theth albania fablulous trail

[minkyhead]

i recently took a little detour on my balkans trip

id read alot on this place and wanted to see it .. umming and arring ..i decided that i wouldnt be this near anytime soon so i decided it was thunderbirds are go

i cleared it with other guys and was up at 5am ..the woman in the digs was ace she made me a coffee and came back with a goody bag full of sarnies bread and water
i rode from orchred in macidonia and crossed into albania around 7am
i pointed the mighty crf towards my destination and around 5 hours and 220 miles later i was knocking on the door of the theth trail

https://goo.gl/maps/mxynKMYHjjF2

IMG_5545 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

id seen a fair few you tube videos and ive now done one of me own but non of them do justice to the trail its simply stunning and very very long ..to do the full loop none stop would be around 7/8 hours but 10/11 is more in line as its so so pretty and you will want to stop often and just enjoy it
IMG_5555 by minkyhead56, on Flickrr[/img]
IMG_5555_edited-1 by minkyhead56, on Flickrr[/img]

the road to theth compares to any alpine pass stunning views ..it was in pristine condition ..a stark contrast to what id call the ordinary roads ..it reminded me a lot of the dolimites .

IMG_5558 by minkyhead56, on Flickrrr[/img]

IMG_5556 by minkyhead56, on Flickrrrr[/img]

Grabbed Frame 27 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

i was following a river ..a dry river so the penny dropped ..why not ride the river for a while ? weird but cool ..

Grabbed Frame 15 by minkyhead56, on Flickrrr[/img]
view by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

[crofty]

Stunning pictures and a fabulous trail, and now with Bulgaria bike shipping off to a good start I think a few plans will be being hatched. love the way you've kept faith with the crf,and now with the big slog out to the Balkans taken care of it makes it an ideal bike.

[minkyhead]

then after about a hour and a half i turned a corner and the road stopped the track began and the views were astonishing

IMG_5560 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]
IMG_5559 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

the track from koplik to theth is pretty well surfaced in effect a cart track ...from theth back to skoder is quite bit more challenging in places but any adv bike would be suitable ...there is one rivercrossing that would need some care ona bigger bike its slippy and deep in the middle ..enough to make a mess of you airbox ..apart from that its easy .. i only saw one other guy on a xt660 in the ten or so hours it took to complete

Grabbed Frame 30 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

Grabbed Frame 31 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

[minkyhead]

aroud three hours later a rolled into theth at around 630pm it was starting to go dark ..it was late september ..but the weather was perfect

10 euro later i was in good basic digs ..no english but we managed to get fish sorted ...and thats what you got .three fish from the river heads and all
a secret stash of scotlands finest and bed knackered at 9pm

up at 6 under way at 7 glorius dawn ..7 hours of spectacular views and emerald rivers were to follow ..one wrong turn had me in the boon docks ..i didnt want to stray off the main track just in case ..basicall when leving theth follow the river ..a very very long river (thumbs)

IMG_5575 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]
IMG_5572 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

the only person i saw a shepheardess ..sitting on a rock wow thats a remote lifestyle
IMG_5571 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]
IMG_5567 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]
IMG_5564 by minkyhead56, on Flickrr[/img]

[jackdaw]

Wow! Thanks for posting. Fantastic trail. Just goes to show that there's plenty out there for those who can 'think out of the box'

[hornet]

Outstanding post Minky , Bulgaria is on the list of places to see and enjoy and this is seriously attractive.

Can I ask how testing the riding was would it be OK on a bigger bike gs8 for example with rather average ability ?

Mike

[minkyhead]

im pretty bike fit ..but my wrists were feeling the pace abit ..good excuse to stop evey half hour ...its not often im ten hours on the pegs on one trail :pinch: B)
anyway around 11am i was starting to think it must end soon ..i didnt want it too but then again i did ..kept checking the nav ..but yes all good keep following the river
Grabbed Frame 34 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

IMG_5563 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

IMG_5569 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

Grabbed Frame 32 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]
Grabbed Frame 35 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

Grabbed Frame 36 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]

[minkyhead]

Outstanding post Minky , Bulgaria is on the list of places to see and enjoy and this is seriously attractive.

Can I ask how testing the riding was would it be OK on a bigger bike gs8 for example with rather average ability ?

Mike

yes any bike could do this ..its very remote i saw nothing but one other bike in ten moving hours ..there is one rivercrossing that needs care ,,its slippy and about three feet deep trench in the middle ..you main enemy if there is one is concentration there are some huge drop offs but yes anyone could do this (thumbs)

[minkyhead]

all good thing come to a end ..i turned a corner and there was a lorry carrying bricks and then tarmack ..2pm all done ...but then it opened into a fantastic road that followed the river for another 20 gloroius miles ..i was absaluly buzzing and thrashed the little crf all the way down that ace road ..i was a happy chappy that day
Grabbed Frame 37 by minkyhead56, on Flickr[/img]


now i had to catch the others up ..i refueled meself and the crf ...jesus 7 litres for 134 miles ..95 of them off road ??
so i pointed her towards kosivo and set off ..i hit kosivo around 6pm aand rode the rest of the way in the dark ..i pulled into a random hotel in major town in macidonia at 11pm ...what did i see in the car park mikes and sids bikes ...feck me hows that for coincidence ..
the little crf had been moving me for 25 hours out of 36 accross three coutries ..the little bike did good (thumbs)

anyway if your in that neck of the woods it really must go down as a must do ..if any of the lads want hard stuff ...easy you ride the track they ride the river that will keep em quiet ... (thumbs)
keep well
brappy new year :laugh:

[Tink]

Nice write up and great pictures (thumbs)

Did you ride all the way from UK?