by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here)
Where can you travel for world-class biking with ocean breezes, mountain challenges, and views around every corner? Santa Barbara fits that description, and indeed we thought of Santa Barbara often on our biking tour in Croatia.
Chris, Dawn, Nancy and I called ourselves the Santa Barbara Granny Gears, comprising 20 percent of a 20-person tour with an excellent biking outfit called VBT. We joined road bikers hailing from Washington state to New York state, plus many in between.
The pod of Idaho e-bikers gunned it to the front on steep slopes, with the road bikers swift behind them. We hybrid-bikers usually brought up the rear, but were mighty proud of our mileage.
From Croatia’s second-largest city called Split, a ferry took us to the island of Brac, known for a beautiful white-pebble beach and quarries which provided the limestone for the U.S. White House.
The first full day’s ride brought us to a stone-carving school with students from countries across Europe learning the craft of restoration work for the world’s ancient sites.
Other than transfer days to Brac and later Hvar island, our biking routes were typically 25-32 daily miles through agricultural fields and villages tucked into steep hillsides.
The arid landscape informs a crop assemblage similar to Santa Barbara’s. Grape vines burdened with heavy bunches of purple grapes reminded us of Santa Ynez Valley.
We rode through fields of lavender, the plants still perfuming the air even though the flowers had been harvested. Carpinteria-style agriculture was evident in the flower fields as well as the occasional greenhouse of cannabis.
We toured a family olive oil operation housed in a 200-year-old stone-roof building. Modern electronic equipment cozied up to ancient wooden screw olive presses and goatskin oil bags.
On several occasions, elders embraced us tearfully to thank Americans for providing intelligence in their bid for independence in their Homeland War in 1991-95.
Our heavy biking schedule allowed us the calories to relish Mediterranean wining and dining.
My palate matured from being an occasional seafood eater to a true aficionado. I expanded my repertoire with fresh anchovies, octopus carpaccio, and trout from the turquoise-blue rivers running through Plitvice National Park.
One evening we enjoyed a cooking lesson from an urban gardening couple who make brandies flavored with olive oil, walnuts, cherry and carob. Their secret salsa recipe (pronounced “shalsha”) included mineral-rich rock salt dug from the crevices of rocks splashed by the Adriatic Sea.
We tasted wine from grapes that are the ancestors of Zinfandel. Most meals were topped off with ice cream nearly the quality of true Italian gelato.
The trip was fantastic, but some of the richest rewards came upon my return. One was the realization that for me, nearly any place from Carpinteria to Goleta is reachable by bicycle, even considering the necessary foothill climb back to my house.
(Santa Barbarans surely could use better bike routes, especially considering our year-round bike-able weather. Local bikers and drivers could likewise benefit from the safe road etiquette we found in Croatia.)
The other realization was what a great gift we’d been provided by our spouses. All had graciously indulged us in this extravagant adventure and encouraged us in our training routines.
Though we immensely enjoyed our girl group, in the end we were happy to return to our husbands, who are well-trained in indulging our idiosyncrasies.
Turns out there’s no place like home.
Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist
Karen Telleen-Lawton is an eco-writer, sharing information and insights about economics and ecology, finances and the environment. Having recently retired from financial planning and advising, she spends more time exploring the outdoors — and reading and writing about it. The opinions expressed are her own.