Cycling blogger Dražen Breitenfeld has toured a new bicycle route in Međimurje between Goričan and Kotoribe and writes about his impressions of the first bicycle route in the lower part of Međimurje, reports tportal.hr on September 19, 2018.
“The bike tour of lower Međimurje has been a wholly new experience. I was amazed by so many plains and cultivated fields. The nice and hot weather was an additional motive and a good precursor for autumn bike events in Međimurje.
I started the route in Prelog. After Donji Kraljevac and the ride on asphalt and forest paths, we quickly reached Goričan, on the border between Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary.
A new bike path has been constructed so you can now follow the Mura river almost all the way to the Drava river. The cross-border cooperation and projects such as Cycle in a network 2.0 and Interreg encourage local communities to develop links through cyclo-touristic projects.
After Goričan, we rode on a new bike path, which will also host the 2018 Mura Bike event on 22 September. The newly-built Šuderica recreation centre in Goričan will also be opened at the same time.
We continued riding on the right, Croatian side of Mura, on a kind of fine asphalt. It is comfortable to ride and will surely delight the cyclists. We were cooled by Mura and the nearby wetland forests. But, just a moment later, we were already on the vast plains full of corn fields and orchards. In front of us was Kotoriba, where the first railroad was built in Croatia.
Nearby is Novi Zrin, a fortress on the edge of Međimurje, on the Hungarian side. It was constructed by Nikola Zrinski to improve the defences against the Turks. It is on the left bank of Mura, and remains of fortifications and monuments are still visible today.
We have already passed some thirty kilometres of the route. If you need any supplies, you have to buy them in Kotoriba, since there is no shop until Donja Dubrava, some ten kilometres away. A beach bike bar here would be nice. An ideal location would be the site where Mura and Drava merge. With an increase in the number of arrivals and cyclo-tourists, I am certain that rest stops will start appearing so that visitors can get something to eat and relax.
The municipality of Donja Dubrava also wants to attract the attention of cyclists. There are already several rest stops available. Donja Dubrava lives on the Drava river, so it is full of river fishermen. There is a hydropower plant nearby, as well as Dubrava Lake, with the two parts of the Drava river, the old and the new. Between them is an island, connected with a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. You can choose whether you will ride on a large embankment by the lake or the road.
After 65 kilometres of pedalling, we returned to Prelog. I have come to get to know the part of Međimurje I have never visited before. I can highly recommend it. The next weekend’s event is a good invitation to come and visit this part of Croatia.”
Translated from tportal.hr (written by Dražen Breitenfeld).
