Slovenia Mountain Biking Experience
Then our mountain biking experience began! We started out on a road paved; which turned into a trail going around the lake; which turned into a “No Bikes Allowed” path; which we didn’t see (a sign) and lifted our bikes over the fence. Which turned quite rocky and muddy; then very rocky and slippery. Before you know it, we found ourselves in a river bed full of huge stones, and trudging the bikes along, heaving them over boulders and mud puddles.
Either before or after we stopped for 20-30 minutes (before) to stand under trees and out of the rain, Michael fell right over the hillside while sitting on his bike seat. We were talking, and the next thing, he was tipping over! It was so comical I had to photograph him laying there!
Later it turned out, he had quite a bruise on his leg. So finally we got to ride again and passed over a wooden bridge, where a foggy river passed underneath with some nice rapids. It was such a special atmosphere, so neat and almost prehistoric feeling.
We met a nice guy, while snapping each other’s photos (as Michael wanted him to get our feet in too). He was from England 🏴 and teaching in Portugal 🇵🇹; he taught English working for the British Council. His mother was from Slovenia 🇸🇮, so they were traveling together. It was very nice, and we talked on the bridge for a while, (about travel) then parted ways.
Made it back ok, as the last third was on the paved road. We decided to check out the grocery store and then headed on to our dinner buffet, which turned out to be mainly mush. Unimpressed and ready for wine, we headed back to the room to sip some Slovenian wine.
On the way, some friendly people from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 flagged us down from upon their balcony- and of course Michael loves the Dutch- so we invited them to join us in our room for a glass of wine. They were really nice and pretty blondes; a mother and daughter – also traveling together- from an hour outside Amsterdam. The daughter was 19 and the mom about 45.
They were totally sportif -swam, jogged, rollerbladed, hiked, walked. It was so nice when we were talking about a triathlon; I said that I’d like to do one, but I couldn’t swim. Well I told them what I could do, and they said, “Well that’s enough. Just do it lightly.” (Or softly.) “You don’t have to win.” Well yes! I thought, they are right… I can do that and will when I get home!!
Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration, fellow Dutch travelers.
Wednesday, 28 July 1999
