76km 1760m elevation gain
Onwards and upwards and upwards
We left Sarajevo at 7am, spinning through the empty Sunday streets. Skirting the airport on our exit we stopped at the “Tunnel of Hope”, an ordinary family house under which a tunnel was built to snuggle people into the airport. The bullet holes had been preserved. Hundreds of lives must have been both saved and lost here.
And then the challenge began. At first on tarmac but quickly turning into a gravel path we climbed. And climbed. And then did she more climbing. It was relentless, 30km of pure uphill.
Our break came at the Olympic Mountain. Popping out of the trees and back into a very short burst of tarmac we passed the old Olympic Village, and had a lunch overlooked by the now green ski slopes.
But then we had to go up on gravel again, this time even more steeply.
Above the treeline now, and at about 2pm we finally hit the top. Some truly spectacular views were our reward. What little breath we still had left was lost to the million mile views over the Bosnian mountains.
Riding into the tiny village which is playing host to us tonight we grabbed a beer and a shower before a mountain meal. Hell of a day.
Bencyclopedia - The Mid-life Cyclist 
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