Bikepacking Europe

The bike box had to go somewhere :D

Bike are rigged up and HEAVY

Tasty bites before our first dinner

Morning fog, after the restless first night of camping

Dobar dan, Europe Giganske Stepenice Boldy beckon us

Dubrovnik!

Mali Ston historic fortress

and Ston on the other side!

80 mile second day, ending with a sunset by the beach and fresh fish from a Konoba

Basking on the beach of the tiny costal Podobuče

From the top of Sveti Ilija

Bikes, Boats, Beers

Basking by beautiful beaches, Braving buses blaring by. Bouncing bikes between backroads, Bags bearing bakery bread. Boating between blue bays, Blitzed by boozy beer.

Just enough space for our bikes in the hostel

First ferry! Off to Split

A extremely bumpy descent that then turned into endless thorn bushes

Stumble, stumble, took a tumble, I thought this was my biggest fumble. Just when life seemed so bleak, My bone healed in a week. Or did it ever actually crumble?

Days off

Taking the bus to Zadar

Found a tandem full suspension touring ebike

Second ferry, to Pula

Pula's historic fortress

Sunset by the colosseum

Doing excercises to recover my sprained arm

Rovinj from afar

Seaside lunch. The food was so fresh and flavorful

Staying at Max's mothers old home!

Broken spoke. Good thing I brought spares!

Motovun, the picturesque hilltop town, That the Paranzana took us all around

Istrian wine, Truffle pasta, and olive oil fresh from the vine

Traversing tunnels and bridges left by the railway

A bay with crystal blue waters not well known, And millions of tiny shells hiding among the stone

We dip into the corner of Italy for some fresh pasta :)

Castle in the mountain

Slovenia is home to many many caves

Beekeeper truck!

Fun night out but a not so great morning

First of many hilltop churches

The most picturesque church I've ever seen

Lake Bled!

The start of Triglav

Made some sheep friends

Flips into the freezing river

Gates to the Alps

4k feet of climbing gravel

Paragliders utilizing the vortex made by the valley below

Rock jumped up and took a bite out of Max's derailleur

The tunnels leading to Sauris

Wet and stormy night

The "backdoor" into a closed bike park

First peak at the Dolomites

Camping in our server's backyard

First gondola!

Mountain with a hat

Sometimes I wish to be this chamois

A marmot nibbled on my toes through my sleeping bag while camping on this grassy ledge

Mountaintop refugio

Marmolada with a cloudy hat

Logging operation forced use to hike down a mountain

Refugio by Marmolada

Bike park trails!

Max hitting a drop

Tiny goats

So many Haribo flavors :D

Fixing our bikes

Sick day for Max :( took a train to keep moving

Stelvio pass, six-thousand feet, Forty-eight switchbacks, no way to cheat

Italian police Lambo

Climb-a-bike to Piz Umbrail, No via-ferrata, beware of the gale

Rainy descent

My turn to be sick :(

Public transit saved the day and let us keep moving to get out of the rain

Rain was snow up high

Peaking out from the clouds

Camping in a mossy forest

Friendly cows

Everyone gets a chance to pose in front of the peak

Cat checking out my bike

Berries by the trail!

Spilled my salad on the gondola :O

We haul a baguette and spreads up to a height, And call an alpine meadow our campsite

Eating our bites, perched on rocks, The cows swarm us like hawks

Freezing but refreshing alpine lake

Slipping around on the Aletsch glacier

Refugio by the glacier

Hikers in front of the Matterhorn

Another view of Aletsh

After a relentless descent boiled Max's brake line, A parking lot bleed sent us back to the alpine

Accidently chased donkeys down a trail and they escaped their fence...

Wheelies on top of the world

Mont Blanc in the distance

Uhmmm. Climb-a-bike?

Gondolas, trains, and funicular railways, Whisked us up to gaze at skies set ablaze, As the dwindling lights ushered peaceful nights

Alpine descents

Espresso and pastries by beautiful lakes

Another rock, another derailleur

Cave-a-bike!??

One last sunset

Bike setups

Geneva

We made it to the airport! 5 weeks of biking and we timed it just right.

Max flew back home, while I took a train to Paris. Thanks for following along :) If you have a crazy trip idea, just do it!