bike&hike

Dinara – Sinjal

Country: Croatia
Mountain: Dinara
Length: 60,66 km
Elevation gain: 1850 m
Maximum elevation:  1831 m
Technical difficulty: 5/5
Download GPS Track: Dinara_Sinjal_Cyclotrail
Date of ride: 23.05.2020.
Suitable for E-bike: No

2016. for the first time I rode exactly the same route. I had a bike less suitable for this kind of trip, and I wasn’t in good shape as nowadays but I still managed to finish the ride. This is circular route that starts in Knin near fishpond, and there we parked our car. Gojsi and I met with a friends from Pelješac peninsula (Dalibor and Marko). Dalibor is admin of Pelješac Mtb Vibes  page and we also rode together on st. Ilija few years before. Our route starts in Knin near fishpond on crossroads of Knin – Bosansko Grahovo road and the road coming from Krčić canyon.  We parked on the side of the road, on the gps track you can se our starting point. from there we turned right to Bosansko Grahovo.  After 2 km is another right turn, and from there you can see unpaved road in the direction to the Kninska Dinara – Brezovac Hut. The road proceeds to the Suvo Polje plateau where is the crossroad and the resting place named Markov Grob. Paved road is very wide and not so steep, great for introduction for later. Downside is that there is no shades, so it is very hot on the road during sunny days.

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MTB Imotski lakes

Country: Croatia
 Region: Dalmatian Hinterland
Length: 35 km
Elevation gain: 460 m
Maximum elevation:  580 m
Technical difficulty: 1/5
Download GPS Track: MTB Imotski Cyclotrail
Date of ride: 06.05.2018.
Suitable for E-bike: Yes

Imotski is small town on the northen side of Biokovo Masif and has very mild and pleasant climate with many sunny days. That is one of the reasons why I cycled around Imotski on this day, everywhere else was raining ( on that date I was still working in Ploče).
I parked my car in the center of the city, so I could  immediately see Blue Lake, and 1 km later Red Lake. Above Blue Lake there is fortress Topana built in 10th century located on natural cliff. In 1943. was first football match played at the bottom of the dried Blue Lake. Now there is tradition of locals playing football game during summer days while there is no water. The most important rule of football match played at the bottom is that result of the match must be draw.

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MTB Krk Baška – Obzova

Country: Croatia
Region: Island Krk/Obzova peak
Length: 32,5 km
Elevation gain: 980 m
Maximum elevation:  569 m
Technical difficulty: 4/5
Download GPS Track: Krk Obzova Cyclotrail
Date of ride: 02.03.2019.
Suitable for E-bike: Yes

Obzova is the highest peak on island Krk and the trail that leads to the peak is one of the most interesting I rode in last few years. Route starts near beach in Baška. Baška is resort town situated on southern part of island and is famous for its old town, churches and long beautiful beach which is sadly overcrowded during summer.  We didn’t have such problems because we decided to visit Baška in March.
As I said, our route starts near beach and follows paved road to the graveyard. Paved road ends there, and starts carrigeway that leads through pine forest to the famous Moon plateau which offers impressive landscapes made of karst and stone deserts which look like moon surface. There is mtb race (4islands) that is held on this island, and big part of the race is similar to this route, but the race then goes to Punat, and this route continues to Obzova, and then descends back to Baška. Ride is not suitable for hardtail bike.

This was my first serious ride on the new bike, and first real test, so I was a little bit impatient to see how will the bike respond. Even though 130 mm suspension fork worked well, 150 mm or more would be better.

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