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I did it on the bike you can see that has 650b with Rock'n'Road 43s and it was more than doable.
There was a little pushing/walking but mainly because I was fully loaded.
Hardtail would be fine and the suspension would be really sweet in a few place but I think I'd still do it again on a CX/Adventure bike no worries.I'll DM you.
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Something actually worth a full read on Prolly https://theradavist.com/2018/09/two-years-in-packing-for-a-long-term-bike-tour/#1
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Ah! Not only we have the same bike and similar touring setup, but we also prefer the same touring destinations!
I just finished a tour from Slovenia to Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and finally reached Albania. 2200km and 43000m in just over a month.
I will do a proper write up with better selected pictures and the whole route in the following days, but here are a few. (Some more can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/wanderers.on.purpose/ )
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Looks awesome!
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It wasn't my first trip with this setup, so I knew already how the bike behaved. I do like it this way, once you're used to it. Pros: Easier to go all out uphill, confidence in breaking with the front.
Cons: slower speed on bumps and holes, no weight on rear for breaking downhill, too heavy front for deep gravel (on 28mm).I agree though that it suits the Straggler well, in particular with a good off-road drop bar (I have the Cowchipper 2), although it would be even better with a sturdier conical head tube and a stiffer rack than mine (Blackburn outpost).
Montenegro was a blast, no surprises there, more detailed stories in the write up. What surprised me and amazed in an unexpected way was actually Bosnia!
Thanks @andyfallsoff @Simba for the kind words!
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Here below the description of the trip in the Balkans I just finished, part with my girlfriend, part alone. It's lengthy, so for the tl;dr crowd, Balkans are cool, especially Bosnia and Montenegro, have a look at the route!
So, after quitting our jobs in London in June 2017, my girlfriend and I cycled from sunny UK to sunnier Italy. That was our first long trip on a bicycle (longer than 5 days). After that we set off for a good year+ of backpacking around Asia and South America. However we would often bring up how much we missed cycling and how we loved that last trip on wheels.
So we decided to cut short our messing around with backpacks and hop back on the bikes to squeeze our last funds cycling around the Balkans. We purposely decided not to plan too much, no route, just a rough idea of what we wanted to see and the amount of time we could afford to travel for.
We already know Italy and especially we didn't care about the flat lands of Pianura Padana (cycling through it once last year was enough). So from my parents hometown, Cesena, we took a train all the way north to Gorizia, where the trip actually started.
Having been off the bike for a year and setting off for some 40days of cycling probably is not the smartest decision, so for once we decided to start very slowly. The first days around the Triglav park in Slovenia we were listening to our bodies and being really careful not to overdo by much. Most of the times the daily distance would be decided by the soreness of the contact points, rather than the legs fatigue. Apparently your bum and hands forget how to cycle sooner than your legs!
The Soča river valley is a wonderful place where to go slowly and enjoy nature, stopping several times to take refreshing dips in the cold clear water of the river. However, regardless of how slow and easy we wanted to take it, on the fourth day we had to get out of the valley and the only way was the Vrsić pass. It is beautiful and not even such extreme cycling, but we definitely needed more breaks that we would have one year ago.
Once we came out of the Triglav we rolled south paying visit to the famous Bled lake and some of the surrounding valleys, beautiful landscape, unfortunately too touristy for our taste, so we continued down to Ljubljana.
After visiting the city, we opted for a train to the coast to escape 4 days of forecasted rain. The coast of Slovenia is very brief and it naturally and culturally merges into Istrian Croatia. Here the coast is no secret, plenty of nice towns and beaches of all sorts, with a significant amount of traffic, even in the early days of September.
So we headed inland, which was a pleasant surprise, with itineraries dedicated to wine and olive oil through gentle hills, which reminded me of Tuscany. Maybe the most famous city here is Motovun, but our favorite was by far Groznjan. So much so we decided to camp just below the main square!
Continuing South, we headed back to the coast to check out some more towns, with Rovinj and Fažana being more in line with our taste. There are several trails to follow in Istria and bike maps are available in every info point, but all the cool ones are gravel or mtb, we tried some with our 28mm of rubber, but not all of them turned out to be a pleasant ride.
We eventually cut across to the East to go catch a ferry to the island of Cres, where we found one of the best wild camping spot ever in this paradisiac secluded cove, where a pebbles beach lined the shore, backed by flat grassland and trees, just meters from the water.
In few days we quickly rode and crossed from one island to the other, going from Cres to Krk, and then onto Rab. We didn't like the islands too much, the roads are meant for cars, with little or no alternative options, prices are extremely touristy and hospitality and kindness is only offered in exchange for money. In addition it was still busy in the first week of September.
So from Rab we decided to head back inland, only to realize the island is dead centered on the Velebit mountain range, a 150km long wall of 1500m altitude. But rather than wasting two days trying to go around it, we rode up a beautiful 22km climb, to the Kuća Alan hut, from where you enter the Velebit park.
Not exactly famous, this park is wonderful. Lush forests, quiet roads and plenty of trails, both for hiking and cycling. And if you are as lucky as my girlfriend, you could even see a bear, unfortunately I was few hundreds meters behind!
