Dave and his Bike

Days 22, 23 & 24.

Day 22.

It’s been a full three weeks. That’s gone rather quickly. What feels more bizarre is that it’s already been four days on my own. I’m missing the company I must say.

I slept quite well again. I wasn’t desperate to get going this morning, until I read a review of the border crossing into Bosnia (yeah I know, left it to the last minute). The thoughts of a three hour delay worried me, as that would mean a late finish. So I made a coffee in the hostel, rushed a couple of chocolate croissants (rather nice actually), and headed out. It wasn’t raining! It had been though, recently and quite heavily I think due to the amount of standing water.

Navigation was again really simple, and I covered the 11km to the border in about 25 minutes. In doing so, I passed the ‘flower’ memorial, marking the WWII concentration camp at Jasenovac, and paused for thought. I visited Auschwitz a few years ago. It’s not something you enjoy, but I think everyone benefits from an experience like that.

Despite the border scaremongering, I only queued for about 10 minutes and was therefore through both checkpoints and into Bosnia by 0902hrs. Excellent! I’m not sure whether crossing relatively early in the day, or it being a Saturday may have affected the queues. Whichever way, I was happy. After the regulation photograph, I was on my way.

On the whole the road surfaces were good. Certainly the more main roads were fine, with minor routes having some room for improvement. Certainly better than I remember. A petrol station sandwich and a bag of peanuts sufficed for lunch, and I got into the rhythm of riding.

A dry line soon appeared, which looked threatened a couple of times with dark clouds looming, but I escaped any deluge. By the afternoon the roads were completely dry, and the terrain undulating which has been a nice break from the long, straight flat roads. I’d better get used to it, because I have a suspicion that there is much more to come over the next three weeks.

I made a bit of a schoolboy error with my phone. I forgot to switch my data roaming off once I crossed the border, and within a couple of hours received a text message from Orange.fr (my French provider) saying that I had reached my spend limit, so they have blocked my data useage. On the positive side, at least I had set a limit, otherwise the cost would have been astronomical. It’s bad enough anyway. I guess one of my apps was working in the background… So I’ve switched that SIM off, and am using my UK one, with data switched off!

Lunchtime in Nova Topola also found me at an ATM. Bosnia is my first country not using Euros, so I withdrew some BAM (Convertible Marks).

Once in Prjnavor (no idea on pronunciation), I found a nice hotel for reasonable cost. There are no Warmshowers hosts anywhere near here unfortunately. Nice views of the city.

Once showered and cycling shorts washed, I had a walk around town. There are plenty of bars, clothes shops, chemists and petrol stations, but not a supermarket in sight. The petrol stations seem to be the centre of activity, as they all have a café, bar and (limited) shop. So my rations for the night were from the garage.

Other observations from my first day here are that I have not seen any motorbikes at all, and the only cycles I have seen have been old shopping bike type things, ridden by old men very slowly. This is a stark contrast to Slovenia and to a certain extent Croatia. I did get the odd driver blow their horn and wave enthusiastically.

Hardly any photos today. Nothing that I thought particularly worthwhile stopping for. Hopefully more tomorrow.

Mileage so far: 1592km

Day 23

Slept well. Shorts were dry. It’s not raining. All good so far! Breakfast was good at the hotel; ham, eggs, toast, orange juice and coffee. On the road for just after 0830. Easy navigation out of town again, onto a relatively minor road to Dragalovci and eventually Doboj. In the more remote areas, away from the major roads and traffic, there is some beautiful countryside.

I was almost immediately into more hilly terrain, which came at a bit of a cost. Going slowly up the climbs, some of which hit 8% or more, meant that the mongrel farm dogs saw me as an easy target. The first one caught me off guard momentarily, and in a really small gear. It looked a bit surprised and hesitated slightly when I shouted my usual ‘f*** off’ at it as I changed chainring, but then gave chase. Proper chase. Sprinting uphill nearly killed me, but the dog was almost alongside me so I had to make an effort! The second one, a few kilometres later and on another climb, responded appropriately to my profanities, and I had seen it coming so was a bit better prepared. A couple later in the day also had half-hearted attempts, but by that time I was on my guard more. Bloody dogs. There will be more…

Petrol station elevenses again. A spinach and cheese pastry thing and a coffee for a couple of quid. And a spare one for later (not the coffee!). Plus use of their free WiFi.

Once I got to Doboj I hit the main road. I was hoping that Bosnia would be like Italy and Slovenia, and there would be very little traffic on the road, no lorries and lots of bikes. I was sadly very wrong. A few years ago I did some work around traffic volumes in Lincoln on different days of the week (for policing the Lincoln Grand Prix cycle race). Turns out that Sunday is the busiest day for traffic in Lincoln. It seems that Bosnia is similar. So the afternoon turned into just churning out the mileage whilst avoiding dogs. And Bosnian drivers.

The valley I was mainly in is quite industrial, in contrast to the morning scenery. Car breakers yards, open cast mines, a power station, and tired looking towns and villages along the way. I’m a bit of a victim of my own planning in this respect. I’m trying to ride a straight(ish) line to Istanbul, and there are a limited number of roads to take. I’m sure the rural roads and countryside are beautiful, but they are not direct, and add huge mileage. I’m already feeling a bit of self-imposed pressure to get the miles in, so detouring is not much of an option. Well, I set the dates!

I got to Tuzla about an hour and a half ahead of my schedule. My first impression is that it’s a bit of a dump, dominated by a power station. The ‘boutique’ hotel (whatever that means) I had identified is lovely, and with secure bike storage. Dilemma. Do I have a day off here? So I’ve booked in for one night, with an option for a second. I will decide in the morning.

I did see a couple of motorcycle tourists this afternoon, and just before I stopped I saw three guys on fast road bikes (bicycles) who gave a cheery wave. Oh, and I also passed the 1000 mile mark.

Evening update: the recommended restaurant by the hotel receptionist is about 50m away. She also recommended the ćevapi, a local dish which evidently is skewered pork meat in the shape of sausages, served in a bun with raw onions and a lot of fat. It was tasty to start with, but became a struggle. At least I’ve tried it. I lied to her when I got back to the hotel.

Mileage so far: 1699km

Day 24.

Rest day.

So, despite the lack of inspiration I feel in Tuzla, I have decided to have a day off. I think resting my legs and giving my bit of saddle sore a chance to heal is probably a good idea. The hotel is also very nice, breakfast good, and there’s a heated towel rail so I can dry some bits of washing. I will have a walk around the town centre and see if it is any nicer than my first impression! It’s only 0900, and I already feel stressed about not riding. The weather is good and I’m worried that I’m missing an opportunity. Internal battles…

Well, that was interesting. Turns out that the whole of Tuzla central is not as grim as first impressions gave. I meandered for a couple of hours around the nearby park, salt lakes and pedestrianised city centre. Tuzla salt lake is the only one in Europe and attracts a lot of tourism, apparently.

In addition there are a couple of impressive squares with cafés, fountains and statues. I stopped for a cappuccino in the sun and did a bit of shopping (couldn’t find any batteries though. Hopefully a petrol station will have some. Rear light getting weak), then visited a pekara (different spelling here) for some pastry based lunch. I had also bought some apples, so it wasn’t all bad.

So it seems that a good night’s sleep, accompanied by a bit of warmth and sunshine can change your perspective. It does have some properly scruffy parts, and there seems to be a lack of investment and civic pride to a degree, but on the whole an enjoyable day off the bike. I’ve also done some washing.

Pizza tonight, probably. Somewhere near the Serbian border tomorrow, hopefully. Looking forward to the next few days 😎