"Orrid in Ohrid - Aussies Rule, & Easy aint easy" !

It had to happen ! The Henley germs which have so far been spread around numerous countries including Europe and the UK have finally taken hold of our cycling group claiming numerous victims (including self) !

You would have expected that after a great days rest in Ohrid we would have been raring to go on day 6 of our Albanian adventure, but with a combo of sore muscles and Henley's fast spreading plaque we were reluctant departers on a beautiful sunny morning !

Morning in Ohrid - L-R Robbo, Kev, Kirk and Aussie Kev

We managed only 300 metres before the first of our numerous stops for the day having to fix Pommie Kevs bike seat. Arjan our tour was not totally sympathetic asking Kev why he hadn't checked his bike in the 30 minutes we were lolling about prior to departure doing nothing - a fair question I thought !

Our cycle route took us on a beautiful undulating (yes more bloody hills) ride around Lake Ohrid to the lovely resort of St Naum with its monastery and amazingly clear spring / river water. Here we took an extended coffee break overlooking the lake with even time for those brave enough (Lee and Pommie Kev) to take to the water. In Pommie Kev's case his rememergence from the water with glaring white skin was almost enough to bring on a local eclipse ! 

Kirk and Lee - a holiday to remember !!!

At the beach !

Lee testing out the water ! 

Kev - a whiter shade of pale !

3kms on we crossed back into Albania and like all good touring cyclists took another break this time an 18 course lunch that occupied us for a good hour and a half !

At the border !

Our 18 course lunch !

Finally departing lunch we took on our least pleasant experience on tour, a 3-4km climb on a narrow winding road with no verge. Here we competed with slow moving lorries and cars for space and boy were we glad when the climb was over !

A brief descent followed before an incident filled climb when some local idiot pulled over on to our cycle verge fully opening his door requiring us to move out into the high speed traffic lanes. First self then Henley blasted him using appropriate Australian venacular that was patently clear to the driver what we meant !

Regrouping, the next 30 kns were much quieter. Here Kiwi Pere won the play of the day by continually overtaking our strong Canadian girl Karine on the hills. When she later asked why he did this and then slowed down Pete simply said " coz i can "!

Karine on the fly !

Finally at the 86 km mark we arrived in Korce at 5.30p.m. to complete yet another big day ! 

While some of the group settled for a city walking orientation tour the remaining sensible ones made their way to the poolside bar to take on board much needed lost fluids !

The resident drunks !

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Rest Day - Lake Ohrid Macedonia !

L-R Arjan, Linda, Lee, Robbo, George & Aussie Kev !

Aussie Kev guarding the ramparts ! 

Beautiful view looking to Ohrid 

Sunset over Lake Ohrid

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Into Macedonia - Lake Ohrid 94 kms !

The story so far - 

Having bused north to lake Komani and ferried to the other side we have since cycled some 200 kms to and around the northern part of Albania through Dardhe, Kukesi and on to Peshkopi. Along the way we have endured some oppressive heat combined with some gut busting climbs many in the 10+% region to bring us close to the Macedonian border and badly in need of psychiatric care !  The journey continues -

.......

If there was any doubt about whether we were still suffering from yesterdays huge day then the collective groans and stereophonic coughing (Henley & Linda) soon put that to rest as we cycled steeply uphill out of Peshkopi in the midst of busy local Albanian traffic.

A few undulations later and we were finally presented with a classic downhill to a regrouping point at a cafe just shy of the border. Here Henley and I decided to award an honourary "Bruce" (Australia's "kind of" equivalent to a knighthood) to Robbo our affiable friend from Sheffield UK. Not only had he powered past most of the group on this section but he had the wit of mind in doing so to slag off one of his fellow countrymen. Powering past Pommie Kev Robbo shouted out " riding a bit slow today Kev"! Pommie Kev cried foul at our rest stop saying it was bad enough to have the Antipodeans have a crack at him without his own doing similar. The fact that Robbo has also had a go at us (along with Dilksy) about cricket and soccer just shows what a well rounded gentleman he really is ! 

Karine & George !

 After a small break during which Henley finally got Pommie Kev to dink him (it still looked suspiciously like dogging !), we crossed the border as a group and emerged into a significantly altered landscape.

L-R Pete, Julia, Linda, Kev and Aussie Kev !

The two Kevs "Dinking" !

From clean Albania (arguably because up until recently they've had few consumables to throw away) we entered a Macedonian landscape that resembled a 3rd world garbage dump with piles of roadside rubbish simply rotting away. The traffic profile had also changed with Macedonian drivers more aggressive than their Albanian counterparts. One car filled with youths actually targeted Kirk (one of our UK riders) trying to run him off the road !

