With a standing invitation from Sports Garage customers who live in Poland, Brad and I packed our mountain bikes and headed to the mountains of Central Europe, riding in several countries over a couple of weeks. With the hope of inspiring others to tackle self-directed adventures near and far, I wanted to share our experience from one of the stops on our trip—Slovenia.
Slovenia was our destination after several days riding with our friends in and around the bike parks in Bielsko and Szczyrk, Poland, and a recovery day wandering around Bratislava, Slovakia. We each brought a Pivot Switchblade (Brad did the bike Tetris in our Peugeot, and I navigated the driving routes), hoping to be well-enough equipped for whatever we encountered, including these highlights and recommendations.
Kranjska Gora-geous
Our home base for the first few days was Kranjska Gora in the northwest. With sweeping views of Triglav from nearly every vantage point, the village was a perfect mix of sleepy and well-provisioned. And by that, we mean we found an ample number of local bakeries. Pop-up showers arrived every afternoon or overnight, and we learned from local riders that the seasonal rain was lingering longer than usual.
We didn’t ride the gondola at the Krajnska Gora bike park, instead choosing to discover our own route up via gravel roads, double track, footpaths, and bushwhacking. We rode all the well-marked trails near the village, including one supremely well-built and challenging descent called Kinder Surprise. It was here we learned the mud on the flanks of the Julian Alps is not your average trail mud—we can’t be sure, but this mud has been specially infused with Crisco. Or motor oil. (Whichever is more slippery.)
A popular weekend ski destination for Ljubljana residents, we discovered a variety of great restaurants and pubs, all within walking distance of the mountain chalet apartment we rented. Kranjska Gora ended up ranking high on our expectations-to-outcome ratio for the total experience, though there truly is only one day of local riding.
Seeking High Ground
In search of a lesser-known backcountry route, we employed a guide for help with one apple strudel-fueled ride. We wanted to really climb mountains and were committed to finding big views. After connecting with Necj (pronounced “Nates”) from Ljubljana-based HourAway and describing what we wanted to do, he gave us driving instructions to a rendezvous point about an hour from Kranjska Gora.
Most of the climb, predictably, was a gravel road. The decision to ride with Necj paid off when the route turned to singletrack, which was little more than a ribbon of trampled wildflowers. I know us—had we been navigating ourselves we would have assumed we’d taken a wrong turn and abandoned the climb…or at least ridden in circles for an hour. The path hugged steep embankments of thick green grass and wildflowers. The grass was so tall it was hard to see where the mountain cut away, as Brad discovered when he put a foot down and literally disappeared over the side. All I could do was stand there and wonder how far he would slide, but fortunately, both he and the Switchblade stopped after about 25 feet.
The pictures can tell this story best, and the 1,200-meter climb rewarded us with a beautiful vantage point. We achieved our objective: 365-degree sweeping views of the Julian Alps, green pastures, and a fast and technical descent back to the gravel road. It was an easy tour in the Peugeot to the stunning Lake Bled for our après-ride.
Simon of Maribor
Never has the phrase “better lucky than good” been more appropriate than when we discovered our lodging in Maribor was at the top of Pohorje Bike Park gondola rather than the bottom: fantastic views and steady cool breeze. Despite its notoriety as a DH venue, there are essentially two sanctioned trails in the Maribor bike park: The Red Line and The Flow Line.
On one of the mornings in Maribor, after studying Trailforks and combing through Ride With GPS, we rolled out on a rough-ish doubletrack in search of an unsanctioned trail referred to as “indigenous” or “natural.” We weren’t sure we’d find a proper and substantial singletrack route, but were very grateful for plenty of exercise and sightseeing.
We had been riding for just over three hours and were returning to the lodge when Brad suggested we check out what looked like a hikers’ path leading to a scenic overlook. It was barely a track, but we followed it into trees. Just out of view from the gravel road, the track turned into a pristine, hand-cut, loamy, hidden trail. We descended deeper into the forest, grinning ear to ear, and blasted across a gravel road. This proper trail pitched steeply off the opposite bank, and we descended further. Arriving at the next wide doubletrack, we paused to look at GPS, not having any idea where we were. About 20 yards away, another rider had seen us pop out of the trees and headed toward us hollering, “How did you find the trails?”
This man turned out to be a trail-building angel by the name of Simon. After exchanging pleasantries and extorting promises not to mark, map, or otherwise record our rides in Maribor, Simon took us up and down the forest access roads, showing Brad where to mark the entrances for hidden trails (none of which are on this Trailforks map). Where we once saw what we thought were underbrush piles or attempts to keep motorcycles out of the forest, we now saw Simon’s calling card. Our last day of riding in Slovenia was a thorough and exhaustive exploration of Simon’s social network, and it was glorious!
After several days of brake-burning descents, Brad felt he brought half the number of brake pads he wished he had. Our advice to Colorado all-mountain riders traveling to Slovenia with their own equipment: Arrive with brake pads and rotors in like-new condition.
In the end, we only had one quasi-mechanical: I left my phone—with a slew of unbacked-up photographs from Maribor—on the Lufthansa Customer Service counter in Munich. So, you’ll just have to go to Slovenia and see it for yourself.
Elorie
Recommendations
Keep or add Slovenia to your list of global riding destinations. We’d suggest setting yourself up for success with the following expectations:
A. If you’re mountain biking, make Slovenia an enduro adventure. Embrace the gondola and the steep road climbs and lap your heart away on some of the most beautiful mountain slopes we have ever seen. In no particular order, we recommend visiting:
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- Ljubljana: The capital city is charming and will likely be an arrival or departure point. Choose accommodations that allow you to ride from town to the trails/park.
- Krajnska Gora: A stunning and peaceful mountain village that stole our hearts.
- Bike Park Jamnica: With a privately owned mountain bike hotel, Jamnica has a chill vibe and its own network of trails, both up and down.
- Mt. Peca/Pecen: The longest downhill flow trail in Europe—11 kilometers.
- Maribor/Pohorje: Whether you’re lapping The Red Line or searching for the social trail network, this place is beautifu
B. If “A” doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, take a gravel bike. We would gladly have traversed the country, including many remote mountain roads, as an alternative to bike park hopping. Particularly in Pohorje, gravel routes were well-marked, linking mountain chalets that served homemade stew and beer across a 130-kilometer gravel Shangri-La in Slovenia’s interior.