After cycling the back route through Durmitor National Park, we spent a day in Žabljak to check out the Black lake and Tara river canyon and to do some planning on our next steps. So much of our effort and attention had been focussed on getting through Durmitor in good weather before the snow fell, that we hadn’t turned our minds towards what we would do after. So we found ourselves really scratching our heads on what to do next.

We decided that with the weather forecast still showing sun and mild conditions, we needed to give the mountains a bit more of a run for their money before we headed for the coast. After tossing around a dozen ideas for routes, we came across a map showing a cycle route that linked Žabljak to Kolašin, crossing the Sinjajevina plain (part of the TT4). The Sinjajavena (or Sinjavena? we’ve seen both names used) is a mountain range in northern Montengro with a plain in the middle that sits at an average of 1600m surrounded by 2000m+ high mountains. We found a website that described the route: a mountain bike track that was apparently signposted the whole way, and okay for loaded bikes as long as the loads were kept light. We figured at that point that we had to give it a go… how could you resist a signposted bicycle route… off the main roads through sparsely populated mountains… in Montenegro!?!

The first 20 km out of Žabljak went by quickly, and we were soon heading up into the hills through conifer forests and small villages inhabited by the odd sheep herder.

Just before the 30km mark, the hills got much steeper and the tarmac ran out. The water spring that was supposed to be at around the 27km mark never showed itself, so we made do by harvesting some of the ice littered around the place, and placed ourselves on strict water rations (thank god for wet ones!).

The road then opened out onto a large rolling plane and quickly deteriorated and we found ourselves making very slow progress along a very rough 4wd track. At times the track got so bad that it took two of us pushing the bikes up the hills one at a time. While the sweeping views were terrific, the sun was surprisingly hot, and the lack of trees or any shelter made the plateau seem somewhat harsh and unforgiving.

We made camp for the night just off the track in the middle of the plane, with a view out across to the mountains. We hadn’t seen a vehicle since we’d left the tarmac, and the only other person we had seen was a lone sheep herder high up on a hill when the track started to get rough.

As the sun set and darkness set in, so too did the cold. We went to sleep that night in most of the clothes we owned (including gloves, scarves and beanies!).

We woke in the morning to a world of white – a frost so thick it could easily have been mistaken for snow, or the onset of the next ice age. We stayed huddled under the sleeping bags, laughing at where we had found ourselves, until the sun hit the tent and started to melt the frost.

On the road once more we made very slow progress. The track went back and forth between soft grass and very loose rocks as it rolled across the plain, and after 3 strenuous hours we had covered a grand total of 12kms.

Thankfully, our efforts were rewarded by absolutely jaw-dropping views out across the mountains, which got better as we (slowly) approached the edge of the plain.

At around the 20km mark for the day we started our descent – a white knuckle inducing ride down a series of steep switchbacks covered in loose gravel. A few kilometres after the steepest section, we hit beautiful smooth tarmac, and made easy time riding the rest of the way into Kolašin, beating nightfall by about half an hour.

For Matt, the section across the plain was one of his favourite sections of cycling so far, ticking off all the things he had hoped to get out of the Alps. For him, the grandeur of the mountains was enhanced by the fact that we were the only people there and had to work so hard to see it.

For me, the slow progress along the vast plain was almost claustrophobic, and I really struggled to fight back the irrational feeling that we were never going to make it to the other side. Off road riding has never been my favourite thing, and even though the views were absolutely stunning, I’m not sure that it was worth the effort and frustration it took to get them.

Either way, we can safely say that we have conquered the Sinjajevina plain – on fully loaded touring bikes – and lived to tell the tale…. Now bring on the tarmac!