The camp WiFi died once a dozen people arrived so this will be short. We left Tirana a day early and rode 137 km to the town of Berat. The first 15 km were in town, urban combat cycling. I was leading and it was nerve-wracking but I think everyone made it through ok.
Then we were out in the country and a big climb started around 30 km. Little traffic, good views, sprinkles of rain, all good.
View from the top of the climb
The descent was fun then I stopped for banana ingestion before continuing to lunch at 87 km. Eating was great, then we continued. I saw I was about to be hit by a big storm and sure enough it started pouring. I took shelter in a friendly auto repair shop until it reduced. Then went ahead 500m and met Bob, Bob, Carien and Louis in an abandoned gas station. Soon we left in sprinkling rain which stopped and then the road even dried.
Out of the pouring rain in a auto repair shop
After 10 more km we did a final climb to the local famous castle, didn’t stop, then I blasted down a cobblestone road which was rough and took out a couple of riders. It was quick to camp and we set up tents in a pomegranate orchard with turkeys wandering around.
Our camp for two nights
Beer and many snacks were consumed, along with Caroline’s Albanian rice soup. Then a cold shower and the sun 🌞 came out so I could dry things like my bike shorts. Not an easy day but a good one.
If we had been able to stick to the schedule, today would’ve been the day we cycled to Tirana, the capital of Albania. Instead, we had been here for two nights but not cycled at all. So Wilbert, our fearless leader, sent out a couple of options for riding. Besides doing nothing, one was to downtown and back. The other two went up a long climb above town, one going over a ridge and out to a small town, and the other going up to the hotel at the top of the cable car. I chose this last one. The cable car route itself looked pretty great, climbing 800m in 4.6 km – the highest cable car in all the Balkans.
But no, it’s a cycling trip. After a Bike Dreams breakfast, Niek, Bob and I set out in a group after most of the others had left. We took the “dirt” option which avoided lots of crowded city riding. The 2 km section of dirt wasn’t that bad although a little muddy. It rained a little as we were getting ready but not on the ride.
Starting out, looking up at the mountains, encouraged by the blue skyAfter some gravel, mud and riding through town, the real climbing started
We cruised around and connected with our bus route from yesterday briefly. Then up up up.
View of downtown from a couple hundred meters up
The grade wasn’t bad, under 10%, until we got to the final turnoff just below 800m. We had snacks and headed up the narrow one-lane paved road. It was steeper, up to 13 or 14%. But it was varied and the view down was great. Luckily there were few cars. Soon we were up on top and parked by a bunch of Bike Dreams bikes. We went inside and had a drink at the bar, then after everyone else left, we spent some time out at the viewing area looking down far to Tirana. The mini-golf course looked tempting but the weather was a bit cold and we gave it a miss.
View of downtown from the hotel/cable car end. Elevation 1060m.Dressed warmly for the top part of the descent
We put on more clothes for the descent but they weren’t really needed. I said good-bye to Bob and Niek at the junction when they turned off to go explore the other route. I retraced my steps back to town, a gorgeous fun descent, and was back at the hotel quickly. 2:28 to climb up vs 1:16 to go down – there’s a fair amount of climbing on the descent too. I scored a Strava KOM on the dirt descent segment too. I had some snacks and wrote this up and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.
Relaxing in our awesome lounge at sunset
Dinner was a little difficult at first. Our neighborhood just isn’t where people stay. But none of us wanted a taxi mission. Four of us walked to a couple of restaurants to see what we could find. One very local place looked a little iffy but the friendly owner spoke English and I thought we were good. It turned out they only had pork, Greek salad and corn bread. I would’ve been ok with the salad and bread but two of the others also don’t eat pork and they all wanted French fries. So we bailed to a place called “Fast Food”, it ended up with 9 of us. Bob and I each had veggie pizzas that were big and good for 350 lek each ($2.90). No beer but we had already had sunset beers. Also no French fries except for the chicken sandwich Tom had. He swears that he watched old French fries being pulled out of a jar of water and added to his sandwich. We’re not 100% sure about that though. Anita gave us all Turkish Delight for dessert and all was good. Tomorrow we leave Tirana and continue the tour.
