To North Macedonia
Date: 27 – 29 June
June 28 | Tirane – Elseban
Leaving Tirane we were immediately led on a typical TransDinarican-style diversion up the hilliest way out of town they could find. It gave us the promised views of the city – albeit obscured by smog – and the welcome sight of live Hermann’s tortoises on the road. They’ve replaced snakes as the common roadkill over the last few days, so we rescued a few and watched a pair battling for territory by repeatedly headbutting each other.
Our destination was Elbasan, whose claim to fame is a fortified old town. Originally built in the 3rd century by Diocletian (the same Roman emperor who gave Split its massive castle), this one differs in its complete lack of commercialisation. There’s a tastefully installed alfresco dining area in one corner, but the rest is original – lived-in houses, tiny winding streets, and ankle-twisting cobblestones. A section of the ancient Via Egnatia runs right through it so we bounced along it the next morning on our soft tyres, thinking of the ancient Romans shaking their teeth out on their way to Turkey.
June 29 – Elbasan to Librazhd
The TD route would have taken us to Moglicë, but there was no accommodation available, so we had the bright idea of traversing to the main route by heading up to Librazhd. Simple, we thought, there’s a road straight up there by a river. It’s a state road, so The Navigator got out her compass and maps and worked out a Plan to ride around most of it.
Caution: Do not try to follow this route.
Especially if it has been raining. You won’t be able to get back onto the main road by the time you read this.
Geez it was fun though. A massive, steep climb through small villages, roads turning into goat tracks and dry, rutted dirt paths that would be impassable after even a light shower. There was a café halfway where children impressed their parents by practising their English on us – What is your name? and looking astonished when they understood my answer. When we finally rejoined the last 10 km of the highway, it had become an unfinished motorway — so we rode along the unused side until we could safely join the main road. We had big, happy grins on our faces and had completely forgotten the long, hot flat plains of the previous days.
June 30 – Librazhd to Radozhda (North Macedonia)
A steady climb mostly along the main road on a quiet Sunday morning led to a final 400 m ascent to the North Macedonian border. Just beyond was Lake Ohrid – the largest natural lake in the Balkans – waiting for us at the bottom of the hill.
We had spotted an interesting road leading down to it on our bike-routing app and turned onto what was basically a farm track just past the customs station. Like yesterday’s adventure it got rougher and less road-like the further we went, eventually becoming a full-on MTB single track. We were no longer on the road the app had imagined was there but we were heading downwards and somebody must have been there before so we ploughed on. Then came the best surprise yet: an actual original section of the Via Egnatia out there in the middle of uncharted nowhere where we walked on flagstones laid 2,000 years ago as part of the Roman Empire’s main highway between the Albanian coast and Turkey.
There’s no mention of it in any guidebook – you’d have to be as lost as we were to find it – but if you know where to look and zoom in closely, it’s there on Google Maps.
It’s only 27° here this evening, the guesthouse has a restaurant over the water, and we are the only tourists on this side of the lake. What a great introduction to another new country.
Max elevation: 775 m
Min elevation: 109 m
Total climbing: 1047 m
Total descent: -1024 m
Total time: 05:51:49
Max elevation: 751 m
Min elevation: 117 m
Total climbing: 1367 m
Total descent: -1210 m
Total time: 05:38:45
Max elevation: 1013 m
Min elevation: 237 m
Total climbing: 1175 m
Total descent: -724 m
Total time: 05:48:55