At seven I was on the road! As I was informed the day before, the Kroumovas went too Sofia early in, the morning.
It was freaking cold. And, the sunrise was only half an hour later. So I took a coffee waiting, for the sun to rise. At half past eight, seventeen kilometers further, in Simitli, I went for another coffee. The water in my, bottles was frozen (and the bike was in the apartment over night) and my fingers were close to...
From there the road went steadily up, not steep, but, enough, to make you sweat. Arriving on the pass, I was soaked, pulled my rain jacket on and, went for the next Oismall town for another coffee. These 10km where hell, mostly because my, headband was wet. The cold stung my front.
Big
But in the cafe I could not really lay out my clothes to dry. So I went outside town, found a spot with, trees beside the road, made a piles of wood (thanks to the cold it was dry) poured some petrol over it and had a fire in now time. I had lunch, warmed my, feet, dryed the socks and watched the snow covered mountains east of me... Much better...
With dry feet and a refilled stomach I started for another 50km. But I, got lucky, it was mostly downhill along a small river (steep) that joined a larger one (not so steep).
I was exhausted. The cold demands probably 1.5 times the energy. Beside it was the second day in a row one long distance with 1500+ meters in gain of altitude. And one top of this, because of the time zones, I ended up with bearly six hours sleep.
Shortly before Marchevo I had a flashback again. It's hard to describe what triggered the memories this time to wriggle their way back into the consciousness. When I saw the room in the hotel it was clear, that this ghost has not quite faded yet. Again it is hard to describe. But what is striking though how well certain images from the past match the present. These memories must be from about two decades ago. I certainly dis not realize I was in Bulgaria back then. Fascinating...
It was freaking cold. And, the sunrise was only half an hour later. So I took a coffee waiting, for the sun to rise. At half past eight, seventeen kilometers further, in Simitli, I went for another coffee. The water in my, bottles was frozen (and the bike was in the apartment over night) and my fingers were close to...
From there the road went steadily up, not steep, but, enough, to make you sweat. Arriving on the pass, I was soaked, pulled my rain jacket on and, went for the next Oismall town for another coffee. These 10km where hell, mostly because my, headband was wet. The cold stung my front.
Big
But in the cafe I could not really lay out my clothes to dry. So I went outside town, found a spot with, trees beside the road, made a piles of wood (thanks to the cold it was dry) poured some petrol over it and had a fire in now time. I had lunch, warmed my, feet, dryed the socks and watched the snow covered mountains east of me... Much better...
With dry feet and a refilled stomach I started for another 50km. But I, got lucky, it was mostly downhill along a small river (steep) that joined a larger one (not so steep).
I was exhausted. The cold demands probably 1.5 times the energy. Beside it was the second day in a row one long distance with 1500+ meters in gain of altitude. And one top of this, because of the time zones, I ended up with bearly six hours sleep.
Shortly before Marchevo I had a flashback again. It's hard to describe what triggered the memories this time to wriggle their way back into the consciousness. When I saw the room in the hotel it was clear, that this ghost has not quite faded yet. Again it is hard to describe. But what is striking though how well certain images from the past match the present. These memories must be from about two decades ago. I certainly dis not realize I was in Bulgaria back then. Fascinating...
