Author: martin

Overall today was a nice ride. I was biking by the coast for a long time and it was beautiful. I went through a 1 mile long undersea tunnel today. I got a ride from the tunnel service people because bicycles are not allowed in the tunnel. Looked like they were set up for it. As soon as I showed up in the views off the security cameras they came to me with a car and trailer.

Today was so far the biggest struggle to find a room for the night. I hope it is just a one time thing.

Hotel Elektra, B – 34EUR

I was planning to stay a little longer on Corfu. However, the forecast for cooling weather made me continue south. The ride through the central Corfu was very pretty. The ride from Igoumenitza to Parga was also nice but more hilly than I expected.

Private room, B – 25EUR

 

This was an easy day. I took the ferry to Corfu and rode around Corfu Old Town – lot of history. However, it is a little painfull to ride around a big busy town like Corfu.
I ended the day in the little touristy beach village called Agios Gordios.

Mires House, B – 30EUR

This was another great stage. Most of it was winding by the coast up and down around gorgeous little bays.  However, the everywhere present garbage was not a pleasant sight.

I planned to finish in Ksamil.  I got there at 2 o’clock and I decided to go on and try to make it all the way to Greece. I was really looking forward to Greece.

When I thought I was already going to leave Albania without major incidents I ran into a little confrontation with a dog shepharding some sheep.  He saw me coming and tried to move the sheep of the road. But I was too fast (haha) and got there when the sheep were still on the road and he didn’t like it. He barked at me and ran at me but he did not do anything bad to me. I think he was just doing his job – looking after the sheep.

I stopped in the first fishing village in Greece. There was no hotel but I asked at the local waterfront pub where I could get a room they called somebody made the arrangements and explained how to get there.

Private room, B – 25EUR

This was an amazing stage. It made up for the previous two mediocre days. The climbing up the mountain was very difficult at times, some of the pitches were very steep and long.   The views were rewarding.

I was in Himare around 3 PM. I found a hotel on the beach.

I took a swim in the new sea (to me) Ionian Sea.  I waved goodby to the good old Adriatic.  I would vote to change it to an ocean – it felt big.  🙂

Hotel Veizi, B – 20EUR 

 

This was a long stage. The first 27 km are not recorded in the Strava segment. About half of the stage was a nice backroads going through Albanian villages. The other half was on busy roads with with high or medium traffic.
Getting through Fier was difficult because all the freeway traffic also went there. The freeway around town is not finished yet. Unfortunately the roads were all surrounded by garbage just like the previous day.

Hotel Miramare, B+B 30 EUR. The view was fantastic.

 

 

This was a challenging day. I saw a lot of garbage and I biked by a huge derelict factory in Lac.  The huge hotel zone filled with huge hotels south of Duress was also very interesting.

I was glad to get a room at a nice hotel at Kavaje.  Same as last night people here and the staff were very accommodating and nice.

Hotel Florian, B – 15EUR 

 

 

The main event today was entering Albania. I did not know what to expect, I heard mixed things about a Albania. All was great and my first impression of Albania is spotless. Good roads, considerate drivers gave me a lot of space, I found an ATM quickly and I found very good lodging with excellent food and nice people running it. My last kilometers in Montenegro were also very nice. I got on a back road and cycled up above the valley through some villages with donkeys on the road.

Hotel, B+B 30EUR

Since the bay was at my doorsteps I went out this morning to swim. I visited Kotor town but it was very crowded with lots of tourists. On the way out of the bay I had to go through a 1 mile tunnel. It looked very scary, lot of traffic, dark and no shoulder. As I was waiting trying to get my courage together a local cyclist came by. He stopped and told me that it is bad but that he does it every day. He turned on his back blinkie and we went in the tunnel together. It was very bad, I was so happy when I made it to the other side.
Other than the tunnel it was a very scenic ride today. Montenegro seems to be very densely populated. There were hotels and houses pretty much all the way. Budva reminded me of Las Vegas – casinos and hotels.

Private apartment, B – 20EUR

 

 

This was a fantastic stage with the exception of the part around Dubrovnik. Lot of bad traffic and no back roads that I could find.
At a very remote view point I ran into a couple from Cle Elum Washington; small world. The Bay of Kotor is fantastic, both scenery and the architecture.

Private room, 15EUR

 

 

 

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This was a beautiful stage. There was a lot of climbing but the views were unbelievable. For most of the ride traffic was pretty low. I biked through some wine country, wineries everywhere. I found a small campground right on the beach.

Camp Sladenovici, Dinner + Camp – 19EUR

 

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This was a stage that came after a six day break in Vodice.   The comfort and the company of my friends in Vodice was very nice but I was getting restless .

The day started on the busy magistrala road.   After about an hour I took a left turn and went up the hills on some local roads.   I spent about three hours on the back roads and it was very nice.  The last hour before Split was busy and not enjoyable.   The port in Split was also very busy and crowded.   Split is a big city.   I took the ferry from split to Vela Luka.   I arrived after dark so I reserved a room while I was waiting for the ferry .

Apartments Franko, B – 26EUR 

 

 

Today is my 5th night in Vodice.   I am enjoying the rest. We are renting a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment together with my Czech friends from Opava – Iveta, Kamil and Eva. This is my third time at this house. I was here first time in year 2000 and Iveta has been here many many times in the last 19 years.  Our hosts Drago and Maria are very friendly and take good care of us.   The apartement is also very nice. http://www.dalmatina.info/drago/index.asp?link=4&lang=

We have been doing a lot of fun vacation stuff –  trips, beach, swimming, sailing ferry trip, dinners,  ice cream, wine etc.

Besides vacationing I also got my laundry done and I made a trip to the bike shop.   I got a new chain and they checked my bike for potential issues.   Because the more adventurous part of the trip is just ahead of me I am also doing a lot of planning and reading on Montenegro and Albania.  I can’t wait to see the Bay of Kotor. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Kotor.

I plan to start biking again on Friday and I will add posts as I go. In the meantime I am  adding some pictures from our stay in the Vodice area.

 

 

This is probably the least scenic ride so far. After I got out of Zadar the road was flat with headwind and medium to heavy traffic. About 10 km before Vodice I took a turn off the main road and I was able to enjoy some nice scenery and visited a very pretty village Tribunj. I am meeting some very good friends in Vodice for a weeklong vacation. We have known each other since we were teenagers. I really looked forward to this week long relax. I pulled into the house just in time for the 2:30 delicious Dalmation fish lunch with our hosts and my friends.

 

 

 

 

The day started off really well. I got a great breakfast in the hotel. I didn’t know  it was included in my nightly rate.  The ride across the bridge with spectacular. After that I wasted some time by looking around campgrounds in the Nin area.   I looked at three campsites and none of them were good. At the end I got a private apartment in a house in the north suburbs of  Zadar.   The apartment was very nice and the beach was just one block away.   The owner invited me for a barbecue with his friends which turned out to be a biker barbecue at the backyard of the house. It was fun.