Cycling for the Blue Heart of Europe

Who are we?

We (Tom & Manu) are friends and colleagues, both working for Patagonia, which brought us to live in the European Capital of the Outdoors: Amsterdam.

Like many other ‘dutch’ people we are quite passionate about biking: cruising the omafiets to commute, the road bike to get some km in, the gravel bike to get dirty and the MTB… Euh no there are not much mountains in the Netherlands. ;)

Some pictures of us riding our bikes in the flat country in the last couple of months:

What’s the link between biking and the Balkans?

With all the recent developments regarding the status of the Vjosa River, we have heard a lot about the Balkans, and Vjosa Wild River National Park in particular. This has inspired us to go and discover this part of Europe on our gravel bikes, leading us to a crazy idea: sign up for the 'Trans Balkan Race'.

The what?

The Trans Balkan Race is a 1337 km (and 27,000m of elevation) off-road unsupported bikepacking race across the Balkans.

The start will take place in a couple of days, on June 2nd in the south of Slovenia, after which we'll bike in Croatia, then in Bosnia & Herzegovina and if everything goes well we should arrive in the beautiful Kotor Bay in Montenegro, probably 7-8 days later.

© transbalkanrace

See below the snapshot of the route:

The route develops across the Dinaric Alps through some of the most remarkable National Parks (Risnjak National Park, Velebit Nature Park, Una National Park, Protected Area of Livanjsko Polje, Durmitor National Park…) and also some of the wildest rivers of Europe.

We’ll get there by train, a 24-hour journey, from Amsterdam Centraal to Sežana passing by Zurich, Venezia and Trieste, an adventure by itself.

But what about the ‘Blue Heart of Europe’?

Well known by the Fly Fishers' community, less known for the greater majority in Western Europe, the rivers in the Balkans are amongst the most valuable and intact rivers in Europe, they are home to the last wild rivers of the European Continent. As such, they are the hotspot for the continent’s freshwater biodiversity, the region is called the ‘Blue Heart of Europe’.

These rivers are severely threatened by over 3,400 planned dams, which would irreversibly devastate the last sanctuary for endangered and endemic river species. The map of all the potential projects is available here but you can also find more info here.

© Adnan Bulabo Photography

How we can save the ‘Blue Heart of Europe’?

More than 10 years ago EuroNatur and Riverwatch, together with local NGOs from the Balkans, launched the campaign “Save the Blue Heart of Europe”, which became a big and successful movement to save the rivers on the peninsula. The objective of the campaign is to raise awareness about the imminent dam craze on the Balkan peninsula and to spare the most valuable rivers and river stretches from destruction.

They have been fighting for years to protect these rivers, concentrating their work in these key areas: the Vjosa river in Albania, the Mavrovo National Park in North-Macedonia,the rivers of Bosnia & Herzegovina, in Serbia and quite recently also in Kosovo. During our race we’ll be crossing a few of them, the most notable ones being the Una River (Una - The One: A Fly Fishing Documentary) and the Livansko polje.

Vjosa River, the example to follow for the other Balkans’ Rivers

Lately, the NGOs has achieved a major success with the proclamation of the ‘River Vjosa as the Europe’s first Wild River National Park’ on March 15th during a formal ceremony in Tepelena by Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama and his Minister of the Environment and Tourism Mirela Kumbaro.

"This Wild River National Park is not just an important milestone for the Vjosa and Albania but for river conservation across the whole of Europe. It establishes, for the first time, a conservation concept where an entire river system is protected and not just individual sections of a river," says Ulrich Eichelmann, head of Riverwatch.

Prime Minister Edi Rama, Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert, and Minister for Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro, holding the just signed official declaration of Vjosa Wild River National Park © Anika Konsek

However, Vjosa Wild River National Park, is just a beginning and should be a model of river protection to follow and to implement in other parts of the Balkans (and Europe), being a collaborative work between governments, scientists, NGOs, local communities – to protect the biodiversity, water flows and create new jobs like national park creation and maintenance as well as eco-tourism

"The concept of a Wild River National Park should act as a model for other rivers in Europe, such as along the Moraca in Montenegro and the Rivers Neretva and Una in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Vjosa is Europe's first Wild River National Park, but it should not be the only one. Today sees an important message going out from Albania to the whole of Europe." Ulrich Eichelmann.

How can you help us in our mission?

Well, we are cycling for our pleasure but if our participation in the race can spot the ‘Blue Heart of Europe’ campaign and help the coalition of NGOs fighting for it, we would be more than happy. Thus, while we are cycling, you can donate to this fundraising campaign. Even a small donation of 5€ makes a difference! So donate today!

How will the money be used?

It might sound obvious but better write it down to make sure it's clear, we already paid everything for the entrance fees, materials, transportation and we don’t need any support for that.

100% of the money raised will go to Riverwatchto support the ‘Save the Blue Heart Europe’ campaign.

This money will serve to prevent damming the rivers on the Balkans and increase their legal protection status. Also it will be used to finance scientific assessments which is often the basis for legal battles against the dam projects.

Thank you so much for your support, it means so much to us!

Willing to learn more about the topic?

Find below some resources:

Watch the movies: Blue Heart Full Film: The Fight for Europe’s Last; Vjosa Forever: Protect Europe’s Wild Rivers

Want to follow us during the race? Easy you can use the channel of your choice