Dan 18

August 9, 2017

I am a hockey fan, and more specifically a Los Angeles Kings hockey fan, and one of the star players on the Kings is Anze Kopitar who just happens to be Slovenian. And when the Kings won the championship and I saw him with the Stanley Cup in Slovenia it looked beautiful and I thought, "I should ride there sometime."

Well Slovenia didnt disappoint. It is beautiful. I am riding in a region called the Julian Alps. Holy cow its nice, and when I say Holy Cow I dont mean that in a religious way, its just something you say to emphasize a point.

I left the campground early and hopped on a bus up the Soca pass, a monster climb that I had no time, interest or energy to climb, what with 20% grades and all. But even the bus was an adventure. Our driver was a pro, navigating the hairpin turns, but his greatest achievement was when a flock of sheep decided they where going to get in the road and NOT give way. All the cars and our bus was at a standstill until finally our driver just went and the sheep decided that whatever they were eating in the middle of the road was not worth it.

From the top it was mostly down into beautiful scenery but also history. This area, called the Soci Front was one of the worst in WWI (some say the worst). The Italians were fighting the Austrians and both were fighting terrible conditions because of the terrain and cold. But the Austrians held the high ground and the Italian leaders kept throwing bodies up the mountains to try and save face, or that is my take on it anyway. There are documented accounts of Austrians who stopped firing on the Italians and instead saying, "go back, we dont want to kill you all."

this was also the front in Hemingways Farewell to Arms, which I was probably assigned to read in school but never did. I brought it with me to read on the trip as well, but, you know, Ive had things to do.

Anyway, all along the route there was information on the front, and in Kobarid there is an excellent museum on what happened here. I am told that there is still military equipment all over the area and only short hikes on trails will reveal it.

By then I was pooped and found a funky little campground that would have fit in in northern California, complete with restaurant with trees growing in the middle of it.

Tomorrow I finish my short loop of Slovenia. Stay tuned!

There were 50 swtichbacks on the climb. This was 35

The Soca river is clear as a bell and a beautiful blue color!

This is map of supply line they had to set up to supply troops i winter because of the snow.

Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 822 miles (1,323 km)

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