Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2247878920
87km, 5h35, 1595hm
We left Mezdra with the goal of going further southeast. Cycling over the capital was a big detour of 170km and those roads would potentially be dangerous. The alternative was a more direct route, over small streets and over a few hills and mountains. We checked the maps and I was able to convince Roger
Today we would have three longer climbs, but also descents. As for distance, around 100km would be fine.
We had a first warm up, climbing from 215m to 530. This was in the direction of the town Botevgrad
The views were lovely and we were ready to take on two more climbs
We then descended back to 320m, this is where the city of Botevgrad was.
From there we would connect to the town of Pravec
We had no idea Bulgaria was so hilly and this would be a KOM ride.
Entering Pravec
Back at 425m elevation, we still had some climbing to do. The next point on the map was called Etripole.
Breathtaking Bulgaria
Some old mansion promoted to Hotel
Bulgaria, a proud member of the European Union
We passed this lake in Pravec. After this lake it would go up again...
We climbed to a second peak of nearly 700 meters. From there we descended to the town of Etropole. Two climbs out of three, not bad at all. But we still had some work ahead of us
I was waiting for Roger on this intersection and an English vehicle stopped next to me. The driver was an older Bulgarian man who had lived in the UK for 25 years. He thought I was English and wanted to chat with me. It was a friendly man who wished us safe travels.
The next big dot on the map was a town called Zlatica, which means gold. The road there was one long climb, longer than we had expected. We thought we would climb to 800m or something and then descend. Boy were we wrong...
As soon as we left Etripole, we returned to 600m and it only went up. This image is at 800 meters.
When it comes to climbing, Roger simply could not compete with me. It makes sense in a way. I told him to not stress, that I would wait for him every x meters or so. A promise I stuck to for our entire trip together.
The view at 900 meters. Judging the mountains around me, I was sure we would go to 1000 and then descend. Wrong again...
Moreover, the higher we got, the worse the road quality became, which further impacted our speed. Luckily the weather was great for this elevation.
This spot marked 1000 meters. I waited for Roger to join here. From here the roads started to be covered in rocks and sand.
At 1000 meters this was already our highest point of the trip so far. An elevation I would not surpass except for Georgia and Kyrgyzstan
We continued our upstream struggle...
1100 meters and we entered a section covered in shadow. which meant that there were more higher areas above us and that meant the climbing wasn't over yet.
These roads covered in sand and rocks became a real issue for grip. Probably the roads are like this for the winter, but it was very difficult for us to maintain balance, especially for Roger.
1200 meters and no end in sight... How long was this gonna carry on? Our speeds were very low and I was slowly starting to worry about not making it out of this mountain range before sunset.
1300 meters and counting. Roger said that the google maps indicated that we were very close near the summit. My main worry was having to descend on roads like these.
1350 meters, we were almost there
The summit of this mountain called Kozi Dol, at 1373 meters. Our highest point of the trip and for Roger it would become the highest point of his entire journey.
We took a moment to feel this victory and enjoy the scenery. But the clouds started getting vicious
We both understood that we did not need to stay here for too long. We needed to get out of here...
We did not want to camp on such a high mountain with unstable weather. Zlatica sounded a lot better...
Bye-bye Bulgarian Giant
A stroke of luck befell upon us: the downhill part was pristine asphalt and we could develop decent speeds. This was great!
This descent was truly something else. Seeing the central mountain range of Bulgaria was a delight. In the wink of an eye it became clear that this road was the right one. How could this beauty ever feel competition from main roads leading to Sofia? This moment was wrapped in a mysterious atmosphere as daylight began decreasing and a thunderstorm was drawing near. In those conditions, we plunged as close to Zlatica as we could....
We descended to less than 1000 meters and the feeling was epic with the newly shaped thunderstorm above us.
When we descended to below 800 meters and the thunderstorm was becoming more present, I saw a little hostel on the left side of the road. It was written only in Russian. I shouted at Roger to stop and told him we could spend the night here. Even though we only rode 87km, but we could avoid difficulties camping in stormy weather. He agreed and we went in for 40 Lei for 2 people. Moreover, there was a small restaurant and we could relax there.
This place's owner was called Nikola, he used to be a Bulgarian truck driver taking jobs in Western Europe. He even know something of Belgium and the Netherlands. After a lot of years on the road, he decided to open his own small hostel in the central mountains of Bulgaria. He was a friendly man who gesticulated everything he said with wonderful gestures. We communicated in basic Russian. This was truly a night to remember!
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