create stuff like this, you need some cool wheels…..an old Citroen XM…never mind that you’ll never get more than two inches off the ground…much less your destination.
I love it.
We made it back to LJU no problems. On the last bit Steve took the main road and everyone else took the back road by Turjak Castle.
Steve is off to Rome to meet up with his wife and some sightseeing. Ray and Duane are back to work in the US. Graeme is off to Toulouse where he and his wife have rented a small boat to navigate the canals on. When he is done with that, he will move on to another Far and Away Cycling tour in Corsica. Brian and I are hanging in Ljubljana for a couple more days before he heads home to Baltimore and I move on to Corsica.
Here is a shot of us having our final dinner.
The weather was just about perfect for the trip. It never really rained, which is unusual on a week long tour.
Thanks to everyone who made this tour so much fun.
There are a bunch of very good pics that I have seen in Brian’s camera. I’ll try to post some more shortly.
Best,
Bob
Well this is a big day. Lots of climbing but before that all begins we had to get to the mainland on the Superfast Croatian Speedboat…a hydrofoil to get from the island of Krk to the mainland. The pictures can tell the story.
Here are Steve and Ray:
And Graeme and Brian
Duane got bike holding duty:
After the big climb, Duane looked pretty happy…I’ll leave it at that:
Cres to Vrbnik
The morning was free for everyone. I rode on my bike to Beli. What a great road! Higher up it carves the side of the island and has a steep drop off. As I rode I saw one of the endangered Griffon’s vultures that the island is known for circling…BELOW me. There is no one driving on the road to Beli. There was a great view this morning.
It is a small village. There is one pension though. I stopped in to check it out. There are 8 rooms, it could work on a future trip. It would be quiet very quiet. That would not be bad though.
From the village to the beach is the steepest road yet that I have encountered in Croatia. I crept down it going really slow. I was afraid the bike was going to get away from me. It’s about 1k long and I would say a solid 20%….perhaps a little more in spots. There were a couple cafes and beach houses at the bottom as well as about 20 boats in a small cove. I met up with this shaggy sheep on the way. He didn’t have much trouble with the steep road:
When I got back to Cres, this gentleman literally ran over to me when I was getting off the bike. I didn’t understand what language he was speaking much less what exactly he was saying…. I did pick up that he rides or used to ride and had a bike that weighed about 9 kilograms. Our “communciation” went on for about 10 minutes. I told him I’d put his pic on the blog and here it is with my bike:
I made it back in plenty of time to catch the 12:45 ferry to Vrbnik.
Everyone made it to Vrbnik in plenty of time to enjoy a swim. Our hotel overlooks the Adriatic and the towns swimming beach. The water was more than a little refreshing.
Sept 9 Rabac to Cres
Graeme and Steve opted for the cruise and everyone else is biking. On the way to the ferry this morning, I was pulled over by the Croation police. I thought it was some sort of check point, but it turned out to be speed trap. I was apparently going 71k in a 50k zone. I ended up paying 500 Kuna on the spot (about $100) as a fine. Just down the road (where it is much less straight and smooth) the limit is actually 70k. A little frustrating. I don’t think it helped that I was an American, driving a Mercedez Vito, registered in Slovenia. Worse things can happen though.
Right now I am sitting in a shady spot at the top of the climb on the island of Cres. There is not a cloud in the sky. It really doesn’t get any nicer. Here is the precise spot that this is being typed from:
We ate port side at a nice seafood restaurant. Most people had seafood. The sea bass and Dorado were terrific.