...I never thought I would start an article with a call for help.
Our dear friend and fellow mountain bike guide Jani Hercog and his family were hit hard by the recent flooding in Slovenia. His home and the whole community of Črna na Koroškem were flooded, homes wrecked, streets and bridges destroyed. Jani’s home, which also houses his guest house and MTB-base, were damaged. The village was only reachable by helicopter, the army moved in and tried to salvage what was possible. Now that the water has receded, it is time to clear the rubble and start the clean-up. I have set up a fundraiser to help him and his family in this trying time: https://gogetfunding.com/disaster-relief-for-crna-na-koroskem/
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If you can, we would really appreciate your help.
I've ridden with Jani a couple of times. This year in June I was joined by my brother and a close friend. The trails in the surrounding area of Črna and Mežica are world renowned. The EWS stopped there a couple of times. The trails are nothing I’ve ever encountered before. Steep, rooty, rocky and yet so much fun! Although in some places the margin of errors is slight. The exposure you will encounter is humbling, sometimes a trail will lead you along the crest of cliff towering hundreds of meters above the valley floor. Nothing for the faint of heart! The nature in which the trails are nestled in is nothing but spectacular. Open larch and fir forests with bracken undergrowth at the top of the mountains and dense spruce tree groves near the valley floor. The views at the peaks are breath taking.
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This year Jani had a special treat for us in store. The so called “Black Hole Trail”, which leads 10km through the heart of a mountain! The villages in the Koroška area have a long mining history, some mountains resemble a Swiss cheese on the inside. The main metal that was mined was lead, which is still used in products like car batteries today.
We didn’t know what to expect honestly, and we were really humbled by the experience. I’ve never ridden my bike inside a mountain and riding with a head lamp and a lamp on your bike through a narrow tunnel proved to be an extraordinary experience. It basically started with the entrance portal, oozing a certain uneasiness and a chill breeze. The narrowness of the tunnels but also the exposure close to seemingly bottomless vertical shafts were intimidating but also bore close reminiscence to the mines of Moria in the lord of the rings.
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We managed to snatch a couple of photos, but there is nothing that will come close to doing it justice. For example, there is a photo I took of my brother riding down an almost vertical shaft where you can see a metal rope at the left-hand side used for climbing up. There is another one showing the three of us riding along a shaft with nothing but metal rods and a metal rope separating us from the abyss. I think that sums up the experience pretty well.
I really hope we can all help Jani by contributing to the fundraiser. I am looking forward to meeting him again and hopefully ride again with him in the future!
Words & Pictures: Lukas Nehrer