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Cycling Croatia & Bosnia

May - June 2017
A 9-day adventure by John Read more
  • 23footprints
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  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 4

    Detour frenzy.

    June 3, 2017 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    With all the tooing & froing the main portion of the days cycle had yet to begin - a gentle 45 miler. Popped by a cycle shop which was closing as I pulled up. That lack of luck in mind I decided against extra trip upto a famous castle (Game of Thrones) - it'd be full of German tourists anyway. Did detour to see what Split's beaches were like. Short answer - full. Road out of Split was a busy dual carriageway so that was fun. Grinned & bore the buses & wagons - annoyingly all the beaches were substantially downhill - not an option. Those that weren't by there nature were by a main road & all possessed little or no shade. Did eventually find a spec that ticked all the boxes. Then the small matter of a 5 mile climb to get to the hotel. Got in early enough to some washing & make a fool of myself for not knowing how to turn on the air con... And i left my passport at the reception desk. Brela has a nice promenade along some attractive beaches, one of which was voted one of top 10 prettiest in the world. Nice swim. Since the coast is so nice it would have been rude not to eat at a beach side establishment.Read more

  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 5

    For the last time, I'm not German

    June 4, 2017 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Definite case of chalk and cheese. Yesterday the resident soundtrack was buses hairing past; today was the endless twittering of songbirds. Much improved. Unfortunately the last 4 miles yesterday had been downhill & I had to double back & then finish off across the Dupci Pass. Thankfully an early start meant most of it in the shade. Once over it was clear that the Dalmatian hinterland wasn't flat. Pleasant to look at...
    Took in the opposite end of the gorge I saw at Omis. Popped into a local store for water prior to a fearsome climb to be met with the greeting 'sprechen Duesch' - not the first time I've been mistaken for a German. Fear of a lack of Bosnian currency led to stock up before the border crossing - many cherries. Then into Bosnia...    Read more

  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 5

    Don't cycle through old town Mostar.

    June 4, 2017 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    The initial impression of Bosnia revolved around the common place business activity - namely scrap car dealers. Must've been 10 in the first few miles. Following that it was mass snakeacide - 4 run over snakes within a mile. Clearly there are snakes around here but they don't have road sense. Great downhill into Mostar (45mph) then the ultimate tactical error - going through the old town with a fully laden bike wasn't smart. Narrow alleyways full of tourists & market stalls. As for getting over the old bridge - lethal - the cobbles were glass like. Massive uphill to the hotel - nice! What was nice was the pool. Happy days. Cooled off & then headed into town to take a closer look at the bridge - a world heritage monument. Very impressive especially from the river bank.Read more

  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 6

    Hawkers still in bed!

    June 5, 2017 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Usual early start & by prior arrangement a breakie goody bag had been left for me. A massive barm cake, various toppings, fruit & a chocolate pudding. Happily sat outside scoffing & admiring the view of Mostar. Kicked off at just after 7am & headed for my first detour Blagaj Ottoman Dervish site. Basically a site of religious importance at a natural spring. Passed kids going to school - HA! Got there in no time - well just under an hour & it was deserted. The hawkers huts were boarded up, restaurants closed - I had a free reign to go where I wanted for photos. Went up the reserved area for diners only - and could see why - but not for me today...Read more

  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 6

    Not bad as swim specs go.

    June 5, 2017 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    It was always in my plans to try & visit Kravica Falls. With now following the cycle route through S. Bosnia it would have been rude not to - that said it was another 10 miles or so, not allowing for dirt track detours of which there were a couple. On one said detour I ended up racing a kid up a hill (him on foot) he found it hilarious. I was just knackered. The climb out of the valley was hard only to discover my gears were knackered. Everything off & running repairs - hopefully the last of the day. With all this the falls had to be something special. They didn't disappoint. A Scottish couple warned that the water was refreshing - a euphemism for fucking freezing if ever there was one & for a Jock to think it's cold... Wasn't too bad.Read more

  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 6

    Puncture frenzy (well 2)

    June 5, 2017 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Then began the slog to Ravno. The theory was that since there was little or nothing to do in Ravno, the journey was more important. That's all well & good but if you're tired, bed is the thing. Even so the cycle route that was being followed eventually was located & went over a couple of fun bridges. Then the decision point - follow the fun route with tunnels & bridges but is gravel or the paved but not quite so exciting route. No choice... To say it was gravel was exceedingly generous - it was the hardcore unsurprisingly used on rail lines. Not great for road bikes as had been warned at the sign. Pace was slow - not a problem. A puncture - that was a problem. Thankfully it happened at the last point of escape. Headed back to the road & mended it & had lunch. The downside of the paved route was the rail line took a gradual path up the hillside. The road did not. On a brief downhill a pot hole was hit - another puncture. For all the battles the route did offer great views of the countryside. As did the room when I evetually got in. Tea was the mother of all mixed grills. The bar man suggested meat, chips & salad. Little did I think I would end up with a huge selection. Came back to the room to discover the air con had been leaking - moved room & cue lots of puzzled faces & banging.Read more

  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 7

    Mechanical issues only much worse.

