Day 36 - Kranjska Gora to Lago di Cavazzo - Oh The Places You'll Go - 2025

May 16, 2025

Day 36 - Kranjska Gora to Lago di Cavazzo

A great day repeated in reverse

Grab a cup of coffee and settle into a comfy chair. There’s a lot to unpack here.

We had a great time over the last 10 days in Slovenia, but in the back of our minds we were always looking forward in anticipation of today. Back in October 2017 we stumbled on, almost literally, the Ciclovia Alp Adria as we beat a retreat from Serbia back to Frankfurt. The day we rode from Gemona del Friuli to Tarvisio was one of the most amazing days we’ve ever had, with no exaggeration, and today we were going to be riding this again but in reverse - downhill!

There’s always a danger of embellishing past heroics and being let down when you try to revisit or recreate them.

That didn’t happen today.

This is still an outstanding ride, and as we said eight years ago: If anyone reading this is ever thinking about doing a cycle trip in Europe, this CAAR route has to be part of it.

There’s a lot, and I mean A LOT, of pics to go through, and I culled them pretty extensively, so I won’t blab on too much, but here’s a few memorable moments of the day.

First up and almost right out of the gate, the shear number and size of organized cycle tour groups (all about our age or older, and all on e-bikes - that’s the current reality). I’ve come around to seeing this as a good thing, lots of other people are discovering just how great travelling like this is. But some cautionary advice when (not if) you ride the Ciclovia Alp Adria, do it before June or after mid September. Given the number of folks we saw today, high season would be ‘uncomfortable’ (being charitable).

Next up, given the number of people out riding, you’re bound to see a pretty wide spectrum folks, and we did. The real standouts though were a group of five young German guys who trained it down to Tarvisio and were then riding to Udine. At least that was their plan.

We came across them a few km’s south of Tarvisio when we saw them pulled over at the side of the trail and working on one of their bikes. We stopped to see if they needed any help. Oh yes, they did. But far more than we could offer.

One of the gents had pulled the classic, and almost always fatal, error of putting his pedals on the wrong side when rebuilding his bike. They were attempting to secure his left pedal to his crank but they were past the point of no return, the threads were completely stripped. Given there were 5 20 something guys involved, there was a considerable amount of pretty hilarious and ribald (now there’s an old fashioned word for you) banter going on. All funny, but useless for getting a working pedal.

We lent them some tape (which they requested) and some unrequested advice as to it’s ultimate efficacy, which led to more ‘discussion’ amongst ‘the boys’, and then we pedalled off.

Surprisingly, or maybe not since they were in their 20’s, they passed us a few minutes later, with the taped pedal guy having an unusual pedal stroke. In a couple of minutes we passed them as they were again pulled off the side of the trail with a detailed inspection of the offending crank and pedal underway.

Undaunted, the boys came flying past us again. This time ‘taped pedal guy’ was pedal-less and he was, how do I put this, ‘pedalling’ his bike with just the crank (no pedal) on the left side. It was unorthodox, but he was making progress (remember this trail in the direction they were going is about a constant 2% downhill).

This leapfrog game between us continued a few more time until THREE of them passed us just before Pontebba and let us know that this was now their total cohort. Pedal guy had dropped out along with a buddy to keep him company.

Never got a picture of them. Big mistake.

Next up on our ‘interesting encounters’ ledger was at our coffee and cake break in Chuisaforte. All along the route there are old train stations in every town. Some have been refurbished to provide amenities for passing cyclists and the best example is the one in Chuisaforte which has been turned into a very nice, and very busy trail side cafe. We stopped here in 2017 and had the place almost to ourselves.

Not so today. It was packed, largely with one of the aforementioned large organized e-bike tour groups. Miraculously we found a table in the shade on the old platform and put in our order - uno cappuccino e uno doppio, plus two pieces of cake :)

After that we sat back and watched the show. The classic was the Italian couple we’ve seen off and on today who were fully packed out with four panniers each - plus a trailer each. One of the trailers was transporting their dog (cute guy) and when we first saw them we wondered what could possibly be in the other trailer.

