May 17, 2023
Črnomelj to Novo Mesto
Justina treated us to pancakes for breakfast, and although she tried to convince us to stay for lunch because it was raining we headed off at about 10. The rain had actually stopped, although it was very very grey. Still, we got Tobias up front all rugged up to enjoy the view. We appreciated Justina and Jože's hospitality so much. They were so sweet with Tobias and had everything we needed to recover from our wet wet day.
We stopped a few kilometres out of town to pick up some grapes for Tobias to snack on then tackled the hill up and out of the region. We had a look at the climb the night before. It looked daunting - 300m to gain with gradients mostly above 10%, often sections closer to 20%. Justina assured us it would be fine and that they'd walked up there with heavy packs several times, no worries. It was definitely some worries and there were a few sections that required James to come back down and help me push up while Tobias sat there like a prince in his throne. He's started being very supportive on the uphills and I've taught him to say "allez allez" as practice for watching the Tour de France in a few months.
It drizzled a few times on the uphills but we were hot and the trailer was covered so we pushed on. It got cold on the downhill though and Tobias asked to slow down. The rain got heavier too and he told me it was sharp on his face. We were pretty desperate for somewhere warm and dry to have lunch and get him off to bed, but nothing seemed to appear. We ended up bundling him into the trailer, to much protest, then I rode alongside to make sure he stayed awake until we found something. Finally a cafe appeared and we piled inside, wet again. They didn't serve food, but were happy for us to eat our bread and salami while we drank our coffees. People are very friendly to us, considering how much of a mess we make of their establishments.
Because we hadn't found anywhere dry to stop for a few hours Tobias was overdue a nappy change and therefore required a full outfit change. While I was crouched on the cold, cramped, bathroom floor dealing with him he managed to burst a pack of sugar that he'd smuggled in from the cafe onto his face. It was comical, holding his legs trying to deal with that end while his shocked little face is coated in sugar. In his hair, over his nose and in his eyes. I had no idea those little sachets held so much sugar.
Clean and rugged up we got him into the trailer to sleep and us back on the bike to ride the 15 odd kilometres into novo mesto. It was vaguely spitting, but not too wet anymore and we could enjoy the rolling hills, small farms and vineyards and the forest in between. It was just as we remember seeing on the cycling tours and very beautiful, however there are no pictures because everything was wet.
In no time at all we reached novo mesto and found our apartment at Jože Ravbar's place. He is an avid cycling fan and greeted us with a bottle of his own wine, Giro chat, and a tour of his memorabilia including a Slovenian flag signed by Primož Roglič and jerseys from Peter Sagan.
We are here for 2 nights, but might extend it to 3 since we have 5 days to cycle 70km to Ljubljana. There is a big space out front for Tobias to ride his bike and hopefully we can do some laundry tomorrow.
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Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 972 km (604 miles)
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