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En route home in the camper.

Even though this is a very curtailed Atlantic Coast to Black Sea challenge this is the longest ride since the full north to south European trip in 2015. It has undoubtedly been a success. Over 1200 miles (3600 for all of us in total) over every type of surface you could imagine and only one pinch flat.

We have not had a drop of rain so were able to cycle every mile of the planned route and there was only one wrong route the whole trip due to the building of a new road upsetting our navigation.

So the bikes and route worked and liaising with Nigel & Monica and the camper worked even better than ever thanks to find my phone so even if it was hidden we soon found the green machine. We even arranged for a weekend off in Vienna to meet our wives and see our friends.

We were all glad that we had decided to spice up the route from slavishly following the Eurovelo 6 as forever running along river banks becomes rather tedious especially when the surrounding countryside is so flat.

With the exception of Serbia the biggest takeaway has been to cycling infrastructure in all the other eight countries which far exceeds that in the U.K. where the press seem to have successfully created a them and us culture pitting two groups against one another rather than Co-exist. Again with the exception of Serbia where we ran on the road all passing traffic gave us room.

The campsites in every country were clean, although some of the rules in the Germanic sites were a little unnecessary. We enjoyed most those where we were able to get in some lake swimming to ease the aching limbs. Wild camping is a great option and we will be looking to do this again next year.

Looking at the nine countries we travelled through we discussed where we enjoyed the most. Undoubtedly Austria which came up with picture postcard views round every corner won and we would like to go back However whilst we would not choose to rush back to Serbia the people there were certainly the most friendly to errant cyclists roaming in their country. Sadly it was also noticeable that Serbia was the most untidy with more rubbish thrown and left about the place.

Hungary and Slovakia are not as wealthy as the other EU countries but you can see that they are both catching up and infrastructure is improving.

The other abiding memories were the awful scars and tragedies that war leaves on landscapes and in hearts. The two memorials we visited following atrocities during World War Two and the Yugoslav War will live on in our minds.

Not all is gloom and doom and meeting up with fellow cyclists en route like Andy & Alison and Sabrina as well as others, to compare stories and routes help make the journey, as do the interactions with the locals ( where the Serbians won hands down) Is there a correlation between friendliness and wealth I ask myself?

We were disappointed with the lack of wildlife we saw, although the Chamois, Deer, Hare and Marmots were great. We did see the usual raptors such as Buzzard and Kite and probably Harriers too but again not as much as we would have thought. A couple of stocks and cranes as well as Nick’s Kingfisher. Perhaps this is where the intensive agriculture is having an effect.

Whilst the late summer will see fewer wild flowers there were less to see than we expected – the autumn crocus being a bright exception. Austria has to be blamed for some of this as they love their green grass so much they are always cutting it neat and tidily so wild things do not get the chance to grow.

As we cycled further south and the countries became less wealthy architecture obviously changed. Typicality from southern Hungary onwards the houses in the towns and villages were single storey and set back from the road with a wide grass front. In Croatia and Serbia many were empty and we understood that this is where people were forced from their homes during the conflict. In one Croat town in Serbia the previous population had been expelled and their houses given to displaced Serbs from elsewhere.

Being on a bike does give us the benefit of getting into places you could not access by car quickly and we did get to all the best bits of Basel, Zurich, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Osijek without getting off our saddles snd wending our way through the pedestrianised areas avoiding the sad Viking cruise passengers walking around having been given their 3 hours visitation rights.

The team works so well and everyone is essential for the trips to run so smoothly. Although it has to be said that the support from Nigel, Monica and Broomey the camper are the vital ingredients that make the cyclists feel at home and looked after. Monica excelled at her find a beer challenge and we can’t say we were disappointed with any of them.

New adventures await us next year when Dom is due to join us again for another two week adventure, so we will have four riders putting our super support team under more pressure.

However, I will leave with a smile and a photo of peace & hope taken on the cleared site of one of the Mauthausen concentration camp buildings.