Category Archives: On Tour

Croatia, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour, Slovenia

Day 32: Harije to Brestova (Into Croatia!)

.Today we were finally going to get out to the sea after spending the last month crossing over land. The road from our campsite to the Croatia border was hilly but unremarkable, we seemed to be riding up and down the same hill over and over again. 

Croatia to the left, Italy to the right

 
Before to long though we had some excitement: arriving at the Croatian border and our first border crossing with passports and a police officer, not the easy breezy border crossing of Northern Europe where you could enter and exit a country without realising it.

  
Once in the other side the scenery continued much as it had before and the road the same. As the day wore on it got hot, but we were excited to finally reach the sea.

  
After a mostly downhill ride we turned the last corner and there it was, the Adriatic out below. A bit hard to see through the haze that accompanied the heat, but we were here at the seaside.
We took refuge from the mid afternoon heat in some shade by the shore and, after an hour or so moved on to the next town where we found somewhere less crowded but still…crowded to have a swim.

  
In the early evening, around four thirty, after it had cooled off for a bit we followed the coast road south. Tomorrow morning we were going to get the ferry over to the island of Cres. The ferry left from Brestova which wasn’t to far away. With our destination a comfortable ride away we cycled as the evening cooled to pleasant temperature and the found a small clearing off the road blocked by bushes to rest for the night.

  
  
It wasn’t our most secluded camping spot, but the terrain was so rocky and hilly we were happy to have found any flat ground at all.

  

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Dublin to Nepal, On Tour, Slovenia

Day 31: Žiri to Harije

We left from our little spot under the bridge about nine the next morning. We rode for a short time along farmland and then started to climb uphill in a gorge. The road seemed to cling to the rock face while the river flowed by at pace beside us.  
At the top we passed a whole bunch of cyclists out for a morning ride that had turned into a morning coffee. We gave them a wave and then started the decent down the other side. At the bottom we were once again in open plains fringed by hills. Stopping for some photos allowed the cyclists we had seen at the top to zip by us and pedal off into the distance.

 

not pictured: the small peleton that sped past moments later

 
I don’t know if it was the tailwind, or terrain or if we’ve just gotten fitter or something but we made it to what was meant to be our lunch spot by 11:30. Pleasantly surprised and quite pleased with ourselves we decided to have a long lunch.
Back on the road after lunch we started to notice how the terrain had changed from Alpine plains to Mediterranean brush. Then road ran up rocky hills and through small hamlets until we were descending all the way down into the town of Illirska Bastrica.

  
From Illirska Bastrica it was supposed to be a short ride down to a lake where had planned to camp. As it turned out, the road we were going to take to get to the lake was closed. We wound up cycling around a bit a aimlessly for a while, trying to find an alternative route. At one point we were cycling across a dirt track though farms and orchards. This was not the way we were meant to go. 
But, following our nose paid off in the end and after less than an hour of wandering we found a sign by the side of the road pointing to a destination where you could fish. Surely this was the lake!
It was, or at least it was the body of water we had been searching for, it turned out it was a reservoir. Still, we had reached the end of our day and found a spot by the lake to set up. There were a few other groups, mostly old and young guys fishing at the shore. 

  
It was our last night in Slovenia. Tomorrow Croatia and, after a month over land, the ocean!

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Dublin to Nepal, On Tour, Slovenia

Day 30: Lake Bled to Žiri

We sauntered (if you can saunter on a bike) out of the campsite at about 11. We had planned the rest of our route through Slovenia the night before, and to give ourselves a bit more time in the country, rather than just race through it, had decided to do a series of shorter distances. So we had a bit of time. 

the valley out of Bled

 
Leaving Bled and getting on the right road out of town without getting on the motorway ended up being quite difficult. It took about half an hour before we were confident that we were going the right way. It was a little frustrating, especially in the heat of the day.
Once we got going though the ride was great. Down along the river and then up through small old Slovenian towns. As the day wore on and the weather got a bit cooler, and we turned away from Ljubljana so the roads became quieter the ride was more and more enjoyable.

 

we took the right turn here, avoiding Ljubljana

 
We followed a river as it cut through hills covered with trees and the occasional farm or ski run. In the early evening we arrived at Žiri, our destination. It was nice to get away from the built up Bled into more rural Slovenia, a side of the country neither of us had seen really. Turns out, it’s really pretty.

  
 

small towns out in the countryside

 
 

this didnt really come out in the photo but theres a big ol’ Chateaux out of nowhere on that hill.