Of course the weather forecast is terrible for tomorrow, it always is these days
We had a whole rest day to spend in Tirana. Bob and I had a nice breakfast in the hotel then taxied downtown. It’s about a half hour drive but wasn’t expensive (under $9).
Modern buildings and an old statue and one of many construction cranesThe old Tirana Hotel used to be a tall building in town, now overshadowed
We looked around the main square, went in an old mosque, then walked over to Grand Park, a large and beautiful park. It wasn’t raining but the ground was wet and muddy.
A little bit of the Grand Park of Tirana
Back in town we checked out the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral which was pretty cool. Then on recommendation from a couple of our trip members we happened to meet, we went all through the House of Leaves. It used to be a clinic but was taken over by the State Security guys (Sigurimi). It’s a fascinating and very sad museum of taking paranoia about “The Enemy” way too far.
A tiny amount of the surveillance hardware on display at the House of Leaves
We needed a break but then it started raining so we walked over to the Bunk Art 2 museum, which is underground in an actual bunker and is large and depressing. It uses video and covers some of the same stuff as the House of Leaves and in the end, we had to escape.
The monster of security, 2.45m tall
We headed off to a nice restaurant nearby and had a good lunch for very little money. Tasty except the wine was kind of … (I said ‘Niek would send this back’). We didn’t stay too long since it was getting late and we wanted to go to Bunk Art 1, the craziest museum, built in a 5-storey massive underground bunker where Hoxha and his buddies would go in case of nuclear attack. Was he paranoid much?
We caught the local bus to Bunk Art 1 for $0.33 each and arrived about 4pm. The entrance is a long tunnel to put you in the mood.
The ticket lady said they kind of start closing around 5 so we stayed, wandering the corridors until 5:15. The place is amazing. First we walked through the special apartment where Hoxha and his wife would stay in the event of actually using the bunker.
The “Talk to Enver Hoxha” exhibit. I got to pick up a phone he had actually used and hear his voice. No answer when I asked why all the dick moves.Hoxha’s office in the bunker, bedroom through the doorAmazing theater inside the bunker
All in all, it was quite an education. I left really feeling sorry for Albania as a country. I can’t tell if Hoxha and his cronies actually believed the BS that they were doing the right thing for their country and socialism is great. I’d like to hope so. In that case they were tragically wrong wrong wrong. If not they were simply terrible people.
We had a little excitement taking a taxi back downtown. The guy was not an actual taxi driver and made a call as soon as we got in. He then detoured up a hill and stopped “just for a minute”. We bailed not wanting to find out what he was up to. Maybe nothing but we took the bus instead. Downtown it was pouring so we jogged over to a restaurant I picked and had a nice filling dinner. The waiter called a taxi for us and the drive back took about 25 minutes. He spoke good English and it was great to be able to discuss what socialism is and whether or not Albania currently is run by a dictator [his opinion is yes].
Back at the hotel, everyone was there except for a few guys out drinking. It was great to hear how well the second shift had done and how they made it from Kotor to Tirana today – some by bus and some with Ype, but in 5 hours instead of the over 8 it took us yesterday. Hopes are high for some riding tomorrow.
Last night as we were getting ready to sleep, we got the news that the 19th, 20th and 21st stages had been cancelled due to weather (rain). Predictions for locations on our route were for 150mm (6″) per day. Instead we would ride in the vans to Tirana, Albania. All through the night it rained hard but just before 7 in the morning it let up for us to ride over to the campsite with our bags.
We had breakfast and Wilbert gave us the plan: take 17 of the riders to Tirana, then come back for the other 8 in a second shift. When I had looked late at night it was a bit over 4 hours one way, but in the morning it was saying 5+. It ended up taking over 8 hours. We packed up and the decision of who goes was settled by registration order, that is, signing up for the trip earlier is better. We piled bikes and bags in and took off in rain at 8:45.
Loading the back of our van
As we drove around Kotor Bay and through Kotor, the rain increased until it was pretty amazing
After a while the rain let up, then started massively again. We stopped for a snack, then continued. Finally we got to the border and immediately we could see there was a problem. A long line of vehicles, end not visible, not moving. At all. While it wasn’t raining too much I walked up the line, over the border, but it ended up taking 90 minutes or so – no explanation, just slow.
