Adventure starts when you can’t read the menu. Explore Slovenia with us!
Morzine, Whistler, Bikepark Wales - all great places to ride your bike. Perfectly sculpted berms, massive jumps and a convenient cafe where you can order dishes you can pronounce. It all seems so normal and perfect that it’s hard to understand that true bike heaven looks totally different.
True bike heaven, in my humble opinion, is a place with a perfect mix of culture, adventure, confusion, flow and surprises. Say what? Ok, let me elaborate. In general we crave security, but the true feeling of living a full life lies in the unknown (or the unpronounceable). Yes, it's great to pick some familiar dish from the menu and know what you’re getting. Of course it is easy to be able to read all the signs and follow the arrows on a perfect machine sculpted trail.
But every single time I go to a totally wild place where I don’t have any idea on where to go and what to do, my heart beats just a little faster.
Slovenia
This is where Slovenia comes into the picture. Not just because their language is related to the Slavic languages which makes it virtually impossible to understand. It’s also because there are tons and tons of singletracks, a rich biking scene and a rich history in every corner of the country which is slightly smaller than Wales.
The former Yugoslavian country was put on the map in 1991 as an official nation state and NATO member, but has been inhabited for thousands of years. There are several Neanderthal archeological sites spread out over the country and it’s the place where archaeologists uncovered what is believed to be the world's oldest musical instrument. Also in more recent history the Slovenes played a big role. The front ran straight through the Soča region and the thousands of kilometers of military roads are now popular with hikers and bikers alike.
For this trip however, I set my sights to the Northern area of Koroška. The mountainous region that borders Austria and is home to the Karawanken mountain range. To make sure I’m not completely lost, I am being chaperoned by Jani. One of Slovenia’s first mountain bike guides, he is one of the core people that run mountain bike tourism in this region with his company Ridgeline Trails. Jani heads the company as main guide and trail builder, working closely together with former national DH champ Peter Mlinar; you'll be assured you have no chance keeping up with the guide.
Situated on the connecting line of where the African and European tectonic plates meet, you will technically be riding in both Africa as well as Europe on the same day. With a soil that is mainly made from limestone, the area dries out super fast while offering some of the worlds best loam deep in the forests. Ancient Spruce and Pine trees litter the valleys, with many remote farms and mines scattered throughout the area connected through thousands of kilometers of gravel road and single tracks.
Let’s go!
Jani welcomes us in his brand new holiday apartment and as we settle in I can see him being proud and excited to host us in his town. The Slovenes are very proud of their country and culture, and love sharing it with visitors. Even though the local lingo is notoriously hard to understand most of the people speak either fluent English or German. Not hard to understand as the Austrian border is literally just 5 km away from the village of Črna na Koroškem.
Yesterday we already warmed up from a day in the Petzen bike park, home of a mind blowing 15 km long flow trail. Today however we head out for a less man made experience. We hop in Jani’s van and get shuttled up through winding gravel roads. Normally I am pretty good with orienting myself, but here it took less than 5 minutes to lose my bearing completely.
After a 20 minute drive we pull over and unload the bikes. Time for action! We warm up with a mellow climb through lush pine forests to get the heart pumping. At a crossroads Jani pulls over to regroup and check the fitness levels of his herd. After a long summer of riding we are all reasonably fit but still we can’t wait to point the bikes down some singletracks.
I was fully convinced we were going to continue further up the fire road, but Jani hangs a hard right and disappears into what looks like some untouched forest. As I get closer, I can make out a teeny tiny singletrack meandering through the blueberry bush. Loamy pine forest soil mixed with the odd root section makes out the trail and oh boy what a joy! It has the perfect angle to keep the flow and never makes a straight line either.
We snake our way down several sections of this goodness, while linking them together with short, spicy gravel road climbs. As we hit an open section in the forest, it strikes me there is absolutely nothing man made to be seen in the valley we look down on. No roads, no houses, no buildings, nothing. Something quite rare, as even in Alpine countries like France or Switzerland you will find some form of infrastructure within eyesight.
Pitstop
All this bike riding works up an appetite, and Jani navigates us flawlessly to a remote mountain hut. We’re met with a friendly smile, some kind of stew and freshly baked bread from home grown wheat. No E-numbers or additives to find here my friend!
As we munch down the local delish, a group of hikers arrive. Nothing new you’d say, but I reckon that the average age would be late 70’s at least. Jani explains that hiking is a big thing in Slovenia and it’s basically mandatory for every Slovene to climb their highest mountain, the 2863m high Triglav, at least once in their lifetime. It’s not uncommon to come across elderly hiking the woods, picking forest fruits and enjoying nature. The wrinkles in their face tell they’ve been around for a few decades, but they’re still strong as an ox!
We finish up our meals and get moving again. Jani has been mentioning he has a surprise planned for us. Something unique and wild were all the hints he wanted to share.
Get down!
We snake our way down the blueberry lined singletracks and end up on an open section of the forest where we regroup in front of a metal gate. Jani asks if any of us is claustrophobic, while handing out headlamps. Oh yeah! We’re going underground!
The Peča mountain used to be bursting with mining activity. For decades the miners dug tunnels to excavate zinc and lead ore, creating tunnels with a total length of close to 1000 km spread out over 27 different levels. All this at a constant temperature of about 10 degrees celsius, all year round!
It’s good to know there are two MTB trails created through the mines. One is the easy, anyone can do it trail, while the other is a double black diamond steep tech trail that drops about 150m across 5 levels. Needless to say we went for the double black option. Oh boy, did this not disappoint. It’s absolutely wild to ride such steep terrain and have no point of reference on how steep it is. No trees down there to gauge the steepness of the chutes!
Definitely nothing like this anywhere else I have ridden, and just riding this trail alone is worth the trip to Slovenia. Do practice your steep riding skills before jumping into this one though, it’s definitely a trail for the advanced riders only. If you’re not that confident, no worries. The easy option is doable for anyone, and just as cool (literally).
Moar!
After our underground experience we headed back to the Na Trati guesthouse. Warm showers, cold beers and a hammock chair is all you need after a day of riding.
The following two days we continued the singletrack goodness. Somehow Jani managed to find a new valley every day, and we didn’t do a single trail twice!
Fancy a multisport trip? Slovenia has got you covered. Besides the two wheeled fun, the Koroška region has excellent rock climbing, via ferrata, Slovenia’s longest zip-line and you can tour the mines not only by bike, but also by foot and kayak!
Floods
The saying goes ‘You make plans and God laughs’. This is unfortunately also the case for the Na Trati guesthouse. Not long after our visit, huge storms caused massive floods in the area. Amongst the victims was Jani and his guesthouse, leaving them forced to cancel bookings and tearing their just finished accommodation apart to get rid of the moisture.
This year will be mostly filled with reconstruction works and renovations, but the plans are to be back in action again for 2024. The best way to help out is to treat yourself to a trip to this amazing country and invest a bit in the local economy by booking a trip with Ridgeline Trails or in the guesthouse.
Useful links:
- https://ridgelinetrails.si/
- https://natrati.com/
- https://www.podzemljepece.com/
- https://bikenomad.com/en/home/
