Bovec to Kranjska Gora via Predel Pass (Aug, 22. 2022)

August 22, 2022

Our route, above.

Today was the start of two big days for us. We planned to ride over Predel Pass to Kranjska Gora and then ride back over the Julian Alps the following day over the historic Vrsic Pass. Two days of climbing were on our mind when we went to bed the night before and we awoke ready to be on the road. Weather was predicted to be perfect; cloudy and cool and no chance of rain.

Predel Pass is the lower of the two passes (1156 meters) but is also historic; near the top of the pass is a famous fort built by the Austrian Empire. The road was twisty and steeper than Passo de Taramea from two days before so I had to use the turbo function on my ebike for some of the ride.

Just one of several waterfalls along the way.

There was a fair amount of traffic — both cars and bikes — and no shoulder. Happily, Slovenes don’t drive as fast or pass as close as Italians. As is usual, the scenery was beautiful. We had hoped to arrive at our projected midday break point early enough to see a Musuem at Cave del Predel when we got our first flat of the trip (finally). Right at the top of the pass Dave got forced to the side of the road by a car passing too close and rode over a rock. It was a bad place to have to stop; no shoulder and right on a curve with a dropoff on one side and the mountain going straight up on the other. Dave scooted across the highway to a small space on the other side of the road and we had about a 6 foot strip to work.

Dave is a super capable mechanic (Jill is not) and tube changing went smoothly until we got to using the CO 2 cartridge; he could not get it to work so after 20 minutes of screwing around he gave up and resorted to the little pump we bought as a back up. As most cyclists know, having to pump up a tire using a hand pump is a huge pain but we were very pleased with the one we bought and finally got back on the road. That hand pump gets a good review!

We crossed the border into Italy again. Dave assures me it’s only my imagination and drivers were NOT suddenly driving faster and more aggressively!

After the border crossing we began a nice descent and Dave bombed down while I rode more timidly! At some point just as Dave was reaching the bottom, Komoot started squawking at him that he had missed a turn. He got in a bit of a panic because he was thinking I would have made the turn that he had just missed, so he immediately turned around to ride back up the hill to find me. Good news: we BOTH missed the turn which later we determined — after studying Komoot— was some kind of gravel track. We met up and rode through the outskirts of Cave del Predel and then Tarvisio, and then onto some piece of the Alpe Adria cycle route. We had a cycling trail all the way into Kranjska Gora which was a really good break after all the traffic and excitement of Predel Pass.

Kranjska Gora is a famous Slovenian mountain town, which frequently hosts world downhill and cross country skiing. (The world cross country championships are scheduled there for 2023). We checked into our hotel and found a great restaurant, Pinoalpina for dinner. There was a mix up on our order and the staff person was so embarrassed that she brought out two extra glasses of Slovenian desert wine for us to try. We really enjoyed them and thought about our friend Stu back in Central Oregon who loves desert wine. We were wishing we could bring him back a bottle, but of course, on a bike - we can’t. But here is to you Stu, we thought about you!

Of course, the extra wine was not really the ticket before you have a day planned to climb Vrsic Pass but as we went to bed Dave checked the weather forecast, cloudy and cool, so no need for an early start.

Famous last words.

Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 611 km (379 miles)

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