Montenegro

The weather for the ride up to the pass into Montenegro was clear, but in the afternoon the clouds built up and I rode through three successive thunderstorms the rest of the day. The scenery was stunning, rolling hills, subalpine forests, crystal clear rivers and streams. Unfortunately, cycling in mountainous terrain often means you’re forced onto busy roads with all the other traffic in the region. When I could find quiet secondary roads Montenegro was a delight, but when I was trapped on a busy highway I tended to ignore the sights in favor of just getting from point A to point B.

I spent a couple days riding down toward the capital Podgorica, the terrain becoming lower, drier, and warmer as I went. Podgorica is a large city that wouldn’t feel too out of place in southern California so I skimmed through the suburbs and rode directly on to the smaller, former capital, Cetinje in a remote, rocky valley. From there it was up over another pass and then suddenly a dramatic drop down more than 1000 meters to the Gulf of Kotor and the Adriatic. After several days of riding on remote roads, Kotor was overwhelming with it’s tourist traffic and tour ships, but once I passed the city and found a quiet campground on the shore I could appreciate the landscape again. I also met another couple of cyclists, Fernando and Veronica, who had started riding from Spain a couple months ago and are planning to spend the next four years riding a loop around Europe and Asia. You can check out their progress at viajarenmtb.wordpress.com.