Cycling Archives - Pedaling Pictures

Cycling the Balkans: Montenegro & Albania

Over the summer we rented bikes in Montenegro, packed up two panniers each and hit the road, cycling from Podgorica to Plav and Gusinje, then to Koplik (Albania), Shkodra, eventually to Tirana, and finally back up along the Albanian coast to where we first started. Watch the journey unfold in our five-part video series below: Part One: Podgorica to Gusinje Part One covers our trip from Podgorica to Plav, then to nearby Gusinje. We stopped in Plav and talked to Alsen Radončić, volunteer at National Park Prokletije, about tourism and investment in his part of…continue reading →

Back in Podgorica, the Circle Complete

It seems like each day on our bikes has brought new and unexpected challenges, and we've learned to never take the distance on a map as an indicator of navigability by bike. But today, for our last day on the road, we were given the gift of an easy trip to Podgorica. It almost seems like an anticlimax after putting so much sweat, blood and tears into the trip thus far, but mostly we're just glad to be back safe with all of our appendages and most of our gear. We started the…continue reading →

All’s Well That Ends in Shkoder

We had another hard day, but with another happy ending--this time, we're proud to say that we toughed it out and pedaled to the end. On our way out of our beach we stopped by a grocery store to buy water and ask directions. The proprietor sent for her 12-year-old daughter, who explained that the road we were on lead to a dead end in the mountains, and we had to backtrack nearly 15 km to take the right road. We were confused at the directions, because the only turnoff we'd seen on…continue reading →

From Durres to Drac: Our Own Private Beach Resort

Our plan to cycle a quaint 35 km from Tirana to Durres proved successful, though more time-consuming and less pleasant than we'd hoped. Our main obstacle had been an overpass leading to the highway just outside Tirana, where we hesitated for at least a quarter of an hour before mustering the courage to heft our bikes across a six-lane entrance ramp and into the sea of trucks leaving the capital. Eventually the traffic thinned, the fumes dispersed, and we found ourselves in the sunny port city of Durres. Our goal was to reach…continue reading →

Tirana: Albania’s Frenetic, Bike-Filled Capital

We spent our Shkoder morning in the Faculty of Economics talking to Dr. Arjeta Troshani about tourism, economic growth and cycling in Albania. Her unique expertise meshes perfectly with our project, adding depth to our explanation of the underlying factors that play into every aspect of our trip. We were very grateful to have the opportunity to meet with her on such short notice, and we'll certainly touch base with her in the future, both for this and subsequent productions. Since our days were limited, we elected to take a bus to Tirana…continue reading →

Shkoder: Albania’s Biggest Little City

The ride from Koplik to Shkoder seemed like just minutes after our ordeal from the previous day. After our day in the remote mountains, we were glad to coast into the city's frenetic streets and finally be among human beings again. Our first goal was to connect with Dr. Arjeta Troshani, Dean of Shkodra University's Economic Faculty. Stephanie had met her a couple weeks earlier during her time in the Balkans with International Peace Park Expeditions, and she seemed like the perfect person to tell us about tourism and cycling in Albania. With a…continue reading →

Finally Almost to Shkoder

We thought our luck had finally run out when we crossed the Albanian border and the smooth, paved road immediately turned to gravel under our tires (for the next 70+ km). We knew things were worse when the coasting downhill we'd expected turned out to be more uphill, and the road deteriorated from grated pebbles to rim-bending boulders. We made it about 10 km into Albania in the first 6 hours of riding—the amount of time we'd budgeted for the entire day's journey to Shkoder. Then, things really got worse: the road momentarily got…continue reading →

Success in Plav

Our exploring and filmmaking in Plav went extremely well, mostly owing to the enthusiastic team behind Prokletije National Park. It didn't hurt that the food was fantastic and our hotel was perfect (read: cheap). We conducted interviews with the park's director, Enko Dreskovic, as well as Alsen and Irfan, two key volunteers who impressed us with their dedication to rebuilding tourism in their home region. The team also took us on an afternoon outing in and around the park, giving us ample opportunities to capture its dramatic beauty in high-definition video. The town…continue reading →

Podgorica to Plav, Montenegro

After picking up our bikes from the awesome folks at Tempo Bikes in Podgorica, we headed towards Plav, a small mountain town in northern Montenegro. Buses between Podgorica and Plav were too small to fit our bikes, so we had to take a larger bus to Andrijevica, fortunately just a smooth and scenic 20-km ride from Plav. We were treated to gorgeous mountain and river views the whole way, and friendly traffic that honks in greeting rather than scolding. Upon arriving in Plav, we touched base with the office of Prokletije National Park…continue reading →

Where We Are Now: Montenegro & Albania

During the next few weeks we'll be biking through Montenegro and Albania, two countries that make up the Balkan Peninsula, where we'll be producing a video for International Peace Parks Expeditions about the transboundary park National Park Prokletije. We'll also make a series of videos and supplemental media about bicycle infrastructure in the Balkans, as well as documenting the humor and challenges of our own experiences traveling by bicycle. continue reading →

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