May 28, 2023
Brezje to Bled
We woke this morning to another clear and sunny day. It's still a bit chilly in the shade in the morning and when the sun goes down, but as soon as it's light it's warm. Packing up did feel somewhat futile, knowing we were only going to ride for about 10km before putting everything back up again. But we couldn't have ridden 10km further yesterday and didn't want to make tomorrow too big either. I'm trying hard to remember that mornings are still part of the trip, and not just something to be endured until we are on the bike. If we try to rush Tobias just gets antsy and more cranky, and even though we might get started earlier it's not as much fun. But it's definitely taking some getting used to because I generally like maximum efficiency in the mornings.
We started off on small roads going up and down through small villages, then joined up with the cycle path to Bled. There were people everywhere on race bikes, mountain bikes, and anything in between. The route went right by an airfield and we watched dozens of gliders being towed up and drifting down.
Since we had time we stopped in Radovljica to see if there was a bakery open. It's Sunday, and also a holiday. We could have cooked some pasta for lunch, but prefer bread. There was no bakery open, but we did find a beautiful spot on a terrace and ate calamari and trout and had a beer instead. As we rode further down the hill into bled we passed an open bakery, so we could have probably saved ourselves an expensive lunch, but it was pleasant.
We are staying at a campground about 2km out of bled beside a river. I emailed ahead and the camp spot in bled is completely full. The french cyclists we passed yesterday said there is some rowing, and it's a holiday in lots of neighbouring countries. Anyway, this place also seems pretty full but we found a nice shady spot under some trees and got the tent up and Tobias off to bed in record time. It did cost us almost as much as our fancy lunch. I get that it's touristy and the facilities are really nice, but charging a €1.50 "check-in fee" per person just seems a bit much.
We were originally intending to bike into Bled for the afternoon, but there was a river beach, a pool, and a playground here, so we decided on a chill afternoon. Both James and I have visited a few times, and Tobias won't remember anyway. One of Tobias' all time favourite activities is throwing stones into water so we spent a fair bit of time doing that. He discovered stinging nettle - he looked so betrayed by the plant and said "ouch, sharp bomen (tree)".
Our plan is to try and get away slightly earlier tomorrow (wish us luck) so that we can call in by the lake in the morning before heading up to Kranjska Gora.
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Today's ride: 12 km (7 miles)
Total: 1,149 km (714 miles)
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