Day 19
KM – 71.8
Saddle time – 4 hrs
Avg….about 18
Ljubljana to Lokovica
Thought for the day – Listened to Sevendust on the ipod all day – almost listened to every song – thought to self **don’t headbang too much and ride at the same time – you will lose your equilibrium and almost fall off the cliff**
I think I had one of the best riding days in my life today. I know I blab on about how good this and that is but honestly it was. It was like riding through 45 postcards all day. Don’t get me wrong I did climb just over 1000 meters today (and I didn’t walk my bike up any of it) and it was tough but I rode through some of the most picturesque places I have ever seen in my life. Whilst climbing there was some Slovenian guys passing me (bastards) and we had a quick chat and after a bit they were off – not before tossing me a muesli bar and saying bravo hahaha – so cool – that kept my spirits up. You know Slovenia is the one of the best places I have been to in my life – It would be cool to do it on a motorcycle too btw (for my cousin Fez). It is bike friendly and routes all over the place – hills and scenery to die for. I felt like Bastian eating his sandwich in The Neverending Story – i don’t want to waste it all at once and save some of Slovenia for later and not cycle too quickly through it. If Slovenia was a girl, and marrying two girls was legal, and Karina wouldn’t mind – I would ya know.
I started off leaving Ljubljana and climbing for about 2 hours – it was hard work – switchback after switchback but whilst my heart was pounding outside of my body, i’m sweating more than I could drink, sweat stinging my eyes dripping off everywhere (thor hated that) – you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face which was from ear to ear. Like I said – I didn’t walk any of it BUT I did stop to catch my breath a million times.
The actual beginning of the climb
Sweeping through valley’s, along riverbanks, the alps all around me – beautiful little country villages, farmers harvesting their crops – people waving at me, cars going slowly around me, people yelling ALLE ALLE ALLE hahah – it was amazing – I couldn’t stop saying WHOAHHHHHHH!
I wanted a break about 1 hour into climbing and BANG – I found this spot in the woods – running water from the mountains ready to drink – filled up my bottles and ate lunch right there in the forrest – crystal clear cold water – awesome.
A hard earned wash down at lunch
Today couldn’t have been better – it ended up with wild downhills and farmlands
Cows and the mountains I smashed in background
– I ended up in a campsite about 70 clicks from my starting point – a little town hall right along side a river – a lovely little old lady runs the joint – she doesn’t speak one word of English – only German and Slovenian but I can speak some Dutch which is close to German (sorry but it’s true) so we got there in the end – she gave me some cake (sweet as bro) and I paid for this which you read now…….. a campsite along the river, two beers upon arrival (of course), electricity, four motorhomes and three tents here – quiet space in the woods – 10euros (woot woot) – the day ended perfectly. I swam in the lake as my shower whilst the sun set and then came back and started talking to some Italians next to me – all I could say in Italian was … ‘one coffee, one gelati (large please), one night camping, four months holiday cycling around Europe, I like water, ice cream, milk – good night’ – ha ha ha. But we shared a meal together and had a good time and then now is now – what a day – I am stoked.
Can this get any better – I am definitely coming back to Slovenia – In my previous travels around the world – this is by far one of the best countries ever.
Today’s Map
Vanderpants Euro Bicycle Tour 2012 
Mmmmoooooooooooooooo
All looks great Aidie – can you image what it would look like in the winter –