Leaving an old world for a more ancient one.
by Dave Young
This morning started with a bit of a recovery sleep-in and several portions of Siggi's yogurt each, a gold mine of gut-protective lactobacillus. We rode through the old town of Split to ensure Justin had a view after missing yesterday.
Heading out of the bustling downtown of Split was a bit confusing. After a few missteps including a short stint on a highway and some industrial back roads, we were on the right path out of town. We made good time until we got to the cutest island town of Trogir. A proper English breakfast awaited us, followed by a healthy dose of gourmet ice cream! Can't stop, won't stop!
After a beautiful meal, we explored the town. The bell tower of St. Lawrence Church rises high above the town square. The church was built on the ruins of an early Christian church destroyed in the 12th century. Although mostly complete after 200 years of work, it wasn't until the 17th century that the church and bell tower was finally finished. Across the square is a tower with a massive clock face where town trials were held during Renaissance times.
Don and I can't resist a museum, so we quickly peeked into the Church of John the Baptist, which now houses sculptures from the 13th century. We were the only ones in there - well worth the $1.25 admission fee.
We floated up and down rolling hills along the coast until coming upon Primošten, another beautiful costal town with surrounding walls. Its name comes from the Croatian verb primostiti, to bridge, as the town originally as an island with a drawbridge that connected it to the mainland. We decided to make a quick stop just on the edge of town for some sodas. To all of our surprise, we encountered an unusually rude woman here. Fortunately, none of us is new to dealing with unpleasant people after spending significant time in New England. She left the encounter frustrated and with a dislike of cyclists.
We rolled into another large town, Šibenik, for a feast at the grocery store (throwback to all the grocery lunches during Seattle2Boston). After sandwiches, grapes, protein shakes, and cookies, we were ready to finish the last 42 miles of the day. Phew! Almost there.
We flew through 20 miles in under an hour stopping at a cute fruit stand for deliciously ripe peaches.
After a quick break, we got back on the road to finish another 22 miles even faster than the last segment. Fortunately, Don is completely back to good health and pulled us at top speeds. We winded into Zadar after 104 miles for the day to find a beautiful apartment home. Except...it wasn't ours. As we were unpacking, the rental agent said she had made an error. We packed back up, walked out bikes another half-mile, and finally reached another (fortunately even better!) apartment we would be calling home for the night.
We all showered (not at once), got dressed in our coincidentally matching blue shirts, and descended on Zadar's old town to find some dinner. After a luxe Mediterranean meal and another wander through the town, we have met our match: comfortable beds, white sheets, and air-conditioning.
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ABOUT DAVE YOUNG
Dave met the other guys while in Boston for medical school. He completed an emergency medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and moved to Denver to complete a Wilderness Medicine fellowship at the University of Colorado. he returned to CU 2 years ago and has been faculty since. His passion for cycling began in college and was solidified when leading bike touring trips for the American Youth Foundation. Dave completed the Seattle2Boston Ride with Justin and Don in 2014 and has been looking forward to another epic ride since.
