It’s time to get back on our bikes ( nearly)

Five years ago in those blissful pre- pandemic and belligerent times of 2019 NBJ Tours cycling team set off from Tonbridge to cycle to its twin town of Le Puy en Velay to celebrate the 50 years of twinning and to link up with a dozen runners from the town’s parkrun who would take part in Le Puy’s popular trail races loosely based on the pilgrimage route from Le Puy to Santiago de Compostella.

With life now returning to a more aggressive normality a new but even more challenging adventure set seed. So this year the cycling team will aim to complete a reverse pilgrimage from Santiago to Le Puy arriving as before on the Friday before the trail races.

The trail races have grown in popularity so that there are now four distances of 18, 51,79 & 130 km and form part of the qualification for the UTMB international trail race series.

Our running team of twelve will have entrants in all four of these distances and as before there is the one super athlete Dom who will be cycling the 1000+ miles before the races, this year tackling the 79 km trail!

There have been a few injuries along the way but everyone is keen to tackle their chosen distance so I will hope to report on our successes in the trail races after 15 & 16 June.

Whereas Tonbridge to Le Puy took us 8 days and crossed the largely flat centre of France. The Camino across Spain is anything but flat with the Pyrenees and then the Massif Central to climb once we approach Le Puy.

It will certainly be the most challenging cycling trip we’ve undertaken and as such I’ve reduced our daily mileage a bit so we will take 13 days to cover the just over 1000 miles. Certainly we will have no qualms about cheating and getting into the camper if the weather or terrain are just too horrible.

Supporting the cyclists will, as ever, be the enthusiastic Nigel and Monica, piloting Broomey that Fiat 500 Green camper extraordinaire.

The cycling team of Chris, Nick, Dom and Neil will be forever looking out for that green once the next adventure begins.

The camper and bikes leave for that top corner of Spain on 30 May with three of the cyclists flying down to Santiago on 1 June before the cycling begins at Finisterra on 2 June.

Fitness and planning are almost complete, the tension and excitement are building for what we hope will be another great voyage of discovery- do join us for our next adventure from the end of the month.

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.

Day 14

Belgrade, Serbia

78 miles 3491ft climbed.

Total distance 1203 miles.

Well there we have it another tour successfully completed. Our arrival in Belgrade was not exactly met with fanfares but after a hard cycle in today we were all very pleased to have found Nigel , Monica and the camper tucked away in the fortress on the outskirts of the city.

Incredibly this is the first tour since the original Europe, End to End tour that we have not had a leg interrupted by the weather requiring a camper leg. No rain at all during the two weeks we have been away makes up for the rain everyday last year in Ireland.

Having got into the early routine, wild camping was no different, except we had to let each other know at which tree we dropped off our children!

As we left the farmer who had been at work cutting the sweetcorn since just after five gave us a big thumbs up. Unlike the big fields on the plain he only had a small towed harvester and it was going to take the best part of the whole day to harvest his field. We think that unlike the cattle destined corn we see in Northern Europe this is left to ripen fully on dried stalks and is fit for human consumption.

The first part of the ride saw us running along the ridge of the Fruska Gora mountains for around 25 miles. Although we kept our altitude in that time we had fifteen rollercoaster down and ups of about 200ft with regular gradients of 10%. This was super tough on our tired legs, but preferable to running through a city.

The mountain ridge road was dissected by four larger roads that went straight up and down and we had agreed to meet Nigel & Monica at the major one. This had a couple of small cafes where we stopped and had a coffee and Nick fought with a very tough doughnut. Hard to tear but tasted fine. An old boy with a part restored Ford made 1940’s D-Day Jeep took great interest in the camper calling it an old timer and invited himself in for a look around.

We stopped briefly to look at the very communist style monument above and with only a couple more climbs before the end of the ridge saw another well damaged communications tower, that although still bearing the scars of war was obviously still being used.

We then had a great long gradual descent off the ridge back onto the Danubian plain.

Having spent our time so far in the trees we had seen little in the way of humans apart from a few walkers and some hunters spit roasting a wild boar. Coming down off the ridge reintroduced us to towns and on the edge of the first one we saw the blingiest church ever invented. Chris was sure it came from Essex.