The rubbish mounts as we enter Macedonia ! 

  After passing through a dust filled town we again climbed alongside lake Debar before descending and taking a partly scenic ( i say partly as the verges were overgrown restricting views) 30km lake ride to lunch and some freshly cooked trout.

Pete & Kev

Time to cool down !

Lunch time !

With a nice lunch consumed, 4 of our group wisely decided to board (..in Henley's case be carried) the team bus for the horrendous traffic filled section to Strugar . The initial section may have only been about 10 kms  but with narrow roads and fast peak hour like traffic even the most experienced of us began to feel a little nervy.

Finally we emmerged to beautiful lake Ohrid an amazing 2, 600 sq km UNESCO listed lake that borders Macedonia and Albania . Here we cycled around its perimeter on a mixture of paths one of which claimed the tiring Robbo when he lost traction on a soft surface falling. His lightning dismount technique (no doubt at the thought of being run over by yours truly closely following) though minimised both damage to self and pride.

Our final 10kms was a TDF sprint as we powered our way to the finish. Pommie Kev having previously complained about his bike (some minor issue like seized pedals/ bearings etc) powered along just behind our group leader (Arjan) with a cheshire cat like grin until Arjan told that he hadn't yet got out of the middle ring !

Arriving at beautiful Ohrid pretty much shattered we took in the obligatory alcohol fix as well as the obligatory photo of one Kevin (I never sleep during the day ) T Henley !

Kevin "I never sleep during the day " Henley !

A well earned beer !

With a much needed rest day beckoning we have time now to take in the beautiful surrounds of Lake Ohrid while waiting for the WADA test report on a likely drug fuelled Robbo and to welcome the latest addition to our tour Karine's boyfriend Mike from the UK  ! 

Ohrid by night !

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Mountain climbing on bikes !

As far as pre ride discussions go this one was just a touch different, kms to be ridden (70+), metres to be climbed (2, 000+) and what was the difference between "dinking" & "dogging" !

Henley keen on getting Thommo to honour yesterdays bet over England's loss to the the West Indies, suggested that he be "dinked" in the main street before the start of todays ride. Thommo unfamiliar with the Australian colloquialism thought that the term might have been related to "dogging" and went a whiter shade than his already pale English skin at the thought of doing such with Henley !!!

Yes this mornings peleton had one extra addittion when one Kevin T Henley joined in from his "death bed" as we rode out of town. We knew that today was going to be a tough one having read the trip notes prior but we weren't aware of what was in store for us. As it was, the only flat bit of our pre lunch ride was the 10kms going out of Kukes. From there on in it was a soul destroying, energy sapping climb with constant gradients of 10% + with one 300 metre section a stomach churning 17%. Amazingly Kev was one of a few to ride this section without getting off, a decision that he would pay dearly for later on in the day !

An Albanian Ferrari ! 

The Ferrari closes in on Lee ! 

The climbing continues !

Kev - The Machine !

17% and steep !

Coffee stop 1 !

Coffee stop 2 ! 

Even Dilksy, NZs' answer to Alberto Contador, found the going tough at one stage hallucinating believing that Pauline Hanson (complete with Burqa) had become New Zealand's next female Prime Minister !

Somehow we made it to lunch at the 40km mark with most of the 2, 000 metres days climb already covered and a fair bit of our body weight left back on the incredibly steep climbs in the 30c temperatures !

Lunch was a picnic affair with once again a lovely array of local fare accompanied by about 11 cokes each to replenish some of our lost fluids !

A safari lunch !

Assured by our guides that the after lunch section would be much easier we went straight back into climbing mode although to be fair these undulating sections at least provided a modicum of relief.

Finally we reached a peak with a beautiful landscape filled vista that signified the start of a 15 km (mainly) downhill descent. 

Descent completed we regrouped 4km out of town with the invalids (yes Henley was one of them) and the early arrivals who'd had a beer or two waiting for the rest of the group to arrive and the team support bus (so they could carry on drinking !) .

The rest of us including Robbo, Kiwi Pete,  Pommie Kev and self negotiated 4 more kms into town where we fell over each other from exhaustion when we finally dismounted our bikes.

There were some real champions today, H for his near suicidal performance , Robbo for backing up from his two late night Racqi's (a jet plane fuelled alcoholic drink) Julia for her outstanding never say die effort and the smallest of our group Linda (about half H's size and about 1/3 of mine) from Sweden who cycled the whole distance without a single complaint unlike a few others in our group.

We ride tomorrow to Ohrid in Macedonia for a  bloody well deserved rest day !

P.s. Despite tonights ribbing no further discussion will be entered into re Australia's test match loss today to Bangladesh !

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More hills less heat !