 
We filled up our water in town and then left to find somewhere to camp. We found a spot a bit outside town, under the bridge by the water, a good spot at the end of a nice day.

camping under the bridge

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Austria, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour, Slovenia

Day 29: St. Veit to Lake Bled (into Slovinia!)

This was the last day in Austria, we would be entering Slovenia but one more pass stood in the way. Despite not spending that much time in the country, we both agreed that Austria had held some of the best days of riding we had done so far. The scenery was always amazing and the climbs, even though they were tough, we really rewarding. That said, it was going to be nice to get down out of the mountains for a bit and have some days without big climbs.
The lake that morning was covered in a thin layer of mist as we left, a bit earlier than usual. We rode out along quiet Alpine back roads at first, up in the hills, before descending down into a valley an joining up with a main road.

  
Every descent we had to make was a bit disheartening, we knew there was one more pass to cross before we got into Slovenia. We passed through our last Austrian city of Klagenfurt, stopping for some breakfast out of an Aldi and then started out towards the pass and the border with Slovenia.
One long, curving descent into a wide river valley later and we were at the foot of the Lobl Pass which would climb, according to our map, up to 700 m, then descend, then kick up again to 1300m. There also seemed to be a tunnel near the peak, hopefully we could use it.

 

view of the last pass from the valley

 
This final pass ended up being the hardest of the Alsp. It was very hot and the route was steep. It started with a steep initial climb, as most passes we had crossed had, but then kept going steep as it started up to 700m. We then descended for a bit before climbing again and then more steep climbing and 2 hours after we started we reached the tunnel.

 

this pass gets two thumbs up

 
 

filling up on water from a mountain stream

 
With some relief we saw we could ride through it on the footpath and the cool, dark downhill of the tunnel was so refreshing. We crossed the border in the tunnel, it had taken some work but we crossed into Slovenia.

 

 

crossing into slovenia in the tunnel

  
From the border to Bled wasn’t far, maybe about 40km. We descended and then rode along a small road that skirted the mountain, rising and falling, and then one last downhill all the way (almost) into Bled. The changes from Slovenia into Austria wasn’t that noticeable at first.

 

descending into Slovenia

 
Having both been to Lake Bled before we weren’t blown away by the place. It is very nice of course but it was a bit strange for both up of us to be somewhere familiar after over everything be new and exciting almost every day.

 

arriving at lake Bled

 
We went into the Bled campsite. It was packed, every camper van and caravan spot was full but they could still squeeze in backpackers and cyclists. We found a nice enough spot and lay all our stuff down, and then lay down ourselves for a well deserved day off.

campsite at Bled

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Austria, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 28: Murau to St. Veit

No pass to cross today! We did have to do some climbing, but it was all gradual, only about 600m vertical that was mostly an easy climb.
Leaving the campsite in the morning we followed the cycle route again through a golf course and some villages, back into the main road. The main road then took us downhill for a bit into the town of Stadl. From Stadl we started to climb up beside a river, that turned into a fast flowing stream as our surrounding moved from valley to gorge. 

  
We crossed a dam and then everything opened up again. Before too long we were in the small village of Flattnitz at 1400m, a small village with a few chalets dotted around and a single ski run. We had lunch here. 

  
  
The descent from Flattnitz was brilliant: long, flat stretches of road and no switchbacks. It always seems like the descents don’t last long enough for the work you have to put in getting up to them.

  
We then rode along rolling hills for two hours into the town of Feldkirchen. Austria, like Germany (at least the parts of Germany we were in) shuts down on Sunday, no stores at all are open, no supermarkets, pretty much nothing except a smattering of cafes. Feldkirchen felt like a ghost town as we rolled in. We got to the centre square and found one cafe open where we got some ice cream and cooled off from the heat.

  
We got out of town around 5.30 and cycled on, hoping to find somewhere to camp quickly but it took an hour and a slight detour before we came across anything. We ended up at a small lake that took a bit of riding off our route to get to, but ended up being really nice, well worth the detour. It was our last night in Austria, tomorrow we would cross over into Slovenia.

  

last campsite in Austria

  

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Austria, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 27: Bad Mittendorf to Murau (over the Sölk Pass)

The main event do today would be crossing the Sölk pass, a pass that would take us up to 1788m, if we made it. Yesterday’s pass had been quite difficult, but we mainly put that down to the heat. With clouds on the horizon there was hope yet that the difficulty of the upcoming pass wouldn’t be enhanced by the heat.
We had about 30km to ride before we arrived at the base of the pass and we covered that quickly, it was all on main road and quite flat – but still with great views of the surrounding mountains.

