Hey there, this and next week I (Madita) have the honor to write the blog entries and report on the trip and my impressions during the short section where I accompany Ida and Tilman. Enjoy reading, it will be exciting!

After a restful night in the hostel, we got up on Saturday (13.05.) in the morning, had a relaxed breakfast with a wonderful view of the mountains and shortly after set off. The plan was to drive about 100 km, so that we could arrive in the evening at Sven and his family on the island of Krk.

At first cloudy, we went a bit uphill to the Croatian border, where we didn't know what would be waiting for us beyond...

Because it turned out that you can't trust the weather forecast in the mountains. We didn't think much of it when we heard the thunder of a thunderstorm behind the mountains, since according to the weather report only light rain was forecast for our route. That we were clearly wrong, we realized when it began to rain in torrents, while we drove a good piece downhill. As if that wasn't exhausting enough, we were also hit by hail. Unfortunately, there were no good shelters in this stretch of woods, however, we stopped and briefly sat out the hail and rain when we met a cyclist going in the exact opposite direction. Thus we stood then at the roadside closely to closely under the tent tarp.

A short time later we found a shelter where we paused, warmed up with tea, wringed out our socks and poured out our shoes.

When the rain almost stopped, we drove on and of course it then started to rain properly again, only this time without hail. At some point we arrived in a small village where the sun was shining so strongly that you could not have guessed that it had rained. And so we took the opportunity to dry our clothes. In the process, we saw an extremely photogenic lizard.

Then it went - who would have thought it - further uphill until we could see the sea shortly before Rijeka. For a change, there was a longer downhill with a short break in Rijeka. So we drove sometimes furiously fast uphill, sometimes creeping slowly downhill or something like that. When it dawned shortly before Krk, I got inconveniently migraine. What was good about it: It was getting dark and so it wasn't quite so exhausting for my eyes. What was bad about it: it was very exhausting to concentrate on cycling in the dark. So the darkness was both a curse and a blessing... well and the migraine just a curse. But hey since it was evening we got across the bridge very relaxed, at least without many cars. However, every now and then there were so strange jags on the roadway where my tire almost got stuck in and on the bridge my chain jumped out the first time. Nevertheless, we made it safely to the island! Then it continued hilly and at some point we arrived at Sven's place, where we were even allowed to sleep in the apartment above. And so we fell knocked out into bed.

short review about my first 100km bike ride in one day:

So that was my first 100km on the bike. I never thought that I nor Rucio (my bike) could do it. I think I had everything you can imagine: 100km distance to put behind you, mountains, rain, hail, sunshine and cycling until late in the evening.

When we woke up on Sunday (14.05.), we saw - apart from the rain - the mountains and the sea from the window. Since it was actually raining all day and I had migraine again, the day practically only consisted of sleeping and eating. During a short break in the rain, we dared to go to the beach once.

Monday (15.05.) looked a little better and we had as breakfast kivelo vrhnje (sour cream), which we mistook for yogurt, but surprisingly tasted pretty good with oatmeal, banana and chocolate. Then we helped to paint in the nice weather to get the property ready for summer.

Later in the afternoon, we were given a ride by the older daughter to the town of Krk, through which we strolled. After we got something at the kebab - where else - we drove back. Since the weather was so nice, I didn't miss the chance to jump into the water again, while Ida and Tilman preferred to stay dry.

In the evening we made couscous salad and ate with beautiful view of the mountains and the sea and watched the sunset. And before we went to sleep, we watched a movie.

With the plan to continue on Tuesday (16.05.), we woke up in the morning, but this shriveld away quite quickly.. Because in Croatia there are so-called Bora winds, which move from the mountains through aisles towards the coast and sea and can reach gusty high speeds. These prevented us from continuing. So the time passed, we were again at the water, this time with the dogs, I was swimming and in the evening we played Mario Kart with the youngest daughter of.

On Wednesday (17.05.) we now really wanted to go and also did this around noon. When we were just before the bridge, we already noticed the strong wind. Arrived at the bridge it was extremely windy and we noticed that the bridge was closed for many means of transport because of the wind. So we thought we could hitchhike piece by piece to transport the bikes across, but that turned out to be difficult. When then still Tilman's helmet was broken, since this was transported by the wind on the road, we decided to stay nevertheless still another night with Sven. Fortunately, only the helmet, and not we, was blown away by the wind.