It was with a fair degree of trepidation that we stuck our heads out of our respective hotel windows to check whether yesterdays furnace like conditions were likely to continue. Thankfully overnight rain had significantly cooled down the air with some of us even thinking of initially riding with jackets.

Day 2 - Almost recovered from yesterdays furnace !

Underway after sleeping like the dead the previous night, it wasn't long before we were soon back into climbing mode but thankfully the 10 percenters from yesterday were replaced with less savage ones. Even still the day did include 5 -6 climbs longer than 2kms with one just before & after lunch totalling 9 hard earned kms !

With that many ascents there were also some great downhills with the pick being a 9km run dodging sharp corners, the odd mid road culvert and a lengthy bitumen cut away where they'd dug up the road to lay an internet cable and simply patched it up with home made bitumen most of which had sunk below road level ! !

Robbo takes in the great view ! 

Dilksy on a flyer !

The scenery close to the Kosovo border today was ruggedly beautiful, a sequence of mountains and valleys with the odd lake interspersed. There was surprising little evidence of crop fields but plenty of evidence of concrete pill boxes built during the paranoid period of the Communist rule !

Once again H was a non starter with his frustration at being sick becoming more and more evident. At one point with Kev in the support van and our driver (Juli) looking a little tired I suggested that maybe Kev could give it (driving ) a go as his European driving skills would be guaranteed to wake Juli up - " F.ck off" came the quick reply from Henley suggesting that his recovery is just about complete !

Signs of previous military presence

Our delicious lunch being prepared !

George - Someone stole my bike !

The final segment included a less than pleasant ride on the verge of a freeway to the town of Kukes to complete an 81 km day with 1200 metres of climbing apparently about 1/2 of the climbing that's in store for us tomorrow (damn) !!

Other than our customary few beers and brilliant food the day did produce one gem when Pommie Kev stated that he'd dink Henley on the back of his bike if the West Indies beat England in the 2nd test ! Well beat them they did and at the time of print the argument is still going on between the two of them about whether in fact that dink should take place going uphill (Henley's suggestion) or on a screaming downhill  descent ( ...Pommie Kev's)

With so much climbing Day 3 could see quite a few of us in the team bus ! 

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Entering The Furnace !

If we thought we were in for an easy first day we could not have been more wrong !

We started sedately enough as we rolled out of bed just on 5a.m.. Once Henley got off the floor we packed and got ready for our 5.30 a.m.departure. 

Leaving Tirana provided a few glimpses of a pretty austere looking countryside while giving our asses a nice shake up on a rapidly deteriorating road. Stopping for morning Tea Pommie Kev swapped his customary pint for an ice coffee sending shivers in hostelirie share prices, while H fondled a nearby basket of apples before realising that they were not ours ! Venturing further north we entered a national park of sorts before finally arriving at Komani Lake where the parking space for cars emerging from the tunnel and about to board the ferry resembled a car park version of rubiks cube !

En route - Pommie Kev without beer in hand !

Lake Komani's 5 storey (not) car park !

Finally underway with our support van and a bike trailer on board we relaxed for 3+ hours taking in this beautiful Lake in parts not disimilar to a Norwegian Fjiord !

Beautiful Komani Lake !

The two Kevs !

From here on the story goes a bit vague ! Disembarking from the ferry we donned our cycling gear and checked over our bikes with Henley wisely deciding to delay his entry back into the ring ! 

I must have hallucinated for the next 3+ hours because all I can recall is having visions of cycling up steep sand dunes in the Gobi desert ! Hot was not the word with an air temperature of 39c and a road temperature of 40+c. Riding the flat (what little there was) was torturous let along the agony of long stretches of 10% roads (do they only have 1 road sign in Albania - as all seemed to read 10%.!)

We're set to go !

The view back down our climb !

Most riders struggled with the heat (me included) and I took every opportunity I could to grab handfuls of ice cold water from running streams in order to cool down one big overheating engine !

Mike's melting !

Somehow we all made it to our destination some 40kms distant (most absolutely knackered) racing for multiple ice cold drinks ! Thomo's training in the lava fields in Hawaii seemed to have done him well while both Kiwi and Pommie Pete's efforts were outstanding with both not having to once produce their senior cards for special treatment !

A special mention to Julia also for even trying and while she may have spent a bit of time in the support bus her effort was inspiring - I'm at sure at one stage when passing i heard her muttering "If you think you're taking me on another hard core cycle trip you're ...."- in preparation for her assault on Pommie Kev when she caught up with him !

The next two days provide a little respite in heat but bugger all in terms of distance and climbing ! A late starter he may be but the current word is that Henley will throw caution to the winds and get on the bike tomorrow providing he gets out of bed safely !

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