The Wobbling Sprocket » Croatia Sept 6 2008

Burgers, Fish, and Saddles

Bob_Thompson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:50:58 +0000

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.

Slovenia Cycling

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.

Slovenia Cycling

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)!

Slovenia Cycling

Sept 15- LJU

Bob_Thompson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:48:02 +0000

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:

Ljubljana

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.

Ljubljana

Sept 12 – Brod na Kupi to LJU

Bob_Thompson — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:36:29 +0000

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.

Croatia

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

Sept 11 Vrbnik to Brod na Kupi

Bob_Thompson — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:03:14 +0000

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:

Croatia

And Graeme and Brian

Croatia

Duane got bike holding duty:

Croatia

After the big climb, Duane looked pretty happy…I’ll leave it at that:

Croatia

Sept 10 Cres to Vrbnik

Bob_Thompson — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 08:29:39 +0000

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.

Croatia

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:

Croatia

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:

Croatia

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

Bob_Thompson — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:07:11 +0000

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:

Croatia cycling

We ate port side at a nice seafood restaurant. Most people had seafood. The sea bass and Dorado were terrific.

Sept 8 Motovun to Rabac

Bob_Thompson — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:03:09 +0000

Sept 8 Motovun to Rabac

The weather was perfect. Steve and Ray opted for the main road out of Rabac. Everyone else road out the back. You tend to forget how steep the back way really is. Most steep roads have short sections that are not quite as steep and you can recover. There really is no place to recover on this climb. It also weaves around just enough that you keep thinking that it is ending. It doesn’t though. It just keeps going. Eventually you are looking down on Motovun…that is tough to do since Motovun is perched right on top of a pretty tall mountain to begin with. Anyway, after a few false turns everyone made it.

We stopped in Pazin for lunch. The Castle museum next to the garge that inspired Jules verne was closed. That was too bad, as it known for the display of medieval torture instruments. No one seemed too disappointed. I was told that the back road climb out of Motovun was torture instrument enough.

We never caught up with Steve and Ray until Rabac. Lots of people in Rabac. I was told that it was everyone trying to take advantage of the superb weather.

Graeme discovered a cruise boat that was going to sail to Cres. It included lunch and a stop on the beach for a couple hours. He and Steve are planning to take a day off and take the cruise boat instead of the 50k bike ride coupled with the regular ferry.

Here are Duane and Graeme checking it out with the cruise boat guy.

Croatia cycling

Sept 7 LJU to Motovun

Bob_Thompson — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:33:19 +0000

Sept 7

Duane’s biike never showed so he and I headed to the airport to get his bike while everyone else caught the 9:30 am train to Divaca. Thankfully, the bike showed on the flight from Frankfort and we caught up with everyone in Kozina….about 10k from Divaca. Duane’s bike was fine except for a tube that the valve stem had broken on. The Home Security people had inspected it and failed to strap it back down, but the bike generally seemed no worse for the journey. He was quickly on the road.

The border crossing was no problem. No one was questioned except for Graeme who got a lesson on the correct pronunciation of Motovun, It should be pronounced mootoovun. How would anyone know?

We had dinner on the covered Terrace overlooking the valley. The restaurant specializes in tartuffi…truffles. Graeme said he thought it was the best place we have been on all the tours. He should know since he has been on all of them….some several times. Both the food and the setting are spectacular. The wood seats are rock hard. I suppose for people who are traveling by bike, the last doesn’t matter.

We had a conversation with a bunch of partying Germans later that night…..if you can call it that. Our German and their English had us resorting to hand signals. They said they were in Motovun for a week. I love the place but can’t imagine being there for more than a day or two.

The only thing I seriously don’t like about Motovun is trying to get a van up the 15% cobble road that is about 7 feet wide. If you meet a car going the other direction, I think your life, as you know it, is over.

Here is the view in the morning. It makes all the cobble worth it.

Croatia