Bosnia in August is hot, real hot. A hot spot can be like 35 to 40 degrees Celsius. That's 95 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

The kind of heat that shimmers the horizon,

that just bakes everything exposed to the sun, including a rider's helmet.

On top of that heat, in Bosnia, you need to know where you are.

And you need to stay on the track, because out there in the

unmapped areas are landmines.

Bosnia is home to a section of the Trans-European Trail, the Tet, and that's what brings us to

this area today for another of our Deep Trouble series.

It all begins as a textbook trip with an experienced rider who's learned from previous adventures

about riding lighter bikes, packing lighter luggage, and a tidy plan that will have them

ride the Bosnian and Croatian sections of the Trans-European Trail. Our rider is Philip Amon,

calm, methodical, a risk management pro by trade. A last-minute decision sees them

check out a side loop that turns into actual deep mud, wild horses that won't yield to the road,

they pass logging trucks, or should I say, they move out of the way of logging trucks that

seem to own the road. Meanwhile, another pressure starts to build.

Peter, Phillips' riding companion, has a hard deadline at home for a family holiday after this trip.

It's that kind of clock that tilts judgment, where we start bending our plans, telling ourselves,

if we push a little farther, a little harder,

we'll make it. By the late week, the heat, the fatigue, and that ticking clock converge,

and things come to a head to a Deep Trouble episode.

Deep Trouble is an exclusive series found only here on Adventure Rider Radio. It's stories from riders

that have experienced being lost, having breakdowns, catastrophes, injuries, or other issues that have led

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