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Stage 12 - Bled to Ljubljana - 62km (21-May-2019)

Didn't sleep well last night and waking up to a rainy day with grey skies was not ideal. Looking on the bright side, it wasn't cold. Never thought I would say 11 degrees as not cold but thats what it was. Max (from Austria), the guy I met yesterday; we briefly discussed what challenges lay in front of us and how best to dress for it on our respective bikes, him on motor bike and me on my pushy. After a fond farewell, Max was the first to leave with me half an hour later by which time the rain had ceased but the roads were pretty wet with patches of pooled water, just what a cyclists doesn't need. I was very mindful riding out of Bled doing best to avoid car/bus/trucks spray and the occasional splash of water from the water pooled on the roads. Captured this photo which hopefully depicts what my day looked like making my way out of Bled.
Mainly on bike paths and occasionally on minor roads through small villages which by now were coming alive with cars and people about making their way to wherever they were going. A penny for their thoughts when the see me on my bike with my Aussie flag proudly fluttering at the back of my bike. What makes bike touring so special is the people you meet and like yesterday today was no different. Kept running into this dude, another bike tourer en route to Ljubljana like moi, politely acknowledging each other passing by on our bikes. Feeling a tad peckish, decided to stop at a Lidl to grab something to eat and guess who was there, the same dude. With our feet on terra firma, instead of bike peddles, stopped to have a long chat. He was on his way to Croatia and Italy before making his way home to Spain, both of us cursing the weather yet enjoying our respective bike tours. Not long after saying our goodbyes, I ran into this lovely young couple from France, touring together to Cambodia of all places. Half their luck.
Moving along in the same town, I see this dude smoking his pipe with an interesting face so I stopped to have a chat.
Interesting character, makes his own noodles which he was so proud of and asked if I would like to try some which I politely declined so as not to offend him. Heavy eating when riding just doesn't agree with me.
The rest of the trip into Ljubljana was a breeze, stopped a few times to take some photos.




Arriving in Ljubljana, I got the warmest of welcomes from our dear friends, Hartwig and Dusha who as usual will take good care of me and spoil me rotten. Very proud to call them friends.
Finally the tour has been a blast, even the uphill climbs, the snow, the rain, cold etc.; the memorable thing is the lovely people I met to learn and share each others cultures, experiences etc....
Will be starting a new blog on 3rd June at the start of our bike tour from Basle to Amsterdam and then on to Belgium and Luxembourg.

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