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Slovakia 6: Ružomberok to Štrba

Posted on 12 April 202227 April 2022 by Rob Ainsley

A glorious day of windless sunshine, blue skies, and the snowy peaks of the High Tatras as backdrop. I was lucky, and just to prove it, I even saw a sign for it. (It’s pronounced more like ‘looch-key’.)

That’ll do for a start: Setting out from Lisková
It’s your Lúčky day

I scooted out early on quiet country lanes from my rural guesthouse and bought provisions from one of the frequent potraviny, grocery. Even the little villages seem to have one. It makes on-the-go catering easy, especially if you’re developing a taste for cheap Slovakian energy drinks. I found a place to have brunch at a picnic table overlooking a reservoir. Doh. I’d forgotten to fill my water bottle this morning. All that water down there and not a drop to drink.

Thirsty work: Brunch at a reservoir

The only big town I went through was Liptovský Mikuláš, where they’ve installed another of their high-quality riverside bike paths. This one is another delight, though it did mean I avoided the shops.

For calendar pic, look out the window: Slovakian village west of Liptovský Mikuláš

I filled my water bottle up at a vet’s, who kindly took time off from spaying a cat or something to give me some orange juice too. Slovakians are a helpful and positive bunch, I must say. Well, so long as you avoid the ones stumbling around with a half-empty bottle of lager.

Putting the mountain into mountain bike: Cycle path in Liptovský Mikuláš
Benchmark tea: Picnic stop in Hybe

The scenery just kept getting better, and – once off the longish but not unpleasant stretch of main road, made copable by the wide shoulder – the roads got hillier. In the last sequence of villages before my target of Štrba, west of Poprad, I kept having to stop to ‘admire the view’, ie get my breath back.

Beat the rush: Monuments at tourist centre in Východná village

Not too much to write about; no particularly amusing incidents or anecdotes. Today was just a lovely, lovely day of scenic cycling in Slovakia’s mountains and villages. Which is what I’m here for, of course.

And why are they called the High Tatras? Východná village
Downhill at last: Final descent into Štrba

Miles today: 46
Miles since Záhorská Ves: 252

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