October 2, 2017
111 Dalmations: Day 56 - Bosiljevo to Opatija
Ok, we're technically not in the Dalmatian coast. That's a little bit south of here. But we did make it to the Adiratic and are cozily ensconced at the Hotel Villa Kapetonovic after arriving in the dark last night just before 7 pm.
One hundred and eleven km's, and 111 hills. We did more elevation gain / loss today (approx. 1900 m) than on any of our days going across Canada. We found the flat Danube too boring. Well, today was anything but boring.
Once again we had a stunning early Autumn day. It was classic, a very clear sky and cool air. When the sun was shining on you it was warm, in the shade it was cool. Perfect cycling weather, and we needed that today.
When we set off we had a nice gently rolling intro for about 9 km, then we hit our first hill. Almost 5 km later on a nice 6% average grade we came into a meadow. Great, we'll have many km's of rolling along a mountain plateau! That thought lasted as long as the meadow did, about 5 minutes. Then it was back to climbing.
Beautiful riding, but slow progress. We knew we had 110 km to go to get to the fancy hotel we booked (and paid for!) and when we hit Delnice, the 50 km mark, after 4 hours of biking and no foreseeable end to the up and down hills, with about double the up to the down, we both started to get a little nervous. We would be using our lights today!
After another 20 km past Delnice, and several more up, down, up combo's, we topped out at an altitude of about 925 m , and we could not see any more mountains looming above us to the west. They were now falling away towards the sea and great 20 km downhill to the outskirts of Rijeka! Then we made a fatal error.
With the great downhill run we had gained back a lot of time. It was just before 5 pm and we had about 15 km left to go if we went into Rijeka and then took the coast road (looked busy with a few small up and downs) to get to Opatija, but Pocket Earth had a route that swung around to the north and avoided the city, and was about 20 km. At this point the geography was largely flat with a few relatively small ridges running north to south that we would have to cross. We decided to go with pocket earth. The first 7 km were idyllic cycling through flat farm land. By then we were committed, and the last steep 4 km climb hit us. Not what we needed. As we reached the top of this climb, the sun was fading and we were riding through more or less built up towns with more endless up and down, albeit on a smaller scale. Our route also led us through one town where the main street (the only through rode without detouring through more hills) was completely blocked off for a street fair and it was jammed with people!).
Finally made it to the hotel which is set on a steep hill overlooking Opatija. Checked into a very nice room, had a shower and then had a great dinner at the extremely good restaurant in the hotel. No pics, but we had the set menu ... tuna tartare and a main of grilled monkfish, side salad and a hazelnut chocolate cake for dessert. All washed down with an excellent bottle of very local Malvasia. A perfect end to a great, but grueling day.
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Song of the day
We just read that Tom Petty passed away today. Only 66, too early.
In memoriam
I Won't Back Down ...
We had to keep telling ourselves that today too, as we were faced with climb after climb, as it's always worth it to stand your ground if you are doing what you believe in. RIP Tom
This video is from the "Tribute to Hero's" concert that was pulled together immediately after 9/11. Tom Petty was one of a score of artists to contibute to this very moving concert. We had just moved to Aberdeen Scotland at the time, and didn't have a TV, so we were largely insulated from the ensuing 24/7 news coverage, memorials and tributes. On the night of the "Tribute to Hero's" we were in a B&B in Glasgow and just happened to turn on the TV when the broadcast of this concert started. Pure serendipity. Without saying a word (just like the concert), or making any further plans, our family watched this (still very moving) concert from start to finish.
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Today's ride: 111 km (69 miles)
Total: 4,085 km (2,537 miles)
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