So after the interesting night we had last night we had an early rise for a 1 stop strategy day today. Our aim was to leave as early as possible, stop for a coffee and snack along the way and get to Dubrovnik for a nice bit of lunch!

The day pretty much went to plan. We covered some good ground early on with some gentle climbs and quieter roads out the back of Plocé. Another opportunity for us to ride in pairs and ease into the ride.

We did come across our ride mascot! A little stray dog was eying up Chris’s leg! Gary was afraid of the little man but he kept chasing us up a hill we were riding on. I’ll share a video on here later of the little man in action. What this doesn’t show is the change of pace he had on the downhill! We starting clock up at least 20mph and he was neck and neck with us! Clearly hadn’t climbed as many feet in hills as we had!

We managed to cover 3 countries in the space of 30 minutes today. We started in Croatia and 30 minutes later we had gone through Bosnia & Herzegovina! Richard M really changed pace as he didn’t want to hang around there!

Our team KOM Chris Ives was worried about his Polka dot jersey today! With Richard M picking up early points after laying down the law at breakfast. Then afternoon Sam doing what he does best chasing up hills post lunch! Chris feeling the pressure was looking to keep his psi up in his rear tyre all day. Track pump out at every opportunity!

So I’ve been in Croatia a week now and know no Croatian words at all! The one word I thought I did know was “Skola” this is on the floor every time you come in to towns. There I was thinking it meant “slow” when in fact it’s Croatian for School!

When we did eventually make it up the last of the climbs Dubrovnik was only a few miles away. In true Raiders style we cycled over the bridge together and all the way to the hotel! We start as a team and end as a team!

Finishing the day as we planned with lunch at 1:30 overlooking the bikes!

We’ve since broke down the bikes and packed them away, showered and been out for drinks on a cliff bar watching the sun go down!

Dinner time now and then dare I say it some more drinks to follow!

Tomorrow sees us check out and head home leaving 2 Raiders behind. Duncan and Ruth are going to enjoy the old town of Dubrovnik and the hourly bells from the church! Happy sleeping guys!

I’ll put some final week stats up tomorrow but for ill get cracking on the liquid in alcoholic form!

I’m going to close today’s post with the fact that our guide for the week Jason is in fact 1% Ryan Stiles! The guys a machine up the hills!

Below highlights some of the stats from today’s ride!

Riding Time 4:35:20

Miles 65.4

Average mph 14.3

On a personal note today saw me hit a top speed of 31.8mph. I’ve consumed 2.84 litres of water and burnt 4066 calories!

That’s all folks

Raiders Media Man

Today was without a shadow of doubt a day of ups and downs! The saying of what goes up must come down couldn’t have been more apt for our day. We have climbed more today than any other day, the picture shows this! Thighs and knees were starting to feel it coming into the second to last climb! With every climb comes a lovely downhill. Today saw us descend from the highest point of the day to the coast in 11 minutes covering 3.3 miles. The route weaved its way down to a lovely lake tucked away from the coast. Some sketchy times coming down the hills today, Chris has squeaky brakes for the morning and Sam managed to over shoot a hair pin turn! Good thing nothing was coming the other way.

The day had started out with an over night inner tube swap for Sam. Gary helping as the thread of the tube was barely coming through the aero wheels.

For the first time this week breakfast wasn’t ready for us at our usual 7:30. We had to wait till 8:30 for more ham and cheese! Using trip advisor we were able to see that we were staying in the 42nd best B&B in the whole of Trogir! Not much to shout about as there’s only 50 and places 43 – 50 don’t exist anymore!

Richard M went into debt today by buying a ticket on the Sam Train! Taking a centre carriage trip to catch up the others. He now owes the kitty more Kuna Matartas!

Sam found out 2 days ago that his beard trimmer had been turned on by accident on the plane over and had run out of battery! Today his stubble was getting caught in the helmet strap all day! He now can’t wait to get home and get the beard shaved off. They say things come in threes, well for Sam today saw not only the stubble issue but some saddle sore and nipple rash! Big time glad there’s only 1 day to go.

