Towards the Carpathian Mountains

Slovakia had been a country I was looking forward to the most. Endless evenings I spend staring at Komoot and the expected elevation. Finally we’d be out of the hills and climbing up towards 1500m above sea level. 

For my dad, a dreaded stage. He isn’t the biggest fan of mountains or climbing them with his bike so seeing we’d be doing serious climbs made him a little bit more nervous.

After waking up early in the church to welcome the pastor and close the door we went outside and made ourselves a coffee before riding towards the border. Another classic European border with no signage whatsoever. A little disappointing — I find it fun to see the ‘’official’’ welcome to another country. Even if it’s just a sign. 

We did shortly after crossing the border begin to see different signs that we were in a different country. People were doing more activities outside, gave us a smile and when arriving into the small mountain town of Banská Bystrica we saw a rare sight so far in Eastern Europe: Café’s, outside seating and cyclists! People on road bikes, mountain bikes and much to our liking: No E-bike in sight. A clear message: We had arrived in the foothills of the mountain. 

Into the Mountains

We spend the night in a hostel near our first real climb, peaking at 1500m. My excitement grew when I realised my dad had never ridden to this elevation before and I was looking forward showing him the view on the ridge. But first we had to get there. 

It would be a long and steady climb with an average grade of 6%, peaking at times to 23%. 15km long — snickers at every 5km to keep us going and enough songs downloaded for extra motivation. To make this day even more exciting would be the rare opportunity to see the Eurasian brown bear.

It went well —and with enough small breaks to catch up and me repeatedly saying how much I loved it — we soon spotted the first signs of snow. At first a small patch in a shady corner but quickly we had to drag our bikes through ankle deep snow. Hoping the ridge would be exposed to more sun we pushed on. Eventually we made it to the restaurant and cafe near the top — we only needed to go up 200 meters more before our downhill to the next town. 

Dad waited and I walked through snow, which now was knee deep at points, and saw even more snow towards the highest point. We had reached an elevation of 1300m and dad had seen the view I wanted him to experience. To not risk damaging our bikes, or getting stuck in more snow downhill, we turned around. A decision I wasn’t too happy about but it was the right thing. 

A quick and fun ride down the way we came and we were back at the hostel. No progress made but a good and fun day in the mountains! No bears seen either, except for a big footprint in the fresh snow. Close enough. 

Detour to Poland

With one peak unreachable we had to reroute a little to get back on trail again. For us this meant following the road with 3 more smaller climbs of 700m elevation. What I thought would be a boring road turned into a really good day of cycling. Using mountain bike trails and hiking trails we rode through fields filled with purple flowers and through dense forests with more chances to see wildlife. Ending at a small family run campsite where we were allowed to light the fire pit with leftover scrap wood. 

The last day riding in Slovakia took us through another gorgeous nature reserve, following a river through a gorge. A joy to cycle really. Just before the border with Poland we saw another campsite and the owner offered us a small cabin. She explained that the week before a huge snowstorm had blown through and the field for tents was flooded or still covered in snow. 

Thoughts on Slovakia

It has been a short but intense visit to Slovakia but what a beautiful country. It feels wild and cycling has been so much fun. You can have dense forests, epic climbs on forgotten gravel routes or smooth paved descents.

It is highly advised to not wildcamp in the forests because the bears are less afraid of humans and will investigate smells. But luckily there are enough alternatives. 

Cycling here is not easy but absolutely worth it. Just don’t expect cafe’s and bakeries around every corner. You do get a wilder part of Europe, and I believe that’s a fair trade.