Monday May 5, 2014, 17 miles (27 km) – Total so far: 2,439 miles (3,925 km)

May 5, 2014 My bike now has a new wheel. The tech tried to use my old spokes but could not true the new wheel with them so replaced those two. I still don’t know how or why my new Mavic XM719 rim failed. There were raised and depressed areas that caused it to wobble and brake with a jerking motion. Both of us have new brakes and my chain was replaced. After much discussion we decided to head back east into the mountains as they are so beautiful and to cycle Serbia. We got a ride to Berane, Montenegro as we had already cycled that distance east. Berane is also south of our previous town of Zabljak. By dropping this way we will see more of the country.

In the last two days we have been driven 82 miles to Podgorica then 90 miles from there to Berane for the bicycle work.

We left Berane and immediately started climbing. Last night it had rained hard and we could see new snow on the mountain. Soon we were riding in the snow. Fortunately it had already melted from the road. But it was very cold and after passing through a very scary 3400 foot tunnel we started a freezing descent. At the bottom was a restaurant where we each had two bowls of a hot delicious soup. At this point we had only averaged 4.5 mph from the long climb. The Serbia border is still about 15 miles away with no major village until 48 miles. Because of the cold we stopped early as we didn’t want to be stuck outside in the cold. Yes, we are wimps. At some point we will camp in the snow but if we have a choice we are headed indoors. At the last town before Serbia we stopped at a very inexpensive hotel to get warm. Serbia tomorrow!