Richard M got his Jamina out today!

Today was a dark day for the Raiders as a team member was cycling under the aid of performance enhancing drugs. Not to name names but Duncan decided to have a 0.5% lemon shandy! This had a massive effect on his cycling when he struggled to get his cleat into a pedal!

Just the one puncture on the road today, again coming from our guide Jason. Few chain issues for Ruth and Richard L was back playing about with his again!

As we came towards the end of today’s ride we cycled past some beautiful villages along the coast. We then entered what can only be described as a bomb site. Plocé is a strange place. It’s got more bars per square metre than anywhere else in the world! The place is packed with them! It’s does however look like a completely different place at night! Everyone has had a fair bit to say about the rooms not being quite 3 star, to be honest I’ve never dried myself after shower with sandpaper until tonight! I hope this blog doesn’t offend any Plocetarians but I don’t think any of us will be coming back here in a hurry/ever!

Below highlights some of the stats from today’s ride!

Riding Time 6:24:19

Miles 86.9

Average mph 13.6

On a personal note today saw me hit a top speed of 34.4mph. I’ve consumed 6.89 litres of water and burnt 5014 calories!

That’s all folks

Raiders Media Man

So we broke the 100 mile barrier today! Big whoop whoop for all the Raiders. We all had a decent breakfast (not ham and cheese) that set us up well for the rest of the day. Well until we stopped for coffee and then lunch but still we were fuelled up adequately for the first 25 miles. We covered lots of ground at a good pace today which in turn had a slight effect on some Raiders coming into the last few miles but nothing that wasn’t worth it.

Since cycling through Croatia we have found that they have a new National sport. Since lawn mowers became illegal to use in 2007 the game of strimming has taken over. We usually see anything between 5-6 strimmers working on technique every day.

The first 25 miles today we’re all coastal roads that swung past lots of villages and little beaches. Very very beautiful scenery all around. We went past a few different things today. Giant wine corks in the sea, Luka Modric’s hometown, mine fields and lots of signs for wild bores. We are still yet to see one of these roaming loose in the undergrowth but we still live on in hope. One animal we do see a lot of down the Dalmatian coast is the dog. These don’t tend to like cyclists much, barking and yapping at every opportunity!

After our first coffee break we managed to knuckle down and churn out some serious miles. We hit what was the longest bit of straight road we have rode all week. It must have been for about 10 miles and was the first time all week that we could ride along side one another in pairs!

1 mile into the last 40, which was also straight after lunch Birgit had a puncture. This was quickly swapped out by Gary (who is now also sporting a moustache). We think the puncture may have been caused by Birgit running over a snake earlier in the day! Birgit loves snakes!

After a lovely stop for afternoon drinks Sam and Duncan decided to jump on the back of the lady train! Letting the ladies do all the work for a few miles. Something I’m sure the boys weren’t complaining about!

We came across a man on a boat in the afternoon, anchored up in a little bag having a snooze. I’m not going to say much but we easily would have had somewhere to park the bike! Starkers!

We arrived at the hotel earlier than we have done all week. Which considering we had rode the longest ride of the week it was impressive. Not as impressive as the cold showers that everyone had to take! We should have known the showers would be shoddy when we were told upon arrival “if you like your bike you’ll take it to your room tonight”. Not that the hotel has to be like Fort Knox but something to lock them in usually helps. This didn’t dampen spirits and we were soon out for dinner in Trogir. A lovely town with cobble streets. Finding a lovely bar and restaurant along the way.

So this now only leaves 2 more days of cycling. Although the week seems to have been really long we can’t actually believe that it’s still only Tuesday.

Little pic of where these blogs are written before bed time.

Below highlights some of the stats from today’s ride!

