Uh, oh, it was a long time since I’ve been here. Actually, it was a long time since I’ve enjoyed a bike ride. There was a time when my highschool friends and I rode into the sunset almost every day… okay, maybe not every day but every weekend! Bike was an essential part of our lives. My father is laughing in my face today because that was also a time when I swore I would never drive a car – the pollution, the world, peace, love, understanding and shit. Well, times change and so do we. I guess it is called growing up. I’m still learning that part. It is still hard. When does it get easier?!?

Before we dive into cyclotourism part, I have an anouncement to make. I have become digitally homeless. Blog.hr closed it’s doors on March the 1st, this time for good and we all, blog children lost and crying, are now left to find some other place to write about ourselves and how great we are. I’m joking, I’m planning on writing about sports. This is what this website is for. Thank you father, you gave me shelter again! What would I do without you? I’m sending my thoughts and positive energy to Adi 2.0. <3

Our story actually begins on a nice day, Annie’s birthday – when she got a cool and beautiful bike. I don’t know who was happier, me or her, but it was a perfect day, full of smiles and fiery energy, a lot of plans for the future of biking. Yes, it is consumerism but a good kind of consumerism when you buy a bike. You are one step closer to the freedom of the open roads!

Samobor is kinda logical choice if you live in the west region of Zagreb (Gajnice homeboyz!). We wanted something more suitable for bicycles and there is unfortunately not much Zagreb can offer. There is great potential but still many obstacles to overcome. We heard about a great dedicated route for cyclists that goes from Zagreb through Sv. Nedelja and then to Samobor. Okay, a little studying of the routes on the Internet and we found out the real highway for cyclists goes from Sv. Nedelja to Samobor. We needed to exit Zagreb, Susedgrad bridge acts like a border. Soon you find yourself riding through something that doesn’t resemble Zagreb at all.

We came to lake Kipišće, watched the ducks a little bit and then continued towards and through Sv. Nedelja. The most interesting part of this „highway“ is between Sv. Nedelja and Samobor. On the maps you can see written: Biciklistička magistrala Samobor – Sv. Nedelja. Many people are rolling, running, walking, riding bikes, it is insanely nice. Also, Annie enjoyed dedicated track for cyclists, without cars.

We arrived at Samobor and the crowd was huge. Main square – a lot of people eating kremšnitas, a lot of people drinking Hidra and/or beer, a lot of motor and regular bikes, the city was alive! We managed to get a spot at one of the benches close to one of the birtijas. I wanted Nova Runda craft beer but I got TAK pale ale (from Slovenian Bevog brewery) which was perfect. After some time bathing in the sun like a couple of lizards, we decided it is time to got back to Zagreb.

Now, our way back was kinda more wild. First you need to exit Samobor through a large field driving along some kind of embankment, surface type is gravel. Our bikes are actually types for the mentioned surface but I felt every rock beneath my wheels because my bike doesn’t have any shock absorbers. Annie was better off but in general we managed somehow. The problem is, there is no highway dedicated for bikes anymore and my partner needed to overcome some fears: for example, the fear of crossing an actual highway overpass with no dedicated line for bikes. I encouraged her and we drove quickly over it, no car in sight. All went really well!

There was a lot of driving on the county roads, some bikes passing us by. Everything gets better when you get close to Ornitološki rezervat Sava – Strmec. You are then close to lake Strmec  and soon you are driving by the biggest lake here, lake Orešje. We didn’t stop there but there are a lot of good places to rest your butt, drink something and generally enjoy beautiful nature, really close to city of Zagreb. Shoutout to all people who gave me headaches when we lived on Jarun, taking residential parking places because they don’t know any „nature“ in Zagreb except Jarun and maybe Maksimir. Widen your perspective, city dwellers!

We are now on the lookout for more routes like this one. Bikes are ready, the wheels will be burning and I’m buying a bike rack for my car so we can broaden our search, maybe even go to the seaside and ride our bikes on islands, by the sea, anywhere. The world is big and we are feeling young. Remember guys, this life is not a sprint. It is a long distance trail. Something similar to a hobbit’s path to Mordor. But make it on a bike!

Distance: 36.23km

Moving time: 2:45:12

Elapsed real time: 4:02:28