Euro Tour Day 31 to 38: Koper to Split, Croatia
This entire week was along the coast of Croatia. First around the Istria Peninsula, then island hopping on Krk, Rab, & Pag islands, then down the mainland to Zadar, Sibenik, & Split. The coastal views, sunsets, and weather were glorious all week (except one day of heavy rain when I took a rest day). A few days were blissful riding on quiet roads and a few were quite stressful on busy roads with cars and trucks zooming by super close at high speed. I have cycled 3200 km (2000 miles), now my longest bike tour!
Day 31: Koper to Poreč, Croatia, 82 km
I continued along the Parenzana cycle route, a rail-to-trail spanning through Italy, Slovenia, & Croatia. The section through Slovenia is really great, including some coastal riding and some bike tunnels. Then I entered Croatia, country 9 on this tour. The Parenzana trail immediately turned to gravel with lots of climbing. I heard that it eventually turns into steep single track riding, which would not be fun on a loaded touring bike. So I rode along the Istrian Coast for the rest of the day. Lots of busy highway riding made the ride not very relaxing. But the camp and sunset by the sea helped make everything better again.
Day 32: Poreč to Pula, 76 km
Cycling in Croatia is both stressful (lots of cycling on busy roads with not so cyclist-friendly drivers) and spectacular with an awesome coastline and beautiful cities. Today was on busy roads most of the day. I stopped in Rovinj, which was great. Then I cycled to Pula, which was not so pretty but has a mostly intact Roman amphitheater. I’m camping by the Adriatic Sea again and saw a cloudless sunset over the sea.
Day 33: Pula to Moscenicka Draga, 80 km
Three solid climbs (legs felt good), a minor crash (just fell over when I didn’t unclip in time, bloody knee & bruised ego), quiet roads the first half (so much better than past 2 days), and great views of the Croatian islands on the second half. A solid day!
Day 34: Moscenicka Draga to Krk, 79 km
Got an early start to beat the incoming storm and rode along the coast to Rijeka and then crossed over a bridge to the island of Krk hoping to find quiet roads, which was unsuccessful as there was a steady flow of high-speed traffic on the island. While there were no big climbs, there wasn’t a single kilometer that was flat, resulting in the highest total elevation gain of the tour and a tired arrival to the town of Krk. Booked an apartment for a couple of nights to rest, wait out the storm, and figure out next steps, both near-term and eventual final destination.
Day 35: Krk to Pag, 66 km
An island hopping day. 3 ferries, 3 islands with 3-letter names: Krk, Rab, & Pag. All day I was either waiting for a ferry, on a ferry, or cycling like crazy to catch a ferry. Only rode 66km but climbed over 1k meters as the ferries are at sea level and all of the roads on the islands are certainly not. Made it to camp at sunset and setup in the dark. Best sleep in a while.
Day 36: Pag to Zadar, 79 km
Made it to Zadar, almost beat the rain. Staying at a guesthouse of a sweet elderly couple in the city center. They don’t speak English but we managed just fine using Croatian, German, Spanish, Google Translate, and lots of hand gestures. Something strange with the washing machines here. All my clothes seem to have expanded and are falling off me.
Day 37: Zadar to Sibenik, 84 km
Today I hit 3000km on the tour! This is now my longest bike tour, both in distance and number of days. Reached Sibenik where I’m staying with my Camino friend Lorenzo that I met in Spain 2 years ago. Had dinner at his awesome restaurant Nostalgija Konoba.
Day 38: Sibenik to Split, 71 km
Yesterday I did an unloaded day ride to Krka National Park to see its cascading waterfalls. It was very crowded (as expected) so I didn’t stay long. The ride back to Sibenik was pretty rough, with several close calls with speeding buses/trucks/cars zooming by super close. One jerk actually passed so close that his car knocked the mirror off my bike, meaning he missed me by a few inches. Thankfully I am fine, just rattled. Today I said bye to my friend and host Lorenzo after a wonderful stay. He suggested a much quieter inland route (vs. the coastal route) and it was much better. I finished the day in beautiful Split, where there seems to be no off-season as it is jam packed (again as expected).
