Trans Dinarica Part 3: Montenegro ; Balkans Bike Packing Tour

I spent six weeks from the end of August to early October following the Trans Dinarica bike packing route through the eight Balkan countries.
I started by flying into Ljubljana, Slovenia and generally following the whole route and finished by doing a little bit extra in order to finish at the coast at Split, Croatia.
I need to say that I did deviate from the main route a few times during the ride but I estimate that I followed it about 80% of the time.
Excellent route and experience….very hilly as expected.

Okay, just been through the uh exit border for uh Bosnia and then crossing the bridge of the Dina River into Montenegro. Wow, what a morning. What a morning following the Peaver River Gorge. Absolutely incredible. Lots of little tunnels. I’ve got a rear light on, which is good enough cuz they’re not too long. So, turned off from the river now. Had the fun part of the day, although the rest is going to be fun as well. But I’ve turned up into the mountains now. Got about,000 meter climb to do. Just take it very slowly. Got all afternoon, some food, got some water, and we’re into another tunnel. Well, gaining height. It’s been pretty steep the first section. 9 11% kind of really long kind of switchbacks. This is not so bad this climb. It’s not steep. Still got a couple of hundred meters to go and be over the other side of the mountain. Then caves will come out to cheer me on. Oh, another stunning valley. Amazing. Well, just under 1,800 meters of elevation. I think I’m at the high point. I had a bit of a downhill and a slight uphill. But pretty stunning up here. The rock formations are incredible. What a day. What a route. Absolutely incredible all the way. Well, just around the final hair. of the uh final big climb today. And the top’s just there. Pretty amazing. Pretty crazy day. This is also going to be the highest point. Not sure where it’ll be yet. Probably about 2,000 m. So, this is the final descent. It’s going to be about 8 or nine miles. Absolutely incredible again. Okay, well that’s the end of the second week of the trip and what a day that was. Big day. Big day of climbing, but absolutely stunning road along the Piva River and then up into the mountains and finished in it’s actually a ski resort called Zeljac. I’m not sure how you pronounce it, but something like that. So, the people gave me this little apartment for €30 and it’s fantastic. So, I’m just cooking some dinner. And there’s a nice place upstairs. So, yeah, it is like a little ski shalet, a mini ski shalet. So, it’s absolutely lovely. So, I’m going to be very comfy here tonight. Um, and it’s definitely been a three beer a day today. Okay, it’s the start of my third week, day 15. So, this morning, instead of heading straight to Colison, which is a bit more favorable in terms of profile, I’ve cycled out to the Black Lake, which uh is a couple of miles outside in the wrong direction of Zeljack. just have a look and a little cycle around it. So, here it is. Yeah. And it’s a bit more of a tourist spot. So, um had to pay €5 to get access to the lake, but I was so close, I thought I’d give it a go. Well, what should have been a easy ride out of Seljack for the first 10, 12 miles, it’s turning into a bit of a beast. Got huge, huge strong headwind. I’m pedaling downhill, so I’m hoping I get off the uh the top open area here might might improve a bit, but it’s blooming hard work at the moment. [Music] So, did the descent from Zjac about 15 milesi in the end. Once I go into the valley, it was a lot better out the wind. Now I’m into the climb. Big climb of the day on this little road. First section was crazy. 14 15% little hair pins, but hopefully there won’t be too many that steep. So that’s the uh valley that I just came down all the way from beyond from where you can see across the sort of plateau at the top where it was crazy windy and then a lovely little valley all the way down. Well, came to the end of the tarmac road just here. That was so steep. It’s like 17 to 20% for quite a bit. So that was obviously a hiker bike pushing the bike up the hill. At least it was on tarmac. So now I’ve got probably another 4 500 m to climb. I know it’s on gravel. So I’ve been pushing my bike up this really really rough gravel track and steep gravel track for half an hour. hardly made any progress and there’s a heck of a long way to go. So, I think I’m going to have to uh pull the plug on it, cycle it all the way back down to the main road and go all the way around. I think at the end of the day, that’s going to be a lot easier than doing this. I’ve still got to go over the top, but should be on a road instead of this. So, I couldn’t push this for another couple of hours. Okay. Well, after my last little wing and moan saying I was going to go back down to the bottom and then all the way around and over the top somewhere else, I talked myself into carrying on breaking it down to little chunks. Actually, it’s got a bit easier towards the top anyway. I have ridden a little bit. I’ve got about 200 meters of ascent to go. Looks like it goes over there. So, yeah, it was a good call to carry on. Persevere. I did uh meet two German ladies who’ve broken down in their van trying to get down this way. So, they were stuck. Um but yeah, just going to