“We specialize in gravel bikes, bikepacking and tailor-made,” the co-owner of Loose Cycles tells me. It was enough for me to spend more than two hours in this small shop in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital.

Best European destination 2022, historic city center reserved for cyclists and pedestrians, 300 km of cycle paths and more under construction... Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, is motivated and motivating.

Tobias Gessler was not a mountain biker when he arrived in Albania eight years ago. Today, he annually guides around a hundred mountain bikers through the high peaks of the country.

"I was told that my bike was used and came from Germany, but I didn't ask too many questions..."

In Tirana, the capital of Albania where motors are objects of desire, riding a bicycle has newly become cool.

Between Canada, Morocco and Albania, a few drone photos cost me over $500…!

The 40 kilometers of trails that separate the capital Tirana from the city of Croïa in the north are done in one day. They are also epic enough that I will remember them for years to come.

After Bulgaria and Greece, my brother will soon end his cycling trip with me. It only remains for us to calmly reach Istanbul and enjoy the city. That was without counting our mechanical and traffic problems.

My brother joins me in Eastern Europe to accompany me on 650 km of bike, and I'm not screwed to find us respectable places to sleep. I confess here my poor choices and tip my hat to him for his good humor.

I was due to meet my brother at Sofia airport in Bulgaria on May 22. So I had six days to cross the 500 km of Serbia and a small part of Bulgaria to join it. This is the story of a race against time worthy of Jules Verne.

“Sarajevo is known for two wars and for the 1984 Olympics,” our guide Neno tells us. “We hope to have other Olympic games to at least bring that equal. "

From northern Bosnia, I wish to go south to Sarajevo. I am currently using the Cycle Maps application since Google Maps no longer offers me the cycle route function. Route R440, sounds like a regional road, right? Well finally, no.

So many adventures have happened to me in Bosnia that I had to separate it all into three texts. Here is the first part, where I begin to realize the futility of my journey.

I pass close to crashing into the cement in the capital, I meet a fiery cyclist, and I move on to the second part of my trip.

After a one and a half kilometer tunnel taking me south from Austria, I am welcomed in Slovenia by a divine serpentine descent of almost 20 km. I don't know anything about this country yet, but it's the most beautiful of welcomes.