Distance travelled: 61km
Total climb: 1050m
As if to make up for yesterday’s short ride, today was set to be a more epic one, as we attempted to make a big loop to the south of the village of Kaona where we were camped. We had set off on this trip without preprogramming a route into the GPS and merely following it as we had done last year. There is something to be said for both approaches - in the first you sit down with topographical maps and a program like OziExplorer and plot every twist and turn of the route you fancy taking, in our case usually trying to find a way through some interesting terrain and avoiding tarmac. This way you are sure 95% of the time where you are and where to turn and you can concentrate on enjoying the ride.
The other approach is to plot perhaps only a few waypoints into the GPS based on the rough area where you are planning to ride, and taking maps with you. Then there is no predefined route and you have to find your way through using some basic guidelines: avoiding cutting those contour lines (i.e. making unnecessary climbs or descents) and following ridges round (there’s almost always a road, humans don’t change their habits), and using the waypoints just to make sure you are vaguely on-track.
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Burning coals
So this we did through this pleasant rolling land, where a key local industry seems to be charcoal-making - that’s what this oven on the left is for (I know what some of the more adventurous MTBers are thinking!) - and the smoke wreathes passing bikers in spooky fashion.
We climbed up to the village of Gornji Dubac, where refreshment was had in a “hunters’ lodge” (lovački dom) and there was fairly recent photographic evidence of a number of wolves having been shot, still a manly pursuit in Serbia unfortunately. Then there was a descent to Donji Dubac, all the way enjoying a great view, especially of Čemerno, the range that we are planning to tackle tomorrow.
Losing our bottle
At some point we lost our bottle and, fearing that we were going to be late back to camp, we eschewed a potentially more scenic route through the hills, conscious of our facility for getting lost. You have to take these decisions on these trips - if you don’t know the terrain you could really be asking for trouble and this is especially true of “short-cuts” which have got us in a mess more than once!
So after repairing Rob’s puncture (get some decent nobbies Rob!) we headed straight for the tarmac and basically repeated quite a long section we had ridden the previous day.
On to Tolišnica
Then it was back to camp, into the Niva and on to Tolišnica, a tiny village in the foothills of the Čemerno range, where we found a great camp spot, one of the best of the trip.
What makes a good camping spot? I realised we had different philosophies about this. For Vlada for example, it was just somewhere comfortable where you can pitch a tent, you have the owner’s permission and you can get moving quickly in the morning, having eaten a bite of dry bread.
I dunno, I’ve got the this childish notion evidently, where there is no camp without a fire and something hot and cooked (or burned to a crisp). Also, I like it to be somewhere relatively wild, where the neighbours aren’t going to be popping round every 5 minutes (though there were a few here!) That and drinking water, and you have the perfect camp spot!
Well, it’s off to bed, as the pitter-patter of rain begins to be heard on Rob’s Mickey-Mouse tent (HOW did we end up bringing this thing?!) and we think about our journey onto Čemerno tomorrow.
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Posted on June 10th, 2008 by markowe
Filed under: MTB Serbia (All), Serbia Bike Trek! | No Comments »
