Episode 20 of Cycling from Belgium to Croatia

Our final day began with a theft. Not a particularly successful one: during the night, a spider had stolen exactly one cycling shoe. Somewhere in Istria, there's now an eight-legged squatter living in a size 39 penthouse. With 1,600 kilometres in our legs, we rolled towards Cape Kamenjak for the last stage of this journey. One final climb, one final stretch of ever-changing gravel, and one accidental celebratory drink that turned out to contain alcohol. The Tour de France has champagne; we had dusty lemon beer by a sandy trail. Along the way, ancient ruins reminded us that people have been arriving, fighting, leaving and disappearing here for centuries. We were just passing through, adding our own tiny story to the landscape. As we neared the finish, reality refused to match the fantasy. More cars, more people, less solitude than expected. But sometimes the hardest part of a journey is letting go of how you imagined it should end. Then the road turned. The engines faded. And suddenly there was nowhere left to ride. No finish arch. No crowd. No medal. Just two tired cyclists, the sea, and a horizon stretching endlessly south. -- Music credits: All music is by Under the Skin. All tracks are license-free, free to download, and free to use in your own videos. Download via this link:    / @underthe_skin   Please make sure to credit Under the Skin when using the music.