QuickBite! bikepacking tour, A Diary of a Nature Lover

Prologue:

I wanted to attend a bikepacking tour, where you can experience the whole spectrum of emotions, and it looks like a holiday. The Quick Bite! is the shorter route of the famous Seven Serpents. The worst hiking paths are missing, but don’t worry, you will encounter with some really steep roads, where hiking is almost mandatory. You still get some mountain passages above 1000 m.

Place and date:

Ljubljana

06.05.2023 Saturday

Preparations:

They weren’t perfect. They never are! I bought bigger backpack just before the day of arrival. I simply needed more place. I tried my inflatable matte on the first night. The rear tire’s valve was clogged and I couldn’t really adjust the pressure. I was hoping that I won’t have to adjust it during the tour. I barely analysed the route. My plan was simple. I am riding till sunset, find a camping place, take out the tent and rest so long my body needs. The route had some really remote sections. On the first two days there were barely any stores/restaurants available. Cres/Istria were the same.

I took a direct train from Vienna to Ljubljana. There is a direct connection between Vienna and Trieste (the train also goes through Ljubljana). This was one of the reasons why I choosed this bikepacking event. Easy travel means less stress and more joy.

First day: Thru’ Slovenian Villages

Unfortunately I left my chest strap at home. I was not able to make videos on the rough stuff. We get a really nice looking helmet mount in the start packet, but there were no mounting bolt. A running race was held in Ljubljana and we were crossing the course. It was a little bit hectic, but it was mostly uphill. We went through uncountable small Slovenian villages. I was really comfy on my mtb. 2,3″ tire at front gave me a lot of confidence in turns. The weather was kinda mixed. Sometimes the temperatures were above 30 °C, sometimes it was cloudy and we also had rain.

The only man-made attraction was the castle built into the cliff in Predjama. I washed my body at the cemetery (best place, if you want to refresh yourself) and I was looking for some food, because I ate müsli bars all day long and I wanted to have some other type of food. Thankfully the bakery was open in the nearby town. I barely remembered how I should set up my tent. This was my first trip in 2023.

Second Day: In the Shadow of Mountains

The night was pretty bad. I was drinking a lot through the day, but it was not enough. I almost drank all of my water in the night. I had a couple of sips of water remaining in my bottles. I had to be careful, because the next town was miles away. After some hiking and riding down on steep fire roads, I was approaching the town. Suddenly one liter ice tea and some coffee disappeared into my stomach. I was trying to get better food at the gas station, but there were only junk available. I was missing my stove for sure! I am not going to left it home next time.

After the wonderful lakes, a pretty big mountain was coming. The fire road was kinda nerve wrecking. 3 meter wide gravel road was going up all the way. It had a steady grade. I almost got gravel sickness in the evening. I don’t have problem with gravel, but as a mtb rider I prefer dirt roads. I had to take some breaks, because my mind/body didn’t like the monotony. The downhill was kinda cool. I got pretty tired and I didn’t want to ride at night. I made camp on a large field somewhere on the border between Slovenia and Croatia. It wasn’t the best idea. The night was bitterly cold in a summer sleeping bag. I was wearing almost everything in 7 °C.

Harmadik nap: Finally Sea!

Wow, it is only the third day and I can’t count the days properly. I felt myself like Tom in Cast Away. There is a significant difference between office life and bikepacking life.

After the cold night I was able to inspect the sea. It was still far away, but at least I got a glimpse of it. I am not lying, on the onroad section I felt myself really bad. Finally fine offroad sections came up. Have I wrote fine? It was rather rough! But I was enjoying them on my mtb. My companion, a Croatian couple weren’t enjoying themselves that much. I am almost sure that they sold those gravel bikes after this tour. Everything was nice until the front wheel picked up a pretty big stone and it met with my tibia. The pain was really big, I felt it even after a couple of weeks.

Before the bridge of Krk I have seen a gas station. Fresh Corner! This is what I needed! After refueling, I crossed the bridge. It was a little bit too narrow for my taste so I rode on the sidewalk and I took some pictures. After the bridge I forgot to start the next section on my Garmin. So I cut down the course a little bit. When I get back to the seaside, I found a cosy restaurant and in the end of 3rd day I was finally able to eat something normal. After the meal I was enjoying the hills and nice views. I was barely able to find a good camping place. Everything was full of stones. And I don’t like places where you can meet with people.

Fourth Day: Adventures on the Island

Finding a good camping place at the seaside wasn’t simple. Finally I found an old path, where the grass was pretty big and comfy for sleeping. Unfortunately I wasn’t the only one here. Mosquitos were also there. They were waiting for their prey and I had to donate some blood. Krk isn’t a friendly place to ride a bike. Short, steep uphills made my forenoon difficoult. The view was often astonishing and I had to take a bunch of mandatory photo-breaks, eating-breaks, and buying-music-chests-breaks. I was not lucky with the ferries. I was alwast late and I had to wait an hour for them. It wasn’t bad tough, at least I had time for dotwatching and I followed the what’s app group, where people wrote what they have left behind. There were bottles, sunglasses and other items. Thankfully I slept enough and this time I didn’t lose any important thing.

The first big ascent on Cres… 28 °C, sunshine without any shadows, constant 7-10%. It was marvelous. I felt myself like an ice cream. Apart from the landscape there were nothing to see on the island. The the northern part of the island is a wander paradise. With a MTB it was OK, but sometimes walking was better for the legs. Before the arrival of the second ferry I bought my first Lasko beer on the tour. Unfortunately the trip was fairly dangerous to eat/drink any alcohol. I have lost counting after a while how many ways could you die in the race. I would recommand this race only for advanced riders. After the beer I got chills.

