Pedalbania – Stage 2
Farma Sotira – Petran
27 May 2018
Distance: 52.7km; total ascent: 749m
Stayed at: Guest House Hani i Colit
It was another fine morning as we left Farma Sotira after breakfast (no trout involved). We had been promised a splendid 14km downhill section, but not before a few kilometres of easy uphill. Mountains started to appear on the horizon.
The first downhill of the day took us to the town of Leskovik, built on a hillside at the head of a long valley. The road was good, and with almost no traffic the ride was a pleasure.
The promised 14km downhill started in the town. It was on a newly-built road, virtually traffic-free, the surface was smooth and fast with swooping bends and hairpins ideal for honing your descending technique.
The road took us down to a river valley – the River Viora – to within 300 metres of the Greek border and a little-used border crossing at Tre Urat. This is, of course, a border with the EU so is staffed and controlled. A few people (not me) went to have a look; they reported three bored armed women who waved away any attempt to take photos.
Unlike the uphill sections I was fast downhill and one of the first to reach Tre Urat. While we waited, Erlis took a call reporting that James had crashed on the descent. He arrived in the minibus a few minutes later with his bike on the trailer. He had some nasty and painful abrasions and bruises but nothing seemed to be broken. Erlis applied iodine as antiseptic, and they decided dressings weren’t needed. James explained he’d hit some loose gravel on a bend and his wheel went from under him.
Once everyone had arrived and James had recovered we set off again along the valley on a straight flat road heading for a coffee stop at the small village of Çarshovë. We were 750m lower than the high point of the morning and by now it was very warm – about 30° but feeling much higher in the full sun and with the heat reflected off the road.
Looking back, I might have realised at this point I wasn’t quite 100% well. I wasn’t feeling hungry and had to force myself to eat. I put sugar in my coffee – something I never do normally. The plan now was to ride another 22 km to the guest house where we were staying that night, have a late lunch there, then go on either by bike or minibus to some thermal springs for a couple of hours’ relaxation.
Although it was only a short distance there were several small hills. Within the first kilometre I was cycling on my own. There was a bit of a headwind, it was hot, the road surface was particularly jolting and my morale slumped. I felt I was fighting the road and the bike. Thoughts of abandoning for the day and getting a ride in the minibus started to form in my head, but I determined to carry on*. But after about an hour and a quarter I started to feel faint and a bit nauseous. Drinking more water didn’t help, and I limped along until I found the rest of the group waiting at the roadside. I told Erlis how I was feeling and without fuss my bike was loaded onto the trailer, I took a seat inside and Vato drove us off up a side road. I kicked myself when it turned out I’d stopped only 2km from the guest house, but then I reminded myself that we’d driven uphill and I really wanted to sit down quietly in the shade. I asked for a lemonade; the guest house owner brought a can of Lemon Soda. Cold and refreshing, it became the standard soft drink for the whole group for the rest of the holiday (though its sibling Oran Soda did have its supporters).
The others arrived, we checked into our rooms and came back down for lunch; I only have a vague memory of this. It was an easy decision to opt out of the thermal springs and when the others went off I went to the room and fell asleep for a couple of hours.
By the time they all came back I’d recovered and was feeling alright again, if a little fragile. There was a short heavy rain shower as we had dinner of barbecued lamb sitting on the terrace as the light faded. After dinner Peter and I walked up the road towards the springs for a couple of kilometres before turning back to the guest house and bed. In the dark, fireflies flashed their lights in the bushes at the side of the road.
* See Rule 5.
Viewranger track of the day
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