Riding to mountain Gucevo

I spent the weekend on the banks of the Drina river, not far from the town of Loznica. The first day I devoted myself to family, and relaxing in the waves of this beautiful river.

However, I took my bike with me with the intention of touring the area the next day. While I was planning where to go, I remembered that my father had told me about Mount Gucevo and the great battle of the First World War that took place there.

The fierce battle lasted 55 days and the number of victims has never been accurately determined. Testimonies say that the mountain changed its shape due to cannon fire to which it was exposed. At the top there is a memorial ossuary with a quote from the ruler of Montenegro, poet and thinker Petar Petrovic Njegos "Blessed is he who lives forever, he had reason to be born". With these words, Njegos pays tribute to all those whose names will be remembered by history, including the heroes of the Drina Corps who defended Serbia there on Mount Gucevo.

I started the ascent from the banks of the Drina, not far from the town of Loznica. I quickly passed through the city and after only a few kilometers, the climb became significant. I followed the GPX route, which I will only later find out is 10 years old, which will have quite an impact on my ride.

After an hour of climbing, I encountered an insurmountable obstacle. The road got lost in the dense vegetation. I tried for half an hour to bridge the fifty meters that separated me from the continuation of the road, but in the end I had to give up. As I explain it to the participants of the courses on how to navigate the surplus - sometimes the road is impassable because of just one meter, but when that happens, it doesn't matter if it is one meter or a thousand kilometers... there is simply no way. I had to return and try another path.

In short, two hours after departure, I had covered less than a quarter of the way. After a bit of experimentation, I found a path that took me up near the top relatively quickly, within an hour. On the way, I stopped at an excellent mountain lodge, where I was treated to a traditional breakfast from these regions - homemade bread (it's like donught bus salty) with milk 'kajmak' cream and young cheese, with yogurt... absolutely everything is very specific to Balkan, so I can only explain... and show 🤌

Empowered, I climbed to the top very quickly. Although it is a place of great suffering, the view of the Drina and its surroundings was a great reward for the effort.

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Cycling