Today is not only a rest day here in Sarajevo but it is also the end of the first segment of the tour. TDA divides their tours into segments so that you can choose to only do certain segments if you wish. The Odyssey which is the tour I am on is divided into three segments, Athens to Sarajevo, Sarajevo to Munich, and Munich to Amsterdam. There are nine riders who are leaving the tour here. Gary from DC, Terry , Bill and his son Matthew, husband and wife Leo and Anne all from Canada, Firgil from Hong Kong and Jan from Germany. We have one new rider, Mike, who is Roberta’s partner. This section has been tough. It was 875 miles but most important it has 71,435 feet of climbing. That is 13 and a half miles of climbing. I didn’t do all of that since I missed the last day and a half due to the accident but that is a lot of climbing. We are also switching tour leaders here. Gergo, who was supposed to be our leader had some personal issues come up that he needed to attend to so Shanny took over those duties until Gergo could meet us here.
Unfortunately, we still have a lot more climbing to do beginning tomorrow. I am recovering from the accident and getting better each day. I was actually able to tie my shoes this morning without screaming in pain. I should be fine tomorrow for the ride although I will not be happy about the rain that is forecast.
I went to the bike store today and got a new helmet since my old one cracked when I got hit. I also got new lights since I discovered when I got here that the lights I had purchased right before I came didn’t work. I was also able to find a waterproof holder for my daily instructions for the route that I can mount on my handlebar. With all this rain by the time I get done the instructions are a wad of wet paper which are not very helpful. And finally, a new pair of gloves since my old ones are falling apart.
I took a walk this morning along the river and into old town Sarajevo. It is very pretty. There are tiny streets with shops selling everything along each street and restaurants everywhere. There are several mosques and churches and some are quite old. I put some pictures below. There are also many museums here with a wide diversity of topics.
Tomorrow I am back on the bike for a long ride (132KM) with over 4,000 feet of climbing.
