175-A mythical cycling trip
The sandy beaches of Dugi Rat have surpassed all other Croatian sandy beaches by kilometres, and owe their beauty to the unusual natural relief. Mutogras, Krilo, Mali rt and Dugi rt are four natural headlands that separate the sea bays into which the streams occasionally deposited loose soil from the flysch slope, and from which the sandy beaches were formed. The coastal slope of the Mosor mountain, a rocky ridge with sparse vegetation, rises to over 400 metres above the coastline where Duće, Dugi Rat and Jesenice are located. Next to Duće is an old coastal village with about twenty houses, Stare Duće, where it is definitely worth looking for the local churches. St. Marcus is decorated with a four-leaf rosette on the front with a bell gable and a broken arch which dates back to 1458, the oldest among the Poljica churches. It was built on the border between two tribes, Duće and Jesenice. Until the construction of the new church, it served as a parish church, and then as a cemetery from 1864. That is when the church of St. Anthony of Padua was built on the site of an older one. Its facade with a bell gable for three bells faces south, and wall paintings adorn the interior walls and barrel vault. In 1939, a belfry with a pyramidal end was built on the rear side.
Dugi Rat
16 km
2h
Technical characteristics
When it comes to configuration this is a simple trail with one climb, one descent and a ride along a straight road by the sea. However, with 16 km and a 333 m altitude difference, it belongs to the more demanding trekking trails, although the 3.4 km long climb is not too demanding because the average gradient is 6.3%, which is easy to overcome on a trekking bike with a compact crankset. At the start, the wide road narrows by turning towards Jesenice, and the traffic density is very low. Breath-taking views of the sea open up on a number of hairpin bends, and the gradient is a constant 6%, which means that it is easy to find a climbing pace. Most of the surface is asphalt with a few sections of fine macadam. The most difficult section is at the entrance to Stare Duće, where a short section of 400 m with an average gradient of 7% awaits you. The descent is not demanding and has very similar characteristics to the climb, but hairpin bends should be ridden with increased caution. At the 12th kilometre, near Omiš, the trail joins the main road again leading back to the starting point in Dugi Rat. A trekking bike is ideal for this trail, but it can also be managed on gravel and MTB bikes.