The gold and green reflected the sun so brightly it was almost impossible to look at. Serbia is a very religious country and there was a mass going on indoors.

Now back on the plain we traversed a few small towns surrounded by fields of corn, sunflowers and lots of apple orchards.

After a brief drinks stop above where a local suggested we get a beer before we shot off we headed back out on the yet more straight roads across the plain. We have never been so straight so often for so long.

Travelling along between the orchards one chap was just climbing into his tractor with some bins full of apple as behind him. While passing I ask if I could have one and he nodded so I went back

Serbian people are known for their generous nature and Borivoje was no exception as he proceeded to hand over half a dozen huge green apples proudly declaring them to be Golden Delicious. I just about fitted them into the bag I carry just in case when he stopped me going a proceeded to go back into the orchards a pick another handful of red apples this time. “ Red delicious “ he said and with around four kilos of apples we thanked him and set off for lunch.

A tractor pulled out just in front of us and was just slightly slower than our running rate so after a bit of drafting we took the plunge and sped passed without a problem. We found Nigel & Monica not far up the road hiding in another apple orchard to enjoy our final lunchtime feast.

Agreeing our final rendezvous in Belgrade we set off on more of the straight country roads before starting to come into the outer dormitory towns and suburbs of Belgrade.

Traffic began to get busier and cars were parked both sides of the street whilst their owners went shopping so we had to keep our wits about us to check no one was reversing into the road. As if that was not bad enough the lorries and buses were most disrespectful overtaking us with not much room to spare and at unabated speed. It was noticeable how many folk were waiting for the regular buses at every stop and we decided to stay behind one as each time we had caught it up it went past again.

Finally after coming down a hill some roadworks took us off the main road and we were able to get onto the busy promenade next to the Danube for a sharp intake of breath and relax.

We now had a relaxing run into Belgrade off the road much to all our relief.

A very hard fought medieval battle reenactment group provided a brief interlude and we can assure you that they were really throwing their swords with venom.

Because of the traffic we revised our plans and forsook the ride over the new suspension bridge running along the river to see the city. Crossing the river Sava we met up with the camper and the cycle was over. The longest trip we have completed as a threesome.

Deciding to treat ourselves to a steak for dinner the trip to the Serbian supermarket was successful and Nigel was for the first time this trip allowed to fire up the barbecue, so he was a happy man

As we sat down to eat we were buzzed by three Serbian airforce MiG 29 jets on their way back to base at Batajnica air base just up from the campsite.

I am writing this blog as we traverse Hungary having had to wait almost 11/2 hours to get back into the EU at the Hungarian border.

We should still get to Vienna airport in time to drop Nick & Chris’s off for their 530 flight back to the U.K. Nigel will then drive the rest of us back to Calais and the U.K. for tomorrow evening.

I hope to put together some reflections on the trip in the next day or so. Thank you to Cadence Performance Cycles in Paddock Wood for providing spares, although we have only needed one inner tube all tour. It remains Chris, Nick & my thanks to Nigel & Monica for their unbelievable support to help us achieve what very few have or can do. Who do you know who has been to Serbia?

This journey is over but the planning for next year has already begun We can already announce it will be during the first two weeks in June.

Day 13

Fruska Gora Mountains, Serbia

95 miles. 2479 ft climbed.

I’m blogging a day late as last night much to my fellow team’s excitement we camped wild in the Fruska Gora Mountains hidden away from sight, but with permission from the local farmer and although I had reception after over £26 in fees had not produced anything like a blog it was going to have to wait.

That was something of a contrast to the start of the day in Croatia where on paying the campsite bill , Nigel phoned us just as we were getting ready to get on our bikes and said you’ve got to come up here and see what they’ve got.

After having entered Croatia and had our only climb of the day just before the end, the hills used to grow the vines were also backed all along one side by houses. The owner explained originally they were troglodytic dwellings that over time were incorporated into wine cellars behind house fronts as they keep a constant temperature.

Of course we were offered a tasting and ending up buying some of his produce. He had good English and explained that whilst we are now in Croatia 90% of the population of this area are in fact Hungarian and speak both languages It is quite sobering to think that politicians decide boundaries ( in this case originally after the First World War) but the population carry on trying to live the way they know how and to retain their own identities.

