April 22nd: Celje - Llubljana, Slovenia ~ A pristine postcard visual experience.
- Grant Cameron-Smith
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
85km with a lot of climbing -576m!
Whilst the scenery was incredible, the skies blue and the temperatures ideal for cycling, today was a very big struggle for Grant who is still dealing with a chest infection and watched his heart rate very carefully throughout the day, with a stressed out Julian phoning his mother many times in the guise of showing me beautiful churches, wandering streams, fire stations, green mountain views and a delicious apricot jam bun stop, all while Grant coughed and could barely put a sentence together he was so breathless.
Thankfully they made it into the beautiful city of Llubljana in the late afternoon and settled into their centrally located apartment with the most fabulous views.
Grant found a pharmacy and stocked up on some more meds in preparation for tomorrow’s rest day while Julian intrepidly searched the up-and-coming Michelin guide for an interesting spot for dinner, which I heard did not disappoint.
Most of today’s ride was on the road side again and the climbing started almost straight after they left Celje and lasted about 35km before they hit the summit at 658m -Grant sent me a picture of the statue at the top of the mountain which looked like an old stick wearing a hat and we joked that that was what he was going to look like if he didn’t get some rest!! Instead of putrified, the autocorrect replaced it with petrified which was very appropriate too!
There were lots of ugly words spoken on the ride today – the long kilometers at 12 and 13% gradients really tested the team. There was also a scarcity of pit stops for nourishment, there was however gratitude for working bicycles, well oiled chains and the lack of squeaking for a change.
A decision will be made on what happens after the rest day, if Grant doesn’t improve and is still struggling as much, then I see a train ride in their future! It will be a very strenuous day from a climbing perspective and we all know what that will do heart rates and tight chests!
700km to go until Milan and almost R250 thousand raised so far!Please help us get over this milestone mark!
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