The roads weren't the only thing that became steeper as prices shot up considerably. People looked diffferent, the roads were far far better but the major thing was the light.
In Hungary the light had been a yellow/reddish light whilst in Slovenia in was a lighter blue tinged light. This might sound light complete and utter nonsense to many but artists will bang on about light to anybody that'll listen. The landscape before us was stunning and in the west were the first views of the Julian Alps.
It was a long first day in Slovenia. In Croatia and Hungary finding accomadation had been easy. We'd been along main tourist routes most of the time but even away fom the strip we'd not really struggled. This day though we soon realised we'd have to have to plough on to Maribor. This wasn't a problem as we had a rest day planned there, I had a crazy idea about hiring mountain bikes. What we didn't realise is that Birmingham City were playing Maribor in European competition and just about every hotel was full.
One thing to get used to when cycle touring is pushing your fully laden bike around towns looking for a bed. After about two hours eventually we found a lovely apartment above a restaurant and then proceeded to eat the entire menu. Legs like lead I wavered on the idea of mountain biking the next day and with Julie not being keen anyway, I decided against it. When we visited the MTB area the next day it was probably the right decision. It looked tough however when I checked out my rear view in the mirror that morning it was definitely the right one. My suspicions were confirmed I had a developing saddle sore.
Nowadays I bang on and on about having good quality shorts. Back then I was a poor naieve Welshman and was touring in a pair of cheap bibs. They looked lovely but the lining on the chamois pad was detaching causing a pretty bad hot spot. Julie's comment was "you look like you've been caned", never did find out how she could draw the comparison though.
We wondered over to the Pohorje district of Maribor, which like all ski areas is made usefull in Summer by providing MTB facilities. The walk was a bit further than we thought but with the help of Union beer and the views had a lovely afternoon. After diving into a bike shop to buy my first quality pair of bibs we took the gondola to the top and watched awestruck at the riders tackling the runs. Way way beyond my levels. Every technical trail feature you can think of was visiable and the World Cup track the likes of which Rachel Atherton, Steve Peat and Sam Hill have ridden was calling my name. I'd have crashed badly on it but woah I wanted to ride it. Suppose breaking my neck might have taken my mind off my sore bum though.
The next morning it was time to move on. We cycling out of Maribor and discovered what I still think may be the best road I've ever cycled. The Soca valley. Not the famous one but a back road. Twisting, smooth with steep valley sides it was perfect. One day I'll take my race bike there but even with a poorly balanced tourer it was bliss. At the end of the valley though we were hit with a 500m climb. Which I loved. The 18months of not smoking had worked and I flew up it. Well flew is probably the wrong word but I didn't stop and I didn't push. My new shorts were like a dream and I felt fit.
Passing the distinctive Slovenia log piles and green meadows, that day was turning out to be one of the best in the saddle ever. Mid afternoon we discussed stopping early to enjoy the sun and soak in the views. Spotting what looked like a hotel in the distance we rode towards it and pulled up into what looked a reasonably popular place with a stunning outlook. Julie went in to enquire about accommodation whilst I looked after the bikes. I took the chance to stretch out a few muscles and get the circulation in my legs going. Stretching my quads, slapping my hamstrings and glutes as you would. I noticed that I'd got quite an audience by this point and Julie came out to say the "hotel" didn't do food and although it did do rooms they probably weren't suitable for us. I'll admit to being a bit perplexed and we were a few km down the road before she cheerfully informed me the place had been a men only pole dancing bar and my new bib shorts had gone down a treat.
After that we rode on to the town of Velenje. Built as a commune under Tito and a centre for mining and steel it sounds although it might be a bit grim. It's not. With a ski jump that looks like you'd land slap bang in the middle of town and typical Slovenian views surrounding it, Velenje is a hidden gem. The sort of place only cycle tourers will find. The only problem with hidden gems are sometimes they are too hidden. Anther couple of hours looking for accommodation we finally were pointed in the direction of a youth hostel. It looked and felt like a comprehensive school. But the showers were hot and around the corner was the best Mexican restaurant I've ever been too. The portions were huge and defeated me much to the worry of the owners who thought we didn't like the food. Wine kept flowing the owners kept us entertained and we discussed if you could land the jump right in the restaurant. I didn't think it was possible but the owners were insistent. I'll guess we never know.
The next day was the last day on the bikes of this trip and the 100km to Ljubljana sped by quickly. One thing we learnt was that you still have a long ride when you see city limit signs!. Locking up the bikes that final day we reflected on an amazing trip. This year we'd done it. Rode all the way. No bus, no car, no train. We'd spent days without hearing English spoken, had adventure, discovered far more than I'm telling you here, had laughs, discovered the joys of quality shorts and got inside two countries like only cycle tourists can.
