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57 posts in Route craft
Notranjska: Cerknica lake, Snežnik and the roads through the forest
A lake that disappears for four months, the Bloke plateau's empty tarmac and the forest climb to Sviščaki under Snežnik, with honest notes on surfaces and bears
Prekmurje: Slovenia's flat corner, for the days you don't want a climb
The Mura route, 600 km of signed asphalt on the plain, and the driest climate in the country: why Prekmurje is where Slovenian riders go for long steady hours and winter miles
Slovenian gravel: Kočevje forests and the roads with no cars
Ninety-one percent forest, a formerly closed military zone and the Kolpa–Rog route: how to ride Kočevsko's forest roads, what the rules are, and what to do about the bears
Slovenia's sportives and gran fondos: Maratona Franja and the events worth a trip
Maraton Franja, Juriš na Vršič, L'Étape Slovenia, Alpe Gran Fondo and the Poli maraton: 2026 dates, distances and climbs from the organisers, and an honest view of which to travel for
Cycling in Girona: the roads that made it the pros' home
Why the peloton lives here: the classic climbs with the tourist board's numbers, the greenways out of town, the AEMET climate month by month, and the weeks to avoid.
Tenerife: training on the volcano in winter
Sea level to 2,300 m on one road, three climates on one island, and a week that leaves you fitter rather than wrecked. Roads from the park authority, weather from AEMET.
The Dolomites by bike: passes, order and the weather window
Short climbs in clusters, so the order and the start time matter more than fitness. The Sellaronda, Giau, Tre Cime, the organiser's gradients and the afternoon-storm rule.
Flanders: riding the cobbles and bergs of the Tour of Flanders
The Kwaremont, Koppenberg and Muur with the tourist board's gradients, why cobbles are a technique problem, the signposted loops from Oudenaarde and the Belgian road rules.
Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, Ventoux: a first Alps trip in one week
One base in Bourg-d'Oisans, the Alpe on day one, the Galibier on day three, a rest day, then south to Bédoin. Official climb figures, pass opening dates and a day-by-day shape.
Istria and the Croatian coast: quiet roads and where to base yourself
The riding is inland: hill towns, the Parenzana and the Učka ridge to 1,401 m. Where to stay, what the bura does, and the months when the coast road is worth avoiding.
How to use a heatmap to find roads locals actually ride
A heatmap is a map of what riders avoid as much as where they go. How it is built, what GPS route-choice research says it means, five patterns to read and a 15-minute method.
The perfect 60 km: designing a mid-week loop you'll ride all year
The route you ride fifty times a year is a training tool. One climb in the right place, a 15-minute uninterrupted stretch, few junctions, the same direction, and built for winter.
Navigating without a screen
Every rider eventually has the same afternoon: 80 km out, battery dead, phone on 4%. Five methods in the order you will use them, and why learning the shape of a route beats learning its turns.
Getting out of a city to the good riding
The good roads exist — there are just 45 minutes of traffic lights between you and them. Five strategies, why the exit is a problem you solve once rather than every ride, and the train trick almost nobody uses.
Reading an elevation profile: the picture is not to scale
Every route planner draws you a little mountain range, and every rider forms an opinion from it. That opinion is frequently wrong. What the distortion does, why averaging hides the steep bits, and the four numbers worth extracting before an event.
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