Things were going so well until right after lunch. After yesterday’s distance and hills, I had a wonderful night’s sleep at my countryside “soba” (basically a rented room in a private rural home). I awoke late, at 6:30 AM, to the sounds of a rooster crowing, luxuriated with a second cup of coffee and didn’t start riding until 8:00 AM. The morning was glorious, pedaling through the expansive countryside under a big sky and by strong and solitary mountains that reminded me of Colorado or Argentina.
I rode for hours along a gravel road next to a serpentine turquoise lake, enjoying the scenery and thanking my little bike for being so much tougher than it looks.
By noon I had arrived in Sinj, ate lunch in a park and made up for yesterday’s glaring lack of pastries with a little tasting menu. Chocolate, hazelnut and cherry.
Then the trouble began. Between Sinj and Split is a mountain range that I had to get over. As I rolled out, the sky darkened and buckets of rain began to fall, the sort of hard rain that makes people inside thankful not to be that crazy fool out on a bike. There is only one road over the pass and it’s busy, with virtually no shoulder. So there I was, soaked and slogging my way up the pass with fast moving traffic flying by me. What could be worse? Getting to the top and having to descend the other side, at speed, and through two thoroughly terrifying tunnels, both busy, long, poorly lit and neither with any shoulder. Oh, and the second one had a slick cobblestone roadway surface except for the little side gutter that I had to ride in.
Not fun, but it made getting to Split feel like a minor miracle. I found a nice place to stay (after one false start in which I almost repeated “the Zagreb mistake”) cleaned up, ate and soon thereafter the sun came out, perfect for an evening stroll along the harbor and through the city’s enchantingly narrow streets.
And, if you are wondering whether or not I am excited to see Allegra, I got here a day early just to be sure I wouldn’t be late!
smallchainringbigworld 
Gabe-
Glad you are safe and sound and at least as tough as your little bike. Fires all over the West (here in the States) but none very close to us so we are thankful.
Love, Dad
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Well done, Gabester. The fact that you found yourself on just one such harrowing passage in three weeks is remarkable. You are a day early so clean up your act and get over this pastry fixation before Allegra arrives.
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I have had a few uncomfortable stretches like that (coming into Kaliningrad comes to mind) but remarkably few fortunately. And regarding the baked goods, I think to call it a fixation is rather mild, don’t you? 🙂
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What, Mr. Phillips?! Get over what? My goodness, if Grant stops posting food porn all will be lost. I’m sitting in a convenience store eating day old onion rings with a Dr. Pepper and some raw limp veggies from the produce section. This only because I couldn’t bring myself to another lunch in a saloon as I make my way through Montana. So, dear God Grant, clean up, tidy up, enjoy the Dickens out of Allegra but, Jesus don’t you dare stop eating pastries! Or at least don’t stop photographing them. Their images hang in the asphalt mirages before me as I continue through this spaghetti western terrain. Thrilled for you and Calder to enjoy vacation together. Hugs.
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Shannon, I hereby do solemnly swear that for the remainder of my journey I will not stop eating or photographing pastries, so help me God.
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Thanks, thanks, thanks on behalf of all us fools grinding at work rather than over mountain passes. Hard to express how much I look forward the daily 5 minutes of vicarious adventure. Is it bad to wish you’d just keep going? We’ll keep enjoying it while it lasts. Allegra chronicles next. Enjoy! We will too. Now….back to work!
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David, thanks so much! It’s fun to share the adventures and am trying to enjoy every minute, even the tough ones!
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Hey buddy. Congratulations on a major milestone. Also: Stop being such a pansy. Sending you love from smoky Missoula.
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Hey! Pansies don’t eat three pastries in one sitting, now do they?!?
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Keep it rockin’ Gabe. That pass into Split looks intense … I thought I told you to take the coastal approach. Speaking of the coast, enjoy the Adriatic (and the nutty ferry queues in Split)! I remember thinking that I could easily end up on about 4 ferries without knowing which was right.
AND when do our pastries arrive? Send Shannon’s to Yellowstone, I guess…or send me his, and I’ll save it for him 😉
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🙂 You certainly did! Bosnia was wonderful though and I am about to get some great coastal and island riding!
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As for pastry, I plan to make baklava when I get back, so we can enjoy it with some strong coffee!
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