We’re ready for my moms first day. She’s really excited. Our plan today is to cycle 55Km from Smolyan to Zlatograd. How will she react to the bulgarian traffic, and how will it be for her to cycle with the trailer?
We started building her bicycle when we woke up. It’s totally demounted, they needed to do this to be able to put it in the box. It shouldn’t be a problem, we’ve got the tools we need and the music is turned on.
It’s time for blog writing and a breakfast. The music is still turned on at the restaurant, it seems quite normal here in Bulgaria to have loud music in every restaurant….What happened to the quiet relaxing feel good music?
We order ourself several cups of coffee. You know..They don’t serve the normal coffee, so they are either small and empty within seconds, or they are a bit larger but cold in a few seconds.
It’s time to leave. My mother is getting more and more nervous. You can see it on her face while we are standing outside. She’s not 100% confident with the trailer, a bit afraid to do it wrong… She won’t do it wrong, she’s good, she’ll manage this whole trip perfectly, and you know what? She’s never been in this condition in her life, she’s done a lot of training and preparations for this trip. The shakiness will disappear after the first 2km.
We’ve filled up our bags and are cycling down the mountain side and out of Smolyan. We’ve got a good impression about this small, but beautiful mountain town. We stopped at a gas station before cycling. It’s easier to get the proper air pressure in my mothers wheels there. Lucky as we are, the guy at the car repair shop was a road cyclist and had a perfect pump for the job.
On the road. I am ready, my mother is shaking and concentrating at the same time as she puts on a smile. I’m trying to give her 
good signs all the way. Giving her a sign if I see a hole in the road, showing her a signal of which direction we are going in the traffic crossing and so on.
We’re cycling down the valley. You can see the old buildings each time you come to a small community. 50% of the cars which are passing you on the road is an old Lada. There are people on their small piece of land. They are not working to be able to have a holiday, they are working to survive. This is a thought that hits us while cycling.
It’s not always easy to find a toilet while cycling, and sometimes the forrest is the solution. We found a gas station, but when I think about it, it might have been better to stop in the woods! Pictures say more than words in this case, look at the picture album! I’ll just say that my mother warned me before entering the room.
Back on the road. It’s about time to start our climb. We knew that this was coming, and that we will climb up to above 1000 meters again. No problem, it’s just to take it slowly but steady.
My mother seems strong, I’m impressed. She’s singing along with my music and to the tunes of «Eivor Palsdottir and Vamp» playing «Elisabeth and Elinborg». This is my moms favorite song at the moment.
We stop several times in the hills for pictures. It’s steep at some points, but no problem for two strong persons, and yes…. She’s really strong, she’s smiling while the sweat is pouring down on her face, which is perfectly normal.
Finally at the top. We stop here for some more pictures. The camera is mounted to my mothers bike and we are taking pictures of us and the great view.
Continuing downhill. It will go down for the rest of the day. It’s only 10Km left, nothing! The forrest is close to the road, so it’s difficult to get a great view by cycling down. I miss this!
Cycling into Zlatograd. You can see an old lady sitting on the edge of the road. She’s covered her head and are trying to get a hold of a car. Seems like she needs a transport.
Suddenly I can see a hand coming out of a car, he throws something at us, I’m able to move away as a reaction. When I look back at mom, she’s in a bit of a shock. She tells me that she was hit by an egg. STUPID IDIOT!!!! What makes someone do something like this? We decide to think that we were just unlucky to be there at this time and that he was gonna throw this egg at the first persons he met. However……Of course the thought hit me that he might have driven past us, turned around and wanted to find us.
We’re at the hotel, it will be nice to get some food, a beer and to relax. What a day! If you forget about the last part, this have been a perfect day.
Mammas liltla smilehjørna!
Dagen i dag starta med sykkelmontering og frukost. Kjente godt på nervene før me skulle ut på veien. Då va me klar og det va for meg å følge etter Stian igjennom byen og dette er noko av det eg har grua meg mest for men men alt går så fint når eg har ein så trygg førar framfor.
Musikk fra høytaler på Stian sitt styre med musikk som f.eks Elisabeth og Elinborg tok det ikkje lang tid før smilet kom fram og skuldrene godt senka, og «HULDRENE tru det eller ei, eg fekk frysninger»
Eg har fått sitt utrulig masse i dag av falleferdige bygninger og fattigdom, bønder som jobba og sliter. Natur som minner meg veldig om vår egen i Norge. Me stoppa på
bensinstasjon for eg måtte tisselisse, fekk eit lite sjokk når eg kom inn på do der va det kun eit hål i gulvet, men må man så må man 🙂 Me sykla forbi ei gammel som satt i ein skråning med krokete rygg og mannen som sto i ein bratt bakke og sleit og jobba, masse inntrykk både på godt og vondt.
Eg satt med eit ord i heile går og det va FANTASTISK !!!! FOE EIT EVNTYR EG ER MED PÅ ! Trafikken va grei med oss i går men alikavell såg eg forbikjøringer som eg trudde skulle ende med dødsulykker. Med flott musikk på høytaleren gjekk stigningen til 1000 meter veldig bra, sykla i takt med musikken og sang litt med 🙂 Møte med Zlatograd va litt spesielt, kom ein bil imot oss og før eg viste ordet av det kom det susande eit egg i lufta og traff hjulet mitt og foten min. Va nok pøbler som kjørte rundt og hadde moro !!!
Kvelden avslutta me med skyping med dei heime og god mat på hotellet 🙂 FANTASTISK FØRSTE DAG PÅ SYKKEL 🙂
Picture album from todays ride:
GPS Data from todays ride:
Norwegian