Day 40 – Skopje to Ranentsi – 130km 1808m

You can go your own way

On my ride so far I have followed Eurovelo routes from the Netherlands down to Milan, then the Via Postumia through northern Italy, and then the Trans Dinarica to Skopje. Today I branched out onto a route I’d created myself.

This one took me from Skopje up to the Bulgarian border and just over it. Tomorrow I’ll do approximately the same again to get to Sofia.

It was quite unremarkable really. The Macedonian countryside was a series of rolling hills (patrolled by stray dogs) and a mixture of arable land and small villages.

At various points I was on highways, B roads, and off-road tracks. Rain came and went – until it truly came at the most inconvenient time as I busted up the high mountain pass at the end.

At lunchtime I realised there would be no decent stops, so decided to get something at the next shop I saw. A small settlement had a tiny village shop. But as I stopped I noticed the only other customer was a bikepacker like me!

Astonishing coincidence to find a fellow traveler at this unremarkable little village. Kris is German. He’d taken a direct bus from Munich to Skopje (imagine that service!) and was on a similar route to me, although stopping 20km prior to my end point. I’d caught him up.

He’d used an internet tool to choose a random country and it came up with Macedonia. He was on a two week tour to circumnavigate the country.

We cycled together until he had to turn off, although I think I was a bit too fast for him so there was little chat. Nice to meet though!

Alone again, I got up the hill, over the border, and arrived, soaked, at my rural destination. As I pulled up there owner greeted me: “Hello mate, you look a bit wet!”

A Brit! In this tiny village on the Bulgarian-Macedonian border James and Trina have set up their Mountain View Lodge. An ex paratrooper couple who decided to change lifestyle after covid took all their parents. How strange to converse freely in English! Great though, as I can get the immediate tips on Bulgaria. And a cup of tea in the morning.

A few stats for you that I was asked about today. Before I left i thought I might cycle about 3,500km to complete the journey. I’ve done 4,500km already. That’s the flight equivalent of London to Khartoum.

I also worked out I have climbed around 36,000m. That’s four times up Everest – from sea level, mind!

I also passed into my third different time zone today, losing an hour at the border post.

On to Sofia tomorrow, where a surprise lies in wait!