THE ADRIATIC SEA

We enter Croatia and spend a couple of days of EZ PZ bicycling along the coast as we head toward the town of Selce, which has relaxing beaches and a Ferris Wheel. We enjoy an evening stroll along the seaside promenade with many enticing open air restaurants.

FREE ROAMING HORSES

The next day offers up our biggest climbing day so far. We turn inland and and have a steady climb for 15 miles as we encounter our first day climbing over 3,000’. With each push up the mountain, comes the glorious ride down the other side! There are pockets of pasture land with herds of free roaming horses. Most pay no attention to random vehicles or bicyclists passing by. A couple are a little curious… as is a cat.

Our route loops back to the coast at the end of the day, into the town of Senj. We stay in an apartment overlooking the water where Jo and I enjoy a dip into the Adriatic Sea. It is so refreshingly cold and invigorating! While it’s overcast, it doesn’t rain and I go exploring in this town with its 3,000 year history.

PLUM HARVEST

Leaving Senj we conquer another serious and steep climb to Sveti Roc. Along the way, my bicycle automatically veers off the road when I spot a farmer gathering plums. He has big hands and keeps giving me handfulls of his delicious harvest. I’m grateful for the special treat. Jo shows up and the farmer loads her up with plums too. These sun kissed, sweet fruits are the best biking fuel!

The landscape around Sveti Roc has towering mountains and an expansive valley for grazing. We take a rain day here and when it clears up I go for a strolI down a dirt lane. I notice a woman moving her sheep to the next pasture. Once the sheep are settled in and grazing, she pulls out her stool and knits. I pass by her on my way back, and she shows me the perfectly knitted socks she is making.

APPRECIATING JO

Jo and I have such a relaxing rhythm. In areas with traffic, or many turns, we’ll stay in sight of each other. On long country roads we go our own speeds, and I’ll usually catch up when Jo stops for lunch.

We decide on our overnight lodging the evening before as one or the other of us will get there first. We usually end up making reservations via booking.com since it lists a lot of small family operated apartments as well as hostels. It’s easy to cancel if we change plans, and we usually pay cash on arrival. Every country accepts euros and will give us change in the local currency. We’ll stop somewhere for groceries and typically eat-in at our accommodation.

Jo and I usually go exploring separately in town, as we each like to follow our own instincts. Sometimes we meet up for a meal or a walk. We enjoy plenty of opportunities to share our stories and laugh throughout the day. Its a fun vibe!

HIGH WINDS & A WATERFALL

The next leg of our Trans Dinarica route is a dirt and gravel route up over a mountain. Given how hard the up-hills have already been, Jo and I elect to pivot from the Trans Dinarica route and take a paved road from Sveti Roc to the Zrmanje Waterfall instead. Once we get up the mountain it’s super windy, and at the top we have to be very careful not to topple over from the wind gusts. We are told these strong wind gusts are called ‘Bura’, and that some of Croatia’s strongest winds occur in the Velebit mountain range where we now are.

We didn’t realize our paved road pivot takes us through a tunnel, which is shortly after we crest at a mountain pass. It’s Sunday and there are a lot of big tour busses on the road. A police car shows up just in time, and stops traffic to allow us to go through the tunnel safely. Jo and I are so relieved, and thankful we didn’t get a ticket - because maybe we are not allowed in the tunnel on bikes. It’s a long descent from the tunnel and I can’t go fast because, at any moment, a gust of wind could knock me over. Our pivot has brought us some interesting challenges!

Finally, we make it to the Zrmanje Waterfall - after crossing a closed and broken road that cars can’t travel on. We are relieved that we can get across, don’t have to double back, and can simply enjoy our destination. The Zrmanje Waterfall is immensely powerful and loud. Since it is off-season, we get to sleep under an outdoor restaurant seating area that is now closed. We are surely picking up a lot of negative ions from the waterfall!

DINARA NATURE PARK

The Zrmanje to Knin route takes us through small villages connected with miles and miles of rock wall pastures. Some villages are vacant and I don’t see any animals inside the walled pastures. This area must have been a thriving agricultural community at one time. I can’t even begin to imagine the rough labor it took to build all the rock walls! After imagining all the exertion, Jo and I treat ourselves to pizza at the end of the day.

From Knin to Sing, the route goes through the Dinara Nature Park which is loaded with big pine trees. We stop at a very cool museum/souvenir shop where we are greeted by Lilia, the owner, who is German and married to a Croatian. They retired to this part of Croatia - where her husband is originally from. Lilia collected her husband’s family artifacts, from generations back, has artfully displayed them and is happy to tell their stories.

We didn’t see many people but we did see a cluster of historic landmarks. The Church of St. Savior, built in the 9th century, has many tall old tombstones filling its cemetery. Plating Bridge, over the Cetina River, is made from medieval megaliths that were originally used as tombstones. There was also a Turkish monastery with a deep green sinkhole behind it.