Country: Slovenia
Mountain: Western Karawanks
Length: 32,6 km
Elevation gain: 1450 m
Maximum elevation: 1795 m
Technical difficulty: 5/5
Download GPS Track: Poldne_Jepca_Cyclotrail
Date of ride: 13.06.2020.
Suitable for E-bike: No
This is one of the epic routes that we ride maybe few times per year where we get our boundries examined in detail both in term of fitness and technical riding. For our effort we were rewarded with beautiful views.
Start of the route is in Belca settlment in the Municipality of Kranjska Gora in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. We parked our car and from there followed bike lane that goes along river Sava (here in Slovenia Sava has karst riverbed, in Croatia Sava is muddy river). After about 6 km, we turned right on the main road in Gozd Martuljek, and from there followed ascent to Srednji vrh. At the beginning, ascent is on paved road with views on Julian Alps.
After 8,5 km we connected on gravel road. From there path soon becomes very steep, and at some sections gravel surface is very loose. We knew that our route is going to be very hard later, so we kept our strength and walked on some sections (which later showed as good strategy). If you want to make your route little bit longer but on less steep ascent you can use my gpx when I went with Žac on Trupejevo Poldne peak. At 12th km we came across on intersection, but continued on road to Trupejevo Poldne peak. Just before reaching the saddle, you need to hike a bike because the trail is very steep.
From the saddle below Trupejevo Poldne peak starts descent on the trail that goes through meadows and then continues on the ridge with the view on Slovenia and Austria at the same time. Downhill parts are all rideable, on uphill parts walking is needed.
After Črni vrh (Schwarzkogel) even better views are revealing. Trail is now combination of flow and steep technical sections. When watching this singletrack ride on the video, it doesn’t look though to ride, but the main problem are possible pedal strokes on the left side that can cause deflect from the trail on slope on the right side. Ridding on this trail has feeling like riding skinnies.
After the trail on the ridge follows very steep technical trail with switchbacks. Most of the sections we could ride without pivoting, but at some turns pivoting is necessary and helpful. Some parts of the trails that are too risky to ride we decided not to ride because trail doesn’t have easy access, and rescue action on this path would be very complicated.
After reaching paved road our adventure into the unknown continues. Gravel road that leads to Belca is at some parts destroyed by landslides but you can pass through them…
If you decide to ride this route, keep in mind that it will last minimum 5-6 hours, so bring enough water.
Map of route:
Elevation profile:
