July 10 – 11, 2013

Distance: 27.3 miles   Climbing: 1407.5 ft

With such a lovely campsite and enough food to last us the day, we decided to stick around. We started out the morning with an extremely chilly dip in the river to wash up, breakfast and some laundry. With no electricity to power the laptop, we relaxed and read. A little after lunch, a large storm came down and raged around us for a few hours.

We took our time getting ready to leave camp the next day. We had a number of things that needed to dry before being packed away. We were happy to see that the dirt road did not turn into mud and we were able to ride along quickly. We were surprised to find a beautiful waterfall when we finally reached pavement again.

Waterfall

When we rolled into town, Chandler had the wonderful idea of getting some coffee and a big pizza for lunch. After not spending any money the day before, we could afford to splurge a little.

Pizza

Our company during lunch

Not two minutes after leaving the restaurant it began to rain. First, just a little sprinkle, nothing that needed a raincoat. Soon, it really began to rain and we stopped to don protection. At the top of the hill leading us out of town, the lightening began. The storm moved really quickly and caught us off guard. The first lightening strike was a few miles away and within a few moments, the storm was directly overhead. No pause between lightening strike and thunder boom. That was when we both got scared.

Chandler spotted a covered bus spot and we figured it would be better to wait out the storm than to be in the center. We pulled out the playing cards and played two rounds of gin rummy before the rain was coming in sideways and soaking us. At the same point, the lightening was striking all around us. There was a high-tension powerline a few hundred feet away which seemed like the most likely thing to get hit, so we felt a sliver of safety. Almost right away a huge bolt hit a power line tower about 500 feet from us and the large ceramic insulator exploded in a blinding flash of light. This is when we took a closer look at our “shelter” which was constructed with a metal frame paneled with plate-glass… maybe not such a great spot, but we had no other option but to ride in the downpour. So we waited it out nervously.

Dealing the cards

Eventually the lightening moved a little further away and the rain let up. We seized the chance to escape and continue along our way. We could still see the storm in the distance and realized that the road was heading in the direction of the storm that just passed us and another wave was approaching from behind us. Sooner or later, we would collide again. Luckily, when the rain and lightening started up again, we found a more solid roof to put over our head.

Trying to avoid the storm

We pulled our bikes and ourselves into a tiny little chapel. It was made of stone, so felt more secure than our glass and metal bus stop. When we began discussing options for possible sleeping arrangements, the storm made a turn and the rain let up. That was a good things too, there wasn’t enough room for us to lay down with the bikes inside.

Harbor in the storm: a self portrait

Back on the road again, we opted to take another Chandler shortcut “adventure route” to avoid the main highway. The traffic wasn’t bad on the highway, but with so much water spraying everywhere, we were worried drivers wouldn’t see us. The shortcut turned out to be a hard packed dirt road with lovely views of the valley below.

Worth the shortcut

We were still being followed by rain clouds, but only getting a light drizzle. After passing through what we thought was an abandoned town, but with a thriving restaurant , we decided it was time to find a place to sleep. Miles away from a town with a hotel, camping was our only option. With the constant worry of landmines weighing on our mind, we looked for a pasture that animals had clearly grazed in. We preferred to sleep in poo than be blown up.

Chandler and the cellphone repeater, campsite option #1 rejected

Looks like a good place to camp

Right outside of town, I notice the perfect place. A pasture surrounded by trees. This would give us protection from the rain and lightening and hide us from any people passing by. We managed to find an area without animal poo or plants with sharp thorns. Right as we began to set up the tent, it began to rain. We quickly finished the job and covered anything that couldn’t get wet and decided to have bread and cheese for dinner in the tent.

July 9, 2013

Distance: 34.8 miles  Climbing: 2447.5 ft

We were happy to wake up and see that the river was back to its normal, ankle deep level. It took a few trips back and forth to get everything across and we had numb feet by the end. The morning riding was uneventful, until we approached a large lake we needed to go around.

Lavender

There was a highway we could have taken to the west, but there were lots of large trucks driving like crazy so we followed some new looking bicycle route signs which indicated we should make a turn to the east and go around the back of the lake. The riding was great and quiet for a while. Then we got to some abandoned looking buildings and a fork in the road with a gravel road leading one way and a decent paved road leading the other. We chose the paved road which led into a village that looked abandoned with buildings missing walls and collapsed roofs.

Local art

Bombed rooftop

In the middle of the ghost town, we saw a person, which was startling, making repairs to a brick wall. As we continued, it became more obvious that we were in a bombed out town that was slowly coming back to life. Eventually, we reached a dead end and a little boy came out of a house. He explained that we had come to the end of town and that the dirt road was actually the correct way go north. So, we turned around.

