Day 14: From Povljana to Sibenik (122 km, 850 vm)

Last night after dinner I got into my tent. It was not even 9. Before I knew it slept through until midnight, turned around and woke up again at 5:45. I could have slept on for another few hours. I guess my body really is calling for rest now.

Packing up the tent and all my luggage took me longer today. I also took a shower since it was warm all through the night and I was already sweating while packing up. When I left there was almost a mystical atmosphere once I got out of Povljana. A thin mist was hovering above the sea thus setting the mountain ranges apart in different tone colours. The ride itself was as the days before. Up and down and up and down and ... . I did not feel quite that fit so I decided to got to Zadar which was 40 kms away and maybe take an early rest today. By the time I was close to the city I was sure I was going to stay there. But things don’t always go as planned.

At an intersection to other bike travellers came cycling up. It turned out that they are on their way to Greece as well. Vilmos and Gergö just finished their High School and this was their “graduation trip”. We had a coffee together in Zadar and I decided to cycle on with them. It was nice to have some company after a while again.

The road from Zadar to Sibenik was not as hilly anymore and since the two young man were quite fit and I just tagged on to them and drafted along the 80 kilometres to Sibenik went by a lot quicker than any of the distances I covered before. In Sibenik the two of them went towards Krka National park and I went into town to find a place. Originally I wanted to find a camp ground but since it was boiling again I went for a private apartment with air conditioning instead.

When I arrived in town it was not that easy to find the place. Sibenik is like a little Dubrovnik, set against a hill side with lots of narrow alleys going up and down. It meant carrying the bike up and down stairs to finally arrive at the place.

Tomorrow I will probably go to Split, not sure if I will take the coastal road or if I will go inland. I definitely want to avoid traffic. Today the roads were quite busy.

At the end of this blog entry I want to say “Happy Birthday” to my mother who is turning 75 today. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Mutti. Hab dich lieb!