Day 2 - Transprlekija ~ Passing Siberia

Tuesday, 10.9.2013

Firstly

In the morning we waited for the last bike to arrive – and a good thing we did, because we the waited long enough that the sun came out. It was early and we were enthusiastic and full of energy, so we decided to head to Ormož first. We haven’t managed to engage any collaborators from that area, so we felt like foreigners invading a forbidden homeland. We took the same route as the day before; with a difference that instead of the pouring rain, sunshine was pleasantly sharing it’s warmth with us.

We reached Svetinje with no trouble and long stops, only because we were avoiding the inviting looks of Zidanica Malek and Taverna. Of course we couldn’t ride the whole way without one minute breaks for photographing, especially because the weather was in our favour.

We continued our way from Svetinje to Ormož on the route that has been suggested by municipality Ormož as attractive. The picturesque road led us along the ridge to Pavlovski vrh, from where we swooped down the slope to the main road, which connects Ljutomer and Ormož trough the valley. We consider the route attractive, scenic and not too challenging.

But the junction with the main road is a biker’s nightmare. Local drivers are too fast, since they’re familiar with the main road, and the road has neither safety signalisation nor separate cycling paths.

This changed for a brief time, on a cycling track just outside Ormož, but the track didn’t reach past the next crossroads. The track could have continued, as there was grass-covered space next to both sides of the road. To all locals in power: if you want to attract cyclists and hikers to that area, a separate path is necessary. There’s plenty of space.

Displeased by the main road, more suitable for preforming stunts over passing trucks, we decided to take a different route from Ormož back to Jeruzalem. We headed from the centre of Ormož towards Dobravska ulica, which (shockingly) led us to Dobrava and after a steep ascent to Litmerk. 307 meters above sea level, Litmerk offers great oversight over the surroundings. 300 meters is more than enough. If you distrust us, check the pictures. Especially towards the northeast, one can observe Jeruzalem and other hills and the sparkling surface of the lake in Ormož.

We descended from Litmerk, crossed the main road (THAT very same aforementioned road) and closed the circle by heading back towards Pavlovnski Vrh via Libanja. Before the treacherous upward slope in Libanja, stood a small chapel with the inscription: “Holy Trinity, have mercy for us.” We overlooked this sign and were late for lunch.

Secondly

We returned full of impressions and pleasantly tired. The Libanja ascent gave us plenty of time to reflect upon our experiences, and many suggestions and observations fully sprang up during lunch. Then we uploaded our photos to computers and wrote parts of this blog entry. There wouldn’t be time for that in the afternoon. That time was reserved for a visit to Ljutomer.

We chose the route used by hikers on several traditional yearly hikes to Jeruzalem. We descended past the Belec homestead and dashed into Radomerje. We didn’t have time for the food from the guesthouse Stari Hrast or to visit the nearby birth house of Franc Miklošič, the Slovene cultural giant. We could have also taken the alternative route, leading trough Cuber, where there’s a museum of agricultural tools and inventions.

The next checkpoint was at Spodnji Kamenščak, featuring a quite steep uphill slope. But then we remembered Libanja and things suddenly became easier.  Passing past a mechanic’s workshop, we joined the main road but soon diverged from it, turning toward Villa Magdič for a brief time before heading towards a forest pathway for some off-road downhill adventure. Still feeling the adrenaline rush, we drove past the primary school in Ljutomer, trough Stari trg (the Old Town Square) and to our destination, the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) on the Glavni Trg (Main Square) in Ljutomer. We tested the relatively new biking trails in Ormoška Cesta and headed back towards Jerusalem. This time, we took a route past a series of fishponds and trough the forests towards Gresovščak. The road continued uphill at Železne Dveri and we eventually jointed the Jeruzalem Wine Route, rendering the return to Vinski Hram a piece of cake.

The evening was reserved for data analysis. We fed in the data, checked the mileage, height profile, the average and maximum travel speed and more other small bits of data generated by our pretty electronic devices. Still remembering the trauma from Libanje, we unanimously decided to mark difficult or dangerous parts of the terrain.

We cycled for 41 kilometres and beat 890 metres of altitude. We were proud of this feat, especially because some of us don’t bike on a weekly basis. We hope to find more paths tomorrow and are inviting you to tune in again.