Fier to Vjosa Guest House

July 2, 2023

I knew today was going to be a tough day because I was going to have the biggest climb of my trip today. The big one was showing 6.3 miles and about 1200 feet. That's a lot for me. I somehow missed that I had a pretty decent climb right out of the gate. I had modified the route RideWithGPS had suggested to minimize the hills so imagine my surprise when I have a steep climb 1.5 miles into today's ride. Thankfully, it was only about 1/2 mile long, but I was wide awake after that. I then proceeded to miss a turn onto a quiet road through villages and had to retrace my route about one mile. I knew I was going to be on the highway most of the day so got caught up in following signs for it, forgetting I had a side road. Oops.

The side road was nice, but there were people multiple times begging for money from me. Mostly kids. One group kind of approached my bike and made me nervous for a minute, but in the end he just wanted a high five. I did eventually join SH4, but much to my surprise, I had my own little lane/shoulder. Even with the traffic, it was a pleasant ride. I was in farmland with the hills off to my left. Threw on some music and pedaled along happy as could be.

My first views of the mountains I need to climb

I want to know how you get over to those lounge chairs!

As you can see there was a lot of dawdling going on because the scenery was so nice. Not long after these last pictures, I got to the climb and my happiness disappeared. A bit of a steep section at first, but I just took it slow. Not going to lie, I did panic for quite a bit as the sun peeked out and was blazing down on me and my internal messages were running amok about how I wasn't going to make it. Thankfully, the grade wasn't too steep for most of the climb and eventually I relaxed a little and just focused on pedaling.

About 1/2 way in, I got to a point where there was a good spot for a rest break, and I needed it. For a brief minute, I wondered if somehow I was at the top as it seemed to level out. It did level out a bit for a mile or two and then the climb intensified quite a bit.

I look so happy (and hot) because this was before I realized I really wasn't done climbing yet.

This was at my 1/2 way up the hill rest break. I look up and next thing I know there are goats walking along the cliffs!

By now, I'm pretty tired and had to keep stopping to rest. I also see storm clouds forming and wonder how that's going to play out. I stopped at the first cafe there was and had an ice cold coke and some snacks and took an extended break. I needed it. I finally left to keep going and was able to pedal steadily without stopping a bunch. Until.....the massive thunderstorms starts! Luckily, there were people selling fruit and nuts and right when it started, the one across from me was rather large and I quickly went and took cover. It was a lady and her son. I'm telling you the rain DUMPED down! She actually gave me a piece of ?fruit? they were selling. I was a bit hesitant, but then she showed me how to just bite into it. It didn't look the most appetizing, but it tasted pretty good. Eventually, the rain eased up and off I went. I felt bad for them as they held up bags trying to sell to passing cars. I just gave here 100 Lek as I was leaving (about $1) and indicated thanks for the shelter.

Oh oh. Those clouds don't look good! From the back porch of my cafe rest break

Taken from under the umbrella as I'm sheltering from the storm

My savior. Her son turned his back as he didn't want to be in the picture (I asked first)

okay, that looks disgusting, but quite tasty

I didn't get very far before the rain started again, but it wasn't very heavy. My feet however were getting soaked from the splash from the wet pavement. In no time at all, I was at the top and ready for my hard earned descent. I waited for a break in traffic so I could take the lane. I started zooming down a little nervous knowing the pavement was probably slick form the fresh rain. As I started to apply my brakes to keep my speed a little manageable, I was a bit horrified to see they weren't working all that well! Yikes! Needless to say, the rest of the steep part of the descent, I applied them sooner so I wouldn't go to fast to manage the curves safely and in case I did need to stop. A bit disappointing, but I kept stopping for pictures anyways because it was beautiful.

A nice water something or other on my descent

I think I am getting gipped on some of the scenery due to the storm clouds.

I feel like there's so much to see and yet, I see nothing

I am staying at Vjosa Guesthouse and Petro's parents from the LORD Hotel I stayed at before Durres, are the ones who run it. On that note, Petro had told me if I needed help, to contact him and it was not problem for his parents to come get me in their van. Happy to say I did not have to play that card.

The rest of the ride to their guesthouse I had quite a bit of rain, heavy at times. Awesome, I showed up looking like a drowned rat!

Wet, but happy as the worst of the climbs are over. I would like to remind everyone that at 30mph, raindrops hitting your face STING!

Got cleaned up and then the power promptly went out. I guess in the more rural areas of Albania, it's common after a big storms passes through. His parents don't speak English, but they called Petro when I arrived so he could translate everything. Despite not being able to speak each others language, it was fun hanging out with them. They have a beautiful garden and I paid extra to have a homestyle Albania meal prepared for dinner It was nice. Eventually, the power came on and before too long I called it a night. I was still trying to sort out what and where I was going tomorrow.

So many onions to cut the tops and bottoms off of. These are all from there gardens.

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 808 miles (1,300 km)

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