mtb bosnia

MTB Ćićarija – Žbevnica

Country: Croatia
Mountain: Ćićarija/Žbevnica peak
Length: 31 km
Elevation gain: 1238m
Maximum elevation:  1014 m
Technical difficulty: 3/5
Download GPS Track: MTB Ćićarija_Žbevnica_Cyclotrail
Date of ride: 22.06.2019.
Suitable for E-bike: Yes

Žbevnica is highlighted peak on western side of Ćićarija mountain, and also the last peak in west of Croatia higher than 1000 meters. I visited Ćićarija for the first time in 2016 with my friend Petar who run 100 miles of Istria few times and knows this region very well (and he is from Istria). Even though we cycled then mostly on unpaved road with very few singletrack trails I liked Žbevnica peak because of its long grass and opened sights in all directions. It reminds me on Hahlić in so many ways.
This year I decided to go back to Ćićarija, but I wanted to include more singletrack in the route. I asked local guys for some insights and I’ve got gpx track from Goran who helped me with some advices and gave me few pointers. He warned us that track could be overgrown with vegetation on some parts, and it was, but not enough to change our mind not to ride it.

We rode this track two days after Stol, which is very hard route, the kind of route that you enjoy to ride, and like to remeber it, but also kind of ride that makes you hate your bike for at least two days.

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Mtb Mostar, Velež

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mountain: Velež, Brasina peak
Length: 43,5 km
Elevation gain: 1850 m
Maximum elevation:  1897 m
Technical difficulty: 3/5
Download GPS Track: Mostar Velež_cyclotrail
Date of ride: 14.04.2018.
Suitable for E-bike: Yes

Mostar, and mountain Velež are my first mountain biking experience in BiH and introduction is very interesting. In Slavic myhtology Veles, Volos or Voloh is god of earth, water and underground. He is often connected with dragons, cattle, musicians, magic, fortune and deceptions and is Perun’s main antagonist. Their rivalry is one of the main myths in Slavic mythology.

Before I went from Zagreb to town Ploče  I made contact with Đani over social media. I’ve read some of his text on internet about biking, explored some of his routes that he drove, so i knew that he could give me very good informations where to ride in BiH. Finally we met in person in Croatia at the end of 2017. while we rode on Babina Gomila (one of hills near Neretva Valley). At the time all mountains in BiH were covered in snow, so I had to be patient and wait for snow to melt down. And then on april, I got invitation from Đani to visit mountain Velež with his friend Darko. I didn’t know much about route, I just knew that there was one way road up and down to the peak Brasina in combination of paved and unpaved road.

At the day of ride I was a little late so we rode later than we planned. Due to my delay and potential snowdrifts we shortened our ascent and started our climb at 9th km of gpx file. Later that showed as a good call, because at higher elevations there were still substantial amount of snow, and took us quite time to cross them.

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Prenj – Velika Kapa

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mountain: Prenj, Velika Kapa Peak
Length: 44,60 km
Elevation gain: 1870 m
Maximum elevation:  2007 m
Technical difficulty: 5/5
Download GPS Track: Prenj Velika Kapa
Date of ride: 20.05.2018.
Suitable for E-bike: No

Expedition to Velika Kapa peak was the day after XC ride to Borašnica. I was very excited because this was my first bike trip 2000 meters above sea level. In Croatia there are no mountains higher than 1850 meters, and just mountain Prenj has 11 peaks over 2000 meters (Velika Kapa is one of them). Usually, when I go alone, or with my friends on biking or hiking trip I study the route and collect all useful informations, but today I was going with experienced mountainbikers, hikers and skiers from BiH, so I only had to enjoy the panoramic views and nature. It is a nice feeling when you don’t have to worry about on where to turn right/left on next intersection.

When we started the route there was 20 of us, but only 7 of us (Đani, Ivo, Kevre and me with bikes and Emir, Dragan and Božo on foot) decided to go on Velika Kapa peak. The rest of the group went to visit Tisovica valley. I heard a lot about this valley, and after seeing it from above I decided that I will visit it once.

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