Woke to a picture perfect morning on Lake Bled. Cindy and I sprung, as much as people our age spring, out of bed at 6:30 (daybreak) and went out for a run. Together. Like I was invited to join her. We don’t do this often and I was not about to say no. So off we went. Down the many steps from our hotel, Vila Bled to the lake conveniently named, Lake Bled. Not to be a spoiler, but this hotel was finished just after WWII after it was started under a much worse starting point, the ridiculous man running a country and thinking he was above all others. It didn’t end well for this one, thankfully and it didn’t end well for this hotel under his rule. Roofless and unfinished, in a stroke of irony, the hotel was finished by the Germans as a part of the many reparations they did for the many countries they tried to run into the ground. Karma. Nonetheless, this hotel has a storied history, that of which we learned a lot about by a historian that Backroads put together for us after our day of activities. The 40 year singular ruler (dictator – I’m not sure?) over Slovenia made this place a place he used to hide from the Soviets when they weren’t happy with his soft version of communism (a repeat occurrence apparently), as well to vacation and host many other people of power from many other countries. In fact, when we rode up to the hotel yesterday, there was a pretty good sized motorcade exiting the facilities at the same time. Who was it? The staff at the hotel will apparently never tell.
Anyhoo…back to the day. We ran 4 miles around the lake where fisherman had apparently camped in their chairs all night awaiting the big catch. My friend Jason saw them pull one out of the lake while on his run and he said it was easily 3 feet long by 1-2 feet tall with some girth. Crazy big fish for a deep freshwater glacial lake but also explains why all of the people were fishing. The lake rules? Catch and release. So after a brief pic, that fish was let go for another fishing person to get it.
Back at the hotel it was a quick turn to get back to the buffet – apparently a can’t miss buffet (unlike the Hotel Eurostar the day prior in Ljubljana). It did not disappoint. Crepes. Fruit. Warm breads. Pastries. Cheeses. Meats. Eggs. Potatoes. Coffees of all varieties. Delicious. Then out to the route rap where the guides tell you all about your day ahead.
On this day, we were riding out of Lake Bled, up through a village then it was very up through elevation climbing from roughly 2,000 feet to 4,600 feet over 8 miles and two big pushes up. The last big push we even passed a sign that said “18%” grade. It was probably not quite that but Slovenia doesn’t seem to value the switchback like we saw while driving up large hills in Croatia. I passed three other cyclists (we didn’t know although one looked me in the eye and said “Ciao” in a tone where I heard “good job” in there somewhere) and was holding my own against the e-bike mafia until about .5 miles to go where first Alex, then Cindy and then Tracy all roared by me with some small talk and maybe a push of that turbo button just to make sure I didn’t catch them back. I made it up one of the segments in 30 minutes to Tadej’s King of the Mountain (KOM) segment of 18 minutes. He ride up that thing almost twice as fast as I do!
Once at the top we met up with the Backroads van, got more water, snacks and sunscreen and headed down a long and very, very fast descent. Very bumpy too – apparently there’s a good bit of snow in this area in the winter and the roads showed some wear from it. We hit a bit of a valley and then it was back up some pretty steep pitches – these nearing the 20% mark. Seriously Slovenia! A switchback please. Then it was rolling along the ridge for a while until we came down a white knuckled descent down a really tough downhill portion until we reached river height where we basically followed the river into this big gorge with a very clear, very deep lake in the middle. Just in time for a long coffee stop before lunch in an area where cycling reigned supreme.
After a nice break on a perfect day we rode another mile or two to lunch at a barn where a nice lady prepared barley soup, a nice salad, some fresh cow’s milk cheese and lots of meat and bread products. The air was dry and cool which made this stop almost chilly under the roof of the barn. The lunch was good – desserts, maybe missing a little heavy sugar which was fine because I mostly over ate compared to what normal lunches are.
From lunch – most people jumped in a shuttled and returned to Lake Bled by motor vehicle. Four of us proceeded to finish the last 12-15 miles of the day on this gorgeous bike rail trail next to a crystal clear river/creek and even a cool waterfall of two. I was riding with the group until I looked back and realized I wasn’t. This is a bit of my trademark on this trip – I should try to do better. But I also like a good pull when I’m feeling good. After a few wrong turns – it’s tough to read the Wahoo computer if you aren’t paying attention – I was able to eventually get back to Vila Bled roughly an hour past lunch with a bit of climbing on the way into Bled.
Once at Bled we got a little downtime where Cindy and I strolled along the walking path next to the lake after spending a nice time chatting with Scott and Julie from Venice, Florida on the veranda. As one does. Scott’s slowly retiring from asset management while writing a book and Julie retired from being in guidance counseling in a cool non-profit for over 20 years. This was their 8th Backroads trip I believe.
Dinner was a short bus ride to the castle on the hill we’d all be looking at for the time in Bled and it did not disappoint. Prior to dinner we got a nice little chat from a local historian who shared with us the storied history of Vila Bled, Lake Bled and the Castle. Actually I lied. Dinner disappointed when they offered a dessert from the pasty chef who apparently didn’t get the memo about the dessert that was invented in Lake Bled – the Bled Crème Cake – and instead served a nice dessert selection but a Crème Cake it was not.
The church on the island settles down each evening after a full day of visitors and bell ringing by people wanting to put in a good, but non-material wish. The old tale says the bell and wish is especially focused on fertility. The historian thinks maybe the local boat rowing “mafia” push this story hard to help drive demand for their services, a service that seems highly lucrative in the tourist season.
suttonscoop 