Tour05 Day 20

The road along the river going north from Rijeka
goest through that tunnel you can see the top of on the right
I was passed by the old motorcycles shortly after than tunnel

I tried to ride east to Delnice, Croatia today, planning to head north from Delnice into Slovenia and on through Kocevje, but I failed. After climbing north or of Rijeka - "along the river" - which really meant along the side of the river gorge ;-), I found "no bicycles" signs on the road I had planned to use.

The road I took

I searched for alternative roads and found a road that I could use that paralleled the freeway, but I had no way of being sure I could use it to get to Delnice. At the same point that I found that road, there was a road signed for Ljubljana and heading up into the mountains, so I took that one. After some really good mountain riding, I discovered that it went to Rupa, which meant I was headed for Postojna, and a lesser ride in Slovenia. It was such a nice ride in Croatia that I didn't care!

Looking north from midway in the climb

A poster for the motorcyle rally at the place where I ate lunch in Ruga

On my way to my unexpectedly nice ride through the mountains, I was passed by a hundred or more old motorcycles, with police escort. They took the same route to Rupa that I did, so I guess they also though it was a good choice! Other than having to breath all those untreated exhaust fumes, it was great fun to see the bikes and the riders were cheering me on as well.

Looking south from midway in the climb

The top of the serious climb

There was lot of pretty serious climbing on the way to Drenova - climbing in river gorge which broadened to a river valley - which is maybe 1/4 of the way to Rupa, then the road was mostly flat - with some serious short climbs and descents - until it descended to Rupa on the other side of the mountains. It was all nice riding, but the climb was great riding.

The border was almost silly. I went through the usual 4 stations, but only the first one even looked at my passport. This is quite a change from the last time I crossed into Slovenia. I guess it is a result of the EU stuff going on in both countries. unfortunately neither of them uses the Euro yet, so I had to change money at the border.

On my way to Postojna

The ride to Postojna was easy and pretty fast. There was a lot of long gentle descent in the first half and a lot of long gentle climbing in the second, but only short stretches of steep climbing. Slovenia is a gentle - except for the 14 - 18% grades I've encountered in a few places! - and beautiful country. The 46 km from the border to Postojna was lush and green and peaceful.

As I rode to Postojna, I saw one solo woman tourist who looked to be on her way to Croatia. We waved and said 'hello!' As I rode into Postojna, I passes and was followed by two women tourists, but they seemed to be having a disagreement, so I didn't get to talk to them either.

I stopped at the Sport Hotel and Hostel which is big place that is being renovated. The renovated rooms are very nice and the also have dorms. They have a single PC in the office which I will be using to email this report, and the one from yesterday, later tonight.

I walked down to a restaurant they recommended and a had a nice supper. While there I visited with a Swiss couple who are also staying here. It was a pleasant evening, but I had get back here to write this report...

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