//Day 36 /16-04-22 /Kyustendil-Sandanski

I woke up early. I didn’t want to leave to late as I had to ride around 130K to Sandanski. I would follow a part of the Eurovelo 13 route to Blagoevrad, afterwards I had planned a route mostly via small roads. The road out Kyustendil was via the road I came into the city the day before. It was early with little traffic. After 10 K I cycled into the valley of a small river, which I followed for about 30 K. Almost no traffic and beautiful views. My feet starting to get warmer as pale sun appeared in the sky. All day it would be cloudy but still warm. Tomorrow that will change. I made good progress. 

After exiting the valley I arrived in a small city where I bought some food and drinks. I continued to follow the EV13 route, the surface changed from asphalt into non-paved. No problem. The small road started climbing and the more it climbed the vaguer the contours of the road became and the more pebbles appeared. Black Horse and I started to  struggle to ride up the hill and the pebble road. Some stretches I had to push Black Horse as cycling was not possible. The “road” became more and more uncycleable (not sure if this is an existing word). Based upon what I could see on Maps and Komoot the quality of the road would not change the next 10K so I decided to try to cycle down the hill via a small “road”. So I started to “cycle” down. At a certain moment the road disappeared completely and the only option was to descent around 25 meters  via a pebble and bush laden hill by foot….After some struggle I was able to safely descent. I pushed Black Horse 300 meters through a field until I found a cycleable path. This side of the river it would not be able to go forward, the only option was to cross the river and follow a secondary road parallel to the highway. The only bridge was in the town where I had made a brief stop 10 K back. 

I crossed the river and started cycling the secondary road, which was somewhat bigger then expected, until I was able to reconnect  with my route after some 15 K. My route followed the original road to the south, first replaced by the bigger secondary road, which is now  replaced itself by the E79 highway. My small road followed the same track as the secondary road and highway, except it was not in the same shape, passing car- and general dumps. Eventually it was absorbed by the secondary road which has shrunken in size to be able to find it’s way through the second beautiful river valley of the day. The European sponsored black asphalt was as smooth as silk and the favourite playground for motorbikes racing through the 30 kilometer long valley. Although the traffic was heavy with racing bikes,cars and lorries it was a great ride.

I exited the valley and started my last 20 K to Sandanski. Sandanski is located on a hill at the foot of the Pirin mountains. Thanks to it’s mild climate and springs it is a popular tourist destination. After a last climb I found my hostel in the city center. I was happy to arrive after having cycled 140 K…After a shower I made a walk through the nice city center. A lot of hotels and a busy big pedestrian boulevard which lead into a park including spa’s and swimming pools. 

Tomorrow I will leave Bulgaria and enter Greece. It will be a wet welcome in Greece as it is forecasted to rain all day and continue to rain until next Tuesday……

Lessons learned : 

• An Eurovelo label does not necessarily mean that the road is cycleable.
• I definitely will return to Bulgaria - a beautiful country with sociable people.
• My dog-whispering skills are improving.

Song of the day : Golden Rain - Kris Dane