Day 34 - Preddvor to Kranjska Gora - Oh The Places You'll Go - 2025

May 14, 2025

Day 34 - Preddvor to Kranjska Gora

Feels Like Home

There’s a lot of fellow CB’ers out touring right now, and a number of them have made more or less the same comment in the last few days:”This is why we tour!”

Well, I guess I can’t say that then.

How about ‘Today was awesome’, making me sound like a ‘20 something circa 2003, or ‘Today had rizz’ , making me sound like a ‘20 something circa 2024.

We’ll have to go with awesome as I have a ray of hope of pulling that one off.

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We had two basic bike route options for today, both would have been good, but Janna strongly recommended the route we took up the Radovna valley and river NW from Bled. It was a few km’s longer and about 300 m more (gentle - with one short sharp exception) climbing than the alternative, but was it ever a great ride.

The route to Bled was across the Ljubljana basin, ground we covered yesterday with Borut (in a car) on very quiet side roads or dedicated bike trails as we got closer to Bled. The weather was perfect, high teens and full sun with - get this - a real tail wind for most of the day. First time on this tour we’ve had a real day long tailwind!

We were in Bled in no time and found an empty bench beside the lake to eat lunch (a great sandwich that Borut sent us off with - once again a huge thank you!). After that we set off up the Radovna valley which we shared with maybe a dozen cars, twenty or so road bikers and a handful of other tourers.

The elevation gain was almost imperceptible (maybe that tail wind?) but it was happening and about 1 km before our high point where we’d make a short downhill run to join into the main route into Kranjska Gora, we came across a small country inn. There were a few other bike tourers already there so we decided to drop in and have a snack and a cold drink before the final run into Kranjska Gora.

About the same time we pulled in, two other tourers pulled up too, coming from the other direction. Didn’t catch their names but they were from the US. The younger of the two (looked to be in 30’s or so) was from Portland and we had a pretty good chat with him. The older other guy (about our age or a bit younger - sounds like he lives in Slovenia as an expat) wasn’t as chatty, and the only thing he had to say was ‘If you think it’s been easy so far, there’s an 18% hill just around the corner. You’ll be pushing up that one.’

Ok, maybe, we’ll see.

Drinks and snacks done, we set off for the final 17 km’s to Kranjska. We really didn’t believe the guy that there was an 18% hill, we knew we had 100 m more to climb but it looked like that would be over a km or two. We did turn the next corner though and saw an 18% sign, and a hill that curved and steepened to our right. OK, let’s check out gear one on the new bikes.

The report back … gear one works. We climbed it, not fast, and it wasn’t far, but we did pedal it all (and we don’t have a battery like you did buddy … just saying. Ok, got that snark out of my system)- after the little ‘intensity training’ is was a short and fairly steep scream down to the main trail that follows the Sava river valley up into Kranjska Gora.

This is one of the main bike routes in Slovenia and it shows. Even on a Wednesday afternoon there was a lot of traffic, both roadies and tourers, on the impeccable bike trail. This must have been a former rail line, just check out the elevation profile in the map for the last 20 km’s. A ruler straight 1.2% incline for 13 km’s. With a tailwind, it almost felt like a slight downhill.

Kranjska’s a resort town (yes a real ski town - no getting fooled this time like Idrija) and it’s between seasons now, a great time to be here. There’s enough stuff going on and places open to be interesting, but not crowded. Someone’s looking out for us!.

We’ve got a quite cute rustic apartment right in the middle of town for two nights and plan on an unloaded ride up (and back) Vrśič pass tomorrow. That will then be the last of Slovenia for us. It’s all been great and today was one of the best.

Thanks again for everything Borut and Matevž!

First time we can see the peaks of the mountains around Preddvor

I still find it so interesting to be riding through a small village and Turn a corner on what seems to be residential street and find this!

Great view of Storžič, rising to over 2100 m. Preddvor is situated at the base of this.

Along the way to Bled. Quiet roads like this or dedicated paved bike paths.

‘This is why we ….. Damn, can’t say that. How about ‘Pretty nice eh!’

I’ve always like seeing farmers out ‘doing what they do’, in this case raking the hay that was cut to dry a few days ago into windrow that will then be baled

Just another ‘rustic cute’ village to ride through

… and another one by the ubiquitous wood pile

… any geo’s out there with insight on what rock they’re quarrying?

Prophetic. The Church has a significant influence in these parts, politically, commercially as well as spiritually

Now the game is on. Can we complete a face during the rest of the day.

Still very impressed with the Slovenian bike infrastructure

Great sandwiches! Thanks again Janna & Borut!

well, not quite. Had to sneak this one in with the punt

You really don’t need a detailed map here. Trails very well signed.

Off we go up the Radovna valley. Superb riding

This was actually a generator station along the river. Very nicely integrated into the architectural style of the surrounding buildings

Heading up the Radovna valley. Very gradually gaining elevation

Heading up the Radovna valley, just before our drink and snack break

OK, so the guy at the pub wasn’t hallucinating. Let’s check out that Pinion 636% gear range

Well done K. The Pinion works as well as you do!

Nice high speed cruise down to the Sava valley

First glimpse of the Sava valley and one of the main bike trails in Slovenia

And then it’s this for 13 km’s, uphill ever so slightly, into Kranjska Gora

quite a bit of bike traffic of all types

Yep, definitely in the Alps now, and this looks (more) than a little like the view from our front porch back home. Comforting.

Our cute little apartment - second floor with the balcony

Dinner at a rustic traditional Slovenian lodge. Slovenian athlete ski bibs on display. This one’s a biahtlon relay bib from a WC in Sweden. Don’t know the athlete who signed it though.

Good basic and filling dinner tonight, K’s chicken skewers

SOTD

Chimes of Freedom, Bob Dylan covered by Bruce Springsteen - almost live for the day - played last night, 14 May (I’m writing this on the 15th) in Manchester, UK, to wrap up his show.

As I’m doing a marathon journal session, K read out this Guardian article.

Today we had an amazing day without a trouble in the world, or seemingly so. The daily touring lets us focus on the real world around us, and by and large it’s a wonderful, forgiving and supportive one. But we can’t take that for granted. We had the pleasure of seeing Bruce live for the first time in November of 2024 in Calgary. He’s an amazing performer, and a fine human being using his platform for the right things (IMHO). That’s a damn fine reason for SOTD.

Ok, I recognize that true freedom requires the rule of law, including copyright law (really very important). So Bruce’s performance in Manchester is no longer available, so let’s go with this one … from 1988… East Berlin, a year before the wall came down. Just as prophetic … history doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes.

Today's ride: 74 km (46 miles)
Total: 1,575 km (978 miles)

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Scott AndersonI read that Guardian article this morning before reading this post, and that was the first thing I thought of. I was going to reference it myself.

And isn't that a terrific ride between Bled and Kranjska Gora? It's the same one we rode a few years ago.
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