Opatija to Senj to Pag Island (Novalja)

These past 2 days of cycling have probably been some of the most challenging mentally and physically that we have ever done. But we got through it…and are relieved it’s done.

From Opatija to Senj was challenging physically as we had 1000 + meters of ascent but also much of it was on what we would consider more of a primary highway than the secondary one it is. There was lots of traffic, little shoulder, many trucks, etc. thus mentally this starts to wear on you. When we finally arrived at our stopover point of Senj we had a comedy of errors to work through. We were led by the GPS to the wrong apartment and went through quite a process with a nice Croatian speaking lady checking us into a room in the wrong house. Then our actual host texted us wondering where we were and so we realized our error. The first lady did seem surprised, yet very accommodating, about our arrival. The second lady, our host, who spoke perfect English helped us explain to the first lady what happened. Both addresses were #13(!) and in the same cluster of little streets.

Once settled in, a seriously strong wind came up suddenly and lasted into the night (famous Bora wind). Apparently Senj is known for this as is most of coastal Croatia. We were worried about it and wondered if we needed a plan B for the next day as we were climbing along the coastal mountains on the way to Pag Island. However when we woke up in the morning it was much improved and the wind forecast looked stable so off we went. Well, the Bora monster is no laughing matter. Once up higher on the road we were starting to have difficulty controlling the bike, we thought we could be blown off the road the Bora was so fierce. Not cold or rainy but a powerful force on a somewhat narrow winding road with steep drop offs, not for the faint of heart and yes, we shouldn’t have been there on that day. Mostly there were guard rails but not always. The traffic was somewhat lighter this day, likely due to the wind, so a small concession. We stopped often, walked some and at one point George tried to flag down larger vehicles that may be able to give us a ride but to no avail. We just had to keep going. We had about a 350m climb over 10km and at the top of this the wind was the worst. Once we started to descend we could gradually feel an improvement and once at the ferry terminal in Prizna it was fairly calm again. It was a huge relief to actually arrive there on time, we did have doubts that we would make it that day. There were a few other crazy cyclists on the road also and we commiserated together which actually helped. Another factor on this part of the road is that there are virtually no services or towns where you can rest or get more supplies. We saw one small gas station only, well after the worst part, and no WC even. Once off the ferry on Pag we had another 10 or so kilometers to ride to Novalja where we are staying for a couple of nights. So thankful for a rest day!

The east side of this island and others in the area are all barren, like a moonscape, due to the Bora. The west sides have more vegetation but still a dry area. The west side where we are is another huge beach playground area with many tourists and services, we won’t go hungry or thirsty here. It actually is pure party central with thousands of 20 something Brits predominating. School’s out and this is the place to be I guess. We had a bit of a dispute with our host misrepresenting the property here resulting in a 50% refund so all together we’ll be happy to head south to Zadar tomorrow.

Tags: 2023, Adriatic North