Makljen is a climb of 9.9 kilometers (category 1). The climb finishes at 1,118 m above sea level. It is located in Vrse, Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine, Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина. The average gradient is 4.4% with a maximum of 10.1%. The climb has 438 meters of elevation gain.
Difficulty breakdown: This 1st category climb covers 9.9 km for 438 m of elevation gain, with an average gradient of 4.4%. The real challenge is the consistency of the effort, with stretches at 6% (km 1.5-2.0, 2.5-3.0, 4.5-5.0) and a peak at 8% between km 1.0 and 1.5. Breathers are scarce: only km 3.0-3.5 and 5.0-6.5, at 3%, offer any real relief before a hard final push between km 8.5 and 9.5.
Pacing tips:
1. Ease into it. Don't go off too hard on km 0.0-1.0, so you still have some matches left for the 8% section between km 1.0 and 1.5.
2. Recover on the false flats. Use the 3% sections (km 3.0-3.5, 5.0-6.5) to catch your breath and pick up your cadence without wasting energy.
3. Save something for the finish. Tackle the 6% block between km 8.5 and 9.5 at a controlled tempo, then use the almost flat km 9.5-9.9, at 1%, to finish strong.
Those who have ridden up Makljen talk about the views first. Several recommend stopping for at least five minutes to take in the mountains and valleys of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Others mostly say they stopped for photos, and that the scenery just stops you dead in your tracks.
Many find the climb beautiful and enjoyable for a ride. The words that come up again and again are simple: superb, fantastic, divine. One cyclist says it's his mountain. The reports don't say much about the gradient or how hard the climb is.
There are negatives too. One cyclist rates the access road to the mountain as in very poor condition and the cleanliness as lacking. Another says the monument at the site is destroyed and vandalised.
The place has a history, and one rider who visited the village finds it beautiful. But he also writes that, more than twenty years after the war, Muslims and Catholics still can't live together, and that hatred remains very deep among everyone.
9.9 km • 438 m D+
VAM: average climbing speed, based on elevation gain
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