Thoughts on wheels (Balkan edition)
Energy & time are limited resources. You must be able to save them for the good streches. Be able to recognize when your batteries are running low.
Sunflowers -Bulgarian border
It’s physical and mental energy… which you can build up through human interactions, experiences, creations… You determine your state of mind, you write your own story.
Zhelen, Bulgarian hills
Everyone of us has a rebel side, an inner pull to take out her/his own individuality. We live all our lives struggling to express it…& when we do, we feel glimpses of true happiness. But then we inevitably lose the moment. Back to square one.
Sunset on Istrian hills
Sometimes, after a road turn, the landscape opens dramatically under your eyes and you experience sudden glimpses of life, an emotion that cannot be frozen in a snaphot, or made permanent in any way. The impression stays in your mind for years, but will be lost one day. It comforts me to think that I can find again those landscapes in my dreams.. (A lame excuse to take so few pictures?)
Mountain pass in Souther Kosovo
Beware of the man with one glove! (After losing one glove, feeling like the ‘man with one sandal’ in classical mithology -Jason and the Golden Fleece)
Mist-erious hills -Bulgaria
More from laziness than from deliberate planning, I always end up squeezing every cent out of my equipment.I left with worn out tyres, brakes, transmission chain ..and brought them to the limit as I was going.So I would find myself having to reverse the orientation of worn out brakepads after a braking failure,having to swap front and back tyres to equalize wear, having to face frequent chain drops during harsh downhills…or to cope with screw breakages on an overloaded front rack. On the other hand, I seem to be immune to punctures, thanks to an immaculate driving style…
Parenzana track- Istria
Cycling on the border of Ptuj’s lake side-by-side with a white fishing bird planing above the water. He was looking down, but sometimes would also look at me.
Ptuj
4 apples found along the way became an excellent break at 1 pm, accompanied by the now very old, all mouldy cheese.
Matka Canyon, Macedonia
At the hungarian border I had my moment of glory, as I met an Italian family wanting to take a picture with me! Then they told me” we too last year made a similar tour with the side bags like yours, with our motorbike!”. So.. the qualifying trait of bike touring are the side bags..or what?!? Shortly afterwards I cross a car transporting bikes on its rooftop, the driver horning like crazy, super-eager to establish a connection. Ignored. Anyone can ride like that, mister. Step up your game.
Hungarian Countryside
Midday hour nap on the side of the road under acacia trees and waking up with some ants on your face, looking at the boughs above you, dancing and flexing voluptuosly like Turkish dancers in trance, back and forth, back and forth, from the push of the wind.
Istrian hills from a cave
A biker is a master of adaptation. If it rains you stop to take shelter. If it’s too hot, you nap under a big, fat, tree. Unless you really need to get somewhere…
Cooking up a storm, Slovenia
A rainy day in Belgrad
What a nice chestnut tree!..My headquarters for the next 15 minutes…
Reflections on the tarmac. Even the tarmac sweats out and evolves with time, the more liquid parts come up and form some smoother patches. During the day those are a bit sticky to ride on, but in the evening they become smoother than the surrounding surface.The perfect place to be, in your duel against road friction
left or right?
