What it’s like to go cycling 500 metres below the Earth’s surface
If the new trend in extreme holidays is to go biking underground, this one-of-a-kind cycling tour deep inside Mount Peca in Slovenia will definitely appeal to adrenaline junkies
The most bizarre thing isn’t that I’m cycling in a ceaseless semi-darkness, up a narrow passageway, the air so dank it feels as if my lungs are stuffed with cotton wool. Rather, the craziest part of this journey is that my endeavours are occurring an incredible 500 metres underground on a one-of-a-kind bike tour of deep inside Mount Peca.
This 2,100-metre-high mountain, which straddles the Austrian-Slovenian border, is situated in the stunningly beautiful Karawanks mountain range, that is part of the Alps. I’m in the latter Central European country – around 100km from the capital city, Ljubljana – on an extraordinary ride that an eco- travel outfit, Bike Nomad, introduced more than 15 years ago.
Fortunately, I am not alone on a 5km trek through what turns out to be the gargantuan disused lead, zinc and wulfenite mine of Mežica, as I can get lost in the equivalent space of a shower cubicle. My 26-year-old guide, Miha, leads the way as we proceed into what at times seems like the bowels of the Earth.
Before we set off, I don a helmet with a small lamp – none of the route is illuminated – and an orange boiler suit to help stay warm (the average temperature is only 10 degrees Celsius) that makes me look like a Netflix serial killer.
There is also a quick safety briefing. The entrance to this now-defunct quarry is utterly inconspicuous – a less than two-metre-high green wooden door. Once inside and saddled up, Miha and I progress along at a sedate pace of between 7km/h and 10km/h.
Our whole outing occurs on level four (out of 23) – an enjoyable slew of abandoned narrow channels once used by the miners that in the main are relatively flat. In fact, it’s in no way an arduous trek so Bike Nomad say that only a basic fitness and skill requirement is necessary (the age limit is from 10 to 70-plus).
Despite the ease of the excursion, at one point, Miha exclaims: “You should always stick just a metre and a half behind my back wheel, and try not to wander off”.
I get his drift, as even in my short stay I occasionally get disoriented in the inky, eerie stillness; and realise that if I did go missing in this humongous 800km tunnelled labyrinth, one could probably expect to read newspaper headlines declaring the Loch Ness monster had been found before I ever resurfaced.