An Albanian car and one from Montenegro, waiting in line to say Good bye to Montenegro
We drove on, through periods of massive rain, I passed out for a while, then we stopped for a snack. Tom and Graham and Peter and I just had beers, then back in the van for more fun.
Liquid lunch
I passed out some more then woke up in a traffic jam in the suburbs of Tirana. It took forever but we finally arrived at the Hotel New York which turned out to be a pretty great place. Beer is cheap, the rooms are nice, it’s not crowded and they will even bring in food. First, Bike Dreams provided a bunch of snacks which was great, then we ordered dinner. My pizza came pretty quickly and was surprisingly good. Others were also impressed with their dinners, especially in weight per cost.
View from our lounge/bar at Hotel New York, Tirana, Albania
We have a rest day tomorrow and rain is predicted to stay strong all day. There is a plan to get everyone else here tomorrow, then we all have a rest day the next day.
Today marked the halfway point of the Balkan Boulevard tour in terms of ride stages, 18 out of 36. We crossed into our 5th country, Montenegro, number 64 for me. The weather forecasts have been the exact opposite of what you want to see: huge rain, coming inevitably. But even with a pretty late start today, we ended up only having a few small showers to ride through.
The route took us first into the Old City of Dubrovnik, which may have startled some tourists, but it wasn’t really crowded yet
Then we headed south with a fair amount of up and down. We had some roads with lots of traffic and some without any. One really nice section was up high, around 350m, with masses of cypress trees around and a good view down to the sea.
Cypress trees over the Adriatic
We came to Ype and Henk just setting up for lunch at the 50 km mark. Even though it felt like every minute of non-raining time we wasted at lunch would be traded for riding in the rain later, it was great to stop and refuel.
Another day at the lunch room
Soon after lunch we came to the border. Getting out of Croatia took a few minutes, then maybe 2 km of no-mans land, then a similar wait to get into Montenegro. Arriving by road is nice and we haven’t had any South American style border crossing woes.
Leaving Croatia for the last time on this tripWaiting to enter Montenegro
There were two small climbs but mostly fast cruising along the coastline, in and out of little bays, dodging people walking, riding or driving. As we got closer and closer to the goal, the speed crept up. Soon we were averaging 32, then 34, then 36. Blasting along in a tight line at nearly 40 kph was just great.
Riding the Montenegro coastline with Niek
We pulled into the campsite, a bit short of Kotor itself. Bob and I had booked an apartment nearby due to the weather. We rode over (about 400m) and checked in. It’s a modern, nice place, very inexpensive, I guess because they close for the end of the season in two days. We got our keys and then rode back for lots of snacks and hot leek soup and drinks. Somehow on cool days I just don’t drink enough, so I had lots of orange juice, peanuts, along with cheese-bread, sour gummies, pretzels and the soup. A full meal is just what’s needed after these rides.
A view of part of our apartment
Back at the apartment we had showers and regretted having no dirty clothes to wash in our washing machine! I was on dinner duty so had to be back at camp at 5:30. After a couple of hours it was time to go and still, amazingly, not raining much.
Dinner tonight started with pasta salad with avocado and pineapple and basil. The main course was rice with a quite spicy sauce with lots of smoked tofu and veggies, flavored with lemongrass. Each plate had two big prawns on top. Dessert was cake with whipped cream and pomegranate. Choice of red or white wine (white FTW this time).
Dry dinner
After dinner Wilbert described the ride tomorrow (wet and long) and then Chris gave the marmot presentation. He sang a Swiss song that was very well received, then passed the marmot on to Graham for having the nicest smile of anyone. Nice job!
On the plus side, basically just one hill tomorrow
Then I helped wash a million dishes and utensils and it was time to ride the 400m “home”. Unfortunately the rain kicked up to torrential and we just couldn’t stomach it. I suggested we try it naked since the human body is inherently waterproof but Bob rejected the idea. We hung around and then, during a lull, went for it. It was super dark and rainy and as soon as we arrived it started dumping even more. Now we have to make a judgement call: is relaxing in warm, dry comfort, listening to rain all night worth $26 each? We could’ve spent the night making sure nothing touches the tent walls and trying to not go out to pee. I think we did the right thing.
