Once stopping at the huge supermarket called 'Mercator', we were now stocked up for what was going to be hell a mountain. Now I've seen Mt Ventoux and watched people like Lance and Pantani riding up these mountains full of juice, but you should try doing a tougher climb with 45kgs of bike and baggage between your legs.
After riding through the town of Kalce we had to take a turn and head for the village of Podkraj. We had both decided to take on the mountains which was the more direct route to the Italian border. We knew it would have some climbs but 10kms less this way was worth the challenge. No sooner had we turned off the main road, our ride decided to aim for heaven. For the next 5kms we steadily climbed together through a spectacular forest of trees and the most amazing scenery in Slovenia. It was extremely tough work but the gradient was just enough to allow forward progress.
After climbing to the top of the mountain it was time to take a break. For when we start the final climb there would be nothing other than pain.
Peter and I started the final climb together but soon we parted ways for each person to ride their own tempo. I rode along at one speed taking my time and then the mountain which was already 7%, decided to jump to 12%. Now this is extremely steep, and remember the weight we're carrying. Bend after bend the road just wouldn't relent on us. At least we had the best road in the world to be riding on. Just when you thought the road was flattening out, up it went again. I read the next sign on the side of the road, '3.5kms of twists', yeh, well that's what we've doing for the past 1/2 hour. So up we went again, sweat pouring off my nose, arms and legs.
Now I was suffering at this stage and I knew I still had another 10kms to go, and in this heat I had to remember I wasn't 25 year old. As I counted down the kms I was met with another sign, '17% gradient'. Now I was in a real bother. I didn't know whether I would have the strength to push the bike and me up this section. I put my head down and just pushed on as hard as can be, waiting for my legs to let go at any point. Each time you would lift your head to check the road ahead and each time I see the road winding further and further up this mountain. This has to be the steepest mountain I've ever ridden in my life, and that includes my racing days and riding through Africa with Josh.
The road peaked out at close to 1000 metres at the summit and there I sat down and waited for Peter to arrive. I felt like I had achieved something big climbing this mountain today, but Peter who doesn't ride as much as I do back home put in a mightier effort in making it to the summit not far behind me.
As all bike riders know, the best part of a mountain is going down the other side at stupid speeds. We roared down the mountain and into the town of Adjovscina and this is where we had our lunch stop. When you work hard on the road you really enjoy that tuna, tomato, onion and cheese roll.
After lunch it was time to finish the day and hit the border and find a place to stay. Whilst riding out of Nova Gorica a chap stopped us and took our photos. He was a journalist and thought it would be interesting to talk about 2 Aussies riding their bikes across Europe. He also stopped to tell us that a huge storm was coming from Italy and that we should be indoors when it hits. We had about 8kms to go to the border so I wasn't concerned.
The road to the border was on a secondary road and was rather quiet and safe to ride on. We still had the same headwind that we brought with us from Istanbul and it wouldn't let up. We just pushed along until we found the border post at Gorizia. The border post is non existent, all we had to do was keep riding into Italy and we were in our next country.
After dinner we went for a short walk of the town to try and stretch the old tired bones. The town of Gorizia has that historical sites to see, but we're in no shape to walk too far.
Another fantastic day on the bike with some serious hill climbing thrown in for good measure. Tomorrow we head further west and see what is around the corner.
Until tomorrow, safe riding.
Good job guys! Sounds almost exactly like my day except I had pouring rain on 4 climbs above 15% gradient. Then to make matters worse, the route I'd put together from the cycling map, actually took me into a forest near a city and the gradient was so steep on the dirt (wet from the rain) that the rear tire kept slipping and finally I fell over. There was no way I could get the bike up that climb on the wet dirt, even pushing it. Ended up having to walk the bike back down and re-route myself 30K out of the way to go around the climb. Had pouring rain all day. Get this..yesterday, it was 46 deg C at 11 a.m.; today it was 16 C at 11 a.m and never got above 18C. Hey, how long you guys going to be in Italy?
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