Crazy mountain biking near Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

A couple days ago, I had my first attempt at biking Pljesevica mountain to the abandoned airbase on the Croatian/Bosnian border.  Long story short, I didn't make it to the top but was determined to give it another go.  Unfortunately, the following few days were rainy and miserable and I had to postpone. Today, on my last day of volunteering at the hostel, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a shot regardless of the terrible weather.  The top of the mountain was covered in clouds, however I was doing it more for the challenge than for the view.

I am proud to say that I conquered the mountain!  I rode over 40km (24.8 miles) and climbed 1,463m (4,800ft) in about 4 hours.

Here are the main highlights of the day:

I rode a mountain bike all the way from the ground, to the clouds.  Those who climbed Pljesevica with me, remember that amazing rock?  The bottom left photo was my view from the top - the clouds were insane.

I experienced the beautiful colours of Fall for the first time:

I experienced some incredible history by taking a sneek-peek in the abandoned base:

And, I persisted and reached my goal.  This was one of the hardest physical challenges I have done, almost half a year in Europe isn't too crash hot for the fitness.

So here comes the end of my volunteering position in Croatia.  A huge thanks to Boris and Irena (the fabulous owners) on having me for much longer than we both expected.  I had a blast and met a whole bunch of awesome people.

What comes next? I'll keep you updated.  But in the meantime, I found this quote the other day and it is now one of my favourites.  It doesn't really need any explanation so without further ado, here it is :)