Steel City Media is proud to present 'Mountains to Sea', a two wheel'd adventure across Slovenia with
Juliana Bicycles ambassadors Rachel Walker and Julia Hobson.
With this film we look to land Slovenia firmly on riders bucket lists, by trying to give this 'hidden gem' of Europe the justice it deserves on screen, with its pristine singletrack, endless layers of mountains and great pizza?!
Growing slowly in popularity over the years, but far from busy compared to the normal 'go to' alpine destinations, Jonny and his crew have carved out a unique path from 'Alps to Sea', taking in a huge amount of ever-changing terrain and trails across 6 days.
High Alpine descents into forests with loam on tap, what more could you want.
We felt naive once we were there witnessing it all first hand, but Slovenia is a place that is largely covered in mountains and bordered by four different countries, which gives you a huge mix of cultures and terrain each day as you work your way towards the coast for that final reward of gelato...
You'll need to watch the film for the full story, but It's like they've almost picked their favourite parts of the rest of Europe and placed them all in one tidy, mountainous package.
One thing you won't find included though is trail traffic, as you can be tricked into thinking each descent could be a first, as you can go hours without bumping into another human.
After a full week of early starts, big miles and huge descents the team were on the home straight, but as Rachel said, on the last day we ended up in a bit of a 'pickle' .... resulting in a last minute test of the Slovenian health care system, which was fortunately also great.
For more information on how to create your own Slovenian adventure, head over to
Ride Slovenia for the full details.
Riders: @riderrachy
@julialikesbikesIllustration: @samneedham_photo
Imagery:
@roofowler
One advice though for all of the potential visitors: unfortunately most of the riding in the video (and generally in Slovenia) isn't legal, except for a few bike parks and trail centers. Which generally means ride on your own risk, respect the nature, and give way to all other trail users.
Also, avoid biking outside designated areas in Triglav National Park. It's not if, but *when* will you get caught. Been there, done that...
Other than that, have fun
With significant amount of volunteer work, dealing with bureaucracy, and lobbying there have been a few improvements in the last couple of years in terms of legalizing trails, but it's an uphill battle and we've got a looong way to go.
@starilater : Yeah I suppose they must have been negotiating permission to be able to record and publish the video on a mainstream international cycling website like this.
So if you want to own a land you will not chose a piece like that but rather something with clear ownership... If government wants to build road on such land, well they have to buy the shares from everybody.
Its the same here, you are in principle allowed to cross any land, but not drive over it. Sounds reasonable if some ancient law would not define bike as mean of transportation (technically a vehicle)...
Fun bizarre law of Slovenia: Allowed alcohol level is 0.5 g/(l of blood), but 0.0 for vehicle that you do need the permit for (aka bike), so you are technically not allowed to drink and ride a bike
WHAT?! Pizza? :-D