Riding Time 6:26:54

Miles 101.3

Average mph 15.7

On a personal note today saw me hit a top speed of 34.7mph. I’ve consumed 4.97 litres of water and burnt 4367 calories!

That’s all folks

Raiders Media Man

We are now officially at the half way point of the week! We have covered over 250 miles in these last 3 days with 3 mixed days of riding. After the first 2 days covering a long ride and a hilly day. Today saw us hit a massive climb that was on our minds all last night and today. The pics show how quick the hill comes up on you. Big congratulations to Chris who managed to win the Polka dot jersey for this climb. Only to later lose out to a joint climb win by Richard M and Sam. Birgit was chuffed to reach the top of the big climb and enjoyed a nice dance and shout! Earning a deserved dip in the pool upon arrival to the hotel.

So we worked out today that not only has Sam “rear 25” Rutherford got the wrong setup for hill climbing with a small rear cassette and larger group set at the front. Sam also has aero wheels that don’t do cross winds! Nearly losing control on a few hairy windy moments across the first 20 miles! Although saying this he did manage to get through the big climb keeping 2 gears in the locker! This was after a morning of LGD (low gear disorder) where he was constantly checking to see if there was anything bigger to make life easier.

The wind was so bad today that everyone felt nervous coming down the hills. Gary confirming that he was actually scared! Richard M confirming that he was clinching so much he thought some of the chamois cream may have gone places that it’s not supposed to. Fetching is clearly not illegal in Croatia!

Today saw our first signs of some trouble mechanically within the team. 4 chain issues all coming from the Loves! Richard clocking up 3 of these yet confirming at dinner that it’s all sorted now! We also had 3 punctures between the group today, 2 of these from our guide and the other from Fiona. Luckily Fiona’s was at a coffee stop and was fixed in good time. How many people do you think it takes to change a puncture. Answer is in the picture above 10!

We also had a member of the other team try and overtake us today. Making a comment of “I didn’t want to go past and embarrass you guys”. This came back to haunt him and in a break away attempt he was closed down by Richard L, Duncan and Gary! Cocky Canadian/American!

After lots of food to fuel up all the Raiders are tucked up in bed by 21:30 looking forward to the next day.

Below highlights some of the stats from today’s ride!

Riding Time 5:45:53

Miles 84.3

Average mph 14.6

On a personal note today saw me hit a top speed of 37.6mph. I’ve consumed xx litres of water and burnt 5226 calories!

That’s all folks

Raiders Media Man

We are now officially at the half way point of the week! We have covered over 250 miles in these last 3 days with 3 mixed days of riding. After the first 2 days covering a long ride and a hilly day. Today saw us hit a massive climb that was on our minds all last night and today. The pics show how quick the hill comes up on you. Big congratulations to Chris who managed to win the Polka dot jersey for this climb. Only to later lose out to a joint climb win by Richard M and Sam. Birgit was chuffed to reach the top of the big climb and enjoyed a nice dance and shout! Earning a well deserved dip in the pool upon arrival at the hotel.

So we worked out today that not only has Sam “rear 25” Rutherford got the wrong setup for hill climbing with a small rear cassette and larger group set at the front. Sam also has aero wheels that don’t do cross winds! Nearly losing control on a few hairy windy moments across the first 20 miles! Although saying this he did manage to get through the big climb keeping 2 gears in the locker! This was after a morning of LGD (low gear disorder) where he was constantly checking to see if there was anything bigger to make life easier.

The wind was so bad today that everyone felt nervous coming down the hills. Gary confirming that he was actually scared! Richard M confirming that he was clinching so much he thought some of the chamois cream may have gone places that it’s not supposed to. Fetching is clearly not illegal in Croatia!

Today saw our first signs of some trouble mechanically within the team. 4 chain issues all coming from the Loves! Richard clocking up 3 of these yet confirming at dinner that it’s all sorted now! We also had 3 punctures between the group today, 2 of these from our guide and the other from Fiona. Luckily Fiona’s was at a coffee stop and was fixed in good time. How many people do you think it takes to change a puncture. Answer is in the picture above 10!

