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Restless Pedals: from real-life Bicycle Touring to Game Design

   About Restless Pedals The game grew out of a long-held passion for bicycle touring. Packing my life into a few bags and setting off without knowing where I’ll sleep pushes me far outside my comfort zone—but that uncertainty is also strangely addictive. Life on the road is stripped down to the essentials: a single spoon, fork, and knife; two pots and a stove for my kitchen. My winter jacket becomes extra insulation on cold nights, and a rain poncho doubles as protection for the tent’s ventilation when the weather turns. I captured the essence of bicycle travel into Restless Pedals . At its core is limited bag capacity and the constant decision-making that comes with carrying the right items for each journey. Just like real bike travel, preparation matters. Another essential part of the lifestyle is meeting like-minded people and riding together for a while—and that social element is woven directly into the game. Inventory items are intentio...

Durmitor National Park - From Rugged Trails to Quick Fixes

Tara canyon

Nomadic Tales

Over the last three days in Montenegro, I’ve climbed a total of 4,250 meters. This includes starting from Peja, at 500 meters, over the Kulla Pass at 1,795 meters, on the first day.

Before reaching Mojkovac, while standing in front of Motel Krstac at around 1,000 meters altitude and browsing Booking.com for accommodation options, the SIM card I had bought in Kosovo suddenly stopped working for data roaming. That made the decision simple. I spent the night at the motel so I could go into town the next day to buy a new SIM.

In the city center, there was only one Telekom representative office. Other networks had no presence there. The door was locked, and no one was inside. I waited, hoping that maybe the employee was just on their way, even though the opening hours had already passed. Looking for an alternative, since no one was showing up to open the store, I bought a Telekom SIM from a newspaper kiosk across the park.

I inserted the SIM into my phone, only to find that I had no internet. A call to customer service revealed that the SIM was not yet registered and that activation could only be done at the Telekom office. This led to a back-and-forth mission between the kiosk and the representative office, all while staying on the phone with customer service. The Telekom employee, struggling to find a solution, even suggested that I go to Kolasin, the nearest town, if the Mojkovac office remained closed.

Confused by the store’s hours, I went to a nearby shop to ask for clarification. After speaking with the call center operator, the shop assistant sighed, smiled ironically, and told me to follow her to the Telekom office. Since it was raining, I pedaled faster to reach shelter near the store. I last saw the shop assistant heading toward the Telekom office at a brisk pace, but when I arrived and turned around, she was gone.

Perplexed, I looked around, trying to figure out where she had gone. The only logical conclusion was that she had entered the nearby bar. And sure enough, moments later, both the shop assistant and the Telekom employee emerged from the bar.

Oct, 2022

Unforgettable Sights & Hidden Gems

 Durmitor National Park – A Wild Beauty Worth Every Step

Crno Jezero
Black Lake (Crno Jezero)

If there's one place in Montenegro that makes you feel both small and completely alive, it’s Durmitor National Park. Over the course of a few days here, expect sore legs, unpredictable weather, and views so stunning they’ll make you forget all of that.

One of the most rewarding climbs is Bobotov Kuk, at 2,523 meters, the highest peak in the park. It’s a long, demanding hike, but once you reach the top, the endless panorama of jagged peaks and deep valleys makes every step worth it.

If climbing peaks isn’t the goal, there’s Tara River Canyon, the second-deepest canyon in the world, where the water is so clear that you’ll be tempted to drink it straight from the river. Whitewater rafting here is not just a tourist activity—it’s a full-on experience, with rapids that shake you up just enough to keep things exciting.

Durmitor is the kind of place where plans change, where you might start the day with one trail in mind and end up somewhere completely different. But that’s part of the charm—you don’t just visit Durmitor, you experience it.

Durmitor National Park
 

Roadside Hacks

broken rear rack

When the left support pole of my rear rack snapped, I knew I had to find a replacement quickly. The rack had three main connecting points (technically four, but two were only 20 mm apart and functioned as one). With one already broken, losing another would mean the rack’s complete failure. And that seemed likely, given how much it wobbled, so much so that the wheel occasionally rubbed against it.

The problem was that my rack was longer than any available replacements, and none of the new racks I found had mounting points for the extended section that supported my foam mat. So, I had to improvise.

cutting spokes

I cut several spokes and packed as many as possible inside the broken tube of the rack. This reinforced the structure enough to stabilize the sideways movement and realign the two broken sections along a vertical axis, ensuring the load remained supported at the mounting point. The only remaining issue was the potential for vertical movement when riding over bumps, but that was easily fixed with zip ties.

What initially seemed like a disaster turned into a solid repair, allowing me to continue my journey. The fix held up surprisingly well, for another month, all the way until I got home.


insert spokes inside the tube
align tubes
slide the tubes
secure with zip ties




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