Leicester BOBs Visit Albania
Leicester BoBs visited Albania in October 2022 to cycle around south Albania, visiting 5 cities and covering a distance of 370 miles with 26500 feet of elevation.
The route consisted of cycling across lakes, rivers, through forests and rural land, and climbing multiple mountains along with riding across the coastline of Albania, the feedback from the group was highly rated and expressed as a “thrilling experience”.
The five cyclist Strava profiles are
Below is a day by day snippet of each day written by the team.
Day 1: Sunday 16th October - Leicester > Ohrid > Elbasan
We left Leicester at 3:30AM to catch the 7:45 flight from Luton.
The flight was booked on Wizz Air to fly into Ohrid, North Marcodnia, due to the last minute cancellation and changes with flying to the capital of Albania, Tirania. Flying to Ohrid worked out as it was 2hr 45mins from Tirana and 1hr 45mins from Elbasan, where we were due to start our cycling journey from.
Flight was 3.5 hours long and relatively smooth and not too busy allowing us to comfortably catch up on sleep. Landing into Ohird during the daylight hours allowed us to view the mountains the city is surrounded by and the famous Lake Ohrid.
Ohrid airport is extremely small and Passport control along with luggage collection was the quickest we had experienced.
We had pre hired a car for seven days from Alfa rental, which was ready for us to collect. Despite booking a larger car we were given a saloon as it was categorised within the same class of cars, loading the car with 5 suitcases was a challenge but we managed to squeeze them all in.
The route to Elbasan from Ohrid entails a border crossing which took us approx. 30-45 minutes with our car being searched. Once crossed over to Albania the drive into Elbasan was straightforward. As it was part of our cycling route for the upcoming day, it allowed us to scope out what to expect when cycling.
The hotel booked in Elbasan was Hotel Vila Imperial, which was was very clean with good size rooms. The location being central gave us the flexibility to walk around the canter of Elbasan.
While we waited for Bike Point our bike hire company to arrive we visited King Mosque, a historical mosque within the Ottoman Elbasan Castle. The mosque was built by Sultan Bayazit II around 1482–1485. This makes it one of the oldest active mosques in Albania.
Once our bikes were all set we enjoyed an evening meal at Piceri Zemrat e Mira, a Halal local fast food.
Day 2: Monday 17th October - Elbasan to Korce
After an early breakfast we set out from Elbasan at 8:45, riding out the city towards Pogradec. The first 45 miles of the route was a constant climb with a few tough sections. Parts of the routes did have heavy traffic but was manageable and the drivers seemed to be cautions when over taking us.
As this was our first day of cycling we had quite a few mechanical stops to adjust our bikes to ensure we are comfortable, our support driver Alfir (from Bike Point) was always on hand to help make the adjustments to our bikes.
The most challenging segment so far in the the route was the Prenjas cela a 3 mile Category 3 climb of 996ft, after 40 miles of climbing we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Lake Ohrid and a short decent to our Lunch Stop at Nesti Relax Home Restaurant situated on the lake side. The meal was light and tasty consisting of grilled vegetables, bread and fries.
The next twenty miles were relatively flat, riding along Lake Ohrid and through the city of Pogradec heading south towards Korçë. On the final stretch of the route the brothers started to feel fatigued due to the consistent climbs and headwinds. One of our brothers took respite in the support vehicle, and unfortunately one of the brother had a mechanical issue which prevented him to continue for the day. Bike Point was unable to repair the issue on the roadside but arranged a replacement bike to come from Tirana, which arrived within a few hours ready for the next day.
We arrived into Korçë just before sunset which was imperative to ensure we could pray Zohr, Asr and get ready for Maghrib. While in Korçë we stayed at Guesthouse Sara&Esi a 3 Bedroom apartment relatively close to the city. In the evening we enjoyed a 20 mins walk to the local mosque Xhamia e madhe e Korçës where we prayed Eisha and met a few brothers who guided us to a local Halal restaurant Korca Food Hallall.
We also visited Iliaz Bej Mirahori Mosque one of the first and most ancient buildings in Korçë built in 1496.