Today was an easier day – still a lot of hills but manageable at 68.5km. It also got a lot easier once we entered Slovenia.

Kris navigated us quickly out of the urban areas on small suburban roads running north. We did a lot of hill climbing.  The sun was very hot from early in the morning. Eventually we entered a forested area that was pleasant to ride in, but still hard work with constant hills.

Kris had found a small road that crossed the border in the middle of the forest. We were very surprised when the border police would not let us cross! Just before we had been wondering if the border would even be manned. Evidently only Euro passport holders can cross at this small border, all others need to go to the big border (to get a stamp!). This was frustrating as it added 6km to the ride, as well as forcing us onto a busier road for a while and adding another hill climb. Anyway, there was no choice involved so we turned back down the hill to go through the big border crossing.

It seems that EU borders are tightening up now after the refugee crisis, In 2015 we crossed unmanned borders all along between Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Holland. This is the first land border we have crossed on this trip (the other was coming off the ferry), we will see what the next ones are like.

As soon as we had crossed the border, we noticed a marked difference in both the quality of the roads and the behavior of the drivers. The drivers are fantastic, they wait behind you until it is safe to pass, and then give you enough room! Enough to make a cyclists heart happy. Later on we were told that this is a result of public education campaigns, driver training and laws introduced about ten years ago and before that the driving was not so good around cyclists – maybe we can do something similar in New Zealand to change behavior?

The first part of today’s Slovenia ride was a hill climb through forests, but joining a river and riding on a small road (632) along the river valley, passing through small towns.

The heat was building as we rode along and we were both suffering a bit from the intensity of the sun. It was a relief when it began to cloud over and we felt a few drops of rain. There were a few claps of thunder, and it was also okay when the rain increased a bit – nice and cool – we were just on a nice hill decent as it started. However suddenly the heavens burst open and there was a torrential downpour, with the water beginning to flow in rivers over the road. Luckily we entered a small town half a minute later and quickly ducked in under someone’s car port. We only had to wait fifteen minutes or so for the rain to recede – enough time to look at the map and eat our chocolate chip cookies. The rain had come on so quickly that only the tops and fronts of our clothes and shoes were wet. For a little while we were riding in both sun and rain, and eventually just hot sun again. We were dry again in no time.

We paused at the town of Ilirska Bistrica – the supermarkets were closed being a Sunday afternoon, so we got some water and a bun at a bakery. We had a debate as to whether we very should take the smaller or larger road on our final stretch to Pivka, eventually opting for the smaller (the 404). Another hill climb awaited us either way. It turns out we made the right choice. The hill climb was not too bad, as the road was very good (and the drivers so considerate), we just cruised along in our lowest gears. We had some lovely long gentle downhill runs on the other side, and then a nice meandering ride through idyllic hill country with small towns an their red church steeples.

We did book our accommodation today to make sure that we found somewhere nice, we are staying on top of a pizzeria and pub in Pivka (Rooms Herman). The restaurant is very nice and was buzzing with families eating a late Sunday lunch when we arrived at about 3pm.
We went down to have pizza and beer once we had washed ourselves and our clothes. We tried our first Slovenian beer – there are evidently only two main breweries in Slovenia. The one brewery (Union) has just begun to market unfiltered beer, which is evidently proving to be very popular. We tried both the light and dark versions and found them to be very drinkable. The pizzas we ate were huge and utterly delicious. Then we just walked back up the steps to our room.