Deciding to run a bit off the main route we found some more straight roads across agricultural lands and a couple of poor villages, Nick wisely not looking to invest. Above we ran through a dust cloud which smelt wonderfully of mint from the tractor cutting the ditch.

Finally coming off the flat lands we ran on larger roads into Osijek, the largest Croatian town in Slavonia.

Running along the opposite bank to the main town we crossed the river Drava on the pedestrian bridge which was famous as a symbol of the war of independence, although it has had to be rebuilt since.

Osijek looked an interesting place so we cycled into the old fortress part of town which was preparing for a music festival at the weekend and was full of activity. A very enjoyable trip round.

We then had to leave on a mix of cycle lane and road as the cycle lane was being built. This made us detour through a little market and we decided to pop into a bakery to find a local speciality to add to our coffee stop routine. This would prove to have been a good decision.

Carrying on to our revised coffee stop at Aljmas we had our only real wrong route of the trip when roadworks threw us off scent. To get back on track we ended up cycling down the yet to be made up new road.

Back on track and nearing our coffee stop a hill loomed into sight, something that always excites Nick. Then lo and behold a cyclist appeared from nowhere. That really got Nick going and he left us to chase the cyclist up the hill. By the time Chris & I caught them up Nick had a new friend in Sabrina from Munich who was cycling round Croatia to write a book on cycling tours.

Joining us for coffee Sabrina explained she is an architectural student and had diverted here to look at the unusual rebuilt church commissioned after the previous one had burnt down.

As she was going to run the same route as us as far as Vukovar she joined the train and seriously outpowered us as we covered the next 12 miles at over 18 mph.

We stopped initially at the Water Tower which has been retained as a symbol of the resistance to the Serbs having withstood hundreds of direct attacks. Vukovar is also known for the awful massacre that occurred when a prisoner exchange deal went wrong and 300 were left in the control of Serb paramilitaries and summarily executed a few kilometres out of town.

The building that the prisoners were held in has been turned into a very respectful memorial to those unnecessarily killed. This was yet another moment on this tour that makes you think about what drives people to do such things.

Taking lunch nearby we were entertained by some bank voles popping in and out of their holes. Sabrina left us to continue her exploration of Croatian cycle paths and we headed for Ilok on the border with Serbia.

We ran along quite a busy road but on seeing the road closed signs we ignored them as we do in the U.K. and had a three mile stint where we had the road to ourselves. This was fine until the last 200 metres which was unrolled stone and sadly a bit like in Sweden I caught a pinch flat. The first and only mechanical of the tour. We speedily changed it in 10 minutes and got through to meet Nigel just short of the Serbian border.

I had chosen a quiet crossing point. Leaving Croatia was easy and we had to cycle uphill to the Serbian border control which was manned by a jolly fellow whose English was confined to Novak Djokovic and a rather more surly woman with good English who questioned where we were going to check we said the same as Nigel.

Touching base with Nigel we had decided to wild camp in the Fruska Gora Mountains and he went ahead to try to find the perfect spot, on the condition it was no more than ten miles away, as we did not fancy too much climbing. This he did as explained earlier with Monica posted at the roadside to stop us cycling away as the camper was as ever hidden down a track.

We all had our camper showers before dinner to smell sweet and with Internet connectivity poor I joined the others in cards but came out the shedhead of the evening.

We whizzed through Croatia but could see the huge amount of work being carried out on their infrastructure both for cars and cycles. Definitely a work in progress.

We have now made our ninth country of the tour since leaving France on 1 September. Todays blog will hopefully be written on the journey home.

Update tomorrow as no data. Available

Day Twelve

Suza, Croatia

102 miles. 879 ft climbed

Hungary is famous for its love of paprika. Todays route took us through the centre of the paprika growing region of the country, Kalocsa. In addition to paprika it is also a major religious and teacher training centre

Taking a bit of a detour to see the town we were able to enjoy seeing all these elements in one go. NBJ Tours have had previous with nuns as Chris, Brian & Mike will testify having come across some in the depths of France many years ago. Here we saw this cycling nun pass in front of the cathedral where a group of primary school children were about to be taken into the museum. As she went passed, the teacher nodded and they all waved and said hello, and the nun waved back. How good to see such respect

Once again we were up with the lark and after our hearty porage we were off again at 7.30 in the knowledge that another 100 mile day awaited.

