Day 37
Sleeping location: Hidden in the woods near Novi Chiflik, Bulgaria
Distance (km today/total): 99 / 3729
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1400 / 29800
Terminal velocity of Maggie: 55kph
Day in three words: Border up top
The day started off surprisingly cold and I had to put on a couple of extra layers to stay snuggled in the hammock for a bit. As the time pressure is off a bit now I had a pretty relaxed start to the morning, watched some Netflix then made coffee and eggs for breakfast. Then I headed back to the petrol station to use their toilets and wifi again (hehe) and set off. The paper towel dispenser was one of those motion sensor automatic ones, and the noise sounded exactly like the first note of Jump Around by House of Pain.
The terrain for most of the morning was this wide open scrubland, often with goats and little trees the only thing for miles. It was pretty quiet on the road, despite this being the Macedonian equivalent of the A12, which made for relaxed riding. After the scrubland I had a 20km ascent up to the border with Bulgaria, which is at 1150m. It was constant effort without ever being too strenuous, but the scenery was surprisingly boring for a mountain pass. At the top I had a beer and a massive pack of Stobi Flips* to use up the rest of my Macedonian money other than a 10 Denar note, which is IMO the world’s prettiest banknote (it has a peacock on it) so I saved a crisp one as a present for Rebecca.
The border was uneventful except I had to go through this spray that disinfected my “vehicle” and probably my lungs as well. I also think I heard some Brexit banter when I gave my passport in at the Bulgarian side. The descent down off the top was as boring as a 15km descent can be, just a long straight road at 6%. This did give me the chance to test the terminal velocity of Maggie, which was a measly 55kph. I guess the panniers and the upright riding position give a lot of drag; I’ve never even dared to test the terminal velocity of my racing bike Penelope, but allegedly I’ve hit 87kph on her.
On the way into the first town in Bulgaria, Kyustendil, I saw a man riding some kind of home-made combination of bike and lawnmower motor, followed 30 seconds later by a man casually riding a dirt bike with his feet over the handlebars, but sadly it didn’t turn out to be a hotbed of mechanical mavericks as everyone else was normal. Kyustendil was a nice enough place where I got some money and some decent food at ‘Friends bar and grill”, which had shamelessly stolen the logo from the tv show. Finding a camp spot was easy as there’s loads of woodland around here. One of my eggs had cracked in the box, so I hung it on a branch to stop beasties trying to get in there in the night. Sadly the branch wasn’t strong enough and immediately snapped and threw the eggs to the floor, finishing another couple off. Sorting that out for breakfast will be fun.
*A sort of peanut flavoured wotsit, but way inferior to the king of this genre, the mighty Smoki
Distance (km today/total): 99 / 3729
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1400 / 29800
Terminal velocity of Maggie: 55kph
Day in three words: Border up top
The day started off surprisingly cold and I had to put on a couple of extra layers to stay snuggled in the hammock for a bit. As the time pressure is off a bit now I had a pretty relaxed start to the morning, watched some Netflix then made coffee and eggs for breakfast. Then I headed back to the petrol station to use their toilets and wifi again (hehe) and set off. The paper towel dispenser was one of those motion sensor automatic ones, and the noise sounded exactly like the first note of Jump Around by House of Pain.
The terrain for most of the morning was this wide open scrubland, often with goats and little trees the only thing for miles. It was pretty quiet on the road, despite this being the Macedonian equivalent of the A12, which made for relaxed riding. After the scrubland I had a 20km ascent up to the border with Bulgaria, which is at 1150m. It was constant effort without ever being too strenuous, but the scenery was surprisingly boring for a mountain pass. At the top I had a beer and a massive pack of Stobi Flips* to use up the rest of my Macedonian money other than a 10 Denar note, which is IMO the world’s prettiest banknote (it has a peacock on it) so I saved a crisp one as a present for Rebecca.
The border was uneventful except I had to go through this spray that disinfected my “vehicle” and probably my lungs as well. I also think I heard some Brexit banter when I gave my passport in at the Bulgarian side. The descent down off the top was as boring as a 15km descent can be, just a long straight road at 6%. This did give me the chance to test the terminal velocity of Maggie, which was a measly 55kph. I guess the panniers and the upright riding position give a lot of drag; I’ve never even dared to test the terminal velocity of my racing bike Penelope, but allegedly I’ve hit 87kph on her.
On the way into the first town in Bulgaria, Kyustendil, I saw a man riding some kind of home-made combination of bike and lawnmower motor, followed 30 seconds later by a man casually riding a dirt bike with his feet over the handlebars, but sadly it didn’t turn out to be a hotbed of mechanical mavericks as everyone else was normal. Kyustendil was a nice enough place where I got some money and some decent food at ‘Friends bar and grill”, which had shamelessly stolen the logo from the tv show. Finding a camp spot was easy as there’s loads of woodland around here. One of my eggs had cracked in the box, so I hung it on a branch to stop beasties trying to get in there in the night. Sadly the branch wasn’t strong enough and immediately snapped and threw the eggs to the floor, finishing another couple off. Sorting that out for breakfast will be fun.
*A sort of peanut flavoured wotsit, but way inferior to the king of this genre, the mighty Smoki
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