The dirt road started out by going around a beautiful blue lake with some cows grazing around the perimeter before going up hill. At that point, dirt turned to loose gravel pushed into windrows by automobiles so our wheels no longer got traction easily and we had to push a lot. The sun was blazing and there was absolutely no shade to the road, but there were plenty of trees in the field near us. It would not have been a problem to duck into the field and get out of the sun, except we saw signs indicating that there were landmines around. We passed a concrete bunker and we realized we were probably right in the middle of a heavily fortified part of the front line of the war. We were too scared to move off the road at all, so I ended up peeing in the middle of the road to be safe. We had 7.5 more kilometers of gravel road and landmines. We were so tired and fed up with the situation, that when we finally saw pavement and Chandler got stung by a bee, I was not surprised by the hail of curse words coming out of his mouth.

It started out nice

Beware of mines

The road goes on forever

Back on smooth road, our moods turned around. The next few miles were over flat terrain and we were able to move quickly while feeling that we were recovering a bit. Soon our tranquil, empty road became busier and we were excited to reach the upcoming town for a little ice cream snack.

Lovely church

The road ended up dumping us on the highway at the far edge of town in the middle of a big hill and we didn’t have the energy to go a few miles out of our way just for an ice cream break. Instead, we started to climb and were immediately on a crowded road with lots of big trucks again, our nemeses. Beyond frustrated, we began fighting, which meant it was time for a snack.

Back on the road, we opted to take another dirt road. We were a little hesitant after our last excursion into the post-war zone road from hell, but were happy to see on the map that it was all downhill and there was no loose gravel, at least at the top of the hill… The road ended up taking us along a river with beautiful scenery including a few abandoned stone mills which sometimes sat right in the middle of the river. Nobody was around, so it was the perfect spot to start looking for a camping spot. Chandler spotted one pretty quickly just off the road down a super steep embankment.

Old mill

It was right next to the river, but with enough trees along the road to hide us from any potential traffic. We hauled the bikes off the road and set up the tent. We considered jumping in the creek for some refreshment, but the water was ice cold and we turned around shin-deep. We had a nice time relaxing after a tough ride, glad to have found such a spectacular spot to spend the night.

July 8, 2013

Distance: 38.4 miles Climbing: 2263.8 ft

I was happy to leave our haunted stone house campsite, but that meant going up a big hill. We were really nervous because we didn’t have a lot of water and the sun was already blazing early. If the sun is warm and the road is steep, we end up drinking a liter every hour. With only 1.5 liters each, we felt like we were in trouble. Luckily, I noticed a young man having an argument with a young woman and had no problem interrupting them to get one of my bottles filled.

After that we crested the big hill and saw a huge map of the country on the side of the road indicating points of interest, such as castles, vineyards and beaches. It was nice to get a big picture of the country. After the map, we were surprised to stumble upon a field of ancient gravestones seemingly scattered on the side of the road.

Ancient gravestone

Near the gravestones while we found another roadside map which showed the locations of several ancient forts, wells and gravestones in the immediate area. The signs weren’t in English but we could understand that that the stones were from the 14^th century. We couldn’t figure out if the stones were for ordinary people or people of some influence, like priests or warriors. The gravestones depicted an array of images such as flowers or people hunting or battling.

Dancers

Chandler and the wells

The ride became rather dull after leaving town. We passed by fields and through towns, nothing new, until I thought I was hallucinating. Chandler was focusing on the GPS mounted on his bike and I felt like an idiot asking if there was a boat in the middle of town. No, but close. Somebody had built their house to resemble a cruise ship.

Houseboat

This town loves us!

Noticing a road on the GPS that headed towards the river, Chandler suggested we investigate it. The road dead ended into the water after half a mile. However, across the very shallow creek was a concrete table and perfect spot for a tent. The only problem was that we were out in the open. We decided to risk it anyways. We left our bikes on the shore and waded across the river with our barbags and a bottle of wine. We figured we could read and enjoy a glass of wine, if anybody had a problem, we would hear about it.

We relaxed for over two hours, watched several tractors pass nearby and eventually realized that the farmers didn’t care if we were there. After I set up the tent and Chandler made dinner, a family came around for some fishing. I crossed the river to collect a bag from my bicycle and the father was very emphatic in indicating that water level would rise after it grew dark. This seemed strange, and we weren’t sure if we understood right, but OK.

Ferrying a bike across

Eventually, we decided it was time for bed and Chandler carried both bikes on his back over the water. No need to get water in the bearings if we didn’t need to. About an hour later as it was getting dark, the river started running faster. Sure enough the water was rising. We were safe, up above the waterline, next to somebody’s picnic area, but it was interesting to watch. A dam upstream was apparently opened every night and flooded the area. Good thing we had a warning ahead of time!