  
There were loads of bikers (motorbikes) at the base of the pass, having a coffee before the went over the mountain. I had a feeling their experience would be very different to ours. We were starting at 680, so we had 1100m vertical to do. The pass was 26 km long though, so it wasn’t going to be a steep climb the whole way.

  
It started with a 16% kick but soon mellowed out into a more gradual climb up through the mountains. We followed for about two hours, after an hour the clouds came in and it was nice and cool. 

 

lovely clouds

 
After our gentle two hour journey up the valley, gradually and gently gaining altitude we crossed into the National Park area of the climb, where cows roamed around at will and the landscape felt a lot more wild, like the west of Ireland or Scotland, only up in the Alps.

  
  
Here the climbing got a bit harder and we really started to feel it. There was another kick that lasted about 1500m and we thought at the end of it we should be at the top. Pushing hard we got around the corner and…still 300m to climb of steep switchbacks. 
It was lunchtime though so we cut the ascent in half and rolled into a hotel that happened to be right there that was serving hot lunch. As soon as we sat down there was a huge clap of thunder and big, heavy raindrops fell. We ate lunch (a great dish called Speknockrel) and started up again about an hour later, well rested and fed.
The rain was really coming down as we finished the last 300m but cleared up once we reached the top, and what a view. This was the biggest pass we would have to cross going over the Alps, it was really a relief to have it done now.

looking back at the pass from near the top

 

starting the descent

 
After getting to the top of the pass, the rest of the day felt rather uneventful. There was a great descent down the other side, but we couldn’t really enjoy it as the roads were all slick with rain and the switchbacks frequent and sharp.
We rode along for about an hour before reaching a town with an Aldi where we picked up food for dinner and the morning. From there we followed a river out of town along a cycle track until we spotted somewhere to camp, a nice clear field off the cycle path.
We stopped just in time as the thunder and lightening came in again, and with it the rain. This was the first rainstorm since we had bought the tarp we had been out in, so excitedly we set it up. And what a great purchase! Once it was up we had a huge area to sit under while the rain passed us over. We cooked dinner and then not long after, wrecked from the days ride, fell fast asleep.

 

chuffed with the effectiveness of the tarp

 
 

better shot, the next morning

 

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Austria, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 26: Lake Fuschl to Bad Mittendorf

Today was Finns birthday and he got to spend it crossing our first Alpine pass! What a gift. 

lake wolfgang

 
Leaving Lake Fuschl behind in the morning, we climbed for a bit and then came across the bigger and more spectacular Lake Wolfgang, another lake framed by the Alpine peaks which we followed for about 15k. We then turned inland, following the road into Bad Ischl. Here we hopped onto a cycle route that took us through shady woodland following along a fast running stream all the way to the next town of Bad Goisern. 

 

down into Bad Ischl

 
It had been really hot all day, somewhere above 30° for sure. As we passed through Bad Goisern we crossed over a bridge where people had gathered on the grassy bank to swim. It being so hot, it didn’t take long for us to hop into the river for a swim too.

  
Nicely cooled down after our dip we had lunch in town and got ready to cross the first pass of our trip over the Alps. It was really hot still so we waited around as late as possible, hoping the heat would dissipate a bit. It did not.
We started climbing shortly after four and it was soon apparent this would not be easy. We had 500m vertical to do and the road was completely exposed to the sun. We both had to stop every couple of meters to cool down and so it was about 90min later by the time we reached the top.

 

almost at the top

 
As with any climb though, once we got to the top it was all worth it. We were really in the Alps now with huge peaks towering all around us. The vista gave us the energy to ride a bit longer along the valley floor, up and over a small hill and then down towards Bad Mittendorf.

  
  
  
At Bad Mittendorf we looked around for somewhere to camp. We finally spotted a small stoney beach on the other side of a stream, sheltered by trees. We carried our bags and then bikes over the water and set up for the evening, having a good wash in the stream. 

  

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Austria, Dublin to Nepal, Germany, On Tour

Day 25: Lake Chiem to Lake Fuschl (via Salzburg)

 In the morning we went for a swim before packing up and heading out. We had planned another relatively short day so that we could spend the afternoon in Salzburg before riding a little way out of the city to camp in the evening.  

the lake in the morning

 
The ride out to Salzburg was pleasant, and it was another hot and sunny day. We followed the shores of the lake in the early morning before cutting across country a bit on a B road. We soon arrived in Traunstine, a town outside Salzburg about 20 km where we grabbed a coffee and took some brief respite from the heat of the sun.
Riding towards Salzburg on another B road, we spotted a cycle track that would take us to the next town just before the city on our route. We turned off the road and climbed for about 10 minutes. When we came out of the trees we found ourselves on top of rolling alpine hills dotted with farmhouse and barns and the mountains off in the distance. 

