....... and headed off early to try and get to Pula where I was told I could catch a boat down the coast toward Dubrovnik or one of the other bigger cities and ride some of the long islands that are said to be beautiful for a few more days before making my way home.
There were some nice rolling hills and little harbors along the way, with some orchards of fruit and nut trees and even some vineyards. But the soil seemed rocky and not nearly as green, rich or productive as France or Northern Italy.
..........and everywhere along the coast even if there was no beach people would folk to the shoreline.
Just before lunch, making good time I rode into the small harbor town of Vrsar. To save about 25 miles of riding inland and then back 25 miles to cross a river, I had been told that there was a ferry To get across. In the states or most of Europe there probably would have been a bridge.
But here in Vrsar the ferry had stopped and was no longer operating. making matters worse in the busy harbor full of fishing boats for charter a guy darted out, without looking into the bike path I was riding on and knocked me over. I fell but relatively gently and fortunately on the opposite side than I had landed on twice before and I was okay.
Not so for Helen. Up till now my trusty and reliable bike. As any true spoke-head knows there are few, and probably only one thing on a bike that is a deal breaker and can't be repaired or replaced on the road. Most parts .........wheels, spokes, chain, breaks, cables, etc. are interchangeable and replaceable. The one thing that is unique for each bike and critical for riding at all is the hanger arm on the rear derailier because it holds tension on the chain and mine was snapped into two pieces.
At this point I knew I was finished and the ride was over!!!!!!! Helen was dead!!!!
I walked off the road and sat for a while to come to terms with this reality and try to figure out how to get home. I was in a small town in Croatia with no bus or rail service and a bicycle that I could not ride.
I walked about 1 kilometer back into town thinking over my options. I noticed a bike rental shop as I got to the village harbor and thought of one possibility. If I took the derailleur or gear shifting mechanism completely off the bike and was able to shorten the chain, it would be possible in theory to chose one fixed gear and ride.
I approached the shop to see if they had the one tool needed and that I didn't have to shorten the chain. Something that could press out one of the pins on the chain and remove the required number of links. Not only didn't they not have this special but common tool, but had never even heard of one. A friend of the guy who owned the shop ran home and came back with a box of old rusted bike parts, insisting on repairing the whole rear derailleur, but not the simple tool for changing a chain. But in the old Soviet style of brute force we pounded and hammered out the pin and somehow were able to shortened the chain
...... my hero, savior and repair man in Croatia ..... a truely creative and resourceful mechanic.
.
With only a single mid-range gear that allowed me to climb a gentle hill but not cruse at more than 13 MPH, I set off for the 40 miles I had to ride to get to Pula the nearest city that was on the transportation grid. The going was slow since the chain kept wanting to slide into a lower gear and eventually off the gear cluster into the axel if I didn't maintain tension on the chain.
I managed to get the hang of riding with the floating chain, learning how to keep guiding it back into place with my foot and fortunately with no big hills to climb at about 5 PM I finally rolled into Pula. I went immediately to the harbor to see if there were any boats to Venice or across the Adriatic to Italy. But there were no ferries today or for the next two days.
Desperate with no rail service in town, I went to the bus terminal my last resort and fortunately found a 6 hour bus to Venice leaving the next morning at 5 AM and bought one of the last seats.
Finally able to relax, I explored the ancient Roman city of Pula. It had a huge Roman Colosseum used to watch gladiators fight and many other Roman structures. As well there was an enormous municipal park with an incredible beach, a remnant of the communist era, where I took a swim as the sun set.
Since I wanted to be at the bus station at 4 AM to be certain I got a seat and could load my bicycle, I decided it would be easier to have a late dinner, explore the night life of Pula and just stay up all night and catch an hour or two of sleep on the beach in the park.
The city filled with tourists from Sariavo, Germany, Poland and Austria down on the southern coast of the Adriatic Sea for holidays never did go to sleep and was still buzzing as I made my way to the bus station early the next morning before the sun came up, hoping to be able to begin my return journey home.
I have no photos of this beautiful old and very interesting city because my i Pad battery was dead.
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