The big quarter century! I woke up at 4am to the sounds of thunder and heavy rain and went on the balcony to fetch our drenched laundry. Leo woke up too, wished me happy birthday and played the "Lisa it's your birthday" tune from The Simpsons, while we wrung out our wet clothes in the … Continue reading EU Day 39-40: 25th Birthday, Riding Blagoevgrad (BUL) to Sofia (BUL) and Rest

This was the easiest ride yet, it was a day of solid downhill action. So that explains why this is such a short post. After yesterday's less successful ride, my stomach was still feeling unpleasant, but it was okay because gravity did all the work for us. The mountains were very pretty and we had … Continue reading EU Day 32: Riding Dospat (BUL) to Gotse Delchev (BUL)

I was hoping to feel refreshed after our rest day in Smolyan and tackle one last day of climbing. Unfortunately today was painful, starting off with some intense stomach cramps, but I was determined to ride regardless. The first 10km were fine, I just winced and grit my teeth when my stomach started turning. It … Continue reading EU Day 31: Riding Smolyan (BUL) to Dospat (BUL)

This was the last ride for stage 4, before our rest day in Smolyan, a town near the Rhodope Mountains. We were amped up and ready rumble, each with our own snacks, frozen water bottles and two designated stop points along the way. Zlatograd was a very pretty town, with plenty of locals out and … Continue reading EU Day 29: Riding Kirkovo (BUL) to Smolyan (BUL)

After an excellent night of rest, we were prepared for today's ride, which was half the distance as yesterday's ride. We had some omelettes for breakfast and briefly investigated town before we headed off. It seemed odd that parts of the town were really nice but parts of it were abandoned or really run down. … Continue reading EU Day 28: Riding Krumovgrad (BUL) to Kirkovo (BUL)