The Greatest Ride

So a hostel friend that we made asked me today what my favorite place we had been was. I hesitated at first but then it occurred to me. I touched on it a little bit last post, but wanted to elaborate. It was not so much of a place as it was the last section of the ride on the day we left Dubrovnik.

We had spent the day riding the coastline of Croatia, which was in itself one of the most scenic portions of the trip. The hills provided healthy, but not overwhelming climbs, followed as always by a glorious, pedal-optional descent. The road was windy with obvious variations in elevations. The road hugged the coastline at sea level for sections, and then we would make the climb for sections that looked out over the Adriatic and all the islands not even a mile off the coast. But I think the best part of the riding along the coast during that day was when the natural line of the coast would cut inland around the little bays that provided protection for the small, coastal towns that often occupied them. The bays always had a variety of docks and their respective boats and waterfront homes. Often times these little coastal towns had no more than a couple hundred homes with no signs for a general store of any kind. There was something so cozy and safe about all of them, like out of some children's book. What was so cool about it was that we would ride completely around the bay, from one side to the other and get to see the towns from every angle and at varying elevation. And all at the mellow cruising speed that the bike offers.

After following the coastline all day, we finally turned inland just before sunset. And it was this little section of the ride that was the most extraordinary part of the trip - simultaneously calming and electrifying...

The sunset had begun to color the sky in that indescribable way that it does on the nights with the best sunsets as we abandoned the coastline and turned inland. We had just made the most significant climb of the day and found ourselves high at the cusp of a huge valley - the last bit of light colored the enormous valley floor populated with farm houses. The small fires burning piles of wood throughout the valley sent smoke into the air, and the entire scene was like something out of a dream. I pondered the feeling of being in this place that felt so familiar, yet at the same time was like no place I had ever been.

Riding downhill we curved around the valley floor before getting back on flat road that followed a river into the town of Metkovic, where we were headed. The air was crisp and cool as the dew had begun to set. Dusk had turned to twilight as we rode by a small town nestled up into the hillside on the opposite side of the river. There was a church lit up in a way that made the whole town seem to glow. It was like riding through a fairytale, not quite real but at the same time a completely sensory experience. Everything seemed at peace, and there was something so safe about this little hillside fairytale town.

I was sad to think that so much of it had only recently been rebuilt after war. I had always thought of the conflict in terms of the greater Balkans, but riding through that small town the tragedy of it all was so much more apparent than ever before.