'Only a bit snow in the early morning' the weather forecast said. I got up and checked; all right. I packed and left the hotel and there I stood in the snowfall. 'It's not so heavy and it will probably stop soon,' I told myself. Around eight when I took off after a lentil soup for breakfast (first I was surprised that I found and open place, but this one was even packed) thick snowflakes came down the sky. 'It will stop soon' I told myself and took off. After one hour, the new snow layer was constantly getting thicker, I stopped, stood there, watched all the white covering everything including the road and even the air seemed impenetrable for the eye. I was on the point of turning around because I doubted if another hour later uphill the road would still be rideable. But the following two days the weather is supposed to remain unsteady and I did not want to spend the week in Zara, so I cursed (probably my own stubbornness) rode on and hoped that they will start clearing the snow of the road soon. To my releaf a snowplough passed a bit later and even though the road remained white, it got easier. However I prepared for the worst and did not want to make any real breaks until I would reach the pass. On the way up I overtook a couple of skidding cars without snow chains, one of them had two ladies sitting on its bonnet snickering while I passt. I wondered how they would make it down the mountain again if they should ever reach the pass. I made a mental note to keep an ear on skidding cars once I go downhill.
On the crete it turned out I had a guardian angle, since here I crossed the guy driving the truck with the snowplough the fourth time, earlier comming in the opposite direction he stopped and offered me to climb in the cabin of his vehicle to warm up, but I was steaming from the climbing effort and tried to explain that I would be better off keeping the blood pumping. On a crete he stood waiting again and waved me to him once he saw me approaching. He handed me half a kilo tahin helvasi (very heay sweet on sesame basis) and wished me luck after giving some descriptions about the road to Susehri.
So I rode on and realized only a couple of minutes later that this was the highest point of todays route. I could not believe it first, since I was prepared for at least another hour of climbing but when I ckecked the track recording to look for the altitude of the pass I knew from studying the maps (yep did my homework), it indicated indeed that my highest point was 2051m.a.s. I rushed over my first twothousander!! Well that's done.
So I changed the wet jumper and pulled the rain-jacket as windstoper over it and of course my wetterrüstung with its super hood. A strong wind joined the persistent snowfall in this narrow steep valley but I would have been fine if its wasn't for the fingers. I have two pairs of gloves, but none of them seems to keep up with this kind of weather. At some point I tried to wear one pair of gloves above the other, but succeeded only half. As I descened the horizont closed in above the lower mountains and the snow consistency indicated milder temperatures.
To comlete the day I managed to have my first real slump when the wheels got caught in some kind of snow rail and I lost balance because I was not able to gide Wolter back under my point of gravity. By real slump I mean essentially that you not only have to let go of the bike in order to stay on your feed, but that you actually fall flat on the road yourself. I took it with humour, it did not hurt, Wolter was hole and I almost thought that its was about time to have the first propper bail on the trip. But I repeated the stunt a bit faster only moments later. There my humor was blown away and I won't repeat what I shouted through the valley while I got back on my feet. Brave Wolter also took this blow without noticeable damages but I got a small bruise on my right leg this time. Finally I had to ride the last stretch through very muddy and bumpy roads before reaching the next bigger valley. Here the sun was shining and while I pedaled the last hundreds of meters to Susehri, where some citizens got to see a mud covered cyclist passing in slow motion and my hurting fingers thawed, the last 6 hours seemd strangely distant, like a weird dream.
Susehri is a bit up on the hillside of this beautiful valley, from where I could admire the mountains in the north.
I initially planed to ride past this small town, even now with these harsh conditions I would have had daytime left to continue a reasonable bit, but initially I also thought it would be a cloudy day at worst, so I got myself a room with a view and enjoyed both of them.
On the crete it turned out I had a guardian angle, since here I crossed the guy driving the truck with the snowplough the fourth time, earlier comming in the opposite direction he stopped and offered me to climb in the cabin of his vehicle to warm up, but I was steaming from the climbing effort and tried to explain that I would be better off keeping the blood pumping. On a crete he stood waiting again and waved me to him once he saw me approaching. He handed me half a kilo tahin helvasi (very heay sweet on sesame basis) and wished me luck after giving some descriptions about the road to Susehri.
So I rode on and realized only a couple of minutes later that this was the highest point of todays route. I could not believe it first, since I was prepared for at least another hour of climbing but when I ckecked the track recording to look for the altitude of the pass I knew from studying the maps (yep did my homework), it indicated indeed that my highest point was 2051m.a.s. I rushed over my first twothousander!! Well that's done.
So I changed the wet jumper and pulled the rain-jacket as windstoper over it and of course my wetterrüstung with its super hood. A strong wind joined the persistent snowfall in this narrow steep valley but I would have been fine if its wasn't for the fingers. I have two pairs of gloves, but none of them seems to keep up with this kind of weather. At some point I tried to wear one pair of gloves above the other, but succeeded only half. As I descened the horizont closed in above the lower mountains and the snow consistency indicated milder temperatures.
To comlete the day I managed to have my first real slump when the wheels got caught in some kind of snow rail and I lost balance because I was not able to gide Wolter back under my point of gravity. By real slump I mean essentially that you not only have to let go of the bike in order to stay on your feed, but that you actually fall flat on the road yourself. I took it with humour, it did not hurt, Wolter was hole and I almost thought that its was about time to have the first propper bail on the trip. But I repeated the stunt a bit faster only moments later. There my humor was blown away and I won't repeat what I shouted through the valley while I got back on my feet. Brave Wolter also took this blow without noticeable damages but I got a small bruise on my right leg this time. Finally I had to ride the last stretch through very muddy and bumpy roads before reaching the next bigger valley. Here the sun was shining and while I pedaled the last hundreds of meters to Susehri, where some citizens got to see a mud covered cyclist passing in slow motion and my hurting fingers thawed, the last 6 hours seemd strangely distant, like a weird dream.
Susehri is a bit up on the hillside of this beautiful valley, from where I could admire the mountains in the north.
I initially planed to ride past this small town, even now with these harsh conditions I would have had daytime left to continue a reasonable bit, but initially I also thought it would be a cloudy day at worst, so I got myself a room with a view and enjoyed both of them.
