In Krapina: a loop through Zagorje

August 26, 2020

We’re quite comfortable in Apartman Lavanda. It’s roomy, has nearly everything we need for a three day stay. A refrigerator, coffee and a coffee maker, and a washer and drying rack. It also has a warm, personable feel. It’s Maya’s mother’s place apparently, either now or at some time in the past. One of the touches I like is its gallery of old photos on one wall of the bedroom that look like a family album of sorts.

Washing on the banks of the Krapinica, I imagine.

Except that the coffee maker is just a tin pot. Rachael calls Maya for instructions, and she’s told to fill the beaker with water, boil it, and add coffee. Rachael gamely gives it a try, with less than optimal results. Fortunately, she’s fine with instant; and I’m fine with walking just across the street to Caffe Vinea, which opens at 6 and serves a nice coffee for only 10 kuna (about $1.50).

So just how does this work, exactly? We couldn’t find a user’s manual.

And except that either we don’t know how to operate the washing machine, or it’s broken. Rachael loaded it up last night and started a cycle, and about an hour later it registered with us that it was still going, with an odd unhealthy sound that hadn’t changed for at least 20 minutes: whir, whir, whir, THUD; whir, whir, whir, THUD. We finally gave up on it and tried to shut it down and remove our clothes; but we couldn’t. It wouldn’t stop completely, and the lid wouldn’t open. Ten minutes of pushing buttons and dials in random order later, it finally released our load.

And, except for one more very small gripe: there’s a floor to ceiling mirror right next to the entrance to the bathroom. It’s very clear, and I’ve nearly rammed my nose into it four times before finally registering that it’s not a walkway.

I’m a slow learner. Fortunately, my nose is still intact, except that I can’t smell. I wonder if I have Covid? Oh, wait.

This morning we’re off for the first of two loop rides through Zagorje. We’re getting an early start so we can ride in the most refreshing hours of the day. One of the nice things about staying in an apartment is that there are no impediments to leaving as early as we want. I’m back from Caffe Viola by a bit after seven, we both have breakfast in the room, and we’re on the road by about 8:30.

I’m a bit groggy this morning because I was up late last night. There’s the journal to be tended to of course, but also I spent about an hour and a half bench testing ride ideas for today. The Zagorje is a rich area for cycling, full of paved, quiet roads through idyllic country that looks the set from a fairy tale. Many pleasant miles that follow streams through narrow valleys, separated by steep, painful little ridges and occasional unpleasant stints on a minor highway. The trick is to stitch together a loop that maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain and stress, based on what information you can glean from the satellite view.

I’m pretty happy with today’s work product, once I finally quit testing out alternatives. It’s a 42 mile loop that crosses a steep ridge first thing on leaving town, then drops into the neighboring valley for mostly quiet, mostly level miles for the remainder of the loop. There’s only one part I’m worried about, at the south end of the loop: I’m not sure about the safety of one of the roads I’ve selected. We’ll see when we get there. If it feels perilous, there’s an alternate route we can take that will shorten the ride a bit while avoiding that highway.

Let’s see how we did!