Even though it was a rest day, Niek, Bob and I were first in to breakfast when it opened at 6:59am. It was sumptuous and delicious, best yet on the trip. We ate massively then caught an uber to the old town. Our plan was to see the sights before it got too crowded, especially the famous walk around the old town walls.
It worked pretty well and was cool and uncrowded as we entered and climbed up to the wall. The view was great as we slowly made our way around the whole perimeter.
Looking through a hole in the wallAcross to the fortressNiek and I looking out over the AdriaticThe view southNo crowds early in the morningPanorama
After a full circumnavigation, we walked through the Rector’s Palace, checked out a couple of museums, then headed up to the cable car up Mt Srd.
The view up over 400m to Mt SrdThe ride takes only 4 minutes and suddenly you have an amazing view of Dubrovnik.Panorama
We had a good look around, then explored the Homeland War Museum, then started down, hiking the rocky trail back to town.
The view north on one of the switchbacksLooking down to the old town
Once we were back down, Bob and I had lunch at a small restaurant then he wanted more museums and I wanted to relax. So I walked back to the hotel, gave my bike some love in the garage, then hung out for a couple of hours until it was time to plan out dinner. I found a place nearby and at 6:30 the three of us, plus our new Danish rider, Per, walked over and had a very nice dinner with wine, in the open air.
We walked back and then made another ice cream stop to try and use up all our kunas. I still have 20 left (about $2.50) so I can have another ice cream or drink during the ride to Montenegro tomorrow – we won’t cross the border until lunch time or so.
I love rest days, especially in great places like this. From here we have 2 nights in Montenegro, a night in Albania, then we arrive in the capital of Albania, Tirana, for our next rest day. Unfortunately the weather is forecast to be really wet during those days, but we’ve survived that before.
Well, today was a tough but very fun day. We had two options, gravel and paved, and I’d say about half the people raised their hands at breakfast when asked if they were taking gravel. But in the end, nobody actually did the whole gravel track, and just a few of us did most of it. We left Mostar just before 8am, on a busy road with no shoulder. But soon we were cranking along on mostly empty roads in the cool morning air. I rode with the Dutch team to the gravel turn-off, then caught up with Bob and then the two routes converged and diverged a few times so we rode with various people.
Riding under an incomplete bridgeMorning riding
Around 42 km, there was a decisive split, where the gravel got serious and many people tried a few meters and gave up. Bob and I continued, and that section ended up being about 20 km long, consistently climbing, on a very rocky railroad bed without the rails, but with all the rocks you could ever want. We went through 12 tunnels, and over half of them required a headlight. Luckily I had one, not great but just good enough so that the two of us could ride every tunnel.
Start of 20 km of gravel excitementThe tunnels looked like this at the start, pitch black inside
There were many deep road cuts and a few amazing rickety old bridges that were somewhat scary and if they had failed (as it looked like they would at any time), we would die. But we kept going. Bob bloodied himself massively on some kind of pricker bush, I was stung by a bee and stabbed in the foot by a branch that my wheel kicked up. Rocks were flying everywhere. We laughed a lot though, and it was actually really fun, once we resigned ourselves to going no more than 13 kph.
Riding the first of a few interesting bridgesFall through here and it’s 40m to your deathWe had to ride 100%This is your ideal tunnel bikeBob heading into yet another tunnel
After a really long time, we came to a paved road, and then just had to pass it and stick with the rocks for another several km, then finally onto a paved road, then just a few more km to lunch. We assumed we would be dead last due to taking SO long climbing all that way, but no, all the fast guys who took the road were still there when we arrived. We ate long and hard, and a couple more gravel-heads arrived. Then it was time to go. We still were not half way, so had a LONG way to go.
Lunch stop, very Andes Trail-esqueAfter lunch there was one more tunnel and gravel section. This photo is a 100% accurate representation of what it looked like. This tunnel had bats flying around inside as well as suspicious soft sections that seemed like mud but were probably bat guano.
After a short, steep climb, we got back on the rail path and cruised a really long way. 70 km, 80 km, 90 km, 100 km, 110 km, etc, repeat until done. Around 135 km we topped out on a hill and then cruised down to the Croatia border. We got out of Bosnia pretty easily, then after a 250m no-man’s land, the line to get into Croatia was pretty long. So we just coasted down past all the cars to the front and pushed in and were through quickly.
