Croatia! | Zagreb & CHALLENGES In Remote Villages | Bikepacking Across Europe Ep.16

We cross into Croatia while continuing our adventure bikepacking across Europe! We give our first impressions bike touring here and explore Zagreb! We continue to bike to remote villages in rural Croatia which feels so different. We experience some challenges but also some kindness from strangers. This bike adventure is starting to feel VERY WILD!
#biketouring #bikepacking #croatiatravel #croatia
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Liz & Alex
About us: We are Liz and Alex, a married couple that makes outdoor adventure and travel videos. We strongly believe that dreams are meant to be pursued, and we hope to motivate others to get outside their comfort zones and do the same. We are full-time nomads and divide up our time between traveling abroad and the other part of the time in our self converted van all the while fitting in loads of outdoor-based adventure along the way! Our goal is to show you amazing places and inspire you to get outside your comfort zone and pursue your dreams...whatever they may be.

[@nemaxia]

Nice trip, best regards from Croatia! 🤘 Schnapps, brandy - "Rakija" in Croatia, homemade strong alcoholic drink..

[@TheSorrowedMan]

a late tip, but useful if you ever visit Slovenia and Croatia again: There are a lot of bike shops that sell and fix beat up old city bikes. I'd say it's most of them. Usually they have v-brakes, bb30s and cup and cone bearings. And a lot of older stuff. if you need modern (current) stuff, you need to find a place that sells expensive road bikes and MTBs (especially if you're looking for maxxis tyres)

[@brettbarnes4995]

Hi, my name is Brett, my wife Becky and I are now Patreons. Thank you so much for sharing your adventures. We have followed you guys for the last few years. We talk about you everyday. Thank you both for being real…

[@PursuingMountains]

Aww that’s so nice! Thank you so much for your generous support! ☺️☺️We are looking forward to meeting you both this year for a video call planning session! Feel free to email us when you have an upcoming trip! [e-mail]

[@brucewillixaspirinix9652]

The guy giving you the bug spray is so cool :)

[@PursuingMountains]

Yes! Loved him 🥹

[@triathloner1]

My knees hurt watching Liz ride, think her seat needs to be higher

[@denverman6161963]

Without question! Liz, you're waddling in your saddle=seat is too low! Aren't your knees killing you?

[@kayo7082]

@@denverman6161963generally sppeaking, I‘m with you. It looks strange to me too. BUT she made it with that position, so it’s ok for her.

[@PursuingMountains]

Yes it was too low! Unfortunately, we didn’t realize this until we got to Bulgaria 🤦🏻‍♀️it didn’t cause knee pain but it caused A LOT of other pain in other areas…

[@mbrylewski]

Love watching your trip across Europe. I was so disappointed that there wasn't a next video after Croatia and will have to wait patiently. Learning a lot from what you experienced on your trip. What bikes are you using? Brand name?

[@PursuingMountains]

Hi! We are so glad you enjoy watching these series. We are using salsa Fargos. We have a video about the bikes on our channel if you want to learn more about them.

[@Ojjjee]

I have been binge watching your videos for the past three days 😂 love watching your journey guys!

[@PursuingMountains]

Aww that’s awesome! Glad they are bingable to you :)

[@elham2393]

the cornfields remind me of michigan where i live haha

[@PursuingMountains]

😅I bet! Apparently we humans eat a lot of corn since it’s been everywhere 😄

[@eminbk]

Hi guys! What bikes have you used? Also, are they the same you have been riding on older vlogs, in USA and Canada? Thanks

[@TravelWithBen121]

Great vlog! Beautiful places! Good luck on your journey!

[@PursuingMountains]

Thank you so much!

[@byron2571]

I love all the bike routes you find. I'm planning on a trip in 2025... I may bring an extra chain and a wheel hubs due to different standards for bike parts. Love the videos!

[@PursuingMountains]

That’s awesome you plan to do a trip soon! Good idea on the extra parts. If we could do it over again we would have started with more fresh parts and brought spares

[@bvdv47]

Never realised that bicycles didn't have universal parts, is this a metric vs freedom-units thingy?

[@PursuingMountains]

I’m not sure exactly. But some of our salsa Fargo bike parts (which is an American brand) were hard to find in stores. It might be our bikes in particular.

[@dsego84]

Bikes don't have universal parts, there are multiple standards for every part, some things depend on sizing, or the manufacturer etc.

[@Mochioverland]

Your video reminds me of our bicycle trip in Croatia. I miss this time. But soon we are planning for a bigger trip ❤ have a save ride 😊 Mélanie and Norman

[@PursuingMountains]

That’s awesome! What’s the bigger trip you have planned?

[@Mochioverland]

@@PursuingMountains In December we will be setting off on a trip around the world, just like you, but in our Mercedes. We realised during our cycling trip that this was a little too much out of our comfort zone for the long term.

[@myronas]

Here in Greece wildcamping is not allowed too, but this doesn't mean if you stay at some quiet beach or mountain, you will get fined. I would take the chance and spend the night outside some small village (whiteout being seen from the road).

[@PursuingMountains]

Yeah, the wild camping rules surprised us in Europe. Made it a bit more nerve wracking wild camping but luckily we were ok. Someday we’d love to go to Greece!

[@dsego84]

I believe there's a low chance of getting fined in Croatia, not enough police or city wardens to patrol and issue fines. At least around my area there is a scourge of tourists in campervans and converted vehicles hogging up city parking lots, side walks and parks. The laws are also a bit vague as to what constitutes camping, since you could just be parked for the night.

[@m.k.4046]

3:50 As far as the name goes, "Hrvatska" is in the genitive case, it refers to the "Republika" and it means "of the Croats" (Hrvati) which is the ethnic group living there. "Croatia" means the same, but in Latin, and has been in use since the romans. Also, as highlighted on 8:30 the name "cravat" comes from "Croat" aswell. Additionally, as far as bike parts go, if the drivetrains/components are from Shimano or SRAM, you really shouldn't have problems finding parts for them, no matter where you are in the world.

[@PursuingMountains]

That makes sense. I’ve studied a few languages that use a case system like German and Russian, so I could see that. We did see SRAM and Shimano bike parts every where we went, but no one had the exact cassettes we needed. Also the wheels and tires are such unusual sizes, even finding compatible parts in the US is challenging. Next time we might have to opt for wheels and tires that are easier to find globally.

[@jcraigshambaugh5417]

Why did`n you just buy 2 new chains and even a front wheel and tire for maybe 150 eu .I loved Croatia, Slovenia Plitvice Nat Park is a treasure

[@PursuingMountains]

We actually had replacement chains with us, but they had worn down with the cassettes and we couldn’t replace the chains without replacing the cassettes or it would have caused some problems. Also, our bikes have unusual sized wheels finding compatibility wasn’t possible.

[@jcraigshambaugh5417]

@PursuingMountains I've found even when you put on a new chain on old sprockets they wear in and mesh in a short time . Let me know of you favorite food and country? Thanks stay safe.

[@donnadehardt5728]

What brand/type of bicycle would have more universal parts? I need a 26" about 2¼ width. I like a pretty low center of gravity too.

[@dsego84]

@@PursuingMountains Do you ride 650b? Not popular around here, everything is 29" mtb (or 700c road), unfortunately.