Passing the soviet era war memorial we hit the road for our first mini leg of 16 miles to a ferry across the Danube. Nigel, Monica and the camper taking a different route.

Arriving at the ferry terminal after about an hour we were the only passengers for the voyage which we had to wait 20 minutes. Our cruise ( Linda please note) lasted around ten minutes as the ferry had to fight the current as the other side was upstream a little. it cost us €10 and we all felt it was sound value for the cruise but it confirms we are not in the market for a longer voyage.

We met Nigel & Monica for breakfast around another 7 miles on just before our detour into Kalocsa.

We went past several paprika fields and the one above had workers at the other side who encouraged us to get off and help them. As mentioned above we enjoyed our trip into Kalocsa, Nick even getting his museum fix in the Paprika Museum.

Leaving Kalocsa we could have almost thought we were at home when we spied a Tesco superstore!

For once the wind was slightly in our favour and although still warm the temperature was manageable with some cloud around and the thunderstorms stayed away. This helped us average 15 mph despite some gentle riding around town and the slow ferry rides.

The riding today was therefore much better and we only had a couple of bigger roads and lorries to worry about for short stretches. We did as ever have long straight roads or paths as has been so typical of this trip.

We did go through a few small villages which barely seemed alive, but it was good to see real life as we saw very few cyclists en route today.

An interesting note was that everyone’s drainpipe lead out across the path and into the ditch at the side of the road. Not something we’d ever seen before.

Lunch stop was on the levee before Baja where we made another detour to see the town

This is pretty small town around the size of Tonbridge which has been both Hungarian and Serbian throughout history.

Leaving Baja we ran along the Danube for a period before our final tea stop by the next ferry crossing. Nigel decided he could not risk the camper on the steep slope so would add some extra miles to his route to the campsite. . It turned out to be a bit more extra as he ended up having to go into and out of Serbia in order to cross the river and get back into Croatia!

We did not have the same issue but on getting on board the ferry were asked for our tickets which we should have bought at the kassa, although not signed. Initially the crew said we could wait half an hour for the next crossing, but common sense prevailed as we were not about to get off and one of the crew accompanied me to the kassa on the opposite bank to pay. This only cost €4 and as I was given change in Forints gave this to the helpful crew member.

A ten mile ride to get to Croatia followed and although it was evident that the border control was significant not long ago we were able to pass without stopping in the Schengen zone. ( unlike Nigel in Serbia, which we will have tomorrow)

The only hill of the day came just before the campsite and with it was a change in agriculture as we saw many vines and signs for wineries.

From the top of the hill it was only another two miles downhill to the campsite which was welcome after the second hundred mile day in a row. We have now completed over 1000 miles since leaving Mulhouse.

Beef stew for dinner and cards followed as we were back in our usual campsite routine. It has to be said that every site where we have stayed has been clean and the facilities have been what has been needed after a hard days riding.

Day Eleven

100 miles 1923 ft climbed

After two days of absolutely no climbing at all we decided to spice up the day ( and cheer up Nick) by tackling two climbs which on both occasions were topped by castles. The first Visegrad was immediately at the start of the day and within 4 miles we had climbed more today than in over eighty miles yesterday. We then also decided to venture up and visit the Castle district of Budapest to take in the sights there. As we are now firmly in the middle of the great Hungarian plain I am not expecting too much climbing tomorrow either.

Leaving the campsite at 7.15 today as we knew we had a long day ahead the climb up to Visegrad castle started within 400m of the campsite entrance. As well as the castle it also gave us a good view of the Danube Bend where the Danube moves from an Easterly flow to a Southerly one.

As it was still before 8 am everything was closed and when I entered the car park a loudspeaker announced “ you are in an unauthorised area please leave immediately “ Which of course I did. We did however make it up even higher to an Outpost of the castle by cycling up a 15% gradient although sadly the views were not worth the extra effort.

Having met Nigel & Monica at the top we chased the camper down a very bumpy hill and then said goodbye until our lunch stop some 60 miles away.

