14 June, Tivat to Petrovac

May 30, 2023

Today was an interesting ride. Not what I expected or planned.

Two Strava rides

https://www.strava.com/activities/9262412606

https://www.strava.com/activities/9264887260

Original route

Last night I bought a tourist SIM card as my UK SIM would cost me a fortune whilst outside of the Schengen area. This SIM would cover me whilst in Montenegro and Albania. I had considered just relying on downloads and WiFi in the evening but at 20€ I thought it was worth it.

I set out with the original route chosen to minimise my time on the busy road into Budva which was just north of Petrovac my intended destination.

It started well with a busy road out of Tivat afterwhich I swung to the left and started to climb the first of two big ascents for the day. I had kept the distance shortish because of the climbs. The scenery was good although the area I was cycling through was a bit rough with lots of abandoned fridges, freezers and cars. I stopped at a suitable place, with a view, for breakfast.

Once over the climb it was nice to coast for a while and then it was up again but not such a severe gradient or distance.

Suddenly I can across what looked like a landslide blocking my route (see photos). This was a pain because there was only three usable rods going south and this was one of them. I had to stop look at maps and work out a new route. Then I had to cycle back until I could join that new route. The worst was that having completed quite a significant climb I was facing a long downhill and then an even bigger climb. It turned out that this extra climb was so steep I probably walked/pushed for about 6km. It was pretty tiring. The upside was it was trying to rain so there was less direct sunlight despite being very hot.

Once over the top I have a long twist downhill which was so steep I was braking almost the entire way. I did don't even get the benefit of enjoying the descent before I had to join the main road to the north west of Budva. That was another horrible climb up and around the headland with pretty intense traffic. Thankfully there was a crawler lane and, for most of it, I was well away from vehicles.

The descent into Budva was not great either as this road funelled lots of traffic into one large town. At this point I jumped onto the pavement to avoid sitting behind buses and their exhausts.

Once in Budva I headed to the beach for a rest, a cold drink and lunch. The beaches were very busy. Two sunbeds and an umbrella were 10€ which was very different from Hvar where this would have cost 50-80€ depending on how close to the town centre you were. That said the Budva sunbeds were crammed in with no space between them.

After lunch I headed east then south. I stuck to the esplanade for as long as possible but, eventually, had to climb up and onto the main road again. The traffic was just the same so I kept tight to the RHS and trundled on. It was only 16km to Petrovac where I collapsed onto my bed in my little room.

The forecast for the next few days wasn't great with high intensity rain due tomorrow. I spent a bit of time looking at the route and as a chunk of it was on a state road I decided to extend my stay in Petrovac by one night to let the rain storm pass.

Petrovac is a small, seaside resort with little other than the beach and associated bars and restaurants. The next morning was wet so I took the chance to sleep on before heading out for breakfast. I found a remarkably good ham and cheese omlette which kept me satiated until dinner time.

I spent part of the afternoon giving the front and rear gears on the bike of a bit of a service. I was getting minor issues with rubbing and some strange noises along with missed gears. A dialogue with some friends in East Lothian helped identify the problems and they were easily fixed.

Late in the afternoon I returned to a little bar where I had a couple of beers the previous night. The beer was local and the waiter very friendly. Whilst sipping slowly on a beer the people at the table next to me disappeared bri fly and returned with lovely looking rolls stuffed with chicken and salad. I asked for a menu but couldn't find a sandwich on the menu. I asked the waiter and pointed, saying "I would like one of them". He explained it was fast food and I shrugged (I'm learning) and said ok. He then approached the table next to me and spoke to a lady eating her roll. She promptly stood up and headed to the bar. She was the chef! I quickly apologised and asked her to finish her meal first. I was not in a rush but no she went off. Other tables had started to order food so I didn't feel so bad. It seemed the other table was the family who ran the bar and they were all taking turns to work.

The roll was lovely.

Today's ride: 89 km (55 miles)
Total: 4,085 km (2,537 miles)

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