Ravno to Skocim

May 5, 2023

Today started off pretty rough. For some reason Tobias woke up at midnight and wasn't very happy at all. He can't really communicate well enough to tell us if he's had a bad dream, doesn't feel well, or what's going on. He ended up sleeping between us so I didn't get to really enjoy the very comfy bed and nice linen.

Breakfast was included in the accommodation and the staff doted on Tobias, supplying him with more sugary breakfast goods than he's seen in his life. They also gave him a magnet from the hotel which he is obsessed with because it has a train on it.

We waved goodbye at about 9 and headed off on the Ciro trail. Komoot originally had us riding over the hill and skipping a big part of the trail, but I added it back in and I'm glad I did. It was all brand new asphalt at a nice gradient with beautiful views out over the valley. We also spotted a fair few overgrown bunkers and some signs warning about land mines. There were some more legless lizards, some actual snakes, and a fox.

Tobias was being exceptionally cranky and he asked to go in his trailer and then actually ended up falling asleep at about 10 which we were all grateful for. He was much happier when we woke up and had a long coffee stop overlooking the dam near Hutovo. Just after this we had the option of a high road or a descent and a long climb. We chose the sealed up and down route because the guys we met back in Albania said the gravel section was pretty rough.

We stopped in the actual town of Hutovo for lunch by a monument of sorts with a Croatian flag. There was no shade and it was getting very very hot. There seemed to be nobody at all in the town.

After lunch we continued to descend, knowing that we would need to climb up about 100m soon. It was hard to see where all the elevation was going to come from, but it definitely came and felt like a lot more than 100m in the end. I kept coming around the corner thinking surely we must cross the ridge now, and then spotting the flag bobbing on the trailer and James weaving up ahead. We climbed up above a brand new, weirdly quiet, highway and were treated to views of snowy hills in the background. Then we descended all the way back down and crossed it a few times before starting the proper descent to lake svitavsko. It should have been great, but the road surface was pretty rough and Tobias was sleeping so James struggled trying to keep track of where all 3 of his wheel lines were going.

We were both about ready for the day to end at the bottom but we still had a 10km ride long the side of the lake with a few short climbs before we reached our house for the night. The lake looked very nice, and we were ready for a break when Tobias woke up, but we just couldn't find any way to get to it. A headwind had picked up so we did a quick side of the road snack top up/nappy change then got back on the bikes. Coming into town we passed over 2 very interesting looking but unnerving railway bridges. We didn't stop for photos because we both felt as though we might fall through.

We actually ended up riding 2km past our house for the night because although I adjusted the route when I booked the house, it didn't get uploaded to the Garmin. We got some wifi at the petrol station and figured this out, then backtracked to find our place for the night. It's a perfect little stone cottage with a big backyard where Tobias could play with the water and on his bike and we didn't need to go out to exercise him. Unfortunately we my not have heeded the advice of our hosts to not use too much electricity. Anyway, we got 1.25 loads of laundry done and Tobias showered and off to bed and now we have no power. Our hosts say they are coming to fix this and I hope they can, because I am craving a hot shower!

Update: power is back, but we are a bit scared to shower until the nappies are washed incase we overload it again.

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Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 684 km (425 miles)

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