Down the Soča valley
Today’s stage is going to be long and hot, so I try to get up early and leave at dawn. The way out of Bovec is by road, downhill, and I’m even a little cold, which I welcome. Within 10 kilometres I start climbing on the road, and shortly after I turn off onto a track that should take me to the top of Mount Stol. The track has an uneven surface, but it isn’t too broken.
The gradient isn’t too steep and I do almost the whole climb in the shade. As I’m going very slowly and there’s absolutely no traffic, I allow myself the luxury of climbing without a helmet. Reaching the top takes me almost two hours and I can say it was worth it. The views are spectacular.
I sit down for a while to eat something and get ready for the descent. I’ve read that the Stol descent is the best in Europe. Well, I don’t think it’s quite that good… but it’s definitely going to be fun. The panniers won’t let me go down as fast as I’d like, but hey, there wouldn’t be much point in losing my luggage on the way down!
A string of hairpins awaits, to lose in no time the metres I worked so hard to gain.
From there, lots of road and cycle path. And above all, lots of heat. You can tell I’ve lost height (the rest of the route is around 200 metres above sea level) and that I’m down in a valley (the Soča valley). A little further on, on a road that isn’t great for cycling (lots of traffic and no hard shoulder), I stop for a drink at a roadside Grill-Bar. The idea was just to have a drink: in this heat you don’t feel much like eating, let alone tucking into a slab of grilled meat. I tell the waiter exactly that, but he surprises me with a question: how about a veggie burger with grilled vegetables? I think we all know that moment when your mouth starts to water and something inside you says it can’t last another minute without food. So, calmly, I tell the waiter to take my money and bring me my burger.
With a full belly I carry on, and it gets hotter and hotter. I leave this road as soon as I can and get back onto another cycle path. I’m still amazed by how many cycle paths there are, and how good they are. The river is right next to me, so I look for a quiet spot to take a dip. I was expecting very cold water, since however hot it is, river water usually keeps its temperature. But no, the water is actually very pleasant.
At last I reach Kanal, though not before the ambush of the day, where once again I have to push the bike. Tonight I’m staying in a small, very comfortable guesthouse.
90 kilometres with 1,800 metres of climbing: not bad at all! I make the most of what’s left of the afternoon to have a look around Kanal. In the shade, mind you!