Lovćen on Sunday: pace, third gear and a break for prosciutto
The ascent is easy — anyone can gas. The descent separates those who ride from those who ride. Sunday at Lovcen in third gear.
The first serpentine above Kotor teaches you humility faster than any instructor. The sea is still under your feet, the water temperature in the car is still, and you already know that on the descent, in two hours, you will have a warm steering wheel and the hot smell of tiles if you don't think now. Climbing Lovćen requires physics and patience. Descent is character.
There is no rush here on Sundays. Not because it's forbidden — but because it doesn't make sense.Serpentine above Kotorthey're not a record section, it's a rhythm section: go in slow, get off the gas early, let the car lean on the outside wheel. Anyone looking for seconds will find only a fence.
Why is he riding in third gear on the descent, and not on the brake
The most common mistake on the way back from Njeguš to Kotor is simple: the driver shifts into reverse or high gear and keeps his foot on the pedal the entire descent. After a dozen serpentinesthe brake fluid starts to boil, the steam in the system is compressed instead of the liquid, and the pedal goes to the floor without effect. It's not the car's fault — it's self-made physics. We wrote about it in detail in the textwhy the liquid boils before the tiles.
The solution is not bought, it is chosen:engine braking. Before entering the series of 25 serpentines, put it in third (on the steeper sections second) and let the engine hold the car. The brake is then only there for correction before the top of the curve — a short, decisive push, then the foot down. The engine runs at 3,000-3,500 rpm, you hear it, and that's the sound that means you're doing it right. The entire technique of climbing and descending is explained in the editorialSerpentines without fear— required reading before this trip.
The pace that brings you up tirelessly
The climb from Kotor to the turn for Njeguše is approx20 km with over 25 large serpentinesand rising from sea level to nearly 900 m above sea level. That's a job for the cooling system. If your temperature indicator moves towards red in the column, turn off the air conditioning and turn on the heating to maximum — you open the additional radiator and remove the heat from the engine. Ugly, but it works.
Serpentine above Kotor they're not a record section, it's a rhythm section: go in slow, get off the gas early, let the car lean on the outside wheel.
It drives in a lower gear and on a climb. Don't force the engine to pull in fifth at 1,500 rpm — it heats up more than third at 3,000. Windows down, because this time you can hear: stone, pines, and from time to time the bell of a goat that looks at you with the peace of a being that has lived here all its life.
A break where the whole day is justified
Njegushi are the reason why going down to them makes sense at all.Njeguš prosciutto— dried on the bora, smoked with beech wood, matured in stone smokehouses at an altitude of about 800 m — is sliced thinly, almost transparently, and only requires a piece of corn bread and a glass of something black. Why exactly prosciutto goes well with plavac and how salt and fat create harmony, we explained intext about plavac with prosciutto.
He doesn't rush back immediately after the plate. Let the brake temperature drop while you sit. Half an hour of peace up means a safe descent down. And the descent after the break, with a cold system and a full belly of patience, is the only ride that makes sense on Sundays.
Questions & answers
short and to the point- How to brake a motorcycle on a long descent?
- Put it in a lower gear (third, on steeper sections second) and let the engine keep the car at 3,000-3,500 rpm. Use the brake only for short corrections before a curve, you don't hold it all the time.
- Why do the brakes fail on the descent from Lovćen?
- Continuous braking overheats the system and the brake fluid begins to boil, creating steam in the lines that the pedal compresses instead of liquid. That's why the descent goes in a lower speed with engine braking.
- How long does it take to climb from Kotor to Njeguš?
- About 20 km with over 25 serpentines and an ascent to almost 900 m above sea level. Take your time and expect a 40-50 minute drive plus breaks at viewpoints.
