Uh, it’s hard to remember every detail of the day, and it’s really hard to write this every day. So I’m glad I forget the bad things that I think about on the way. But I guess that’s the trick that our mind does, it forgets the bad things and remembers the good ones. Maybe that’s why we keep signing up for these crazy adventures, despite knowing how much they’re going to hurt.
Summer’s surprise attack
In the morning, it got warmer much sooner than I expected. I had to strip layers very quickly and jump into my summer outfit for the rest of the day. What started as a pleasantly cool morning turned into an unexpectedly scorching day, up to 31 Celsius degrees! So much for my “chilly morning, pleasant afternoon” forecast. Apparently, the weather gods weren’t done playing games with me yet.
The hills bite back
The rest of the day was… yeah, a bit heavy. So I had a few harder, longer climbs. Otherwise, it was relatively okay – until it wasn’t. I had an energy crash around mid-day where I had to completely stop and recover. Just hit a wall. One moment I was pedaling along fine, the next I was barely turning the cranks.
So I had a lot of water and some food and sugar, anything to get the engine running again. Sometimes your body just demands a complete reset, and there’s no arguing with it. After that recovery stop, yeah, I slowed down a little bit.
Border blues and village peace
It was a bit rough at the border parts, on the German side and Czech side. But it’s usually the case between any two countries, they forget about the cyclists between the two borders. So yeah, that was a bit tough for some kilometers, navigating the no-man’s land that exists in these transition zones.
But after that, it was back to the village roads, which were quiet and empty. Just me, the bike, and endless countryside, battling to reach my goal for the day.
Castle views and aviation dreams
Before reaching my destination, I had a nice view of old castle walls, not sure what the actual name is of where I’m staying. But by pure coincidence (on purpose), I booked my stay at an airport hotel so that I can enjoy a little bit of helicopters and airplanes, indulging my aviation passion. Which turned out extremely nice, there’s something therapeutic (at least for me) about watching aircraft after a day of human-powered travel.
Tomorrow’s mountain challenge
Tomorrow, the weather should stay as it was today, hot and demanding. It’s the first day that’s going to be less than 200 kilometers (198 to be exact). But there’s a lot of climbing ahead. I’m probably gonna end up with more than 2,000 meters of elevation gain. So it’s gonna be very tough and very slow, but hopefully I’ll have an early start and a late evening to deal with this monster.
Tomorrow will mark halfway, 1000 kilometers minus the 80 that I traveled with the train. Day 5 of 10 days traveling. The mathematics of endurance: halfway through the days, halfway through the distance (I think), but somehow it feels like the hardest half is still ahead.
The mountains are calling. Time to see what these legs are really made of.
Every climb, every energy crash, every small victory brings us closer to supporting children in Croatia through SOS Children’s Villages. Almost halfway there! donate.wheres-marin.com
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