We spent the past few days cycling from Zagreb towards the Croatian coast. It is mostly forested or agricultural, with some nice towns in the valley running between the mountains. A lot of the region we rode through had been heavily involved in the war with Serbia and the JNA. We saw lots of abandoned or burnt out buildings, buildings riddled with bulletholes and warning signs for landmines (we are very careful to stick to the roads).
Day 12 21/7/12 Zagreb to Mreznicki 102km A cooler day, we had a little trouble finding the right road heading to the hills outside of Zagreb, but got directions from two guys on horseback. Soon we were in the hills, cycling on quiet roads through forest, farmland and tiny agricultural villages. The terrain was a little hilly, the temperature was great and it was one o those days where there is nowhere you would rather be than on your bike. We saw three storks on a nest in Lukavec. At Turanj there was a display of tanks and fighter jets at the site from which the town of Karlovac was defended during the homeland war. It started raining at the end of the day so camping was a bit wet.
Day 13 22/7/12 Mreznicki to Ogulin 62km What a day! Most of it was on gravel and hilly (we expected the hilly as we are approaching the mountains). We saw a motorcycle wiped out at the bottom of the hill, belonging to Austrian tourers. The bike was pretty broken up but she seemed fine. I got two flat tyres, although the second one was definitely my fault because I got the tube pinched under the tyre bead when I changed it the first time.
Riding through the forest
After taking hours to traverse only 30km or so on the gravel we reached a river without a bridge in sight. According to the map we should have been able to cross but apparently not! We could see the road on the other side, but some guys outside a nearby house told us it was an hour’s drive away. We were a bit disconcerted at the thought of retracing our steps so far, but they rescued us by offering to row us across. So we loaded our bikes into their little boat and were on our way again (thanks Gvido!).
Unorthodox river crossing
Once we got to the main road we made faster progress to Ogulin. There was no camping marked anywhere in the area so we opted for a guesthouse. The first one we asked at was full so we ended up at a hotel, not so good for the budget! The town was very nice, with five different churches and a well-kept main square.
Day 14 23/7/12 Ogulin to Otocać 78km We started this day with a beautiful ride along the Sabljaki jezero (lake). With a view of the mountains behind it would be a lovely place to live. We then turned off onto a gravel road which got very muddy in sections. After reaching the sealed road again we scraped all the mud from our shoes and had a steep climb to the town of Modras, where we got on the old Zagreb to Split main road (there is now a motorway running close by so the traffic is very light). We did some solid climbing to 880m then had a fun descent into Brinje, where we had a picnic lunch at some castle ruins. We then climbed for a little bit more and rode along main road through the valley all the way to Otocać (we stopped about 10km out to buy a 2km jar of honey at a roadside stall - Rodney is getting through it remarkably fast). In Otocać we found a room offered by a retired couple, at a cheaper rate than camping has often been.
Day 15 24/7/12 Otocać to Novalja 121km We got a nice early start out of Otocać after a coffee and a pastry for breakfast in town. Some fairly uneventful riding through the valley (nice scenery) and we reached the town of Perusić. Some caves were signposted nearby, so we visited the Samograd cave and were given a guided tour by a local girl who had trained in Zagreb for six years. The cave was quite large, 340m long, and apparently people used to live there in the 12th century BC. There are also some legends that the Turks hid their treasure there during the Ottoman occupation.
Through the valley
We kept riding through the valley until Gospić, the area in which Nikola Tesla was born. At this point we turned off toward the coast and started climbing the mountain. It was all forested and really nice. As we approached the top we were expecting a view of the ocean any minute and the change in scenery was drastic. One the coastal side of the mountain it was all rock, with a roaring wind that made the descent on the switchbacks quite scary. More like terrifying for me (I completely wore out my brake pads) but only mildly concerning for Rodney.
Croatian coast from descent into Karlobag
Once we reached Karlobag at the bottom, we had a 12km ride up the coast (mostly uphill into a headwind) to the ferry crossing for the island of Pag. At the top of the hill we could see the ferry on its return journey so we raced it and got on with 5mins to spare. During the crossing we heard the traffic report - the highway on the mainland had been closed to all traffic except for cars due to the excessive wind gusts. So I felt a little justified in my apprehensions.
Once off the ferry on the island of Pag it was like being on Mars. It was all rock and no vegetation, no sign of inhabitants except for a few sheep. Once over a few hills it was transformed into a busy holiday area - apparently it is the Ibiza of Croatia. We camped in Novalya, spenidng two nights to have a rest (and we were out of clean clothes). The camping is big and busy, but we cycled to the town and had a coffee and had a nice swim at the beach as well.