Day 61 - 40 km
Bad Eisenkappel - Hrib/Pieddvor
Today’s main news is that the tree bike has been repaired and seems to be doing well again. What a relief. And how happy we are about it. This morning, on our inserted “break day,” because the tree bike is stationary, we quietly got up, there is no word yet from DHL that the new part is on its way, strange, it was sent by express on Friday. Shall we pick it up from Munich? We consult with Luuk from Heeten and George from Munich and the conclusion is that George will come from Munich with a colleague to the tree bike in Bad Eisenkappel. That’s fine. They will bring extra spare parts right away. We use the time before we have to leave to be there around five o’clock to answer mails, do laundry and groceries, make a video about the state of our tour for Bouwurk Arcadia in Leeuwarden, water trees, etc. With Daan and Richard we drive around three o’clock towards the border to cross the mountain to Bad Eisenkappel. We are in Austria again for a while. We have to wait another hour before George and Julian arrive and stop by the town hall. It is closed but we leave a little tree and some leaflets, after all, the tree bike has been here for two days. When the men from Movaria arrive, things move quickly. The control system box is completely replaced, and it works again. How wonderful. Now we can just make it to Nova Gorica and are in time for our scheduled arrival on Saturday afternoon. We thank George and Julian warmly and decide to bring the tree over the mountain tonight after all, before it gets dark. It is a quarter to seven when we start, after the first kilometers of false flat it gets steeper and we hook the tree bike to the car for a “tow,” so we don’t lose too much time. An extra sweater is needed because it cools off quickly. After a good hour we reach the top at about 1,200 meters. Daan accepts the challenge to cycle it himself and succeeds. A top performance. With some support from the E-bike, of course. At the highest point is also the border to Slovenia and there we take a picture, as usual. Then the descent begins. An average of eight percent, easy to do. Richard makes some great drone shots at a couple of nice spots. And before we know it, we are down. At least that’s what we thought. Let’s do some more kilometers now that it is so quiet on the road. We drive another twenty kilometers or so along the Kokra, a fast-flowing stream that flows sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right of the road. The sound is soothing and rises above the basic sound of the tree bike. What a wonderful ride, even though it’s quite chilly, we have the whole descent to ourselves, very occasionally someone passes by. And so it continues winding downhill as it slowly gets dark and the full moon rises, which turns out to be extra full exactly today. What a beauty and what a power of nature. It is almost dark when we park the tree bike around 9:30 and ride home to Kranj in just under half an hour. Still we cycled some forty kilometers today. Over dinner we conclude that luck is on our side again. That feels good. Sleep well.
Wed, June 11 - day 62 - 43 km
Hrib/Pieddvor - Zelezniki
A beautiful sunny day today. Even before seven in the morning, the bells of the church tower next to us ring continuously for fifteen minutes. And in the evening they do so around nine. As if to say it is seven o’clock, time to get up, and it is nine o’clock, time to go to bed. The four of us ride to the tree bike in Preddvor, and Richard and Sanne ride with the tree bike. Almost immediately we pass the town hall of Preddvor and walk in. Martina receives us and gives us the address of the mayor, and we give her a little tree and a forest book. After that, we immediately go uphill a bit. The landscape is beautiful and different from Austria, but what is different, I find it hard to say: Smaller, more varied, but there is more, but what? In any case, it is beautiful and also gives a certain tranquility. Maybe it’s the majestic mountains, or the combination with the mountains in the background? So we drive towards Golnik and past smaller villages and hamlets. It is striking how many people here have their own vegetable gardens. And the farms with the cows are just between the houses. And everywhere the grass is cut and put on characteristic “racks”. Very pleasant actually this relaxed atmosphere. Everyone just does whatever and gives each other space, or so it seems. And suddenly we are in front of a huge linden tree that turns out to be 500 years old. Magnificent. Our little tree is really a baby there. We drive some forty-five kilometers today to Zelezniki. Lunch somewhere along the road in the grass. And especially the last fifteen kilometers are tough up the hill to almost nine hundred meters altitude. We have to use the “drag” here and there. And for Sanne and Richard cycling up such a steep hill is a battle of attrition. Before we really descend we pass Brunarica in Drazgose, a bar/restaurant where many hikers and cyclists take a break. And so we do, we think we deserve it. We sit in the sun and order something to eat. We don’t have to cook today. Around eight I ride the tree bike downhill, a descent of about three hundred meters with many s-curves. It goes well. In Zelezniki we park the tree bike and I join the others in the car back to our stay with the ringing bells, south of Kranj, in Skofja Loka. It was a nice route through beautiful scenery. We like it here in Slovenia.
Thu Jun 12 - day 63 - 58 km
Zelezniki - Postaja
The tree was still there, as it is every morning, thankfully. In Zelezniki. We bike first to the town hall, a building not recognizable as such. After some explanation, the two ladies get more and more enthusiastic and walk down with us, to see the tree and take some more pictures. Mayor Marko Gasser is not here today. They will pass the forest book and flyer to him. We start our stage today of about fifty kilometers with a big hill in it. The beginning is okay but then it gets steeper and steeper. We do another drag, which is a lot like a sled, only it’s up instead of down. Again it is a giant task for the bikes, whose support doesn’t always seem to work so well. Sanne and Daan are pretty out of breath. But it works, it is well one o’clock when we eat our sandwich at the highest point, about 1,100 meters, and recover from the climb. And then it’s sliding down, mile after mile, careful and lots of hanging in the brakes. With really beautiful views. Enjoy. How beautiful Slovenia is. At least this part of the country. This is how we roll to Cerkno. Just before we drink coffee where a whole group of men and women come to look at the tree bike with interest, after Sanne hands out leaflets. In Cerkno we pass by the town hall there too, where no one is inside anymore and we leave a tree bike, leaflets and the book. We continue cycling downhill, making quick kilometers. It is great cycling also for the tree bike, you can enjoy the landscape in a more relaxed way. We hand out a little tree here and there and take a picture with a happy person. For quite a while we follow a stream, the Idrijca, which gets wider and wider and looks more like a river. On both sides the mountain walls rise up. Gradually the valley widens, the mountains give way a little. What a powerful landscape this is. With the sun in our faces, the warm air on our bare arms and legs, it is a pleasure to be able to cycle here. Again, people’s reactions are enthusiastic. Thumbs up, waving, honking. That certainly makes it even more fun to cycle with the tree here. And so around six we cycle into the hamlet of Postaja where we score an umbrella, have a well-deserved beer and park the tree bike. From here it’s just under forty kilometers to Nova Gorica. And over an hour’s drive back to our overnight location of the past few days in Skofja Loka. What a beautiful day again. We are slowly realizing that we are almost there. And that feels quite strange. It seemed so far away and now it is so close. The day after tomorrow we will arrive in Nova Gorica. Theo Heldens called yet, he is on his way and will arrive in Nova Gorica tonight to set up our Circle4Change expo in the station tomorrow, in front of the Europe Square. And Vincent Tiel Groenestege is also on his way to Nova Gorica. He will stay a good week to lend a helping hand. Top all. Nice sleep, if the church bells permit. We are waiting.