I've Been finding out what I can about the 4 countries (Austria, Italy, Slovenia and croatia) Ill be
cycling/camping through and just thinking in more detail about what challenges could
lie ahead for me.
Ive looked at my route in a bit more detail from the 4 country
maps I have now, but think I'll need to get more localiazed maps because I cant see the
smaller roads that I might need as I go along.
My intended route through Slovenia and Croatia doesn’t take
me near enough to any campsites and I was assuming that I could stay at a few
campsites now and again to take a shower, wash clothes etc.
I was hoping to wild camp most of the way anyway (as never done
before) but I’ve found out a few things that could add some spice to the trip.
When I cycled coast to coast France last year, I was able to look
at some of the roads on Google streetview, to make sure they were bike friendly
enough. This time I cant do that because Google streeview doesn’t cover
Slovenia or Croatia, so my route will have to adapt as I go along.
Not a problem in itself, but I do need to be careful not to get
forced onto motorways if there are no bike friendly roads going my way.
Still havent got a solar charger so not sure how Im going to
keep my phone juiced up, except keeping it on airplane mode most of the time. I
used a PowerMonkey solar charger last year that I borrowed, but it needed 3
full days of sun to be able to charge my phone 70%.
Cold in Alps and Hot everywhere else (probably) so Ill need
clothes for very cold and very hot, not to mention rain in the mountains. This
will add to the overall weight of the bike but the biggest extra weight will be
food and water Ill need to carry for the climbs.
Some things I’ve found out..
Wild camping is Illegal in Croatia and Slovenia
I’ve read that camping is banned in Croatia because they have a problem with vagrants
and there still could be uncleared landmines in coutryside away from the
popular tourist trails. perhaps knock on some farm doors and see if I can
benefit from local hospitality.
I’m sure I can cycle through slovenia in a day on the single lane motorway
(E61) so wont need to camp there. I read one blog post from a lone cyclist who
got detained at Slovenia/Croatia border and had to prove he wasn’t a vagrant by
showing receipts from campsites he’d stayed at.
The only road from Reijka in north croatia to Zadar further down
the coast, is a motorway. (E65)
This may only be a single or
double lane motorway but the wind from lorries passing me could be dangerous
and I cant check how wide the road is. So I’m considering Island hoping as far
as Split which means at least 3 or 4 short ferry crossings between Islands
(need to check timetables tho). The Islands are much more tourist focused
so there will be campsites there.
Whole day climbs in the Alps?
I’ve identified 4 separate passes
that I need to cross. Each one could take a whole day to climb. The longest
climb I’ve ever done is 2 hours (last year ) so I really don’t know how my body
will withstand day after day of fully loaded climbing. Ive been training quite
hard the last 5 weeks so Im in good shape but I will have to make sure I
carry enough food and water so I can be continually eating and drinking as I
climb so I don’t dehydrate or run out of energy. One of the biggest mistakes I
made last year was missing meals and not eating or drinking enough while I
cycled. So I became dehydrated which meant that I had no appetite at the end of
each day and didn’t eat well – Not good cos I don’t have much fat to burn!
Apart from all that, I’m looking forward to the adventure – I'll be happy when
im off the plane and my bike is in one piece again in Innsbruck.
