Well what a day. I set off early knowing that it was going to be a longish day. Got to the main road and bugger me I have a puncture in the rear tyre…. I pulled into a lay-by and no sign of a nail etc. Tried to inflate it: no go. Then a chap pulled in and flagged down a passing motorcycle - lots of chat and Google translate. There is a tyre place 2 kms back into town. I was worried that riding with a flat would knacker the tyre itself. So Chappy flagged down a passing trucker - out with the compressor hose and inflated to tyre, just enough for me to get 1 kms, I stopped at a local truck repair yard - more compressor work and off I go - another 1 kms down the road I pulled into a gas station - more compressor work - off I go again and there’s the truck tyre shop.
The chap said he could fixed the inner tube but would not take off the wheel! So it’s Nigels job to get the spanners out and off with the wheel. We found a tiny leak in the tube but no indication of how it got there. Tube repaired and tyre refitted : sorted. All for the princely sum of €10 so I gave him €20 for being a hero.
It’s now 9am and I’m back on the road - so many tunnels, so many twisties and so many trucks making progress very slow. Arrived at Sarajevo in good time and after a quick burst on a motorway the roads then got worse, More trucks, more tunnels etc. Gerty Garmin thought she knew a short cut over the mountain but that proved to be crap as it tried to send be to Banja Luka on some really shit roads. So back down the hill and take another road - bingo, and making better progress.
Stopped for fuel and then it rained hard - no time/place to pull over a put on a rain jacket…. 20 minutes later the storm had passed. Yet another fuel stop and a chat with a young chap who spoke excellent English but really wanted to learn German and attend a university there.
Finally arrived at Bahac Motel. A quick shower and down to the local supermarket and they sell hot food. Then called in at the bar downstairs for a much needed cold beer. Then back to the room to blog and sort some routes back to Caen via Austria and France.
It certainly was a long day - going to limited riding hours for the rest of the way .