Food, Sweat and Beers

The fetid aroma of silage envelopes me as we ride through the Slovenian countryside. Sweat is dripping off every part of me and I taste the precious salt leaving my body when licking my lips.

I take another big gulp from my water bottle filled with electrolytes to help stem the tide of losing those precious ions. It’s the temperature of bath water but I gulp it down anyway. It’s only mid-morning. We need to stop for a break, have a cold drink and replenish the bottles. It’s impossible to drink enough on these hot days but we try.

We’re on our way to Ljubljana, Slovenia, after having crossed Croatia in two days since leaving Bosnia-Hercegovina.

The difference between Bosnia and Croatia was noticeable as soon as we stopped for a coffee at a roadside café. In Bosnia four cappuccinos cost 8 BAM, or €4. At our first Croatian coffee stop those same cappuccinos cost €12. Thankfully, the prices moderated a bit as we rode away from more touristy areas and they’re a bit cheaper in Slovenia.

Leaving Bosnia, we put in a fairly long day of 96 kilometres. We hadn’t planned to ride that far. We had set our sights on a camp site in a river gorge with the promise of a dip in the clear, cold water at the end of another hot day.

As we neared the gorge we stopped alongside the road wondering what the noise was. Looking over the edge the noise turned out to be a heavy metal band blasting out their ear drums and we saw a sea of tents covering the meadow alongside the river.

The security guards allowed us in to camp but after riding the length of the site it was clear we likely wouldn’t get any sleep. These people were here to party hard so we made the painful, yet easy, decision to leave and look for some other place to rest our weary legs for the night.

We had to ride another 25 kilometres, with a hard climb out of the gorge, to a nice little campground where we were welcomed with shots of slivovice. We bought 4 large beers as chasers and sat drinking the cold, crisp lagers in the shade offered by a communal kitchen. It was good to be out of the sun pouring cold beer down our necks.

The temperature dropped with the sun and we all felt a whole lot better after showers. The tents were put up and we cooked dinner while chatting with a French couple travelling with their two young boys in a small camper van.

Camping is our preferred accommodation but it hasn’t been all that practical on this journey. Wild camping at home in British Columbia is a piece of cake but in Europe there are fewer opportunities to do that as easily and is even illegal in some countries.

We aimed for Delnice the next day where we had reserved an apartment. The ride started off with easy, fast, flat riding through farm land and small villages but the road slowly tilted upwards as we approached Vrbovsko. We stopped there for a coffee break before tackling the long climb out of town: 12 km with an average gradient of just over five per cent.

Part way up, a fountain provided relief by sticking our heads into to ice cold water coming from the faucet, bringing our body temperatures down a little. We filled bottles and continued the climb.

Just as we begin the downhill a roadside restaurant beckons us to stop and we have a leisurely lunch before carrying on the final 16 km to Delnice on an ever-steepening downhill run.

We crossed the border into Slovenia with our eyes on another campsite. This time we had better luck. Camping Beli gaber was a tranquil oasis with a beautiful kitchen and seating area. There were cold drinks for sale from a self-serve fridge and the hostess came by in the evening and poured everyone a shot of the local liqueur.

We planned to take a break in Ljubljana to rest, explore the Slovenian capital and come up with a plan for seeing more of this beautiful country that is a cycling paradise with countless route options crisscrossing the country.

We have a beautiful start to the day riding through Cerkniško jezera, a marshy area that is mostly a lake in winter and spring but in summer partly dries up, providing a bike route that is quite popular with locals and tourists alike.

The day is hot and humid and we can’t wait to get to our air conditioned apartment in Ljubljana.

As we get closer, dark clouds begin to build over the city and sky cracks open with lightning, followed closely by very loud thunder. We push the pedals a little harder as rain is obviously falling in various parts of the city. We’re lucky and make it to our accommodation before the downpour.

The storm didn’t amount to much in the end but just a bit of rain makes all the difference in the heat. It freshens up the atmosphere a little, just as showers did for us and we were ready for an evening stroll in Ljubljana’s centre in search of food and drink.

It’s busy. There are many tourists in the streets but it’s not overwhelming as in some cities. There is a nice casual atmosphere and the car-free centre sprawls on both sides of the Ljubljanica River, forming a pedestrian’s paradise with a myriad of shops, cafés and restaurants.

We enjoy the scenery and the atmosphere and settle on a restaurant not far from our apartment. We are hungry and the big burgers and cold beer are just what we needed.

While we wait for our food we compare tans. Cyclists have strange tan lines all over their bodies.

That night we decide we will stay an extra day but, unfortunately, the place we’re in is already booked after us so we go on the hunt for another. We find one a bit on the outskirts of the city which suits us. Our host allows us to leave our bikes in an adjacent vacant room until 2 pm of our checkout day, giving us much of the day to wander some more around the city.

We wander up and down the city, taking in all we can and always on the lookout for interesting places to eat or drink. Food is always a big draw as we try to experience the local cuisine and pack in the much needed calories.

Jan and I head off to a less busy part of town to a craft brewery. We enjoy the beer and cider in what is a much quieter part of the centre.

We wander some more and find a neighbourhood bar next to a grocery store that has live jazz every night. We make a plan to return that evening.

On our way back toward the busier part of downtown, we deke into an outdoor shop and find Frank and Sylvia chatting with the owner and we get some valuable local info that helps us put together a route for when we leave Ljubljana.

Three days in a city is often a bit too long for us but not in Ljubljana. We love the compactness of the downtown and the lack of cars. Cyclists are everywhere and it is no wonder as the city has an extensive cycling infrastructure, as does the rest of Slovenia.

The bicycle is transportation. We know that. At home in Vancouver it’s always faster to take the bike and over the years Vancouver’s cycling infrastructure has grown admirably but it needs to do more to match what has been done here.

On our final morning we head up the hill to the castle before the heat settles. It’s a nice walk in the forest as the trail winds upwards.

The castle offers nice views over the city and all kinds of ways to separate a willing traveller from their money. We resist and just enjoy the tranquil scenery before heading back down.

We ride on bike paths to the western outskirts of the city and our apartment for the final night in Ljubljana. We pick up groceries to have a home cooked dinner.

As we’re unpacking, a young guy comes out of the other apartment in the building. He’s also cycling and is excited to meet us.

Simon has been on the road for months since he left his home in Ireland. He works remotely for Komoot, one of the cycling planning apps we use for our trips. He works Monday to Friday in a rented apartment and rides on weekends.

Since December, 2023, he’s made his way around the south of Western Europe already, a distance of nearly 9,000 kilometres in 77 days riding. That’s 116 km average per ride, about twice as much as we ride in a day. But we’re probably older than his parents.

We swap stories and he’s keen to know where we’ve been because that’s where he’s heading on his adventure that will become a bicycle journey around the world. We wish him well and assure him he has a place to stay in Vancouver when he gets there in 18-24 months.

And so we head out of Ljubljana in an easterly direction to do a loop through Slovenia.