Day 3 – June 1, 2025
Time flies, now it was the first day of June. I got a really nice breakfast at 6:30 am - maybe even a bit too much - but then it turned out I really needed those calories. I was on the road by 7 am or so and it was quite an ascent that followed. It was not as steep as on the previous day, but it was a steady climb.
A bit later in the day, as I was crossing a larger hill (or a smaller mountain) something funny happened - a car overtook me, then slowed down in front of me and stopped a little distance ahead of me. A tall, young guy got out of the car and signalled me to stop, which I did. He started talking to me in perfect English, asking me a few questions about my trip. Then he revealed that his passion was biking as well and that a couple of years prior, he rode his bike from Slovenia all the way to Singapore - riding through most countries in Europe to Turkey, then Iran, skipping Pakistan, but then continuing in India, Bangladesh, and again skipping Myanmar, then into Thailand, Malaysia and finally to Singapore - having been on the road for 15 months. We chatted a bit about biking and as a farewell gift, he handed a bag of snacks - which were indeed welcome!
Somewhere here I (yet again) got onto a road I had also ridden in 2022, when I was heading to Sicily. Back then, it was also Day 3, also starting in Graz - but while I had a nice, clean bed this time, back then it was a wild camp with unexpected rain, plus unwelcome visitors at night - two baby foxes. It was so that I rode through the town of Kočevje, then saw signs for a huge castle called Kastel. Similar to the previous ride, I skipped the visit.
A Kastel too far - even for the second time
Soon I was at the Slovenian-Croatian border - which, by 2025, had become a Schengen border, no controls like in 2022.
I remembered all too well what would await for me on the other side - a long, long climb, with quite some traffic, especially quite a few stinking motorcycles. That was a really hot day and I will admit honestly, I prefer not knowing what kind of road awaits for me. I think I needed over two hours for just over 11 kilometers, it was not my best performance ever. Eventually, I reached the rather unattractive town of Delnice, where I stopped for a break.
Once again, I knew what was ahead - this was a not too steep, but a continuous climb up a road - which apparently never wanted to end. The heat was getting to me - and then a lot of things happen in the mind - I knew how long I would need to push- yet again - and I believe this was not for the second, but even the third time, I rode next to the place where some Winnetou movies were shot - back in the 1960s, when Yugoslavia was still a country. I took a long break to marvel at a lake below the road.
A nice lake below
Finally, I reached the top of the road and got a bit of goose-bumps and this was a different "body" of water - this was the first view of the Adriatic sea in the distance!
First view of the Adria
It was a fun sight seeing the road drop towards the sea and ever more fun was riding it. This time, I took a different road than in 2022 - this one took me (more or less) directly ito Rijeka. Close to the city, I rode through a deep gorge.
Gorge leading down to Rijeka
I arrived at the center, whwre I found some sings commemorating the fact that this town had belonged to Austria-Hungary, with some plaques in Hungarian. Some building are really impressive. There was still plenty daylight left, so I had a quick dinner at a McDonald's, then rode on.
Theater of the city
Main street of Rijeka
A cool building
The Iron Minister Baross, who built the port of Rijeka
City view
Now I was heading towards the west, in direction of Opatija. Over a decade ago, I had spent a couple of days with a former girlfriend there, us staying in a nice hotel. Reaching town, I actually found the hotel and recalled they had served a delicious dessert in the morning, called Gibanica, a three-layered cake with cheese, apples and poppy seeds. I entered the hotel, where the doorman hardly wanted to let me in, talked to a manager, she explained that this cake was only served on special occasions. Apparently, me visiting the hotel some 15 years after my stay there was not deemed as a special occasion, so I was not served a cake. Pity.
Opatija
I rode on for a couple of more miles and up a hill, I found a nice camping, half empty, where I pitched my tent. There was a nice view of the sea and of Rijeka in the distance. I had a nice shower, it had been a long day, I had ridden some 130 kilometers, but I was happy to have made it to the sea.