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They have all cycled trough Croatia and
they
have all promised to come back...   
 
 
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Cycling maps can be found at
these links:
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 "You will find cyclists everywhere : in the city, in the village, in the fields, on flats and in the hills, everywhere, whereever there is an accessible path. It is not difficult today for cyclists with their 'tool' to ride on a high mountain, nothing is too distant for them; they cycle by day and by night; in pleasant weather and in inclement weather; 100-200km ride to a trained cyclist is nothing, not even worthy of mention." As with many other matters, there are two distinct camps when considering cycling, one which supports cycling and one which does not. I, however, consider that the latter side will weaken, as there are few to press it, because the bike from all viewpoints has a great future not set to fade."
F. Gundrum, a doctor from Križevaca, quoted from "About riding a bike"( O vožnji na biciklu, 1904).
Towards the end of the 19th century, Croatia had its own cyclists, cycling associations and its first cycle-tourists who rode dusty paths to destinations, that for many even today, are unreachable. 1865 saw the introduction in Croatia of a bike made of wood known as the "Derezina" named after its inventor Karlu Draisu. However, the first bike to be offically documented is the bike with the high front wheel, (velosiped) dated the year 1878. The first people to use bikes in Croatia are recorded as Mr Cvetieanin, sales manager from Varaždin; Hinko Krapec from Karlovca; Dr. Niko Seljak, a lawyer from Jastrebarskom and Mr Mikšia from Jurketinca near Varaždin.
It is interesting to note that alongside the establishment of the first cycling clubs, paths and races, the efforts of cyclists at the time were also directed towards cycle-tourism, trips and tours. Even though 1887 saw the start of the production of bikes with two wheels of the same size, for ten years afterwards the 'velosipedi' was still used. Riding the velosiped was arduous and uncomfortable, however this did not deter the brave "koturaše" from setting off on long journeys. In 1887 three graduates from Zagreb, Erik Alexander, Mirko Bothe and Mirko Klešeia set out on their bikes from Zagreb to Trieste. They spent a month riding from Zagreb, through Karlovac, Delnica and Rijeka to Trieste, on their way back they decided to travel via Ljubljana. Perhaps the most adventurous tourist of the end of the 19th century was Zagreb native, Ferdinand Budicki, who travelled over 17.000 km on his bike within an eight month period in 1897, cycling through E urope, Northern Africa, and arriving at an exhibition in Chicago, he had ridden from New York to Chicago on his bike.
The tradition of the use of the bike in everyday life is upheld even today in many areas of continental Croatia. Riding through Varaždin, Karlovac, Koprivnica, Osijek or Vukovar you are sure to meet people of all ages riding their bikes. In the last few years, even in the capital city Zagreb, a systematic workplan building a cycling infrastructure has seen the city get "regular cyclists" on its streets.
Find out more in the monograph "Croatia by bike" released by the “Turistička Naklada” Zagreb, Ogrizovićeva 40 c/1
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