Biking the Balkans in April: Border crossing

[justinshale]

Hi guys,
I'm new to this site but not to biking. After North America, Nepal and Cambodia, I'm planning a 6 country tour with 3 friends in April. We are renting bikes in Zagreb. Any hints about border crossings, weather and anything else? Much appreciated!
Justin

[Tourider]

Might be worth checking what the weather will be like. My concern is based on the fact that the 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo.

[marcm]

I found it quite a contrast inland a bit in mid October sort of time compared with down on Adriatic coast..headed Sarajevo down to Dubrovnik and it was around 5 degrees when I left in the morning,was on the heated grips,then found myself removing layers of clothing quite rapidly when I got near the coast..

[dave08]

I was down that way in early June and the mountain road to Zabljak, Montenegro, was closed due to snow

Dave

[Andysr6]

Hi, not sure which borders you mean but none are problematic , Heading South Bosnia costs about 15 euro, Montenegro and Albania (free) I wasn't able to buy insurance, Macedonia 50 euros. Bulgaria & Romania seems to vary around 22 euros. Serbia, not been able to bring myself to visit it yet. (2013 prices). Andy

[justinshale]

Thanks guys,
weather sounds coder than I'd expected. Rain looks as expected. What are the roads like in Albania and Macedonia? Any recommendations on keeping bikes safe at night? I'll have a 1200 BMW and I'd hate for it to get stolen. Did you lock up your bikes? Is bike theft an issue?
Also, was anyone else traveling on rented bikes?
Cheers,
JW

[WesleyDRZ400]

Originally Posted by marcm

I found it quite a contrast inland a bit in mid October sort of time compared with down on Adriatic coast..headed Sarajevo down to Dubrovnik and it was around 5 degrees when I left in the morning,was on the heated grips,then found myself removing layers of clothing quite rapidly when I got near the coast..

I was in Albaina, Kosovo & Macedonia 2 weeks ago (not riding abike but just on public transport) and no issues with snow in the low lying areas i was thinking for next years trip i could carry on later visiting these areas.

It was also pretty warm and i just had a t-shirt on but offcourse in the higher areas there will/could be snow and i have a friend who is in Serbia and looking at some of his facebook pictures where he lives it looks like the South pole in winter