I wake up very early and take an early morning stroll down to the seafront of Rabac, well ahead of the tourist hordes.
It is a beautiful town and as the advertising slogan says’ Croatia- how the Mediterrean used to be’. Long may it continue.
Breakfast at 8.00 with the news that Cath is suffering from ailments, which much to her disappointment, prevent her from cycling today. Alan will take her to Grascisce and we will meet her at the end of the day.
In view of the dangers inherent in cycling up from Rabac to Labin we take up Alan’s offer to drive us to Labin.
After stocking up with food for the day we leave Labin and travel through some very pleasant rural areas until we reach Gologorica Dol where we stop for our picnic lunch.
We then embark on the steepest and toughest climb we have encountered ( 10% ) so far, up to Gologorica village. All three of us are exhausted by the time we reach the top, with Gail in particular somewhat distressed from the heat and the exertion of such a gruelling climb.
More very pleasant rural scenery before we reach Pazin and start a tortuous climb in the direction of Gracisce, our overnight destination.
If the gradient of the climb were not enough, the volume of traffic, including some very large semi-trailers, made this section truly scary. However, we all arrived at the top unscathed with Gail doing a sterling job in such trying circumstances.
Arrive at the historic town of Gracisce by 5.30 and after catching up on the washing we meet in the hotel restaurant for a very pleasant meal.
Event of the day- Gail toppling off her bike while almost stationary on the verge of the road into a ditch in a slow- motion swan dive of which Margot Fonteyn would have been proud, followed by my bag falling off my bike shortly thereafter. For some reason my comment that “ I had lost two bags within 200 metres did not go down very well with my better half”!
Bed after writing up blog till midnight.
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