Day 20 (Croatia): Drage - Split

today’s distance: 130km
total distance: 1912km
riding time: 7-8h

(imagine a stoic and robotic voice, sort of like Marvin from the Hitchhiker’s Guide …) I am German - need to complain. I am German - need to find something to complain about. Cannot be German, cannot find anything to complain about. Alright, Markus has gone over the top, he’s gone nuts and the bike trip wasn’t a good idea to begin with I hear you say.

Seriously though, the day was glorious. Waking up amidst all the olive trees I saw some water drops on my tent - when I turned in it rained pretty hard and must have continued for part of the night. Didn’t notice it much though. Coming out of the tent, the sun was out, no cloud to be seen, the sea in the bay underneath me calm and quiet. What a good day it would be I thought. Then the wind forecast - I had biked quite a bit to cover as much mileage as possible towards Split because the wind was predicted to come straight from the southeast. Wrong. Dead wrong. It came straight from the northwest. It was heaven. Not strong at first, it picked up quite a bit during the day. So I coasted along trying to figure out whether to go all the way to Slpit when I realized a biker coming up behind me. Turned out to be Marko who was thinking: “Maybe it’s that crazy guy I have read about in the paper.” Turned out it was that guy. Marko, a dentist from Rijeka read the article that appeared in the local newspaper and lo and behold, there I was. We had a fun ride together for the the next 10km before he had to turn around and get back for Sunday family lunch. If you ever need to get your teeth fixed, Marko is the man. He also rents out apartments, sounds like a great deal. We rode together until Sibenik, chatting about this and that. When we reached the bridge, it was the first time that the topic of the war came up during my time here - seems like it was the only important bridge that wasn’t destroyed.

 The town is great … many people who want to be seen are taking their Sunday stroll along the water promenade where I was doing an early lunch. After doing my round through town, it happened. I heard a big clonk behind me and the sandals that I had put the bungee cord through to let them dry out (mud), was gone and were stuck between the wheel and the rear rack. Bungee cord was torn in two.

Not sure how that happened. Too much tension I guess. What to do … need some kind of cord or rope. There is a ship. The Beauty of the Adriatic - hailed someone cleaning and explained what happened and asked whether they had any rope. “Sure we have rope on a ship” said the Asian crewhand and came back with a perfect piece of rope for my purposes. Thanks a bunch!!!

The remaining ride was pure joy, the scenery stunning. The turquoise waters that I had been missing out on over the last couple of days were out in full force. I visited a number of towns along the route, stopped and munched on bulk cranberries, dried banana chips and pistacchios. Life was good. Sooner than I thought I arrived in Trogir after receving an amazed but inspiring look from an old man who just raised his arms and smiled at me, a small picturesque little town surrounded by water and walls.

 Finally got a hold of an internet connection and found out that none of the couchsurfing people in Split could host me. Too bad. Cycled on, trying to find a good spot or campsite, but soon enought I was in urban territoriy. Not a good place to camp out. Two choices - go past Split and find a place. Not a real option since it was getting dark. Took option two - whipped out the Lonely Planet and found a hostel.

Am still not sure I’m German … couldn’t find anything to complain about. Have been ranting for too long.