13 June, Dubrovnik to Tivat: Back into the saddle....

May 29, 2023

https://www.strava.com/activities/9257072109

So after 2 weeks of no progress south of Dubvronik it was time for Laura to go home and for me to continue my adventure south to Athens.

This was not easy. I have cycled over 2,200km over 8 weeks, mostly solitary, so to have the company of my beloved wife for 2 weeks was just delightful. Company 24/7, our familarity and comfort with each other, someone to wake with, go to sleep with, eat with and cycle with was wonderful. The last couple of days were difficult for me on a number of accounts.

I had travelled the road between Dubrovnik and the airport and it was NOT a cycling road. Narrow, busy and with lots of long climbs it represented the most dangerous road since the start of my tour. I had been "talking" to the shuttle bus company, Platanus, over the course of the 2 weeks to try and find out, with confidence, if I could take my bike on the shuttle bus to the airport. Some answers were positive but others were ignored or answered in a rather abstract way. I was keen to take the bus as it was safer and, more importantly, it would allow Laura and I to say our farewells at the airport and not the busy station. Ultimately we decided to take the chance an turn up at the bus station with my bike. We planned ahead by looking at the departure schedule for the airport and concluded that the 0730 bus should be quiet. There was an added benefit of getting me on the road early. The downside was Laura would be rather early.

So an Uber for Laura with her wrapped up panniers and me cycling downhill, away from the airport, saw us at the bus station just before 0700.

The bus turned up just after 0700 and I manouvre ourselves close to the side of the bus so we could load the bike asap. Possession is 9 tenths of the the law etc…..

Catching the eye of the driver and decided to face the issue head one, I indicated that I was taking the bike on the bus. He sort of shrugged and grimaced in a negative way. I quickly added that the office said it was ok. He shrugged and said "other side". I took that as a success or at least a step forward. We circumvented the bus. He opened a hatch revealing a space which was clearly too small for a bike (you quickly realise that bikes don't really bend and that they are long). I tried just to show that I was willing to make this work. I then suggested the main hatch. "I have other passengers!" (with a shrug). I suggested they put their luggage in the smaller area. He shrugged. Another success. The bike was carefully manouvred to fit in the main hold. I made an obvious effort to avoid the dirty chain from resting on the cases already loaded then dumped it and boarded the bus. He didn't even ask for a ticket for the bike. The office told me to pay 10€ but when asked where I pay it they were silent. The person at the desk in the kiosk at the bus station shrugged when I asked about payment. They didn't get paid for transporting my bike.

I have noticed that shrugging seems to be a standard means of communication in Croatia. Google Translate doesn't help though. The best response seems to be a smile and then assume that the shrug means "yes".

The trip to the airport completely confirmed my view of that section of the road - avoid on a bike. Looked absolutely hellish.

Last night I spent some time looking through my panniers and bags to work out what Laura could take home because either I hadn't used it or I wouldn't use it again. Gloves, long jog pants, Go-Pro, down gilet all went home. To be placed by a spare tyre, beach shoes (bought on the islands) and some extra clothes. The net effect was probably nothing in terms of weight but I gained some space from the down gilet.

At the airport it was simply, load the bike and say farewell. It was much worse than the same farewell in Dunbar on 4 April. We have always given each other space and encouraged each other to do our own things. It helps make our marriage work. Not everyone has the same attitude but it works for us. However I was out of the groove of getting up and cycling 60+km, sleeping, getting up and doing it all again. Plus I was losing my buddie and that was hard. Lots of hugs and we separated. I organised my helmet, stuff for my jersey pockets, rear light on and the Laura was back again with some minor issues with luggage drop (I had stupidly booked her flights on my EasyJet account making checking in etc awkward). So I helped sort out the issues and we went through it all again…….

Then the pedals turned and I headed out of the airport. Laura was very concerned that the road conditions between Dubrovnik and the airport would continue towards Montenegro. I was confident they wouldn't but that didn't reassure her. Within a few hundred metres on the main road I turned right onto a very small lane which continued for several km. I stopped, took a photo and sent it to her. I think it helped her.

The ride north to south was pretty good. The forecast is as sunny until mid afternoon and then a 60% chance of rain. I started around 0845 and had 50km to do (more later) so I hoped to avoid the rain.

The small lane soon changed to a rural road with 2 lanes and little traffic. The riding was relaxed and relatively easy. Any climbing wasn't too steep.

I then had a short section of gravel and then more road. A cafe bar appeared around 1000 so I stopped to have a coffee and a pecan maple pastry I bought the day before.

It has been getting hotter as time progressed and as I headed south. I've cycled in various extremes of heat. Burgundy, Bordeaux, Tenerife, Spain, Mallorca, Bahrain and Vietnam. So I am no stranger to sweating profusely, hydration and heat fatigue. I could see the fatigue creeping in. The two 60km hilly days with Laura had been very hard. So I am planning on starting my daily ride earlier to avoid the extreme heat I am going to encounter in Albania and then Greece. Starting early introduces my reluctance to eat very early. I like to get up, get moving (go to the gym even) and then eat breakfast. I usually ate my breakfast in the office when commuting to Edinburgh or Glasgow. So I will have to develop a technique for getting up quietly in a hostel dorm, loading the bike and heading early before eating breakfast maybe 20km down the road.

Then I was going again with my route taking me onto an abandoned narrow gauge railway line. This started out ok but it soon became a bit of an experience. The old railway ballast was not well compacted, the line was overgrown, the grass was hiding oversized stones which threw the front wheel, there was a very steep and high embankment down on the left and it was narrow. I eventually had to walk and push the bike in fear of the large stones pushing my front wheel left towards the drop……

The upside was that the scenery was stunning plus the flora and fauna on the line, itself, was amazing. The wild flowers were lovely. I saw and heard (mostly) lizards rustling into the undergrowth, no snakes though. I saw several large and pretty dragonflies. I had a large, black grasshopper land on my hand. The only bit I didn't appreciate was the face level cobwebs which stretched across the path. My beard seems to be very good at sticking to the web strings! It wasn't pleasant.

After a few km of that old railway line I found myself at the Croatia border control. They barely looked at me, stamped my passport and I was on my way to Montenegro. They were the same. Scanned me and suddenly I was in another new country.

The route from the border to Tivat was less interesting. Basically a busy road with a break for the ferry at Kamenari.

The final few km took me into Tivat where I found my hostel and after the usual shower I started to explore.