Shifting Gears

September 28, 2026. Sibenik to Split, Croatia. 35 miles. 3,386’ climbing.  Before riding from Šibenik, here are a few images from last night.  Heather lost her reader glasses so had to use her sunglasses that have a reading lens attached on them, but this made it too dark, so she had to use her flashlight also. I thought it hilarious, I wondered what our waitress thought. She bought a new pair at the pharmacy the next day, and found her original pair a few days later. Last year cycling the Camino in Spain we were told there are an infinite number of Camino’s, in that basically there’s a Camino from everywhere in Europe, from each person‘s home. But we never expected to see a Camino sign so far away. We learned there is a “Croatian Camino”, as well from Croatia all the way to Santiago de Campostella in Spain. The old town of Sibenik has so many stairs rising from seaside up to the fortress at top. We felt really sorry for this mother carrying her child over her shoulder. Not so...

September 25, 2026. Motovun to Zagorje, Croatia. 35 miles. 3,386’ climbing.  Sunrise from atop Motovun is special. Photo credit to the ever energetic Heather on an early morning walk - while I still slept. It was way more fun riding out of Motovun with a descent to begin - even with the first bit on cobblestone. Croatian drivers have been very respectful of us. They will pass fast, but they do so by going wide giving us a safe space.  We’ve only been honked at one time each, and in both cases it was our own fault for drifting into the lane. Cycling past so many vineyards there are many tasting opportunities. Croatians tell us their wines are better than Italian because of distinct microclimates and indigenous grapes. We are definitely not connoisseurs, but learned that California’s famous Zinfandel traces its origins to Croatian grapes.  We’ve both been struck by these coniferous trees that we see often and at first assumed must take lots of trimming and shaping. I was tr...