Once we came down these mountains we headed straight for a very famous park instead, the mesmerizing Plitvice Lakes. Here we rode a 20km road, that goes around the lake and goes through the heart of the forest of the park. To date we are still unsure if we were completely right to cycle there (without NP ticket), but we're very glad we did.
Once we saw the lakes, we then decided to go downhill to Bihać in Bosnia, only to decide to head back into Croatia due to the lack of interesting routes (other than the busy road to Sarajevo). Bihać is where I decided to propose to my now fiancé, on a whim, so much so I didn't have a proper ring with me, so I cut one out of a spare inner tube, but she's awesome and said yes anyway.
We reached Gracac, where we took a train to Split. My better half decided she had enough of climbing mountains in the Balkans, so she wanted to reach Dubrovnik and take a ferry to Italy, while I would continue solo. So after some rest days in Split and Dubrovnik we parted ways (yes, we're still engaged) and I pointed my bike towards Bosnia.
There is a new cycling route here, just finished up this year, called Ciro, which follows an old railway all the way to Mostar. Don't expect it to be as neat as the British ones, with many pots holes, partly shared with cars and sometimes not very obvious to follow, but it is nice once you're on it.
Mostar doesn't need any presentation, but getting out of there without taking the main road is easier said than done. I wanted to reach Sarajevo, but before that I decided to head to Blidinje NP. So after some 60km of climbing, I found myself in this surreal plateau, for some reasons forgotten by tourism (Medjugorje apparently is cooler!).
Still not satisfied I pushed myself even more into the mountains, on a 20km gravel road through a wonderful forest, only to then descend down to Ramsko Lake, another forgotten corner of Bosnia. From here I had to backtrack south to Jablanica, to reach Sarajevo. But once in Konjic, I had had enough of the busy main road, so after scouting for information, I decided to head up the mountains and go through a forgotten road (only 2 out of 10 people I asked told me this road existed).
This longer detour turned out to be the best section of the trip, with views that reminded me of riding the TNR last year, only to reach the highly blamed CP4 of this year's TNR (thanks @skinny for the tip). Once on Bjelasnica, and after 2h of hiking the bike through deep gravel, I decided I had seen enough mountains and descended down to Sarajevo.
After a day of rest discovering the city's history, I went up Johorina, another Olympic mountain south of Sarajevo, before reaching Montenegro and entering the Durmitor NP. The roads here are quite unforgiving, with loads of short and steep climbs that hurt way more than long passes in the Alps!
On my second day in the park I got caught in the rain by surprise (that happens when you ignore the forecast), luckily I stopped in time in a randomly placed shelter. It kept raining for the rest of the day so I decided to spend the night there at 2000m. Too bad the temperatures plummeted a good 15 degrees overnight, reaching below 0, which completely overcame the capacity to keep me warm enough to sleep of my 7 degrees bag.
The following morning I woke up to an ice glazed nature all around me, so I decided to get down as much as possible, riding the whole stunning Tara canyon to Mojkovac, but felt so cold I couldn't shake it off until I sat in front of the fire in the house of the family where I stayed that night.
The following day I reached Podgorica following a beautiful route down the same valley where unfortunately are now building a new highway, so the views where sometimes spoiled by the occasional construction site. From Podgorica, following the advice of several people, I cycled up to Ostrog monastery.
Despite not being a believer, it undoubtedly is a place with a surreal vibe, other than a stunning feat of engineering, architecture and stubbornness. You can sleep there for free, and seeing me getting up there by bike must have moved some hearts, because I left the monastery with more food than what I had upon arrival, all gifted to me by the pilgrims there!
I then cycled South to Kotor, the old town itself is nice (after all the towns in Istria, Split and Dubrovnik, this is just another one) but the 19km road with 26 switchbacks and a solid 1000m of gain is far more epic. I descended down along it, only to climb back up the following day and continue climbing all the way to the top of Lovcen NP.
From here I lost the whole elevation gain down to Rijeka Cernojevica, where I wild camped with the most epic traveler I've ever met, this Swiss guys who walked all the way there with two mules (mulepacking is cool again?). I then blasted across the Skadar Lake NP, following the road that hugs the south bank of the lake, with yet again incredible views, until reaching Shkodra in Albania.
I rested here for some days, staying with awesome people all brought together by Warmshowers, only to reach the port of Durrës to take a ferry back to Italy, regretting not having enough time for the Albanian Alps.
Here
the route, with plenty of glitches (Garmin thread >>>), the blue lines are ferry/train/bus segments.
Tomo187
Bearlegged
Aroogah
platypus
giofox
andyfallsoff
Simba
MrBaklava
jambon
Tijs
C4r1s
S_b
mi7rennie
Thrasher
skinny
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Ah yes, I've heard of this but never talked to anyone who's ridden it! Want to ride it next spring
Would it be a good route for a hardtail MTB and chunky tires?
Are there any sections that are good to divert on? Or any other tips?
Thanks!