Pedal power

Awakening to the sounds of birdsong and running water, you rub your eyes and glance out the door of your tent. You are greeted by yet another beautiful day, dazzling in its perfection. You rise, emerging from your tent with a sleep-dazed smile and matching hair-do, stretching to full reach. A quick dip in the nearby waterfall serves as an invigorating morning shower, and you spring to full awareness, lycra-clad body close to every sensation of the wind’s gentle breath and sun’s warming rays. Weary muscles complain mournfully, yet the heart’s spirit overcomes sensations of pain, knowing that limberness shall soon follow a quick morning warm-up and stretch. You prepare breakfast – a gourmet feast of hearty muesli, Bulgarian yoghurt, freshly collected wild berries, ripe plums and cherries – perfect energy food, nutritious and tasty. With that, you pack up camp, load your bike, and pedal off for another day of beautiful bicycling.

You could be anywhere, but something about the plenitude of lightly trafficked side roads, frequent villages, and everlasting plains running between parallel running mountains tells you you’re in Bulgaria. As you gently wind higher and higher through beautiful sun dappled forest, past monasteries, you begin to wonder if this is the road to heaven. For though it’s a challenge, it’s a rewarding one, and the thrill and pleasure of coasting down the other side more than makes up for the hour spent pedalling in earnest to reach the peak. You’re passing through gorges, cycling rolling hills of the high plains, passing lakes and following rivers, watching the sun rise, and resting in the shade of a pleasant tree to devour a well-earned picnic lunch. As you begin to pedal off once more, dreamingly contemplating how perfect your Bulgarian bicycling paradise is, it all comes grinding to a halt.

A car is swerving towards you, and from the manner in which it’s being driven, you suspect it may be fuelled by Rakia. But in looking transfixed at your oncoming threat, you’ve taken your attention off the road for a moment too long, for appearing in the road before you is a gaping chasm, a pothole of mammoth proportions. As you hastily manoeuvre around the pothole, your sudden movement throws your balance off centre, and as you struggle to control the overcorrections of your loaded bike, you join the oncoming driver in a dance of death.

Cycling may be the perfect way to see Bulgaria, which boasts highly favourable cycling conditions with a wide variety of cycling options to match your skills and desires. There is plenty of opportunity for extended touring, whether you choose to make use of the extensive network of mountain huts and private accommodations, or choose to brave the elements and free-camp. Alternately, you may wish to join a ‘weekend warrior’ road group for a spin between Stara Planina and the Rhodope mountains, or mountain-biking through Pirin may be more your style. Cycling not only allows you to get up close with nature, it also turns cultural or environmental tourism into a more immersing, rewarding experience that concurrently improves your health and fitness.

It’s not without its trials – exhausted muscles and a drenched body may test your resolve as you’re approaching yet another hill, though pushing yourself to overcome personal limits has resounding implications for your broader life. Beware of your vulnerability in the face of Bulgarian manic driving tendencies, highlighted to me as a car’s passenger: while overtaking on a blind corner tailgating another driver doing the same, the driver ahead swerved to avoid the oncoming car mirroring our inopportune blind-corner overtaking misadventure, causing my life to flash before my eyes. Fortunately, the most scenic roads, those that wind through the mountains or stretch from village to village, are also the ones with least traffic. Consequently, the majority of close encounters you will have shall be those with wild animals, including run-ins with wild pigs and dogs guarding railway crossings.

If you’re not confident to go cycling solo, or lack the equipment, there are a few options available to you. I was fortunate enough to enjoy touring with an amateur archaeologist and cycling enthusiast, Ljubomir Radev, in an on and off-road adventure from Plovdiv. Our three-day tour took in Koprivichitsa, a cooling bath in an open air mineral pool in Hisar, and a Thracian tomb. Ljubomir, present at the recent tomb discoveries near Shipka, had an immense knowledge of Thracian history, and there was no better guide to enlighten me to the nature of the numerous Thracian tombs that guarded our route, and to discover a sacrificial rock beside a spring as we climbed to spend the night in a mountain hut. If mountain biking is more your thing, you may wish to contact www.adventurenetbg.com. Routes can generally be tailored to fitness, experience, and interest. But if you’re keen to see the best of Bulgaria for yourself, here are a few recommended highlights:

• The rolling hills near Koprivshtitsa provide ideal territory for those who enjoy a moderate challenge through alternating field and forest, an opportunity to overtake horse-and-cart, or to steal rides from tractors uphill.

• Cycling over Shipka pass gives you a greater understanding of its strategic importance, for high above you loom impassable obstacles, and the pass itself if hard enough to access. It provides a fantastic view over much of Bulgaria.

• The cycle up to Rila Monastery is easily accomplished and an opportunity to stay overnight in the Rila Monastery shouldn’t be scoffed at.

• The Iskar River carves two beautiful paths through mountain ranges as it flows from Samokov to Mezdra, in the process creating glorious canyons, jaw-dropping scenery and exhiliarating roads on which to freewheel. Try to avoid Sofia if at all possible, a city which can almost be as challenging to maintain a calm temper and vital statistics as Istanbul or Sydney. The Samokov – Sofia section is almost-completely downhill as it passes the lovely Lake Iskar. The Sofia – Mezdra section is more undulating but made all the more worthwhile as the Iskar battles harder and harder to find a path through increasingly ominous cliffs.

Camping is generally possible beside a stream just off the road, outside a village. Alternately, you may wish to make use of mountain huts or private lodgings to lighten the load you’re carrying.

If rather than cycling a round loop, you wish to cycle from A to B, you may need to board a train or bus, both of which present minor difficulties. For instance, if you wish to catch a train from Mezdra back to Sofia, you may need to wait for a train that carries cargo (beware the added insurance charge). Bus drivers may claim that there is no space for your bike, but this is often just an attempt to extract large carriage fees from you – removing the wheels and inspecting all cargo bays should demonstrate an abundance of space that you may fit your bike in – otherwise, cash will definitely open doors.

Ljubomir Radev may be contacted at thefantazyworld@yahoo.com or 0898224951. Alternately, call the Sportna Sreshta hostel on 032/635115.

Mountain bikers may wish to speak with Emilia from www.adventurenetbg.com on 0888889371, or Philip from www.trek.bg on 0888222858