Grajnár and the end (of the world)

After the Friday trip westside from Dedinky, on Saturday 30th of August I planned for us a cyclo trip do the east. I’ve let the eastest point of our trip opened for how we will feel after visiting the river spring of Hron. Hnilec, Novoveská Huta or Hnilčík were in account in the most optimistic version.

I’ve provisionally have planned our trip on bikemap.net back home and I was thinking about detour to Biele vody. A good road acording to the map. We did turn behind Palcmanská Maša to the Biele vody, and there was nice asphalt road rising up with a slight hill. This place was obviously admired by many tourists, since we had to drive between many of them going by feet or by cars. All of them but turned left to the Zejmarská rokline so we were the only ones to continue this road. As I expected, nice asphalt ended just behind the last dwelling-house.

Everyone is going to Geravy.

Crossroads Biele vody.

This good road has surely an early end.

Cycle route, nothing for recreational cyclotourists.

These desolated tables are the ones to attract tourists for visiting Slovenský raj (Slovak Paradise)

We were resolutely continuing just as when we were on Zelené Pleso in High Tatras under the condition that once we won’t like it we will stop. When we were considering driving these two kilometres or not, two men appeared from the twist, forest workers, so I asked them about the quality of the road. They said that the next kilometre would be the same rock road but then it changes, the gradient of the road will decrease and after two kilometres there would be asphalt road to Mlynky. In this moment a young family with 2 year-old daughter came to us, pushing their bicycles and considering the same eventuality as we did.

Over the Havrania Dolina.

Optimistic words of local people cheered us up and we continued pushing our bicycles. And it was true – after the first kilometre the road has changed and we could sit on our bikes again. It was about one kilometre to another crossroad and youngsters have reached us again. We’ve been talking for a while and then they went down to the Havrania Dolina. They went back to Dedinky and we continued to the East on the Gothic road.

Cyclotourism on the Gothic road

Proper name, the road is really this old and this damaged like it was really from the Middle Ages. From the colony Rakovec the road is constantly increasing up til crossroad to Spišská Nová ves on the left and Hnilec on the right. And from the crossroad to the north the increasing continues, but at least the quality of the asphalt is better. Not good, but only a bit better than the catastrophic section down there. The director of the local road administration should be executed for sabotageing the development of tourism and curtailment of income of national repository.

The increasing was neverending. Olinka had 3rd of 21 gears and I had 4th of 24. I told myself quietly that hills without end like this one would be a good preparation for Dolomity 😉 Every time there has been more light in the treetops I hoped it was the end of increasing, but it always was just another turn and another hill. When we were absolutely fed up the increasing stopped, road straightened and we were sadle of Grajnár. We knew we are not bikeing again today.

In the sadle of Grajnár there is a gravel parking lot on its southern side, desolated rest stop with wooden table and benches, congested waste and a torso of snack bar/roadhouse. Acording the words of another cyclist from Lipany, with whom we met there and chatted for a while, it’s in this state for 15 years.

Ruins of the roadhouse.

Opposite the parking lot there is memorial for the pilot ho crashed there in 2002 with MIG-29.

The memorial of the crash of MIG-29.

Conversed map

Map of the cycle routs in sadle

A map where the south is on top and north on the bottom.

The beginning of the cycle routs with no entry for all of the vehicles

Directional arrows to the cycle routs.

In the saddle there is a table with marked cycle routs with one way direcstions for cyclotourists. The map is interesting because on its upper edge there is south and the north is in the bottom edge. The compass card is on the map, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the cyclist would head toward the routs around the memorial of the crash.

Crossroad

After overcoming the increasing to the Mlynky village and colony Rakovec we had no more fancy for overcoming any other of the routs. Increasing from the Hnilec is not even a bit smaller and I guess the way to Spišská Nová Ves is the same. So we can assume, that interested people will come here by car and will use wide gravel parking lot. And that’s all they can be provided with. Snack bar or roadhouse doesn’t exist and there is no option if one decides to stay overnight in the case of bad weather. And the surroundings of ruins of roadhouse are owergrown with grass so not even the tent comes in account. What one doesn’t bring with himself, that’s what he won’t get there. So a question comes in mind. Why should people come here anyway? And this question is on your mind the whole time during the vacation in (or at least in the southern parts) Slovenský raj (Slovak Paradise).

What a proper picture – the dog has died just like the tourism will do soon.

A parking lot and nothing more..

So after a quick break we get back on track on our way home. Until Rakovec it was all just downhill, but one had to be careful with his hands on breaks, because the road was so devastated that you have to watch carefully for the gaps and try not to crash. There can be no mentioning of nice downhill with enjoying the nature. I felt sorry for spikes and bearings in the wheels.
When you arrive to the village Mlynky, the road straightens and even the surface is of a better quality, in the places where the road has been reconstructed. Through Hámor ist only a short distance to Mlynky and after the lunch we were ready to relax a bit and to absorb our mixed feelings. The nature is beautiful here, but people destroy it.

In the end the obligate map. We have ridden 45 kilometres and increased through 1140 metres. Only our bikes has grown old for two seasons. The biggest enemy of growing the tourism in Slovakia are road workers.