May 15, 2023
Slunj to Ogulin
In utter contrast to yesterday's ride, we had a lovely day on the bike. It was foggy when I poked my head out the door at 7, but by the time we got riding at 9.30 the skies were clear. The route today followed a small but sealed road from Slunj to Kamenice before turning onto busier roads to get to Ogulin. Ogulin is a bit out of the way, but we added it in because it had more affordable accommodation options than anywhere along the original route.
We knew there would be very little in the way of supplies so James stocked up in the bakery with Tobias in the morning while I packed up the house. The road was wonderful, hardly any cars and definitely no trucks. We stopped for coffee on a gravel road and were surprised to see a photographer with a very serious looking lense walking past. And then a second one. The second one told us that he was there to photograph a big Croatian adventure race, and that the leaders would be coming past soon. We hung around to cheer them on as they came running past, then were able to support the leading teams a bit later on as they passed us on their mountain bike leg.
After coffee we descended down to cross the river Mreznica and climbed back out again. Climbing is feeling significantly smoother these days. I guess I'm finally getting a bit fitter and stronger. I'm not sure I'm any faster up the hills, but I can breathe and keep turning the pedals without too much trouble. Just after the ascent we stopped for lunch at what would have been a good camp spot. We were originally planning on camping along this stretch of road, but I'm very glad we changed our plans based on yesterday's weather. In the background we could spot the impressive mount Klek.
Just as we were pulling out we spotted some cycle tourists heading the other direction so were able to pass off the last of our Bosnia and Herzegovinian marks. They left Milan 11 days ago. It always surprises me how much distance you can cover on a bike if you just do it nearly every day. The rest of the road was up and down through tidy farms and forest. It seemed like everyone was mowing their lawns and doing the laundry, probably in preparation for the next spell of weather that's going to hit tomorrow.
There was a solid climb up to meet a busier road where we turned towards Ogulin. Traffic was heavier, but still fine. Perhaps it's because I'm used to NZ traffic, but I'm always a bit surprised when people wait patiently behind us and pass with the whole lane. Mount Klek was significantly closer by the time we passed under the motorway and started getting into Ogulin. We can see it from out bedroom window tonight.
After quickly showering and getting laundry on we headed into town with two priorities. Finding some waterproof pants for Tobias (they are the one thing I forgot and left in Utrecht) and finding him a slide to play on. He's been spotting every single slide for the last few days, but it's been wet and miserable and we just don't have enough dry clothes to let him wild. The only pants we could find were for kids 9-12 months, but they should fit until we get to Ljubljana and hopefully reunite with his ones.
It was so nice having Tobias back up front with me in the sunshine and I think he enjoyed it too. He didn't utter "all done bike" once today. Unfortunately it's probably shortlived. There is 70mm of rain forecast tomorrow and we have 50km to ride. It's on another lovely quiet backroad which is good for traffic, but I'm a bit worried we won't be able to find anywhere sheltered to stop and have a very grumpy kid by the time we get there. We also don't want to go getting cold either. There aren't too many alternatives - we'd need to take 3 trains and the connections are awful so we'd spend all day in cold, draughty, train stations. A rest day would be fine except being inside all day with Tobias is worse than being drenched. So I think we'll just ride and see what happens. And hope that the weather decides to get its act together soon.
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Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles)
Total: 887 km (551 miles)
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