Day 13: Zagreb-Vrbovski (108 km, 1040 m ↑)

We spent an extra day in Zagreb for resting and sightseeing. It was a very nice city actually. We also had a nice apartment with a central location and a TV where we could watch Arminia and Schalke.

Then today we continued our journey through Croatia and cycled from Zagreb towards Vrbovsko. The first part out of Zagreb was not very nice – commercial areas and quite a lot of traffic. But once we got a bit further away from the city, the landscape was very scenic again with lot of hills.

This stage also had an interesting profile with a three-hundred metres’ climb at the very end. We took two coffee breaks on the way to keep the energy level high. Udo was unfortunate and had a broken spoke on his rear wheel thirty kilometres away from today’s destination. He managed to continue anyway. There is no bike shop in this small village, so most likely he will try to get to Rijeka as well and get it fixed there.

In Vrbovsko we have a nice apartment again. I was pretty hungry during the day, so I was happy that there was a grill restaurant in this village called Fast Food Nina, and Nina made pretty tasty ćevapčićis in fact.

I cycled more than one thousand kilometres now after three weeks. Progress is good, and my shape is getting better and better. Tomorrow is a work day. On Tuesday, we will continue towards Rijeka – back to the coast – where we will meet with Freek.

Video from week 2: Padua-Ljubljana

Instagram reel:

Video from week 1: Milano-Padua

Instagram Reel (same video)

Day 12: Novo Mesto-Zagreb (82 km, 300 ↑)

Quick recap from Novo Mesto: The town is pretty small and was a bit boring in the evenings. But our hostel was very nice. It had a great common area that we used for our remote work. And they had a very good kitchen where we enjoyed our lunches.

This morning, we left a nine o’clock. The roads were very good and almost flat, so we had a nice average pace today. After around fifty kilometres, we stopped for a coffee and sweets break – Udo had a banana split and I had a sour cherry strudel. With these extra calories, we managed to reach Zagreb at half past one. Here, we will stay for two nights so that we have enough time to explore the city. On Sunday, we will continue towards Vrbovsko.

Day 11: Ljubljana-Novo Mesto (71 km, 813 ↑)

In Ljubljana, we stayed for one more workday and one more night. Ljubljana was quite nice with many restaurants and bars and a nice old town.

What was not so nice was the weather forecast for today. Yr forecast a lot of rain the whole day, already in the morning, while wetter.com said it would be nice in the morning, but thunderstorms and heavy rain showers from around noon. We chose to believe wetter.com, set our alarms for six o’clock and planned to leave by seven.

The stage to Novo Mesto was not too long with 71 kilometres, but had a lot of hills. We should still manage to arrive comfortably before twelve if nothing unforeseen happened.

The unforseen did happen though when Udo had a flat tire after one hour. We had to stop to fix the tire which cost us around fifty minutes. With the bad weather forecast threatening us and the clouds moving in, we tried our best to reach Novo Mesto as quickly as we could.

Luckily, we managed to reach our hotel at quarter past twelve – dry. Shortly after though, the heavens opened and a heavy rain shower came down. We were lucky to be inside the hotel and could watch the spectacle from our table where we had a very nice lunch.

We were also happy to meet our Korean friend Jong-Won again, as well as Clara from Germany and Meret from Switzerland – all bikers with different routes and interesting stories to tell. We enjoyed some pizza and drinks and spent a lovely evening together.

Day 10: Trieste-Ljubljana (101 km, 1206 ↑)

The weather forecast for today predicted quite a lot of rain. But when I left the hotel in the morning to check out the weather (our room didn’t have any real windows), it was grey and the road was wet, but it was not raining. So we left the hotel, grabbed some ciabattas and cheese at the closest supermarket and started cycling.

The beginning of the stage was tough. We left Trieste at sea level and had to climb up to 700 metres during the first thirty kilometres. And especially in the beginning, it was steep. But we made it slowly and steadily up to that level.

We crossed the border to Slovenia after a bit more than one hour. The landscape in Slovenia and the villages were very nice. During one stop, we met another cyclist from Korea, Jong. We saw him a couple of times again during the day and finished the stage with him, including one beer when we reached Ljubljana.

Since we didn’t know beforehand if we would get so far today, we hadn’t booked any accommodation. So when we arrived, we checked what was available and booked a room at booking.com which is basic, but will work for two nights and one workday.

For dinner, we went into a traditional restaurant. I had a mixed grill plate with Ćevapčići and as a digestif a Slivovic. I can say now that I have officially arrived at the Balkan.

Day 7: Venezia-Lignano Sabbiadore (91 km, 170 ↑)

After one more night in Venice, I continued eastwards this morning.

The first twenty-something kilometres were on a very busy road. Then, the route went through an area that was agricultural, but also pretty swampy. There were drainage channels everywhere, and there were myriads of insects in the air for hours today. I tried as best I could to breathe with my mouth shut, but it was pretty annoying to hear the constant impact of insects on my helmet and glasses and have my face, arms and legs covered with them all the time. I wished I had my insect net from my Greenland trip with me that you can wear above your head – would have come handy today.

On the positive side, I saw two beaver families on a meadow near the road. First, I didn’t understand what kind of animals they were, but coming closer, I realised they were beavers. Seemed to enjoy their breakfast there. Two large ones and many small ones. And then one hundred meters further, there was another family. Cute little creatures.

Around three o’clock, I reached my destination. Lignano Sabbiadore seems to be a typical tourist beach destination, with kilometres of beaches, thousands of umbrellas and sun-beds, but not many tourists at this time of year.

The tourists who are here, seem predominantly German and Austrian. Not really a cozy town, I must say. But I had a decent dinner and look forward to Trieste tomorrow.

Day 6: Padua-Venice (36 km, 70 m ↑)

Yesterday was planned as a half cycling and half sightseeing day. The distance from Padua to Venice was so short that it took me only two hours. I had also left quite early, so I reached Mestre (one of the parts of Venice that is on the mainland, not in the lagoon) already around 11 o’clock. My Airbnb was not ready by then, so I stopped at a café, enjoyed a cappuccino (yes, ordered before 11) and opened my laptop.

Since I wanted to spend the afternoon sightseeing and could not carry my luggage around all the time, I had asked my host whether I could check in early or leave my luggage there. And surprisingly, I got a message at twelve already that the flat was ready to move in. So I took a quick shower and then boarded the bus across the bridge to the centro storico, the historical centre of Venice.

The weather forecast was, unfortunately, not too good. And sure enough it started raining shortly after I began my stroll through the alleys of the old town, alongside thousands and thousands of other tourists.

After visiting Piazza San Marco and some of the main attractions, I was a bit indecisive how to spend the rest of the day. The restaurants seemed very expensive. But eventually, I found a pretty spot right at the Canal Grande, and despite the “Norwegian” price of the beer, I told myself that you don’t often get to enjoy a drink with such a great view and sat down.

Sitting there and watching all the boats passing by, I started wondering if I shouldn’t get on one of the boats as well. And after some googling, I decided to buy a ticket for one of the vaporetti, the waterbusses that connect the different islands. The ticket was valid for 75 minutes. So I could take one vaporetto through the whole Canal Grande and then another one along the other side of town back to the bus station. And that trip was well worth the 10 Euros ticket price.

Today I had a workday and then explored Mestre a bit after work. After another workday tomorrow, I will continue towards Lignano Sabbiadoro at the Adriatic coast on Friday. I’m hoping for sunny weather so that I might put on my swimming shorts.

Day 5: Maderno-Peschiera del Garda (100 km, 687 m elev. gain)

Today was my second day at Lago di Garda, and what a day it was!

The breakfast in my little hotel opened at 8 o’clock, and I was there at five past eight because I was awake already and wanted to leave early.

At half past nine, I was ready to leave. It was sunny, but it had been windy all night, and it was still very windy. The wind was coming from northeast, and my first forty kilometres were along the west side of the lake towards northeast. So I had headwinds. But then again, I was going around the lake, so my last sixty kilometres would head towards southwest, so I was counting on tailwinds on the east side.

There were two things that were slightly annoying today. One thing was that there was a lot of traffic. But I guess that’s what you have to expect in a tourist hotspot. The other thing was that half of the distance on the west coast, the road goes through tunnels or galleries. The galleries are fine, because they slip in sunlight from one side. But the tunnels were annoying. Some of them did not have lights either. So I put on my reflective vest as an extra safety measure.

Apart from that, the ride was very nice. The scenery was spectacular. The highlight was a pedestrian and cycle path that was built hanging over the lake.

After two and a half hours ami reached the northern tip of the lake at Riva del Garda. Here I had a short lunch break consisting of ciabatta, banana and a lemonade.

Then I continued down the east side of the lake. There were fewer tunnels, but similarly great views.

After 55 kilometres, I stopped at a supermarket to refuel water. Then, after 75 I was planning the next break, but decided to continue for five more kilometres to reach the town of Garda. On this stretch, my blood sugar got really low, so I really needed that break and looked out for a gelateria directly. I was feeling a bit dizzy already, so the dottore prescribed one scoop of amarena and one scoop of stracciatella for my recovery. It worked.

At four o’clock I reached my destination, Peschiera del Garda. I have a small, nice, modern room here. I spent one hour in the sun at the lake and just had a delicious dinner consisting of fish & chips accompanied by an insalata mista and a rosé wine.

Tomorrow, my journey continues to Padua leaving the great Italian lakes behind.