Day 35: Crazy climbing in Triglav National Park

Jesenice – Bovec 69.57km 🚴‍♀️ 4.39.01 ⏱ 15.0km/hr ⬆️ 1125m (Strava says 1345m) ⬇️ 1245m 🌡 29C

We woke up at six already excited, Suuz was a little scared as well, for the mountains  ⛰ to come. We had breakfast 🍉 🥐 and bragged a little to some Slovakian motor bikers 🏍. Okay Mas did. They were staying at the same apartment and one of the motor dudes tried to be funny, so Mas put him in his place. Friendly of course. Anyway, time to go!

The first stretch to Kranjska Gora was a mental game. We cycled on a busier road for a few kilometres but after that it was all a paved bike path. Funded by the European Union 🇪🇺 we found out later, hail hail! The road was absolutely perfect. Great surface, bushy shade, real nice view (Suuz was cycling in front, joking ➡️ bike path, we were cycling side by side) nothing to complain. Or was there? Yep. Falsch flat for almost the whole 25km. We were going up about 10 meters per kilometre, that’s not a lot, but you just feel like you’re putting so much effort in but getting nowhere. We checked for flat tires a couple of times. Maybe a skateboard dude hanging on to us? A Slovenian bear 🐻 on the back seat? But no, none of the above, just vals plat.

Although it was still early there were already quite some other cyclists on the bike path. Not too many, just a good amount. After a challenging 1.5 hour we had a coffee in Goor Kransje together with lots of tourists, in this case cyclists in all shapes and sizes. Everything in this village, as well as in Bovec, is about outdoor sports including skiing 🎿 in winter time. Since it’s a Saturday it’s probably even busier with people spending their weekend in the mountains ⛰. 

We finished our espresso ☕️, not so difficult since it’s like one sip, and took the left turn into Triglavski National Park 🏞. We were definitely not the only ones. Lots of cyclists on race bikes, mountain bikes, electric bikes and some bikes that really shouldn’t be there (or should even be called bikes). In our opinion. For the first kilometer or so we had to watch out for crossing hikers 🚶‍♀️as well. And for parked cars 🚗, lots of parked cars. When the 10km climb to the Vrsic Pass ⛰ really started it got a little less busy. Except for the twenty Italian Harley Davidson motor-bikers 🏍 racing passed with loud music and even louder engines.

The climb wasn’t too difficult in the beginning, but when we passed the 14% sign we knew it was gonna be a tough one. Some stretches were so incredibly steep and long we really thought the road builders were messing with us. We stopped a few times to catch our breath and eat whatever we found in our bags. A slice of pizza 🍕 and gummy bears of course. We met two dudes from Austria 🇦🇹 on our first break and they followed us the whole way up. Although it was heavy it was one of the most beautiful climbs we have done until now. The mountains were breathtaking in every kind of way. 

Kilometer by kilometer we got further up the mountain ⛰. A group of hipster race cyclists on fancy bikes passed us about four hair pin turns before the top and one of them yelled at us that we were almost there. Corrected by a women telling us the last part is still really really steep. We had to get it over with anyway so we just went for it. Once we were up, there were cars parked everywhere. This is really different in the Alps from Mas’s experience. I guess it is because there are just more mountains ⛰ so people spread out. 

We took some pictures and a little break before we cycled on. Downhill this time. In total this mountain has 50 hair pin turns. The road was built by the Russians for some reason but I can’t remember why. Oh and the Russians probably did not built this road, the asphalt was in good state. Except for the pebble stones they used to cover each and every hair pin turn while going up. Lucky for us the downhill was all paved. Anyway, we went down 1000m, cramping up our hands from clutching the brakes. Suuz probably needs new brakes.

We had to decide where to stay for the night. We really wanted to go to a campground since the park is so pretty but the weather forecast is not good. Heavy rain and thunderstorms ⛈ will not make us happy in our little tent 🏕. We discussed our options over lunch in Trenta and decided not to take the risk of being locked up in a tent when all hell breaks loose right above you. Instead we booked an overly expensive apartment in Bovec, another 20 kilometres away, just outside the Park. We looked at the prices over here a few days ago and everything was expensive so we just had to deal with it.

The last stretch went too fast. It was so beautiful we just wanted to keep on going. We know for sure we will come back at some point, to this park and to Slovenia 🇸🇮 in general. We stopped a lot to enjoy the view and make pictures 📷 that don’t even show half of just how pretty it was. By the end we were both really tired and 🎶 legs are on fire 🔥 🎶 (melody: Tadic on fire), so we were happy when we were finally there, although it was tough to pass by that nice river without taking a dip. 

The apartment was really spacious and awesome. The guy that runs this apartment was very friendly (and talkative) and gave us all this information ℹ️ about the area. We had to go up in a gondola 🚠, go for a big hike, go mountain biking for one or two hours, kayak 🚣‍♀️ down the river and see 3 waterfalls. We did not laugh in his face cause that would be impolite, but we could have. No more activities for the day. We had some chill time in the apartment and went down to get a beer 🍻 in the cafe right outside the door. We were still in bike clothes since we were too tired to shower. We did anyway at some point just after a group of eleven dudes sat down celebrating a bachelor party. But not before we went grocery shopping. We are trying to compensate for our expensive home for the night by cooking our own meal.

Suuz made fried rice with soy-braised tofu, it felt like home 🏡. It was great. Afterwards we went down all the stairs (60 this time) to get ice cream 🍦. It was alright, but worth all the stairs? Not so sure. Once we were back up it finally started to rain and a little later the thunderstorm 🌩 started as well. Sad enough it is not looking good in the whole area for the next few days 😔. Tomorrow is another day of intense climbing through a National Park 🏞 in Italy 🇮🇹. We don’t know yet what we are gonna do and how we are going to do it if the weather stays like this. You’ll read all about it tomorrow! For now, good night 💤.