Have you ever wondered where and how ultra-marathon cyclists sleep when they ride their races or adventure tours that are thousands of kilometers long without any organized escort or support!?
The answer is “wherever they land.” On park benches, at train and bus stations, on the floors of gas stations and clean public toilets, in bank lobbies where the ATMs are (it’s warm in there!), in tents and bivy sacks in the bushes next to the road… And yes, when there is enough money and time, on clean sheets in hotel and motel rooms.
The Northcape4000 adventure ride in Rovereto was scheduled to start on July 20th, 2024. However, we first had to get there. Since the Northcape4000 is a one-way bike ride (maybe on a different occasion the return trip will be by bike too ☺), and we’ll be coming back by plane, the best way to reach Rovereto from Međimurje was a combination of bikes and trains.
The Italian town of Rovereto, located in the Trentino-South Tyrol region in the Adige River valley, is surrounded by the Alps on all sides. We set off from Toplice Sv. Martin on July 16th after 8 p.m. to catch the last train of the day from Maribor to Ljubljana. We had everything on our bikes that we thought we’d need during our trek to the far north of Europe. The evening was warm; we gave ourselves plenty of time so we wouldn’t have to rush to reach the Maribor train station.
We traveled all 77 kilometers to Maribor without any issues and then boarded the train to Ljubljana. We arrived in the capital of the neighboring country after midnight. We had a few hours to wait until the train to Trieste. We left the station looking for a meal and a place to sleep.
“Burek Olimpija,” just a few hundred meters from the station, is open 24/7, and we had the best burek ever there. The meat filling was generous, and the phyllo dough was just right so the burek wouldn’t fall apart.
As a spot to nap before the train’s departure, Ksenija suggested the nearby Tivoli Park. Each of us “occupied” our own bench. It was a test of temporary homelessness that we perform several times each year during our cycling adventures. 😉 Ksenija got some sleep while I dozed with one eye open, playing the guard.
The red-eye Ljubljana – Trieste train wasn’t empty. Summer was in full swing and tourists were everywhere, so the train was quite crowded with young people from all over Europe. Conversations were in French, Polish, and Slovenian.
When we arrived in Trieste, we had about an hour before our train to Verona, our next destination. We stepped out of the station, found a bistro, and treated ourselves to breakfast with a famously good Italian espresso.
Well… Italian railways are more efficient than Croatian ones, but they’re not perfect. First, we couldn’t get on the first train to Verona because bikes were not allowed. The second train that arrived at the platform changed direction, so we only managed to board the third one. That little ordeal lasted over three hours.
Anyway, the transfer in Verona to Rovereto went smoothly, so we arrived in Rovereto after 6 p.m. and biked to the settlement of Villa Lagarina, three kilometers away, where we rented an apartment for the next three nights.
On Thursday, July 18th, I wanted to cycle around the entire coast of Lake Garda, which is 24 km from Villa Lagarina. That would have been just under 200 km of riding, but Ksenija convinced me to “tone it down,” so we each did over 80 km to Riva del Garda and Limone sul Garda, towns on the lake shore.
The weather was beautiful, and visibility was excellent. It was hot, but tolerable for being outdoors. Riding bikes along the cycling paths and roads was easy, but navigating the narrow streets of Limone sul Garda was less enjoyable because of the crowds of tourists. We all felt like drinking cold lemonade made from freshly squeezed fruit and licking lemon ice cream.
It is an interesting geographical detail that the surface of Lake Garda is shared by three regions: Veneto, Trentino, and Lombardy.
On Friday, July 19th, I couldn’t sit still, so I biked up to the Bordala pass (passo Bordala), which is at 1,250 m above sea level, just for my own satisfaction. It was a pass I hadn’t conquered yet. 😉 In the afternoon, like all the other participants, we had a meeting with the organizers where they once again reviewed the overall travel plan and shared safety tips.
You can read in the next blog post about how we spent our time from the beginning and how we reached the geographic center of Bavaria over the next two days…
Cheers!
Siniša
Ride Međimurje takes you on short recreational rides along the Mura River and through the vineyard hills of Upper Međimurje. Of course, once we dig ourselves out of the snow 😉