Lunch in Italy

The final stage of the riding portion of the Great Slovenian Adventure started in a not yet finished parking lot adjacent to the bike trail in Bled.   Slovenia appears to be using European development funds to improve its infrastructure to support bike tourism.   The popularity of the sport is apparent, with newly constructed bike paths, surface road markings and right of way crossings in traffic circles.   No doubt the credit for the popularity is due to the success of Slovenian professional riders Primoz Roglič and three-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačac.

Within 30 minutes we had settled into our saddles under the already hot morning sun and completed the initial climb up to the Triglavski Narodni Park.   It was here that our small band of riders blended into a group of mostly American bike tour managed by Backroads tour operators.   The mountain valley gently climbed alongside the Julijske Alpes for 15 miles until we encountered the steepest climb of the trip an 18% grade “wall”, that left us gasping for breath but for the breath-taking views.   Since what goes up must come down, the descent back into the valley was exhilarating, then we settled on a long ride up to a ski town of Kranjska Gora.   

At picturesque Lake Jasna, Kevin announced that his electronic shifter was kaput, limiting his gear selection to one.   Fortunately, we were in a biking mecca, with a selection of a dozen bike rental outlets, where we found an adequate replacement for the final seven-mile ascent across the Italian border up to a mountain resort.  Tomaz warned us to bring our passport, but this proved to be unnecessary, still kinda cool to cross an international border on bicycle. Here we enjoyed a relaxing pasta lunch in a wooden lodge overlooking Lago di Fusine inferior.  

The knowledge that the climbing portion was essentially over (except for a nasty climb at the very end), did not make the ride back to Bled appealing.   Tired, hot and unable to find a comfortable spot on the saddle we descended back to Slovenia and recovered Kevin’s bike.   Here he decided that returning the 25 miles to Bled in one gear was not wise, we split up. 

Since we had dinner plans with Tomaz’s folks, we sped back to the car in Bled and for the first time vocally cursed each 17% and 16% grade short but steep climbs encountered on our ride back to the car.   The awesome sense of accomplishment vanished the moment Tomaz realized the left the keys to the car with Kevin.   Bewildered by the heat, semi-exhaustion and temporary disappointment, we maintained our composure and found a place to rehydrate and recharge our phone batteries to organize how to get Kevin, his bike and the car keys back to Bled.   A half bottle of sparkling wine later, all fell in place thanks to Kevin’s ability to negotiate a private van (friend of bike shop owner) to reconnect us.   This was the official end of the cycling portion of the Great Slovenian Adventure.