Day 18 (Croatia): Crikvenice - somewhere on Pag

today’s distance: 107km
total distance: 1676km
riding time: 6-7h

As a German I am supposed to like to complain. Maybe I will, noty sure yet. I had a late start into the day … I was tired from the late and long ride the day before and didn’t ultimately leave the hotel until just before 10am. The ride was undulating and the weather was OK - it didn’t rain and the wind wasn’t a factor.

I reached Senj, where everyone had told me I would find a bike store in the vain hope that I would able to replace the bike computer. No such luck. It was here where the first rain hit me. Nothing bad really. I moved on towards the ferry to the island of Pag. There was a long climb in the way - about 10km from the markers at the side of the road. It was iffy, but doable. Until the wind started its frontal assault. It was as if a bad joke started to play out. Uphill and into a pretty demanding wind. Not much fun given the open terrain. The brief breaks before left hand turns were far too few of course. Am in the complaining phase now, if you haven’t noticed. The downhill was … well, no fun either. The wind came in with such force that my downhill speed barely reached 20km/h when I pushed hard. A bit on the frustrating side. I finally arrived at what I thought was the turnoff to the ferry, only to discover that the lady in the post office was wron.g  Another 12km into the wind and by now driving rain. Oh what fun it was. Then the wind started to do strange things (reminds me of this Iceland who told me in 1999 that their volcanoes do strange things - in this cas e, erupt, melt glacial ice and flood the valley I had been riding through a couple of hours before). The top winds came from the north, bringing better weather, the ground winds still predominantly from the south and in my face. Sometimes the Bura (wind from the north) seemed to carry the day, but in the end Yugo (wind from the south) carried the day. I eventually arrived, pretty worn out … only to barely make the ferry. They lifted the gates right behind me.

The downhill to the ferry terminal was great - but there was another hill waiting on the island. Barren and desolate on the eastern side, I climbed up for the first 5km.

Then I met Zoran, a sheep farmer. I had seen this fantastic area, turned around to take s ome pics and he approached me and with his limted German we struck up a conversation. He filled me in on the winds in the area, told me distances and gave me a rangfe of other good advice.

 The wather had turned nice by now, the wind still coming into my face. But somehow it didn’t matter after meeting Zoran. Moving on, I found a nice spot to pitch the tent, cooked up some pasta and will happily fall asleep soon.

So, here is my two cents on wind and rain.

1. Wind in your face: not a fun thing to duke it out with, but you somehow manage, become stoic, think of nice things in life and somehow arrive - and you curse a bit.
Note also that wind from the front is always demanding, harsh, tough, strong, ferocious, crazy, forbidding, howling, in your face, exhausting or atrocious and that tailwinds are usually gentle, kind or nudging you along.
2. Rain: not as bad as 1. Unless it is coming down in sheets and completely soaks you, see last post.
3. 1+2 combined = no fun at all. Sort of like your worst nightmare. Pinpricks hitting your face, wetness taking a hold of everything that you wear, demoralizing you.

But it’s still a great feeling at the end of the day when you sit in your tent with a pot of pasta and cake from Marko’s mother and having had a good conversation with someone like Zoiran. Wouldn’t trade this day!!!