Grant´s European Tour – Part Three – Stromrad Stuttgart

Grant reports from Trieste | after his 3. Section of the Tour

Hi Ulrich

My journey through Europe continues, and my bike continues to be the star…

I’m now in Italy after a journey south from Budapest via Lake Balaton, Varazdin (a wonderful town) and Zagreb in Croatia, Novo Mesto, Ljubljana and Postojna (great caves) in Slovenia and Trieste in Italy.

The route took me through many hills, especially in Slovenia, where in a single day, I cycled a 14%, a 15% and two 18% gradients in reasonably quick succession – I was tired and for the very first time I used almost all the battery power. But it was worth it, Slovenia is a beautiful country with very friendly people, fabulous scenery, good food (and of course, good wine) and best of all it’s not an expensive place for a traveller.

And the bike? It’s actually helped me out more than once; when I tried to cross from Croatia back into the Schengen area I was refused permission to enter as the post I went to was for EU citizens only, but the border guard was really interested in my bike and asked me many questions and when I offered him a chance to ride the bike, he was very eager and he had a quick ride – he was nervous about someone seeing him – and afterwards, he arranged with his friend at another border post for me to cross there, this other border post was on an autobahn where of course bicycles aren’t permitted! I rode for 3 terrifying kilometres in heavy rain on the autobahn and the friend was waiting for me and stamped my passport and gave me directions how to exit the autobahn quickly and safely. In this way the bike helped me!

From Italy I will return to Germany.

Regards
Grant

Your tour is amazing, How many kilometers do you have on your tachometer after the 3. section?

We wish you all the best for the 4 section! But, please let us know which way you are going to cross the Alps back to Germany. Since there are a lot of altitude on your way back :- )