Sljeme, Ivanščica, Sljeme 13.4.2024

 

I have already done Sljeme and Ivanšcica in a day, but this time I wanted to add another Sljeme on the return, to increase the elevation gain (since climbing is the thing I love the most).

The day started kind of slow (I didnt feel like pushing), but I was feeling well. So I just used the cruising speed. If I comes to me I will push, otherwise I just take it easy.

I havent been on the Kustošijanski makadam in a while. This is a gravel road that climbs on Sljeme from the west side. I am not the most entertained by gravel, however since this road starts close to me, this is supposed to be the fastest way to climb on Sljeme from the west. I say supposed because its still a gravel so it takes more energy that paved roads.

The road is mostly in good shape, without too much loose rock along the way.

After climbing and descending Sljeme I still didnt feel in the race mode, however I decided to continue. There was some headwind from descending Sljeme all the way to Podrute, across the hill to Bela near Novi Marof and even going towards Prigorec (below Ivanšcica). Again I dont remember seeing this on the forecast :)

But the biggest problem was the heat in the middle of the say (it was around 22°C I think but like always exercising under the middle day sun never feels pleasant). This was the part of the day I felt the most tired or just felt out of place.

Water source after passing Podrute and Pokojec on the descend to Bela.

Dvorac Bela

One of those weird named places (in Croatian this means panties :)

Luckily, once I started ascending Ivanšcica (on the gravel road which leads through the forest) I felt better, started having more energy and actually felt more rested (then a few hours before) once I got on the top of Ivanšcica.

I was on the top around 16 o'clock. There were some guys preparing the jump with paragliders, but apparently the wind had almost died down at that point, so I left before and didnt know if they actually made a jump in the end.

The top was pieceful and quiet (just what I need on the week day), I have only seen a few cars going up, and that a good thing because the gravel road leading to Ivanšcica has a lot of loose rock, and dust and you dont want to go up there with a bicycle when the cars are driving next to you.

I havent pedaled the whole way up (just like the last time I went up with a bicycle) because the road is very steep at places and because of lot of loose rock and dust, it would be very hard to pedal all of this (escpecially with 28mm road tires I had). But if you have gravel tires and you want to destroy your knees (which I dont), its definitely duable.    

On the top of Ivanščica

View from the top towards Sljeme

View towards north / west (towards Slovenia). In clear skies you can see Slowenien alps from here, but not today.

View towards Varaždin

Piramid on the top of Ivanščica, a nice place to hang out

Descend down into the Lobor over Oštrcgrad way (which revealed some new gravel roads destroyed by excavator machines) it makes me fucking puke, like there is no enough of these gravel roads already.

Forest of Ivanščica

Last part of the day with a second climb over Sljeme went pretty well, it was the end of the day with sun going down into the night and the temperatures were just right for the final push.

So end of the day was actually very pleasant, despite the fact I still experienced tiredness, although not nearwhere how I was expecting.  The temperature was just right, after after the sun started setting, and I could push my body further.

One day I may do Sveta Gera, Ivanšcica and Sljeme all together in a day which would be the biggest ride yet for me. Currently I am a little bit tired (bored) from riding these roads all over again..

Sveta Gera and Sljeme with a bicycle 5.4.2024

 

This ride has finally come on the menu :)  

The route is mostly road with some gravel ascent to and descent from Sveta Gera.

I have picked a week day to have less traffic on the hills.

The weather was good, little bit windy, and I havent paid much attention to the wind direction since it was not high (I would not ride in high winds anyway). 

It was supposed the blow from the south / west (but that was actually the day before) but since I postponed the ride one day after, on the ride day I noticed the wind from the north (as I was approaching Samobor), but this wasnt an issue since I quickly entered Samoborsko gorje, Žumberak and rode through it all the way to Sveta Gera, so this wind was not a problem in the hills. And it actally helped little bit afterwards :)

                                         

Water source somewhere before the village of Petričko Selo. There are quite a few water sources on the way through Žumberak, including some waterfalls so water is not a issue.

As I have not ridden this road from Stojdraga to Sošice (which is a real gem actually) for several years now, the first pleasant surprise for me was that they have put anew asphalt which now goes from the beginning of the climb before Stojdraga all the way to Poklek (a lovely little village in Žumberak). This road was not in best shape and now its superb to ride there. Unfortunately new asphalt road ends just after Poklek (why oh way?) which then follows with some kilometers of worst part of the road you need to endure (literaly hole on the hole). I forgot where this worst part was, but was quickly reminded afterwards. None of this really matters and should not persuade anybody from riding through Žumberak on this secluded road which gets even better as you get closer to Sošice and other little villages there (Sopote, Tomaševci..).

After Sošice (which is the start of ascent to Sveta Gera) you follow the gravel road all the way to the top. Road is wide, in good condition (could be better on places) there is to much loose gravel. Still I had not problem riding pretty much all (even with my current 28 mm road tires).

I have not riden this with a bicycle before (but I was on the top or at least so I remember from long time ago).

Small church before the village of Tomaševci

The top of Sveta Gera was peaceful, with only a few people around. There is a shelter and small chapels on the top so one could easily spend the night there if found on some adventure.

The descent on the other side was really good. I picked a road towards Cerov log and was very plesantly surprised in how good condition the actual gravel road is. There is almost no loose gravel (like on the Croatian side of Sveta Gera) and the road is smooth (with a few holes here and there) so you are just flowing down. This is a good example of how the gravel roads should actually be (at least when its dry). Neither climbing a descending with a bike on the loose gravel is fun or easy for that matter and hard packed gravel is the best. 

This reminded me of gravel road which leads to Ivančica (a mountian close by) which I have also visited with a bicycle that has a lot of loose gravel and its really hard to ascend with a bike unless you have a mountain bike tires and even then you struggle because all the loose gravel moves beneath your tires. The same goes for descend.

Once I got down the road on the Slovenian side, I did a little bike check, food and drink and began unnoficial part 2 of the day, which is a straight road push (no ascent pretty much all the way behind Sljeme). And this is where the wind (which today was coming from the north approximatelly) helped me a bit because it was pusching me in the right direction so I was felling super fast. 

My energy levels were also very good, still had quite a bit in me until I hit reserve levels (when you go into battery saving mode :)

Somewhere before Sljeme I needed a store, but I still had food left, where I quickly grabbed another bottle of juice and few fresh tomatos before I hit final (whcih is not quite final) ascent over Sljeme. This road is the least visited by me (from all the roads leading to Sljeme) but there is nothing wrong with it actually except for being maybe little bit boring. 

Here is where I finally started to get really tired, at least to push ascents. But it was a time to start suffering.

Since I forgot the road (which is a good thing if you ride endurance and you dont want to look at the map like me) I was pleasantly surpised when I hit the top near Hunjka sooner then expected. 

Quick descent on the other side (I didnt needed any more food, which I consumed from the beginning of the ride like a bear) and I found myself in Zagreb. Only the final push over last few hills until I hit my neighborhood. I always ride above the hills and not through the city for obvious reasons (traffic, lack of city infrastructure etc..), even if this means I have to climb more.

Dont have much (any) of a pictures of the ride afterwards because I was mostly focused on riding.