While it seems that the focus of bikes these days is on each millimetre of travel, degree of frame angle or tyre tread for a specific use, we wanted to return to the basis of the creation of the mountain bike. At its heart, it’s an instrument that allows us to explore the trails, discover new lands – places still unexplored by bicycle – or visit remote populations.
My friend Ludo and I have already visited some nice places in the world, on our own or together, for competitions, training camps or joint trips, but we’d never been to the Balkans. We each had our own ideas, but no certainty. During a conversation about travel, our friend, mountain bike and hiking guide Cyril A’CH told us about a recent hiking route called the ‘Peaks of the Balkans’ that he wanted to explore one day on foot. He added that the region looked nice for mountain biking. The route connects Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania through the ‘Cursed Mountains’ which are the most ‘alpine’ part of the Balkans.
We immersed ourselves in research, viewing all the maps and images we could find on the internet. It was indeed beautiful and steep – but surely there must be rideable sections?