    June 6, 2017 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    And the day all started so well - a lie in of sorts, a relaxed & hearty breakfast on the lawn and some gentle climbing until the bike route started proper. Ambled through the next village of sorts - a restaurant & some tourist type caves. Planned to stop if open but no - only workmen. Pushed on through increasing farm establishments to eventually be 'greeted' by a very irate / territorial dog agressively barking as they do & then jumping up and lunging at me. Got the handlebars causing something of a crash. Eventually the owner gained some semblance of control. Tried to establish damage - seemed to be just a toe clip issue but as a made I hasty exit it became clear the wheel had been badly buckled. Not good. Spoke key out & try as I might it wouldn't be trued. In fact I might have made it worse. Eventually it dawned that, with 29 miles to go cycling wasn't an option at the moment. Help was needed. The question though was who - I was in the middle of no-where. Decided to head back to the workmen & see if any of them spoke English & had any ideas. This did mean getting past the devil dog again. Made sure bike was between me & it. Unfortunately the workmen spoke no English. They got a lady from the cave ticket office who spoke a little, who got her colleague who spoke a bit more. He phoned the restaurant owner who spoke good English & was glad to help (if he could.) He offered to call his cousin who was good with things like this. Failing that either he would take me to Dubrovnik tomorrow or he would phone around & find someone going today. He assured me things would be fine. When I saw his cousin's methods I was less sure - jumping on the wheel to remove the buckle. Didn't work. Lift to Dubrovnik. Theo was all for introducing me to his parents & having me as guest of honour - which would've been an experience but a lift had been found for me & the sooner I was in Dubrovnik the better. Felt very ignorant. As it happened the lift was just back to Ravno, where my actual lift was going from. Here 2 other guys proceded to hammer ten tonnes of shit out of my wheel. I knew this wouldn't have an impact until the spokes were adjusted but god knows what that is in Croatian. My lift appeared, knew where the hostel was & assured me he had a number for a guy who could sort my wheel. Compared to all this the border crossing was a breeze.Read more

  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 7

    No-one in Dubrovnik does bike repairs!

    June 6, 2017 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    On arrival at the hostel, the priority was to try & get my bike in some sort of working order in order to get me to the airport. That meant finding a bike shop - surely there must be one in a city of 50000 people. Asked at reception and handily enough there was one just down the road. Result. Dumped my stuff & off I went. That was as good as got. I was assured that there was no-one in Dubrovnik that could help. Headed back & onto the internet & it would seem cheerful Charlie was right. OK try the contact - who spoke English. He didn't reject me out of hand - which was progress. He said he'd think on it & to call back in 5 mins. Not 2 mins later there was a text message ping through with a name and contact saying he would be able to fix it. Called & he came out to have a look - mainly because he gave up trying to give me directions. He offered to take it away & do his best to true it. Fingers crossed. All in all complete strangers helped throughout the day without thought & consistently refusing money. Restores your faith in humanity.
    All that sorted - went into Dubrovnik for a little explore - busy but not rammed - no cruises in. Very attractive & hot. At this point it dawned on me I hadn't eaten since breakfast & proceded to have the best kebab ever.    Read more

  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 8

    Quiet(ish) Dubrovnik

    June 7, 2017 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Led astray by Ivan the bike guy, I awoke a little groggy. Having repaired my bike, I couldn't face feeling rude again so round the corner for some beers and some interesting conversation. It would seem there are still tensions within the region. He recounted his love of building wheels, diving & Australia. Aside from my inability to do anything with my wheel we had plenty to talk about & in my defence, other than cutting out the spokes there was nothing he could do with the wheel either. That made me feel better - obviously the beer did not. Tried to keep to the plan - hit the wall as early as possible & play it by ear thereafter.
    Amazingly arriving at 9, I was expecting a queue. Maybe the tour hoardes hadn't got in yet. Spent a relaxing hour walking along the ramparts admiring the views & taking way too many photos    Read more

  • John BickerstaffCycling Croatia & Bosnia
    Day 8

    From the sublime to the ridiculous

    June 7, 2017 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Just as the wall walk was coming to end it, was clear how busy things were becoming - queues of people stretching along the wall. The plan was to now take the cable car up Mt Srd, admire the views of Dubrovnik and then walk down. On arrival bought my ticket & was ushered straight on the next cable car. Has to be said the view of the city was stunning. Also up here was a museum / gallery devoted to the homeland war. Very sad tale of atrocities & this was just what happened in Croatia - no mention of Bosnia or Kosovo. From the sublime goodness that so many showed me yesterday to the ridiculous idiocy of war today. From there to the path down - gorgeously peaceful & one of the stations of the cross at each hairpin or at least I assume that was what it was - it is a catholic country after all. Picked up a couple of pasty type things on entering town, found a shady spot & chilled for a while.Read more

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