After an amazing sleep I woke up refreshed hoping Sasho would be feel better. We packed the bags, set the bikes up for going, put our cycling clothes on and went to have the breakfast included in our booking.

The idea was to get an early start, but we just couldn’t get ourselves out of bed. We had a deal with the host to come and pick up the keys at 9:30am which then dragged to just before 10am 🙂 Eventually we showered, packed up and were ready to go. The host gave us a few ideas and critically made our minds up on which route to take to Ohrid. There are two options, the main road South or the one going through the North through Mavrovo national park and lake areas. The host was adamant that the latter is much more scenic and we decided to follow his advice.

Most of the plane journey I spent dosing off and listening to an audiobook. I didn’t want to build up expectations or imagine things that would happen. This was a trip that was agreed a year in advance, but in reality we had no plan. In fact, we chose Macedonia over Turkey just the week before.

Tools, pedals, saddle, toothbrush, lights, helmet… I was starring into the darkness, my mind was rushing. It was 6:30am and a week before I had quit my current job to start a new one. I was still due to go to work that day, but my mind was racing, trying to grasp the sequence of events and the list of stuff I had to make sure I had packed for the trip ahead.