Their stop at Chuisaforte provided the answer - their apperativo set up. Man, did they ever look comfortable. Two nice folding chairs, a table with a tablecloth, and very nice wine glasses with what looked like Apperol in them (it’s as common, or more so, than water in Italy). That’s styling!

Our gaze then turned to the large and growing crowd who were checking out our bikes. There was a lot or arm waving, a lot of poking the Brooks with the attendant look of horror, and a lot of confused discussion that seemed be centred on determining where the battery was.

K went over first to provide some assistance and after a few games of charades finally convinced the folks that a) our bikes were not e-bikes - although I will cut everyone some slack as the Pinion gearbox does look very much like a motor and our ABUS folding locks we’ve attached on the bottom of our down tubes does look like a battery) and b) the Brooks is actually very flexible and comfortable, not an implement of middle England torture circa 1247 AD.

Once that was settled the discussion (mostly arm waving and charades) turned to our route -3,000 km’s - ‘incredibile!’ and our age (we’re a little older than most of the crowd) - guarded suspicion by most with some nods of admiration from a few.

Overall, it was a pretty interesting coffee stop.

Other than the above, it was just a day of (almost not) pedalling down one of the most spectacular bike routes you can imagine. The very short ‘Wiki recap’ - this section of the Ciclovia Alp Adria Radweg (the full route runs from Grado on the Adriatic to Salzburg) follows the old train line that ran from Grado to Tarvisio along the Tagliomento and Fella rivers. The old rail line was abandoned in the 1990’s and gradually turned into this amazing bike route. The valleys it goes through are incredibly narrow and have innumerable train tunnels (some ~ 1 km long) and bridges that have been retained for the bike routes. Almost as amazing as the bike trail is the Auto Route (mostly in tunnels and very high bridges that span the valley), the regular highway, the local roads and the new high speed rail line that all share this relatively tiny space. Most of the time when your riding you’re totally unaware of this other infrastructure but at other times they all come together in one place (but almost never physically interconnecting.) It’s quite something to see. So go do it!

Heart

Comment

Link

Glenna Jefferies"We lent them some tape".......did they return it? 🤣🤦‍♀️
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago

OK folks, settle in here’s the pics - a lot of them. It would take me far too much time to whittle these down to ‘the essential’ 20 or so, and we’ve got to keep moving … so here’s the semi-curated dump.

Gorgeous morning in Kranjska Gora. So long Slovenia, it’s been great.

K’s actually going the wrong way. This happens several times a day as I shout out to her to stop, turn around and ride back to me so I can …..

The last few km’s of Slovenia. Beautiful. This is the bike path that leads into Italy and joins into the CAAR (Ciclovia Alp Adria Radweg)

The first of the Mongol hordes. There was a large group of about 30 folks setting off from the Italian/Slovenian border for what looked to be a guided day ride in Slovenia. It was 10:02

10:05, we got our picture at the border in relative peace.

Now in Italy and looking very much the same. Austria is about 1 km to the north too (right side of the pic)

Coming into Tarvisio from the north. Note the bike lanes are the same size or larger than the car lane on the left.

The Auto Route (mostly in tunnels and elevated bridges) and the regular highway going into Tarvisio. Mainly took this to show the other infrastructure that we will be riding along with for the rest of the day in a very tight valley.

The Intersection with the CAAR trail that runs north into Austria. We were here in Oct 2017 and toyed with the idea of taking a quick side trip to Bled. We didn’t and had to wait 8 years until now.

Riding into Tarvisio. The next Mongol horde. This one we would play leapfrog with for most of the day. It didn’t take long for either them or us to put some distance between us, so most of the day we were riding more or less in our own bubble.

