0 -19,9 km Cres Marina - Grmov (Beginning of the gravel road)
The journey begins in the quiet, pleasant surroundings of Cres Marina. It has easy, free parking, for bikers bringing their bikes by car to enjoy this particular trek. Order cold juice and drink it on the marina's bar terrace from where you have a view of the wonderful yachts parked on the quay. This should be sufficient preparation for the ride.
Leave the marina, cross the main entrance ramp, followed by short steep uphill and you arrive at a T-junction. Take a right turn at the junction, and you are on the main road Cres-Mali Lošinj. After 6.6 km you arrive at a "high point"(285 m/asl). After short downhill and uphill there is sign to turn right for Lubenice. Continuing straight on you will pass the left turn for Orlec (9 km).
Soon after this turning you'll arrive at the stretch where, on your left side, there is a spectacular view of the islands Krk, Grgur, Goli otok, Rab and on the continent splendid Velebit mountain.
After 11 km. you will have climbed to 340 m/asl which is the highest point of the first part of the trip. After 12th km road starts winding and gradually descending. Here and there you have to climb a little hill but mostly the road is flat. The ride takes you through a small pine forest and from time to time when there are gaps in the trees you can see the islands and mountains on your left.
After 15km begins the final climb before the junction where you'll be leaving the main road and joining the road to Martinšćica (right). You'll carry on descending towards the junction and after one curve, suddenly, you'll see in front of you the mountain Osorčica, in the distance, and the highest point on the island Cres - Televrina (589 m/asl)
After 16 km there is a village Vrana (240 m/asl), pass the houses and on your right there is spectacular view of a large lake - Vransko Jezero. We advise you to stop and get off your bike, not only to admire the view, but to take a look across to the other side of the lake, where you can see a thin white line which is the road that you will be riding on.
On the horizon is the sea and if the weather is clear you can see the island of Unije (another island worth exploring by bike). At 18th km you'll begin a somewhat steeper descent and after one km you'll see a sign "Martinšćica" on your right. At the junction there is a telephone box and water tap. Refill your bottles here for the second part of the trip, which will be mainly off road (coarse gravel road).
After the right turn you'll find yourself on the narrow asphalt road - be careful not to miss (after 900 m) a large aluminium sign in several languages (it belongs to the ornithological society of Cres for the protection of large Condor- like bird Bjeloglavi Sup. Next to the sign is a turning onto a narrow gravel road which will take you, first along the lake and than over the hills, to Lubenice.

19,9 km - 33 km beginning of gravel road to Lubenice
This section of gravel road is exactly 10 km long. First the road is straight and than it twists and turns through small patches of fields surrounded by stony walls so characteristic of Dalmatian Mediterranean scenery.
After 10 km of gravel you reach a very narrow asphalt road where you have to turn left. This is the beginning of 2.5 km climb towards Lubenice. In places it is fairly steep and at the end it takes you through interesting area of pine trees.
At the end you will find yourself in the middle of the small village of Lubenice (382 m/asl). In the main square is konoba "Lubenička loža" (Lubenice Lodge) a small tavern with local vine, cheeses, prosciutto. It has a spectacular view over the sea and islands from the village walls. Down below is a small bay with a virgin beach that very inviting, so if you have enough strength left, you can descent for a swim. It will take you 50 minutes to get down and approx. 1 hour to climb back.

33 km - 44 km from Lubenice to gravel road Valun
After experiencing the charm of Lubenice, and refreshed from it's tavern you can take the same route back. Only instead of turning right on to the gravel road, where you came from, continue along a narrow asphalt road towards Valun. On the descent you'll pass through another small picturesque village - Mali Podol and after another 10 km. you'll reach the "main" road i.e. a T-junction where by turning left you can descent to Valun village (recommended) and by turning right you continue the ride towards Cres. If you decide to go down to Valun, it is only a few km away, but you will have to climb back to reach the gravel road for a final approach home.
If you want to continue just turn right at the T-junction and after 600 m on your left there is narrow gravel road that will take you to Cres marina. As an orientation mark you will see a small pillar with no. 11 on it and a water pipe. The water is drinkable. Actually the gravel road is what the locals call Water Road and it was built, not as a biking trek, but as a maintenance and access road for the local waterway. About 50 m from that turn you can see on the right the same narrow gravel road, which continues towards the Vransko Lake and that is where the water for the town Cres and the whole of Cres comes from. (See section about Vransko Lake).

44 km - 56 km Valun gravel section towards Marina Cres
Turn left to gravel "waterways" road and after a few km you'll see the wide sweep of Valun bay. Road takes you along isohypse (it varies from 130 m - to 180 m above sea level.)
Along the route you'll come across several gates put there to prevent sheep from crossing from one section to the other. Please open and close these gates carefully as locals are very sensitive to the use of these gates. They are fragile and can be easily damaged.
Road goes up and down and finally starts descending towards the Marina which you'll see after climbing to the hill above marina bay. At the end gravel turns into a narrow concrete trek and after a pleasant ride around the bay you will have completed the round trip, which takes you back to the same café in the Marina. Once again proof that the earth is round.

If you notice any changes on route, which are not introduce in route description, please inform us about changes on email: rigo@pedala.hr