Camping Masalina to Shkoder

June 14, 2023

In case you hadn't noticed, I've been doing a bunch of low mileage days. Just the way it has worked out and taking into account all these darn hills! Today, not so much. I finally did a 42 mile day and I was pretty wiped out!

Steady climb out of the campground this morning which I knew was going to be the case. Most of it was a gentle grade, but a few steeper sections thrown in for good measure. Luckily, I had cloud cover or the sun was still hidden behind the hills.

Traffic was pretty sucky the first part of the day. Got some nice pictures looking at the bay where I started out from this morning.

Camped down not far from the beach last night

When the arrows say merge, I'm at the top! Yay!

Dropped down into Bar and finally had an official "second breakfast" at a beachside restaurant. Of course, that was after some ice cream. Hey, I just climbed a big hill. It's okay to have ice cream early in this case.

Besides, I had another unexpected tunnel today. Actually got out my tail light and dug out my headlamp as well. No sidewalk and I could not see the other end from the entrance.

I waited for a break in traffic and pedaled fast. Nothing like getting your heart racing then when you can hear traffic gaining on you. Thankfully, I got lucky and got out before too much traffic went by. Nice downhill after that.

I had been confused and thought the climb out of Bar was horrendous. Okay, for me it was, but not nearly as horrendous as I thought when I was researching the elevation and distance of the climb. I talked to a nice couple while there. At one point they told me the ferry to Ancona was leaving tonight. When I had tried to google it, I wasn't positive it was still in operation. But although briefly tempting, I wanted to cycle in Albania.

I decided it was early enough, I was just going to do the climb and get to Shkoder, Albania this afternoon. Also factoring in was the weather. Thunderstorms were in the forecast for tomorrow and I certainly didn't want to get caught up in the hills with that so off I went.

Thank goodness those are not the mountains I'm going up!

And then the climb begins. I turn off the main highway to take the more direct route. That's when things got ugly. Steep hill!

So I had to hike n bike and even that was hard. A flower picture gives me a rest and it's pretty

I was never so happy to see a shop with benches and shade! Sweat was absolutely pouring off of me! It had been mostly cloudy all day until I decide to go for it. As I start up the climb, THEN the sun comes out from behind the clouds making the heat and climb way more intense.

Once I cooled down a bit, I faked like I was happy because the view was very nice. That's Bar down there.

This amused me. Must have been getting delirious frm the hot sun!

Once I got up all of the hill it was just a nice country road for awhile. I had read another cyclists blog and they thought traffic was horrible and dangerous because the road was narrow. I was so happy not to be in heavy traffic and I found it quite an enjoyable ride.

See that water in the distance? That's the town of Bar and I was at the edge of the sea....again. Now I'm up, up and away!

See the evil road down below? Even the cars are having trouble

Finally things are looking better and I drop down just a bit.

The scenery was excellent and a nice change from the coast

Finally!! On my way out of Montenegro, I see what I've been keeping an eye out for with no success. This makes me very happy/!

"I got my first real six string, bought it at the five and dime, played it til my fingers bled, was the summer of 69! Just in case you forgot, yes, I love Bryan Adams!

I've crossed the border into Albania and right away, I see women riding bikes for transport. (I didn't see a "welcome to Albania" sign)

The nice thing about this border crossing is that you stamp out of one country and stamp into the next all in one place. Much more convenient. However, there is no "Albania" stamp in my passport. Good thing I read somewhere it's all electronic. Sad though. I like my passport stamps!

I really enjoyed the rest of my ride into Shkroder

Loved how the hillsides were covered in yellow flowers

I made my way through Shkroder to my accommodation. I'm a very lucky person. I have friends (Chuck and Susan) here who host tons of cyclists on Warmshowers. But, they aren't here. They are off on their own cycle tour. However, they were kind enough to offer me to stay at their place for as long as I wanted. Sad I won't get to meet them, but super thankful they sent me the invite. (Rachel & Patrick who I house sat for, did get a chance to meet up with them so I have that connection as well.)

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 591 miles (951 km)

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