The view 300m down to Dubrovnik after we reentered Croatia
Then we had a great descent, steep and fun, to Dubrovnik. After a final 5 km through town we arrived at the hotel to find Caroline had made smoothies for everyone. She is awesome. We got our room, and took perfect awesome showers, did laundry, and even took a rest for a few minutes.
But soon it was 5:30 and time to go out with our craft beer-loving friends. We walked 1.5 km along the harbor to a nice place I had found online. We had decent IPA and other beers, then Niek, Bob, Liz and I decided a real dinner was required. Now. So we walked back, tried one place then settled on a pizzeria that was pretty good. An ice-cream stop on the way home and we were all set.
What a day! The most adventurous of the tour by far, but will it be beat later on?
Hanging out at Dubrovnik Beer Company, vitamin-replacement therapy
Today was a super mellow ride, scenic and nice. For the first time on the tour though, it was actually not warm at breakfast.
Boy am I glad I zipped my tent last night with these guys wandering around!In the campground ready to ride
By the time we started riding at 8, everyone was standing around carefully in the sun, and no one was in short sleeves. I even brought out my full-fingered gloves for the first part of the day.
Simo says Hi
After cruising through town for a while, we slowly climbed a bit, then had a fun descent to a deep, shadowed valley. It was cool, definitely below 10C. We were on a sort of main road to Mostar but the traffic was light. Around 20 km we turned off and headed up some side roads, warmer. We had seen that it was an out-and-back to something but didn’t know what. Then I saw a sign “Dervish House 2 km”.
Sure enough, we rolled up to Tekija u Blagaju which is an old monastery-type place built under a giant overhanging limestone cliff. We paid the entry fee even though so far in Bosnia, the satisfaction to entry fee ratio has been low. They had a nice souvenir shop and bathroom, but we weren’t allowed in the house itself (our shorts were too short). We took some photos, but the angle was much better below in the free zone.
The cave by the Dervish houseView from a bridge belowNo smooching!
We rolled away soon, now dressed in short sleeves and fingerless gloves. Good thing too since Rob’s route soon had us taking a detour up a pretty steep climb on a tiny “road” that measured 19.2% at the steepest. That will warm you up. Then a nice descent and we were getting close to Mostar.
We stopped to take a photo of a mosqueComing into town we drafted a truck pulling a grape trailer, but eventually had to pass himWe detoured to the famous “Old Bridge” in MostarView from the Old Bridge
We arrived in town at the hotel before noon and Bike Dreams had set up lunch outside, across the street. We ate, relaxed a few minutes then checked in. The hotel is new and nice. We had showers, then somehow we both fell fast asleep for a while. After a nap we worked out a plan with the rest of the “Craft Beer Lovers” WhatsApp group to meet at a local craft beer garden at 3pm. We headed over and the place was great.
Nice motto: Resist Corporate BeerLiving it upAfter a few rounds we walked over to a restaurant for dinnerOutside the restaurant after dinnerView from the Old Bridge after dinner while eating gelato
All in all it was a really great day and I’m looking forward to more riding tomorrow. We still have two more days of good weather predicted. Good night!
I slept pretty well, considering. There are jackals on this island and at times in the night, one would start howling and that would set off the whole pack. They sound a little like coyotes on some drug that makes them crazier than usual. We had breakfast at the usual time and again, had the joy of packing up bone dry tents. We left before 8am and had a 2 km ride down to the ferry terminal.
Waiting for the 9am ferryPanorama looking over to the mainlandWe had a luxurious one hour ferry ride, so pleasant. It is our last one on this trip though.
On the mainland, we rode off, heading south for a while, then up a hill on a tiny road with no traffic. Then inland and pretty soon to a border crossing. But we turned north right at it, not quite leaving Croatia. We headed up a valley for a while then spotted the lunch truck at 36 km. We had a tasty lunch, and noticed our border crossing was just 100m ahead. We set out and the formalities were minor and the next thing we knew we were riding through Bosnia and Herzegovina – I’ll just call it Bosnia from now on.