We also had a member of the other team try and overtake us today. Making a comment of “I didn’t want to go past and embarrass you guys”. This came back to haunt him and in a break away attempt he was closed down by Richard L, Duncan and Gary! Cocky Canadian/American!

After lots of food to fuel up all the Raiders are tucked up in bed by 21:30 looking forward to the next day.

Below highlights some of the stats from today’s ride!

Riding Time 5:45:53

Miles 84.3

Average mph 14.6

On a personal note today saw me hit a top speed of 37.6mph. I’ve consumed xx litres of water and burnt 5226 calories!

That’s all folks

Raiders Media Man

Everyone woke up feeling refreshed apart from Sam who had been sharing a room with some part animals that didn’t get in until early hours of the morning! Gary in particular woke up with a smile on his face as he introduced Tiger Balm Club to everyone.

I may have said that today was due to be a shorter ride, what I didn’t manage to state was that it involved a lot more climbing. This started pretty much straight from the hotel and we spent the best part of the morning working our way up and out of Trieste.

Once we got over the first of these hills we then concentrated in the job in hand. This was to ride through 3 different countries all in the same day. Starting in Italy, coffee in Slovenia and dinner in Croatia!

One thing I would say about this part of the world is the dogs are very angry creatures! Starting Birgit on more than one occasion!

All in all today was a tough day. Lots and lots of climbing. From the off right the way through to the end. As we all know though. With every hill comes a lovely decent. With most of the guys getting into the 40’s on some of the sections today. At one point with only 10-15 km to go we were offered the choice of a flat run or to climb 200m over the course of 3km. Being out numbered 8-1 saw Sam plod his way up the hill! It was gruelling. To then rub salt in the wound the guide Jason decided to throw an extra hill in at the end. This was only added as he was taking us to the hotel he used last year and not this years! I’m sure he now does it for fun!

Once we arrived at the hotel Richard Moore realised that his special Alpecin shampoo had been left in Trieste!

We all had our hearts set on eating a hog roast tonight. This was mainly due to seeing 4 or 5 of them on the way through Slovenia. In the end we went to a lovely fish restaurant in the port and had a great evening.

Below highlights some of the stats from today’s ride!

Riding Time 6:10:28

Miles 77.5

Average mph 12.6

On a personal note today saw me hit a top speed of 40.5mph. I’ve consumed 7.14 litres of water and burnt 4480 calories!

That’s all folks

Raiders Media Man

Well that’s one of the long days down! At near on 100 miles its our 2nd longest day of the trip. Although the majority of the Raiders fell shy of the ton. Chris and Gary decided to literally go the extra mile just to get the 3 figure total next to their name.

The day started off well with us making some good progress with a nice pace set by our guide Jason. Stopping for a coffee just as the heavens opened was a real lucky escape!

Lunch was a slight delay as the other group riding had some mechanical issues in the morning that set them back. After lunch we looked to eat up some more miles. Stopping for a late afternoon ice cream was where the day started to frustrate some Raiders. Not naming names but Fiona had the odd rant about a few things. Multiple little stops were sucking the energy out of most of us and ruining any momentum that we had. The final 12 miles were along a very scenic route. Riding through natural tunnels and along some high cliff line. This also saw a lot of Raiders clock some top speeds.

Missing the turning for the Hotel and having to ride back a mile wasn’t the way we all expected to finish the day but none the less we all enjoyed ourselves.

Let’s not mention dinner…moving on

Tomorrow has us riding a shorter route into Croatia passing though Slovenia. Let’s hope everyone wakes up in one piece!

Below highlights some of the stats from today’s ride!

Riding Time 6:13:19

Miles 98.9

Average mph 15.9

On a personal note today saw me hit a top speed of 30.4mph. I’ve consumed 7.14 litres of water and burnt 3597 calories!

That’s all folks

Raiders Media Man