Day 18 – Slunj (Croatia) to Crnomelj (Slovenia)

18 miles (29 km) – Total so far: 904 miles (1,455 km)

Thunder stirred me and it wasn’t just from outside.
The stomach also.
No reader wants the specifics but the lasagna last night in the Bistro was bad.
The room I had was booked and though I was in the recovery stage by 10 am I hadn’t much strength to consider riding. The storms outside had given way to steady rain.
In a cafe in town I bumped into a Czech couple who were cyclists also, but mountain biking with their camper van. They offered me a lift to the border, and I grabbed it.
I then hung around a cafe, still not eating anything. The rain eased and I very slowly cycled to Crnomelj.
I feel robbed of a day’s riding, the only upside is I would have got completely soaked anyway.

Leaving Apartments Hazler on a wet morning.
The road from Grabovac to Slunj was a mistake in retrospect. It’s Highway 1 and extremely busy. I had been fooled, as it’s so close to Plitvice National Park.
The other option I had was Highway 42 to the west, which I am sure would have been better.

This cafe is the centre of Slunj was a cyclists’ meeting place this morning. I had a good exchange of routes with a very experienced Canadian couple, than feeling less than strong, and a long way from eating anything, I met the Czechs in their camper van.