We were quite concerned about the weather considering how awful it was yesterday, but we woke up to clear blue skies and a big beautiful yellow sun. Ah yes! Summer is back. Now we can’t wait to get out on our bikes and enjoy the day.

Then Martina showed us what we will be riding. Basically one huge hill. 11km up (and up and up)  and 11km down. Us gravel bikers knew we were going to be left in the e-bikers’ dust. We didn’t care – the weather is perfect and we are strong, ready and able. Right???

The climb was amazing. The scenery kept getting better and better every time we looked up. This corner of the world is stunning. The sea is crystal blue and dotted with tons of little islands, most of them uninhabited. Anybody want to buy an island with me?

We made it up and I made sure to reward myself with a souvenir jersey from the well-placed souvenir shop at the top of the hill. Then came the descent.

This is where us gravel bikers were able to shine. Weeeeeee! Down down down we went enjoying the wind in our hair and the speed under our tires. Ahhhh. The best reward after a tough climb.

Once we made it into the city of Hvar (which is on the island of Hvar) we were set free for some touring and lunch. Our boat came to pick us up in the harbour. They were only allowed to be docked for 10 minutes so watching them load up all 35 bikes was impressive. They have this down to a science.

It was a 2.5 hour journey to the island of Korcula. It was bumpy, it was sunny, it was lengthy. But we made it.