Our alarm clock ringed at 4:30 pretty early in the morning. We did need a few more minutes but then we stood up. Our host left us some breakfast in front of our room door because we told him the day before we wanted to leave pretty early and before breakfast time. This was very kind. After breakfast we packed our bags and got the bicycles ready. So indeed we could start around 6 o’clock in the morning.

The conditions were pretty good for cycling. The temperature was pleasant, the sun was just raising and street was asphalted and without any damage. From our start we could cycle along the Sava further, but we decided to take a more direct route to our goal Slavonski Brod which was more than 100km to go. We already booked an apartment there because we needed to do a Covid test there to cross the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Using the cool morning to head to Slavonski Brod

Novska was the first bigger city we crossed. So the traffic increased a bit in this area but it was still good for cycling. When we came to a gigantic unicycle we made our first little stop. It was also time for a picture of course. When we continued our stage we made great progress. It was easy to ride but also not that much to see. On this endless seemingly road is the end of one village the beginning of a new one. All the houses of the villages are built along this main street. In the background we could see a mountain range on the Bosnian side.

We took the chance at a small store to buy us some cold ice tea. It was still morning and the temperature was still good for cycling so we just made short stops. After the next bigger town Nova Gradiška we came to an area where we saw more and more damaged and abandoned buildings. It seams to be damages from the war in the first half of the 1990’s. Creepy witness of war time when you stand in front of it and see all the bullet holes.

Rush through the heat – Slavonski Brod in sight

Meanwhile it was almost noon and the sun began to shine hotter and hotter. Almost the complete route was in flat area but still the heat was challenging. So from time to time we needed to make short rest stops in shadow places. Good for us we found every few kilometers a spot. The closer we came to Slavonski Brod the less energy we had. But finishing early was incentive enough for us to persevere. Cycling in Slavonski Brod was also not too bad because there were a lot of bicycle paths. So around 2 o’clock we finished our over 100km ride. In the apartment we ate lunch, made laundry and went to a supermarket in the evening.

Route

The total distance can be viewed on the “Sabbatical 2021 – Europe” page.

Download file: Sabbatical2021_045_Krapje_to_Slavonski_Brod.gpx