Day 5 – Loop Ride from Postira

This morning I awoke as the light streamed in the window. Without putting on my glasses, I looked at my iPhone (which doubles as my alarm clock) and decided that I should be getting up since it was 6:40 and breakfast started at 7:00.  Only after getting dressed and looking again, did I discover that it was (by now) 5:50.  No point going back to bed, so I wandered the small village and had an early coffee at a local café.

 

Sunrise in Postira

By the time we finished a real breakfast at the hotel, the weather was deteriorating. It was very windy and the forecast was for rain. Undaunted, I set out hoping for the best. The base ride for today was a thirty mile loop. I had hoped to add a side trip to climb to the top of Vidova Gora, the highest point in all of the Croatian islands. Just before the turnoff, after battling winds and climbing for an hour and a quarter, I stopped for coffee. On emerging from the small café, I discovered that the rain had escalated from mere spritzing to a steady drizzle. I  put on my full rain gear before resuming. When I reached the turnoff, I decided that more climbing in wind and rain would not be a lot of fun, so I stayed on the loop route and returned to the hotel. Even without the side trip, the day had 3000 feet of climbing.

The winds were really intense. At times it was difficult to hold the bike to a straight line, and since there were no shoulders I generally dismounted whenever a car approached from either direction. Fortunately, the cars were few and far between. Since we are in the same hotel tonight as last night, there were options other than riding, so only four of us actually rode. Others engaged in more leisurely pursuits.

 

Statue in the Postira Harbor

The island of Brac is noted for its limestone quarries. In fact, the White House was built in 1792 with limestone from here. I saw a few quarrying operations while cycling today. Given the heavy overcast, I did not see a much else of photographic interest. Brac is the third largest island in the Adriatic

Tomorrow’s weather forecast is for more of the same. If we are lucky and the actual conditions are better, I will have an opportunity to approach Vidova Gora from a different direction.