The Green Interior – Day 5

Day 5 of 7

Everything the Forecast Promised

We told them to keep the rain gear on. They didn’t. Bosnia delivered its verdict.

The forecast for Day 5 was bad. Rain and wind — the worst combination on trail. We looked at it the night before over dinner in Mostar, then went for baklava anyway, because there was nothing to be done about the weather and the old town was right there.

We left Mostar heading north toward Drežnica. Dry when we set off. The kind of dry that makes you think maybe the forecast was wrong.

It wasn’t.

The moment we started climbing toward Drežnica, the rain arrived. Not gradually. All at once, like it had been waiting.

Drežnica is part of the Čvrsnica massif — rocky, technical, full of large boulders and long wet serpentines that demand patience and a clean line. Walter comes off his KTM 890. He’s been carrying fatigue from the previous days and the weather isn’t helping. He’s up quickly — no injury — but this is the kind of fall that happens when a rider is tired and the conditions are punishing. We stop, check the bike, check him. Continue.

We stop on the descent toward Blidinje to put on rain gear. Everyone suits up — it’s pouring. We come down to Blidinje, pick up the road toward Tomislavgrad, then cut sharply up into the hills of western Bosnia.

“Under rain gear you sweat hard on offroad. That’s the trade. But it’s the only thing between you and a cold, wet, demoralised afternoon. The weather does not negotiate.”

The rain returns with wind. We reach the first fuel stop — the French riders are soaked through, genuinely surprised at how completely and quickly the weather turned. This is Bosnia. We fill up and push the final 30 kilometres to the Cincar mountain hut through fog, rain and terrain that would be demanding in good conditions.

The hut informs us, on arrival, that hot water requires the wood stove to be lit specially if we want to shower. The shower itself is outside.

Outdoor shower bravery

Walter and I were the only ones who used it. Cold wind, wood-heated water, outdoor cubicle. Entirely worth it. Inside, every chair around the stove was occupied by a pair of boots and a jacket actively dripping. The smell of wet gear drying on wood heat is, by Day 5, a familiar one.

Dinner was veal ispod peke — slow-cooked under the bell, the kind of dish that takes hours and tastes like it. Beer. Hurmasice for dessert. Five to a room, bunk beds, military arrangement. Nobody complained. We were asleep before anyone had a chance to.

Day 6 we wake up on Cincar and it is not raining. There are wild horses on the plateau and the morning light is doing something extraordinary. Nobody is still asleep by the time someone shouts about it. Then we ride Vranica — the technical highlight of the tour. Best attempted dry. We will not attempt it dry. The Green Interior – Day 6