The old train station. This one hasn’t really been repurposed yet. Not a great need here given all the other tourist services.

heading off down the CAAR. No indication what the counter represents, total for the year, month, day? My guess is YTD with most of them in the last 30-40 days.

Most of the ride was on bike paths like this. Although we encountered several auto route bridges like this, you only heard a little noise and almost never saw the traffic as it was several metres above us.

Incredible bike trail … pretty consistent 1-3% downhill grade. Hero cycling!

Tunnel 1 of more than 40 (varying from 20 - 1000 m in length)

Exiting tunnel 1. It was pretty cold inside!

The Auto Route disappearing into a tunnel again

…and our bike trail about to do the same

Our bike trail bridge over the regular highway. The autoroute and current train tracks are buried in tunnels somewhere nearby

Looking back up the valley - this is really a 360° experience

…and then a few more tunnels for us just up ahead

Beautiful view of Dogna. This valley is so tight!

Sounding like a broken record, but just an incredible bike trail

Time for lunch. Left over pizza from yesterday!

Now it’s coffee and cake time at Chuisaforte. We were pretty much by ourselves here in October 2017. The time of year, and the increased popularity of bike touring, in particular the organized kind, has changed things dramatically. It was just as crowded with bikes and people the other way too. Most people are inside the station / café

The trailer/doggy/Aperol folks. They do look comfy.

The first part of the crowd checking out our bikes …. Where is that battery!

The second part … now checking out our route!

…and then they were gone. Somebody left their kid behind apparently

Great place for a trail side break, and they are doing a great business

… and off we go for more great riding. We’re only about halfway!

It not all the big stuff that’s interesting

One of many many beautiful waterfalls along the trail

And this little guy poking his head out of a crack in the stone wall by the waterfall

First sight of the Dolomites to our west!

Another converted station further south. This one had a couple of train cars turned into part of the café

Almost out of the mountains as we’re approaching Venzone.

Some more cool ‘small stuff’ along the trail.

In Venzone. A beautiful old town that was largely destroyed by a major earthquake in 1976

In the main town square. K and I saw a mordern day Romeo and Juliet remake on these windows when we were here in 2017!

Recreating our ‘thumbnail’ picture. The pic for this journal on the ‘Journal” page was taken in 2017 from this very spot. The only thing missing from this one is the coffee and cake.

End of the day at the very nice Hotel Trilago on the shores Lago Di Cavazzo

SOTD

Hero’s , David Bowie

When you travel over 90 km’s with what felt like only 10 pedal strokes.

……”Yes, we could be hero’s, just for one day”

You’ve got to love all day downhills through truly stunning terrain.

Today's ride: 92 km (57 miles)
Total: 1,691 km (1,050 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	10
Comment on this entry	Comment	3

Michael HutchingHave to agree about the Adria Alpe route.! We thought it was sensational when we came down it in late August 2018 from Salzburg. Despite the cloudy weather the views and the history of it being a clash point between Italy and Austria made it a fascinating ride. We had to cross the river at Amaro to get to Venzone- looks like the trail has been completed. Have very much enjoyed following your Slovenia riding. Michael
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago

Lyle McLeodTo Michael HutchingHi Michael, thanks for following along.
We compared the route we rode today (north to south) to what we did in 2017 (south to north) and found them almost identical. Both went through Vezone on the east side of the river. In 2017 riding from the south we found ourselves in an ‘under construction’ section of the trail for several km’s north of Venzone. There were no barriers or anything to suggest that this section wasn’t complete or that it was closed. We eventually did come to a barrier fence, and it was preventing us from leaving the construction zone to join the brand new and perfectly paved bike trail on the other side! We managed to open the fence and get through. Coming from the north in 2018 you were probably diverted by this fence / construction and ended up on the other side of the river. Bottom line, the construction is all done now!
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago

Robyn RichardsThank you! We are forming plans for a Zurich to Zurich tour in 2026, incorporating the Alpe Adria. What a wonderful ride it will be!
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago