Kobarid Slovenia
There were many interesting things to see
And there were a great many cyclist out this Sunday morning
Note the great, and typical, shoulder on SS 13
SS 13 runs close enough to the foothills to improve the view, but far enough away to be flat
After I got past the race folks, I continued to see more cyclist than I have seen on any other day of touring. Hundreds of them, many dressed as teams in matching outfits riding in groups, and others more casual, but still all decked out like racers. One of them, near where SS 248 intersected SS 13, rode beside me and, speaking English, asked where I was from. He was very friendly and very nice. He said that he rode to keep in shape and that he was impressed by the shape I was in. Since I was riding on mostly flat roads, I had little trouble maintaining a pace, for hours, that was as fast or faster than many of the race dressed, but not race fit, riders were holding for much shorter periods. There is something to be said for riding seven or eight hours a day for a month or two. I averaged 13.5 mph for the day, but that includes the ride from Italy to Slovenia which is a bit hilly. For the first half of the day I averaged over 14 mph and was usually cruising at 15 to 17 mph. Of course, flat ground and a day with little wind really help!
I stopped somewhere between Conegliano and Sacile for a snack, in Pordenone for lunch and, ten miles before Udine for a second snack. When I got to Udine, after about 75 miles of riding, I stopped at a place that offerer cheap phone calls (and internet access, but that wasn't working yet) and called Primoz in Skofja Loka to confirm that I would be arriving tomorrow. Then I stopped for ice cream and to get my water bottles refilled. That was not a good ice cream place; the ice cream was good, but the serving was about half what it should have been. Still, it got me on down the road, SS 54, to Slovenia. Since I had used all my supplies and couldn't replenish them on Sunday, I stopped again at another ice cream place in Cividale. That is the largest town between Udine and Kobarid. I also had a double esspresso to help me on my way.
The road to Slovenia started out pretty flat
And stayed that way because it followed a river gorge through the steep hills between Italy and Slovenia
The border is, as expected, the high point,
but I think the total climbing is less than 100 M
One of two families I passed who were bicycling on SS 54
Hills and mountains!
Stupizza - a beautiful place with a, to me, silly sounding name
Those trees in the middle of this image are where I stopped last year
The wine was good, the mixed salad was great with just a mix of well flavored greens, and the spaghetti with prawns came with a bib and a finger bowl to help deal with mess. It was great, but, just as I started to eat that course, about 30 German tourists came in, all at once. That created two problems: one was that I was eating a very messy meal in a room with a bunch of people who had nothing better to do than watch me < grin >, and the second was that the excellent wait staff was simply overloaded. After I finished my main course, I waited half an hour for the cheese course before giving up and telling the waiter to cancel it, because I needed to get back to my room to work on this ride report...
Breakfast was excellent this morning, really four star, although that same group of Germans all came down at the same time and overloaded the system. I saw my waiter from last night and thanked him for the excellent meal and good service last night. I just wish my room was up the same standard as the food. Ah well, today I ride to Skofja Loka, and get to see Primoz and his family. I've been looking forward to that since I planned this tour.