Welcome to Bosnia
We had our choice again today: gravel or regular. I opted for gravel because it’s shorter by 10 km and because it’s gravel. A while after the border the routes split but came together at Kravica Waterfall. Bob and I were riding together and decided to pay the entry fee and ride in. It was 20 convertible Bosnian marks (km) each, euros and kuna not accepted. So I waved my credit card and made it happen, not knowing how much we were paying [turned out $10.13 each]. We rode in, down a hill, locked the bikes and hiked down to a pretty lagoon where people were swimming and looking at many waterfalls, all in the same area.
We locked up our Salsa CutthroatsVery nice spotAt the lagoon
We rode back up, then about 20 km more to camp. The route was up and down, mostly all on deserted roads. At one point we rode over a giant ultra-modern looking motorway, which looked really weird with no cars on it in either direction. Finally we saw one. I wonder what the story is there.
Anyway, we rode through the town of Međugorje, Bob nearly crashed, then we made it to camp. It was so nice to arrive early and not sweaty at all. The temperature is about 18-19C, sunny and nice. I set some things charging in the truck, set up my tent in the spacious area that seemed to be just for us, then had some delicious soup and several other snacks plus a lot of orange juice. The showers were cold but Bike Dreams had evidently paid for us to use a small hotel next door. When I went over to find the place, a woman grabbed me and pulled me into a garage, “Please help us here.” Two very scruffy guys were in there with an ancient, dirty and crappy mountain bike. She points to one side of the shock, “Oil goes in here, true or false?” I said, “True on most shocks but I don’t know this one. We have an excellent mechanic who can help.” Then she gave me a hotel room with a tiny but hot shower. I washed my clothes and myself and came out very happy.
Pansion and Auto-Camping Verite in Međugorje, Bosnia
We have working WiFi all through camp and my phone works perfectly in Bosnia so far too. I wrote this up and chatted with Katie while she drove to the pool at 6am at home. While we do have a bunch of very challenging looking rides coming up, I checked tomorrow’s and it looks dead easy, to a hotel in Mostar, Bosnia. Then there’s a gravel option for the day after that reduces the ride to Dubrovnik to 147 km. Bring it on!
Later in the afternoon, I took a nap, read a little, then went to the bathroom and got locked in. Sigi got a real laugh when I stood on the toilet, just tall enough to see out the thin crack above the door, “Sigi, come over here for a minute please.” No inside door knob…he rescued me, then Henk made a warning sign for that door. Then we had a great dinner at 6:30 and for the first time on the whole trip it was actually a little chilly. I wore pants and socks with my flip-flops! Joop gave a really nice Marmot presentation, talking about seeing cultural differences through cycling. He concluded that he needed more research so we have to give him the marmot sometime near the end of the tour.
After such a fun, easy day yesterday, it really seemed like we’re cheating today to have an even easier day. We woke up to dry tents, clear skies and beauty everywhere.
The view from camp before leaving
Breakfast was normal at 7am and we left just before 8am. It was only 13 km to the ferry terminal – I led the way, curving around, a little climbing, and a scenic Rob detour through the touristy town of Korčula. We arrived with plenty of time to spare and relaxed until 9am when the ferry took off. It was a short ride over to Island Peljesac, gorgeous sitting on the top deck.
We started riding and it was a bit busier, the road was a little narrow, there was a headwind and it was up hill. There was a 400m climb over about 6 km, with amazing views to the right and somewhat scary traffic on the left.
Photo break with Niek on the climb
Once that was over, we headed inland on tiny roads with no traffic. The last part of the ride was just great, on a bike route, gorgeous and almost zero traffic. We had the typical big, steep descent into the town then arrived at the beach campsite.
Let’s coast down to camp
The trucks hadn’t arrived, so we hung out on the beach. The water is so clear here and there are no crowds – just great.
We unloaded the trucks after a while, set up camp, and I retired to the outdoor bar to write this and relax. We looked ahead to tomorrow’s route, bigger, but still relatively short, and the excitement of entering Bosnia and Herzegovina, a new country for me. Then there was a lunch plus soup interlude, plus more snacks.
Home sweet home for a night
I spent the afternoon lazily, I took a nap, hung out, had a couple of beers with the guys, then it was time for dinner. It was Graham’s birthday and we sang and he talked about the Bike Dreams family that he was happy to be part of. Dinner was nice, then Tom gave a nice Marmot talk, passing it off to Joop for tomorrow.
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