May 15th, 2022
It would have been an undisturbed slumber if people staying in the adjacent room didn’t arrive at 00.40, but we were tired so went back to sleep quickly.
The alarm went off at 6 am, and the bike was packed and ready for the off by 7 am. Thanks to the accommodation owner’s two dogs, almost everyone within a 5-mile radius was also awake at that time, but it seemed they all decided to stay in bed, so we pushed off in the chilled morning air.
The day was mainly road cycling, although with it being Sunday, we hoped to have a little more of it to ourselves.
We hadn’t felt like breakfast before we left, so we stopped at the first town we came to instead. The planned first meal of the day was bread and fast melting butter, but with a bakery open right next to where we settled, the smell of fresh bakery was too much. Deborah went with the usual croissant while I tried a local dish of filo pastry and syrup, which I am sure doesn’t appear on any WeightWatchers menu.
By 9 am, the temperature was already in the high twenties, and all we could think of was getting through the planned 75km day of rollercoaster hills.
With some big ups and equally big downs, we were 55 km into the ride by noon. Komoot reported the final 20km to be off the main road, but all in a downward direction. As we approached the turn and saw that the suggested route was little more than a gravel track, having been taken for some interesting rides in the past by our electronic friend and his pals, we decided to stick with the devil we knew.
By 2 pm, we were pulling up into Camping Lika, our bed for the night. We were greeted by a charming owner who gave us free rein to pitch up anywhere.
With the tent up, we headed into town to find a supermarket. The owner assured us it was only 1.5 km away, the road sign across from the site confirmed this, but Google Maps was adamant it was 2.5 km. We hoped Google would be wrong on this occasion, but we enjoyed the 2.5 km walk regardless.
Supermarket visit number one resulted in the purchase of 1.5ltrs of milk and four ice lollies, consumed in the only shade we could find in a small industrial area of the car park.
On the way to the supermarket, we spotted a pizza restaurant, so we headed back there to have a combined lunch and dinner. Not knowing the size of the portions, we placed a food order on the safe side of “filling”, and we were not left disappointed. Breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow will now be based on a pizza and veggie lasagne combo.
Back at the supermarket for visit number two, we stocked up on snacks for tomorrow’s ride, a bottle of fizzy to help us make it back to the campsite without succumbing to dehydration, and another family pack of ice lollies just to get us across the other side of the supermarket car park.
The 2.5 km trek back to the campsite, with full bellies and over hydrated didn’t seem as far.
We are now chilling at the campsite, planning tomorrow’s route and debating whether to risk the 7% chance of rain and leave the flysheet off the tent tonight.
This place really is quite spectacular!