carry on. Well, thankfully I’ve been able to ride for a bit now out the woods kind of near the top. I think I got another 150 m of ascent to do, but nearly made it. I’m going to be so happy when I get to the top of this. But I came for an adventure. I certainly got one today. Well, I believe I’m finally at the top. Wow, that was a tough tough few hours. I think it’s a little bit undulating now and then before it drops off. But, uh, yeah, I’m looking forward to the descent and hopefully I hit some tarmac fairly soon cuz it’s going to be a struggle on the gravel. Look at that. Just look at that tarmac. Oh, wow. Am I so glad to see that. Look where I’ve just been. That’s one hell of a track. I’m glad I’ve done it. I’ve ticked that one off the list. Never again. So, this must be the actual summit. The road must drop away the other side. Woohoo. So that is the road I’m going down now. So there is payback after all. That looks incredible. Now I’m smiling. Only halfway down. Amazing. Okay. Well, I rolled into Colin uh yesterday evening. I was pretty hackered. Um stayed at this little apartment. Um nice little place actually. And it absolutely poured down with rain. um all night and it’s forecast to rain pretty much on and off all day. So, I’m going to take a day off. I’m just wandering up to the supermarket to get some breakfast. Have a little wander around town. And uh yeah, I think I’m due for a a day off. It’s actually day 16 today. So, I was going to carry on to for another couple of days to get to a lake and have a couple of days there, but yeah, it’s a good time to take a day off, give the body a rest. Um, it’s no point getting absolutely soaked. Yeah. So, I’m glad I’m inside today. So, take a look out there. [Applause] So I left Gulisen this morning after my enforced but very very needed rest day because it was raining all day yesterday. So, I was very pleased to be in my little tiny apartment, chilling out all day, having a little wander around town. So, yeah, forecast was to clear today and it already has. There’s a lot of low low cloud this morning. I was a bit higher up actually. So, I’ve dropped down a bit and it’s uh it’s coming good. So, I’m heading towards Lake Klav and the border with Albania today. So, I’ve been on the main climb of the day for a while. Absolutely stunning woodland. Not any great views yet cuz I’m still in the in the trees. but climbing up and then dropping down to a place called Andre Kajika or something like that. Anyway, oh, it’s just opened up. Yeah, the map’s just showing never ending hair pins. Really long stretches though. I think it’s the gradient’s only about 6%. So, really quite pleasant. Beautiful day actually now. Just rode with a group of three check riders for a little while before they carried on and left me. But yeah, this is really really pleasant. So, just got to the top. Didn’t even realize I was there. And came over the bra of this little hill and there’s a little cafe and those cyclists are here. So, yeah, I’ve got a massive downhill now. Don’t know how long, but probably 10 miles all the way down there. So, I’m going to get myself a a Coke or something now. just chill out for 5 minutes. So, uh, Colise, where I was last night, was about 1,450 m. So, I’m going to drop it all the way down and then climb back up and we’re at 1578 m at the moment. Just starting the freshly tarmaced descent. I looked on the map. It’s about 11 to 12 miles descent. So, it’s going to be epic. So, it’s fresh tarmac. They’re still laying it. So, I’m going to try and squeeze past a bit of a cube path waiting to get down. So, I’m going to just flag my way through. Well, I seem to be through. The tarmac’s uh pretty solid. I’m going to walk a little bit more past this truck and then jump on the bike. Well, tarmac doesn’t get any fresher than this. It’s a tiny tiny bit tacky, but it’s absolutely fine. It’s uh bit crazy really. So, yeah, they’re still uh doing sections of the road here. It’s going to be interesting. Bit of gravel on the actual main road, but pretty stunning. So, I’ve now got two uh logging trucks to try and get past cuz I’m going way quicker than them. Well, I turned off the main road a few miles ago onto the parallel little minor road on the other side of the valley, which is a lot more interesting, a lot more pleasant, but probably not anywhere near as easy. But it’s nice to be on a really quiet country little road. So, I’ve just uh cycled through the crazy PL town. It’s pretty manic. I think it was lots of school kids as well. Um, and there’s Lake Plav down there. So I’m cycling to the other end of it to Casseni to the destination today. Apparently it’s one of the deepest glacial lakes in Europe. Okay, just had breakfast and leaving Gresenge. Not sure how to pronounce that either, but yeah, the last few miles, kilometers in Montenegro heading for the Albanian border. Yeah. So, some low cloud this morning again. I think it’s Well, I know it’s going to burn off fairly soon. Just enjoy the cool weather while I can. Okay. while just queuing up to get out of Montenegro. I haven’t had a to queue before. Here we go. And there’s the flag of Montenegro. It’s pretty cool, actually. So, just leaving. So, crossed into Albania. Little bit of a wait, but they’re really, very friendly at the checkpoint. And here I am just going in.