Gwilym's Adventure Blog

A 5.30am start got me through the Soca valley, over the pass at 1600m (road 206 - not for people who can't do corners) and into Italy before the heat started to crank up. After breakfast however it just became hotter and hotter. I went up and over another couple of passes and on dropping down into a town had to do some stop/start riding. With no airflow I actually began to feel sick and the bike was showing 41 degrees. I pulled over and sat in a cafe for over an hour trying to psyche myself up for the last 40 to 50 mins to the campsite. On arrival at the campsite I wasn't exactly made to feel welcome as she didn't want to sell me just one night. Well the storm was coming, the rain was starting and I had no intention of moving on so after a tense stand off she relented and I have a space. Pretty crap and over priced but at least off the bike before the storm. Tent pitched, showered and just got inside before the thunder started. Today's ...

Croatia has quite a long coastline I found out today. The rule of all coastline lengths are infinitesimal if you measure with a small enough ruler. Around headlands, onto a peninsula and over a ferry all were part of the plan. However, these curvy roads around the coast had absolutely no shade (even though I left at 6am it was already 28 degrees) and I really struggled today with the heat hitting 38 at one point. Once over the border into Slovenia it was much greener and trees lined the roads making it much easier to seek shade when needed. There was also a tunnel and I managed to make 100m last about 2 mins to take advantage. The last hour or so of the day was following the river Soca up the valley and my campsite gave me direct access. I think a personal best of getting in the river 9 mins after arriving and that included checking in and pitching the tent. I will now be playing "Thunderstorm Chess". There are storms blocking my way home...