Playing Chicken with a BMW

Picnic breakfast in the park blemished only by a big dollop of donut jam ending up on my t-shirt. Not quite as bad being a Liverpool jersey. Proceeded to have a whistle stop tour of central Skopje. Tried to get down to the riverside cycle route but 3 flights of stairs & full panniers put paid to that. Passed the parliament building or at least that was my assumption based on the copious number of Macedonian flags outside - got to be going for a record. Getting into Skopje on a Sunday afternoon had proved fairly relaxed. Getting out during Monday rush hour less so. Satnav directed my up a no left turn. Decided to ignore the difficulties of crossing the road, the barrier & the fact that no-one was going up there. With good reason - wrong way up a one way. Had plenty- ish space to start off. But then self important BMW & Land Rover drivers were choosing go 2 abreast. With nowhere for me to go, it was a case of move in or run me over. Thankfully they weren't going fast & they chose the former. Bit hairy. Glad to get out of Skopje, not so keen on the looming mountains. Stumbled on the border crossing - again Satnav sent me down road with a queue of juggernauts. One driver poked his head & wagged his finger. Indicated to go back to the main road. Checked it was ok for bikes and ended up at the border. No queue for me - just some footie chat with the border guard. Had to nag for a stamp. Got across & it looked like there was a police reception for a gangland drug lord. Didn't help they were built like brick shithouses & all in black. Got my head down. Didn't want to get pulled over by these. 5 mins a huge convoy sped past. Hmmm. The next 10 or so miles were nice & rural. Passed the real Allianz Arena - none of your Bayern rubbish. Then downhill rather quickly - hit a big town - no sign to let me know. Mad busy main road, endless cat show rooms, scrap dealers, furniture showrooms and bizarrely the odd hotel. If it was going to be like this for the last 30 that wouldn't be good.Read more