  
This scenic route brought us almost to Salzburg, where we then turned on to the Mozart cycle route that brought us all the was to the city. We crossed the bridge into the city and left Germany behind. We would be here in Austria for about a week while we crossed the Alps.
  
 

riding in the wood along the Mozart cycle route

 
 

coming into Austria, goodbye Germany

 
In Salzburg we wandered around for a bit looking at the sights, but it was too hot to really concentrate on anything. All we actually wanted was some food. More wandering in the wrong direction took us by happenstance through Mozarts birthplace but we were on the completely wrong side of town, as we learned from the concierge at the Sheraton. 

 

Salzburg old town

 
Returning to the centre we found somewhere to eat, but it had gotten late. We managed to get a small bit of sauntering around the old town done but it was time to leave if we were to get to our destination.
Turned out we had a bit of a climb coming out of Salzburg but it was well worth it in the end, after we finished the 45 min climb we were once again out on Alpine plains. It was starting to get dark by the time we reached Lake Fuschl. The road skirted far above the lake but soon descended into the resort town of Fuschl am See. We rode though the town and out the other side and before long came across a nice stoney beach on the shore to set up camp.

 

 

riding along the top of Lake Fuschl


 

Sunset at Fuschl


 

our campsite the next morning

    

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Dublin to Nepal, Germany, On Tour

Day 24: Zorneding to Lake Chiem

It was pretty warm when we woke up this morning at 7, it was going to be a hot day. We cycled on the main road for a while which was a bit busy seeing as it was morning rush hour but after about 15km we got to Grafing where we were able to turn off the main road and get onto smaller back roads, similar to what we had been riding into Munich.
  
A short while outside Grafing we got our first glimpse of the Alps, way off on the horizon and obscured by the haze, but definitely there. You might be able to make them out in the photo. 

can you spot the mountains on the horizon?

 

The route was really picturesque through more German countryside and small villages. We weren’t going very far today, we wanted to stop a bit outside Salzburg so we could get in early tomorrow and spend the day there.

 

casual frisbee break

 
We got closer to the Alps and soon we could see them very clearly on the horizon. We had lunch just before arriving at the lake, decided to have a quick nap after eating and the went down to the shore.

  
Lake Chiem was a popular holiday destination and every beach or jetty was packed with people but it was still beautiful with clear blue waters and framed by the Alps towering in the distance. We rode along the shore for a while, hoping to find somewhere that wasnt packed with people by the lakeside where we could camp. We didn’t have to search long and after cycling for maybe 20 minutes we came across a stoney shore which some low hanging vegetation off to the side the blocked sight from the road, it was perfect.

  
We hung out here for the rest of the day, swimming, doing bike maintenance etc.

  
  

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Dublin to Nepal, Germany, On Tour

Day 23: Munich to Zorneding

  
During our stay in Munich Finn had noticed his Dynamo hub was not working properly. He left it in with some mechanics on the morning we were to leave, and they were also unable to get it going. However, we were only a three hour train ride from Tübigen (in fact we had passed through it a couple of days before) where the hubs were made. 
We decided to push our date of departure back a day, Finn took the wheel off his bike and locked it up and left for Tübigen. I went and found a cheap place to stay in Munich for the night nearby where I could keep all our luggage.
I went back to Finns bike in the morning before checkout and put his bags back on his bike and then locked them all up. After that I cycled back, loaded up my bike and checked the messages from Finn,meh said he had had a successful morning in Tübigen getting his hub fixed at the factory and would meet me around two.
His train ended up being delayed and didn’t get in until three. Some 

last minute errands including returning to Guten Biken meant we didn’t get out of the city until six. We only had a few hours of daylight left, we wouldn’t get that far but we didn’t to at least get out of the city limits so we could start making progress right away the next day.
We rode through suburbs of Munich for about an hour until we crossed the Autobahn that circled the city limits and we were back into countryside. At eight we stopped into a pretty fancy Chinese restaurant by the road to fill up our water for the night. Not ten minutes further down the road we found a field just of it to camp for the night.
Our time in Municn had been the longest time off the bike and sleeping indoors since we started and it was nice to be out camping again, even if we had only ridden for two hours today.

camping just outside munich

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