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SLOVENIA BIKE TOUR

Bikepacking trip to the alps

By Erik Plankton

September 14^th, 2015

Helsinki - Ljubljana

It is only a 2,5 hour flight from Helsinki to Ljubljana. So the total time from being at work on Friday and having built up the bike and setup camp at the Ljubljana camping was around six hours. While I was enjoying a rather good dinner at the campsite restaurant it started raining. The + 35°c heatwave gave way for a massive thunder storm with torrential rain. The temperature dropped almost 20 degrees and I found myself sleeping in an artificial lake in the morning. The borrowed North Face Mica FL 1 tent could not handle the rain bouncing of the ground as it got under the fly and made for a soggy morning. Packed up and started to ride out of town in a slight drizzle that later turned into an totally ass wetting monsoon. In the afternoon I was feeling quite cold and miserable. Refilling water at a graveyard felt suitable for the occasion.

side TrACKS

Being completely soaked and cold I really didn’t have the urge to ride for too long. Started to look for a campsite, but found a cheap hotel instead that was only 7 km away. Booked it online immediately. I was a bit tired and did not realise the name of the hotel “Bellevue” gave a clear clue that it would be on top of a bloody steep hill. To make matters worse I used the walking mode in Google Maps app, which turned out to be a mistake anywhere in Slovenia for cyclists, since most of the hiking paths are marked on the maps. What started out as a nice country road turned into a muddy hiking trail. After some pushing and swearing I arrived at the hotel to find out that all the 100 other people where dressed for a wedding. Went into the room, set up ALL the gear and tent to dry and did not leave until the next morning for breakfast.

above the clouds

Another thunderstorm passed during the night and left the clouds in the valley below. But now the weather was perfect for riding and my gear was dry.

introduction to climbing

I missed a turn on the route and would have to backtrack for about 4km. There was another road going in the same direction shortly, so I took it and instantly knew why it wasn’t on the planned route. It started with a 17% grade climb which is serious stuff for a cross bike with camping gear. Well the views and descent were very rewarding as I came into the beautiful town of Bled. After ice cream and coke I continued on.

OVER THE HILL

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About navigating

There are tons of back country roads in Slovenia. I would recommend having a GPS track of where you plan to go. Some of the turns are very easy to miss and you‘ll be likely to end up in field with cows. But don’t worry too much, since at some point you will anyway ride among sheep, horses, cows and dogs since some roads go through pastures. For most parts I followed the excellent route created by Joe Cruz for bikepacking.com: http://www.bikepacking.com/routes/bikepacking-slovenia/

to Kranjska gora

It turned out that most of the villages had a bakery shop, usually with great opening hours (some of them were open from 06.00 to 22.00!). So it was easy to score a cup of coffee and some pastries for lunch.

Vršič Pass

After lunch in Kranjska Gora I started climbing the pass with a bit over 1000 meters vertical in ten kilometers. A paved road goes all the way to the top, but I took the gravel hiking trails for about half of the way.

like a post card

This recreational area is just outside of town. Would not mind to hang out for a day with beers from the kiosk.

slowly to the top

The climb was rideable with a beefy cross bike like the Kona Rove for most of the way. Some short parts were too rocky and needed a little push.

epic views

Near the top the views opened up and were truly awesome. The Triglav National Park is one of the most scenic places I have visited.

solitude

For the last hour on the trail I saw nobody around. Just the dry mountain air making a slight noise on the top of the mountains.

going down

I stopped at a WWII lookout on the top to gear up for the descent. Superb switchbacks going down. Had to stop a few times to cool the brakes.

TRENTA

I came upon a camp site in the Soča Valley. Spent the night there within 3 meters of the river. Some critter had eaten a third of my Snickers bar during the night. Somehow the rodent had got into my handlebar feedbag that was closed. Now I know nothing is safe.

cool morning

The temperature was close to freezing during the night and I slept a bit cold. A big cup of coffee by the river cured it. Also noticed that the brakes had gotten some serious heat treatment on the descent.

River Soča

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waterways

My original plan was to take a day off from riding and take a white water kayaking course in the Prijon Sport Center near Bovec. Lazy mornings and continuously stopping for the views had put me already behind schedule so I have to come back another time to Slovenia for the paddling and hiking.

climbing stol

After a gentle downhill cruise out of Bovec it started. A 13km continous climb with 1000 meters of vertical. My legs were feeling yesterday pretty much, so it was a sweaty ordeal.

race to the top

Along the climb I met a nice couple from Switzerland. They were travelling light with mountain bikes. We passed each other a few times on the climb and chatted for a while. They were nice enough to offer some chocolate, but turned down my offer to switch bikes for the downhill part. I got a bit bike envy on the top, when I saw the descent.

the descent

This is one the best downhills I have ridden. Fast and fun. Would have better with some suspension and beefier tires, but had to to gun it non-stop since the light was fading and there was about 24km to go to the camp site.

fly fishers paradise

If you are into fly fishing - go to Slovenia. Just go.

About the food

I managed to miss some of the more authentic Slovenian places and somehow found myself quite often in a pizzeria or bakery buying Bureks - a meat pie type pastry that sells for under two euros and is enough for lunch during the day. Once I made the mistake of ordering kebab and a salad at the same time. They were both huge. There were so many restaurants and shops along the way, that I ended up having some of my dry freezed camping food left over. One day this old chap just handed me a bunch of grapes when walking past.

rest day turns into hike a bike adventure

On the fifth day I decided to take it easy and deviate from the original route for some relaxed road riding. It started out nicely, but when my legs began to show signs of life after a couple of hours I decided to ditch the road in favour of a nice little scenic detour. That too started out great with gravel farm roads with the occasional dog sprinting after me from the yard. This happened several times. The local dogs are quite big and loud, but of no harm. Then the track got smaller and smaller as the gradient got steeper. With a few km to go before rejoining the paved road I found myself pushing and carrying the bike on a narrow hiking path on the edge of some serious cliffs. Falling off the cliff or losing the bike would have been disastrous. At some point two horses were blocking the path and refused to move with verbal commands. It was quite intimidating trying to push them out of the way with the bike in the other hand. Made it back to the road and didn’t complain about the last 30km that was a constant slight uphill with a headwind.

perfect roads

Slovenia is great for road biking as well. The pavement is in good condition with very little traffic if you avoid the main roads. Long climbs with rewarding views and descents.

back to Ljubljana

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city cruising

I had one complete day to check out Ljubljana. First I googled for the best burger in town and decided on Hood Burger, which was about 15 km away from the campsite by a mall. It was totally worth it. One of the best burgers in a long time. The Slovenian capital is a charming city with tons of cafes and restaurants in the walking and bike friendly center. Got some beers from the supermarket and enjoyed them by the river watching the sun go down.

packing up

On Saturday it was time to pack up everything for the flight. I had zero mechanicals on the bike or other equipment which was a bit surprising considering the roughness of the trails in some parts.