Since we only had two helmets left, I was picked up with Ida's bike and Ida and Tilman rode the distance back to Sven's house with my bike and the cargo bike. Since we wanted to barbecue in the evening and urgently needed a new helmet, Ida and Tilman went shopping with the others. As already mentioned, we then ended the evening with delicious grilled food.

Thursday (18.05.) should now finally be the day we wanted to continue to the Plitvice Lakes. We were even smart enough to watch this time on the Internet, as the restrictions of the bridge are, so that we would not need to face the same problem again. Since the winds were not supposed to decrease until the afternoon, we had a relaxed breakfast and helped a bit more on the property. Once at the bridge, the winds were moderate, but the cars were stressful. Because the bridge is built so that you either have to take the lane for the cars or a very narrow pedestrian path on the edge.

After about a stressful third across the bridge, we pulled over briefly and Ida and I decided to bypass the stressful cars and push across the sidewalk while Tilman took the car lane.

After reuniting after the bridge, we headed up a "trail" that looked more like a path with loose stones than a real posted trail.

The rest of the day can actually be reduced to two words: steep uphill. So steep that my good Rucio and I had to push at times, which was somehow not easier. Oh and I forgot to tell you, that it was also windy. As the day slowly drew to a close and we have not come far but made quite a process uphill again, we were allowed to sleep with a beautiful view of the mountains and the sea with people in the garden, who even had a super fluffy dog.

After the first or maybe second rays of sunshine, we continued on Friday (19.05.)... uphill. The goal today was to get behind the mountains. Apart from the fact that it was still very windy in the meantime, it was nice to observe how the landscape changes.

During a short drinking break in a village, a woman came across the street, went into a house and came out a short moment later, taking our drinking bottles with her. To our surprise, she came back not only with filled bottles, but also with freshly made fried pastries. After a short power snack we could go on.

We then took a longer breather on a plateau that invited us to linger with its gentle hills and free-roaming horses - we even saw a foal. As we drove on, we then learned how exactly the Bora winds come about when we stopped briefly at a windbreak and got to feel the wind. There is even a video of it... well and what should you expect, except to hear the noise of the wind. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the landscape for a moment at a viewpoint.

When we made it through the mountain range and left the coast behind us, the landscape changed abruptly. There was dense forest, sometimes larger open spaces, and we drove through many small villages or past many farms, which meant that a "village" could stretch for several kilometers. Thereby, quite a few farms and houses were abandoned and run down. By the looks of it, you could see that some of them had been abandoned for at least a decade. Since the area was so sparsely populated, the roads between the villages also resembled a very wide bike path rather than a road, as we didn't encounter too many cars either.

When it was already starting to get evening and we passed a small group of houses - so 3 houses - suddenly two dogs began to bark. Most dogs we have encountered so far have only barked and stayed on the property even without a fence, but these two did not. We were riding by quite slowly when the bigger dog (it was really big) ran after us and bit one of Ida's bike bags, causing her to fall down. Fortunately, Ida had pulled her arm away in time, because the bite in the bag had been pretty close to her arm. The dog barked and then ran away. Shocked by what had just happened, we stopped for the moment - after all, who expects to be attacked by a dog whose property you're just driving past? - But when we tried to call the police to clarify the damage with the insurance company, it turned out that just here we didn't have mobile reception. So we drove on with the goal of driving to the next village... so a real village, which you could also recognize as a village. This dragged on for a good bit as there were many isolated and also abandoned houses and farms. Even there some dogs made stress and barked, growled and ran after us when we passed, but without attacking us.

Arriving in the next village, Tilman called the police, but they were maximally overtaxed with the situation. When we then found some nice people with whom we were allowed to sleep in the garden, Ida and I set up the tent while Tilman waited for the police at a crossroads. When the police arrived, the officers remarked that this was no longer their area of operation, whereupon Ida was supposed to ride along with the officers to forward the data to another police station. Well the police seemed to be very puzzled by everything and a bit overwhelmed, as they were also very surprised that people would just voluntarily want to sleep outside in a tent in a garden. When the worst was settled and Ida was brought back, we were all so exhausted that we quickly fell asleep.

That was an exciting first bike week! And if you think the second would get boring, then I have to disappoint you. Be curious about the second part!