I will initialise that the ferry docks should not be built at sea level. The uphill after the ferry ride felt not quite right. In a small town I have found a house under consruction. Because the weather will be very bad next day, I wanted to start as early as possible. A lot stuff was there, so I expected that the workers will be there after the sunrise. I didn’t want any confrontation.

Fifth Day: Surviving

To be honest the bicycle trip was over on the ferry. Everything after that was a pure nightmare. The rain arrived just before noon. After I reached the top I was wearing almost every clothes I had. Scarf, long trousers, rain jacket etc. My legs were frozen, and I had to hike every steep uphill, because riding was not possible. I hiked at least 20-30 Km’s that day. The rain was pouring down for almost 10 hours.

I found a nice small town named Hum. It was some kind of tourist’s attraction. The restaurant saved my life there. I recharhed my empty stomach and my hungry Garmin. After the lunch I didn’t want to continue, but the weather will be the same. The sooner I can get to the seaside the better is for me. Once again, the route went through remote areas. Somehow I was always found water taps, but food was out of question. The long downhill to Triest was propably the worst downhill ride of my life. A soft and flooded gravel double track gravel.

Utózöngék:

Pár finisher összeszedett a főtéren aztán lezuhanyozhattam náluk. Utánam még egy ázott kutyaszagú olasz fiú-lány páros ért be. Brutál erősek voltak, le a sisakkal előttük. Utoljára Belgrádban (2018?) aludtam hostelben. Érdekes élmény koedukált hostelben megszállni. Egészen nagy a különbség a szóló sátrazáshoz képest. Nem voltak zajok (csak horkolás), s szél sem. A reggeli is benne foglaltatott az árban és a kelleténél kicsit több időt töltöttem a kávé-tea saroknál. Még a Zucker-méz készletet is megdézsmáltam.
Aztán szereztem cipellőt a Geox boltban, még a mini cipőkanalikat is lenyúltam. Na jó, ők adtak “önként” oda. Utána véletlenszerűen megtaláltam a város legdrágább farmerboltját. De nem baj, úgy is akartam még egy nadrágot venni. Száraz cuccokban azért jelentősen nő az ember komfortérzete.
Délután vonatút követlezik. Megpróbálok minéll több kcal-t magamba tolni és holnap bemegyek egy fél munkanapra. Kell a pínz és a szabadnapok, hogy ősszel is tudjak bikepackingolni.

Természetesen egy ilyen verseny nem ér véget a célbaérkezéssel. Vonatút előtt kicsit optikailag rendbe tettem a bringát és kifosztottam a vasútnál lévő boltot. Nem feltétlen olcsó, de remek kész ételeket árulnak. Leves, rizs, pizza, 3-4 liter víz. Még az elhagyott fogkrémem utódját is megtaláltam extra cuki mini kefével. Minden adott volt tehát egy kényelmes hazaúthoz. Ljubljana környékén viszont vonatváltásra került sor. A vonatváltást egy buszos intermezzo követte, ami alapból nem probléma. Mit csinalsz viszont a bringával:
A) Berakod a raktérbe
B) eltekersz a következő állomásig.
50-50 arányban éltünk a fenti lehetőségek egyikével. Én kivettem az első kereket és gond nélkül befért alulra a bicó. A leányzó pici bringája simán bement bármiféle hókuszpókusz nélkül. Két srác meg tekert egyet. Őszintén nekem esőben es 12 fokban nem sok kedvem lett volna hozzá.

A túra után term. átnéztem a bringa forgó alkatrészeit. A jobb pedálból kimosódott a kenőanyag. Ezt leszámítva nem volt más gond.

Konklúzió:

A bringa és szerény testem remekül bírta a megpróbáltatásokat. Gyakoraltilag ez volt a Di2 elektromos váltóm első komoly tesztje. Az erőkifejtés nélküli váltás szerintem nagyon jó dolog. A hátizsákos túrázás szintén bevált. A táska hátsó részén egy vas található, ami elemeli a háttól az anyagot, így remekül szellőzik. Mivel mindig volt elég tárolókapacitásom, így nem hagytam el semmi fontos dolgot. Ehhez mondjuk az is hozzájárult, hogy gyakorlatilag többet aludtam a túra alatt mint a hétköznapokban. Az útvonal meglehetősen remote. Az egyedüli dolog, amit hiányoltam az a gázfőzőm volt. Inkább cipeltem volna plusz fél kilót, de mindig rendelkezésemre állt volna meleg ital/étel. Az út vonalvezetése szép, néhol unalmas a sok gravel, meg néhol a meredekségi szög nem emberbarát, de remekül jutalmaznak a táj és a szép kilátások.

A Hungarian Divide-al nem összehasonlítható, hiszen itt azért már nem árt, ha az embernek van magashegyi tapasztalta és a tenger/szigetvilág sem hozható párhuzamba a magyar táj szépségével. Meg idegen nyelv ismerete is szükséges, bár a voda-val remekül el lehet boldogolni.

Ajánlás:

A QuickBite! pont azon a keskeny részen helyezkedik el a bikepacking túrák palettáján, ami kellő kihívást nyújt, ugyanakkor minden elszánt, felkészült bringás számára teljesíthető.

A hosszabb változat sok gyalogtúra részt is tartalmaz, aminek én speciel nem látom értelmét.

Video:

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