Tour of Western Slovenia - day 3

Well today was a bit of a hike and bike. That is, there was a lot of steep hills that I had to walk. But then I’m no Tour de France rider and they’re not 58. However, it was easier than I expected as there were a lot of fantastic downhills towards the end, including a lot of hairpins where you had to be careful. I’m not sure what my fastest speed was but I saw 40kph on my speedo at one stage. The weather didn’t look good at the start with intermittent rain but it cleared up late morning.

On the other hand the trip was longer than I calculated by 14km! Anyway today it was from Ljubljana to Cerknica (or more precisely Podskrajnik, a village nearby where I am staying) a total of 55km across the Ljubljana Marshes (Ljublanske barje) then up into the  hills near Cerknica. Because of the terrain, I had my longest day of almost 7 hours.

I don’t know what it is with the hotels I select but the one I am staying in today is also at an industrial site and I have a view of what appears to be a quarry next door. The hotel I stayed at in Lesce was also in a commercial area with a petrol station, car dealer, and three supermarkets. I am hoping for an easier tomorrow which will be on more familiar terrain.

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Tour of Western Slovenia - day 2

Today’s trip was from Lesce (near Lake Bled) to Ljubljana, about 52km. It would have been a great day if I wanted to wash my bike, backpack, and rain jacket (and shoes). In other words it was raining all day. Sometimes really heavily. Never been on a cycling trip with so much rain, I guess it has caught up with me. The weather forecast was for a little rain in the morning and then heavier rain in the afternoon. In fact the opposite seems to have happened. Got into Ljubljana at about 1pm and it’s not raining as much, or I just got used to it.  I also got temporarily lost twice when the signage took a vacation. It’s very hard to use google maps on your phone in the rain. Spending the afternoon drying out my stuff. Tomorrow is the hard day to Cerknica which involves 500m of climbing but thankfully the forecast is for better weather.

Tour of Western Slovenia - day 1

First day of the tour, just over 60km from Tarvisio to Lesce-Bled. Most of the day was spent on dedicated bike trails, particularly from Tarvisio to Jesenice, which follows the route of the old railway line to Ljubljana. It is a beautiful ride and is very popular. Once I got into Slovenia flew along, not sure whether that’s because it was a tailwind or downhill. I took a wrong turn again due to ambiguous signs. It was mainly flattish except for a 3km climb that I had to walk the last km. But then it was great downhill through villages above Lake Bled. Weather was great with thunderstorms in the afternoon, well after I arrived at my hotel. This was my longest day, distance wise, so it was good to complete it in just over 5 hours. Ljubljana tomorrow! 

Tarvisio

My bike tour has started! My bike trip is around the western part of Slovenia but given the logistics (taking my bike) it meant starting in Italy. First it was a ferry from Piran to Trieste. Didn’t start too well as the ferry trip (35 minutes) took less time than the time taken to board and then disembark. But then it is an Italian ferry company. I discovered that not only I am invisible but my bike is as well with people steaming past me on getting and and off the ferry. Then there was a long wait in Trieste to catch a train to Tarvisio, about 2 1/2 hours by train (near Udine). At Trieste train station the police seemed to be concerned about something, they had the place barricaded then you go only come in and go out one way. There were more police than railway staff, they even had a german shepherd. Tarvisio (Trbiž in Slovenian) is only about 11km from the Slovenian border and even closer to Austria. It is located in the top north eastern corner of Italy and traditionally has had German and Slovenian speaking populations. It’s an alpine town, with it being surrounded by mountains and skiing being the big thing. It required a 3km cycle from the station to the town along the route of the old railway line, past two of the old railway stations!. I stayed two nights in Tarvisio as I arrived quite late the first day and so had a look around this pretty region. I walked down the valley and took the cable car up to Mount Lussari (1790m)) with its large church and great views.

The hotel I am staying at is an alpine style building but I think the hotel is an afterthought as it’s the restaurant that gets most of the signage, the entrance is at its bar. Also had a problem getting into the room. Apparently it’s a special door that you can only open by pulling the handle up and it’s the opposite way when you are in. It’s very easy to lock though. Also had problems getting back into the building as the restaurant was closed. I was told to use the second key to get in but that didn’t work but then I saw a keypad, looked at the key fob and noticed a number. Guess what, it opened the door! Also the wi fi is terrible but the breakfast superb, you even get a fresh, warm apricot croissant brought to your table. Also why does pizza, pasta and ice cream taste better in Italy?

I cycled from Tarvisio to Lesce-Bled in Slovenia today, about 60km. Fantastic day but more of that later!

Festival Time in Slovenia

Hello, no major trips the last few weeks and coincidentally the weather cooled off (around 28 but with low humidity). Instead I went to a number of outdoor musical events which take place around Slovenia this time of year. I went to the ones in Piran, Koper, and finally Sečovlje. Fire brigades usually put these annual events on as a way to raise money. They are usually free and they make their money through food and drink sales.

However, I am going on a six day cycling tour at the end of the week from Italy via Ljubljana and back to Piran. Not sure whether I'll be able to do any blogs while on the road. In the meantime, here are some recent observations....

Coastal Tourists
Being peak of the summer period on the coast, lots of people going swimming and/or cooking themselves in the sun. Based on my observations of these people, seems to be an inverse relationship between the size of men's bathers and their bellies.
Some swimmers even had their cat guarding their clothes while they went swimming or at least a cat thought that sitting on their clothes was a comfortable spot.
One tourist I saw was wearing an "Acne Studio" t-shirt. Clearly proud of their work.

Training Rides
I have been doing a number of training rides in preparation for my trip and of course I have come across all sorts. I nearly ran over a bike magnet. A bike magnet is a person that whenever you try to pass seems to be magically drawn to the same direction you are trying to overtake them. With this person, this happened three times.
These rides can be quite stressful as some sections of the bike paths go through pedestrianised areas. Some pedestrians just stand in the middle of the path transfixed like deer in a spotlight when they see a cyclist heading towards them. Others just keep on walking on the path oblivious to the bell ringing. Runners apparently think bike paths are for them too. When they can run 20kph then they can run in the bike path. Cyclists are just as bad: they ride towards you on the wrong side or scatter themselves across the (two way) path. One even rode onto the road and cut me off, without even looking for any traffic. Some of them can't even ride a bike, wobbling all over the place. I think as well as progressively losing my hair, I am progressively losing my patience.

Music Festivals
At one event a dog went crazy when the drummer started. I don't know whether the dog just didn't like the drums or their music in general.
At another event, at about 9pm, close to the stage, three prams pulled up. One of the babies had the most grumpiest face I have ever seen. I don't blame him. Not sure whether this was part of their musical education or a strategy to make sure they didn't wake up later in the night.
In the final event I saw a toddler walking past a seat made a grab for someone's bag (she was very quick). Lucky the mother stopped her as the owner was completely oblivious to the attempted heist. At the same event, someone was wearing a wedding dress, I guess that's one way to save on a reception. 

Public Transport
On a recent local bus trip we suddenly turned towards into underground car park driveway (not normally part of the route) and stopped. Then the driver got out and stopped for a few minutes. An errand or a toilet stop? Probably a toilet stop as we were going quite fast before then.