Next day started early with some major logistical issues at camp Dirt Norco. There was an awning to be dried out, a trailer to be re–arranged with tyres here, tools there, tea bags neatly stacked and a clothes line that needed to be hanging with the right tension for the prevailing wind conditions. Baltic Ben runs a tight ship, and there’s only one way to do things even if it takes some extra time to get it right! So with the domestic chores finally in hand, we were definitely looking forward to riding this DH trail I had been telling everyone about. The one from the gondola in downtown Ljubljana, where we would chill out at a café afterwards and do some people watching.
I got on the phone to our next local legend – Sergej Ocepek – to arrange our day’s riding. I suppose I must have developed a dyslexic memory or something, as Sergej tells me there was never a gondola in the centre of Ljubljana. There is a hill and a castle, but no gondola or DH trail. My loosely made plan seemed to be developing a couple of leaks. But Sergej had another option for us, 25km from Ljubljana is the country’s second largest ski-resort – Krvavec (sounds like Lenny Kra-vav-itz) where there is a gondola and some DH trails. Only snag was that the gondola was closed for repairs, but Sergej said he had the perfect uplift vehicle ready to go. The loose plan was back on the rails.
It’s just a short drive from Ljubljana, but after the washing line project and several wrong turns trying to find some unpronounceable places, we were very fashionably late when we finally found Sergej and his crew, waiting and ready to go with their bikes jammed into the back of an ancient Mercedes van.
We piled in just in time for Sergej to floor it up a steep, rough fireroad. The engine revving its nuts off in first gear, the rear axle sounding like it could snap on the next hairpin, but Sergej just cranked up the stereo with what sounded like some kind of Slavik–Folk–Punk and assured me ‘it’s best not to use a good vehicle on these roads’. That gave me a sort of ‘Apocalypse Now’ feeling.
Over the racket, Sergej filled me in on his history as a DH racer and race organiser since the early 90’s. He got close to a Slovenian title a few times and has organised many of the biggest races in Slovenia. These days, when he’s not coaching young tennis prodigies, he rides and builds trails with his MTB Club Kranj. This trail in Krvavec is their latest project, and it’s a big one. They hope that someday this ski–resort could also have an awesome bike park close to the city, and it’s certainly got the potential.
After 30 minutes on the redline in first gear, the van coughed and roared its way to the top of the trail, where the top gondola station is, at around about 1800 metres. The trail heads into the steep dark woods and we got straight into the action. It reminded me of the Italian Alps, with its beech and oak trees over loose rock–strewn ground. There’s plenty of elevation and shape to the terrain, so there’s plenty of line choice through the widely spaced trees. It’s a festival of sharp rocks and webs of roots – fast and tricky in the dry and it must be a real challenge in the wet. The locals have built some berms and jumps, but the trail is mostly natural and uses whatever it finds on its way down the mountain. This is certainly no manicured work of art for prancing and posing, it’s more of a hairy–arsed backwoods demon with challenges for a real rider to get their teeth into. That’s if you survive the full 15 minute descent before the trail gets its teeth into you.
A few runs down this hellish trail, along with bouncing around in the van on endless hairpins, soon took their toll and we were all ready for a break. The gondola would have been luxury, but I think we would have missed the true spirit of riding here! Sergej also had an appointment to show some future Wimbledon stars how to serve a few aces, so we called a day. Just in time to head downtown for a relaxed street ride and finish off our stay with an ice cream and a beer before the long drive tomorrow.
It may be the capital, but Ljubljana is quite small really, it’s the perfect size city to get around by bike. With lots of narrow pedestrian streets, you can pretty much ride anywhere you like.
There are only 280,000 people here, but damn, there are a fit and healthy bunch. There’s a definite Italian influence, everyone looks good and they seem to spend most of their time relaxing in the cafés that run along the Ljubljanica river, bang in the middle of the old town. Beside all this, there’s the big castle on a hill, where I thought the DH track was. We did take a look around, but all we found were some nice views of the city and mountains. There is a tram to the top though. Maybe one day Sergej and his crew will build a track here and I can tell the lads ‘I told you so!’