The route then took us along the Danube on a mix of road and cycle path past Szentendre ( which I has stayed in on my exploration of Eastern Europe in 1991) and then on some superb cycle paths ( and dusty tracks) into Budapest itself

Workmen were busy everywhere building new cycle paths so future cyclists will be even more spoiled. On entering Budapest we switched sides of the river and cycled along its green lung Margaret’s Island stopping to enjoy the famous Margitsziget szokokut.

The fountain was pretty impressive even if we could not stay for one of its hourly music shows as they didn’t start until 11 o’clock and that was another hour away. Moving on from the island we went into Obuda part of the city stopping briefly for Nick to visit the pharmacy. Having to approach the castle hill from the rear we had a short two hairpin climb to get us where we needed to get to.

We managed a coffee stop before moving on to look at the view behind the cathedral which was another monument under restoration. Having done a photo exchange with an English couple on a river cruise, a New Yorker insisted on taking our photos from in front and behind. The celebrity almost got to Nick’s head! This reminds me, having seen a dozen or so Biking cruise ships full of sun tanned leathery folk, please do not ever let me go on one It looks like purgatory.

Leaving the castle area we dropped down crossing the Danube via the Szechenyi Chain bridge designed by an Englishman and built by a Scottish engineer both called Clark in 1849 and was the first permanent bridge over the Danube linking the two sides of the city. This year 2023 is officially the 150th anniversary of Budapest hence all the work in renovating it and we were lucky to cross the Szechenyi bridge as they have only just reopened it after a two year renovation programme.

This dropped us into the lower side of the city (Pest) and we worked our way out passing the impressive brand new stadium that has just held the world athletics championships.

Leaving Budapest behind we now had a long stretch along the biggest island in the Danube which is 42km long and full of dormitory towns served by a railway that feeds people into the city.

By now the temperature had begun to climb, Nick boasting 36 degrees although I’m inclined to more believe Chris’s 32 degrees as Nick’s Garmin is like it’s owner and for ever is over optimistic in its readings. He has usually cycled further and certainly climbed much more than either Chris or me every day!!

Running out of water required a stop in a local shop to top up the water bottles and cool our heads under a water pump.

Nigel had found a very good lunch stop near an outdoor shower where we all again cooled out top halves down. We agreed that we would split the last leg as although we had only 30 odd miles to go the heat was oppressive and an extra stop for tea and perhaps a cooling ice lolly would be good. Arranged, we set off for the most horrid leg of the trip so far which had the last 8 miles running along a busy and bumpy road with lorries thundering past. We were very glad therefore that as soon as we turned off we saw the Camper parked on the river levee.

The only downside was that the place was teeming with mosquitoes and we all left there with the standard war wounds although did destroy a number of the critters.

Just as we were leaving a herd of sheep/ goats accompanied by a man, a donkey and a dog, appeared and surrounded the camper. Whilst Monica being the animal lover she is fed the donkey it of course wanted more so Nigel with the help of the shepherd encouraged it to move on. A fun little interlude

Our final short leg was ok and having been scared off the main road to avoid another couple of miles we ran along this unmade up levee.

Crossing the river the campsite was only a few hundred metres on and we had made it to complete another day.

During the day we had come across a couple on a tandem and they ended up near to us on the site. Feeling sorry for them, Nigel invited Andy & Alison over for dinner and we had a good chat about our respective trips. They being recently retired and cycling from Amsterdam to Istanbul over 3 months with the aim of completing 43 miles a day two up carrying everything. Very impressive.

Only three days to go and we cross another border tomorrow to get to our eighth country of the tour.

Day 10

Visegrad, Hungary

87 miles 686ft climbed

The loud speakers crackled into life and some music began to play, then it was accompanied by a man singing a patriotic tune. Was this Mustapha Mond the controller from Brave New World or had we descended back into communist Russia.

We looked around checking our watches. We had just entered a small village, it was 8 o’clock , time for the National Anthem just to remind us we were in Slovakia and we must love our country. Nick is now keen to get Brian Rowe to get speakers installed in Hadlow Park so the residents can be woken and be ready for inspection every morning!

Starting at 7.30 to try to beat the heat that was forecast today saw our busiest launch on roads full of workers setting out for the day. After innumerable roundabouts to exit Dunajska Streda we finally were able to turn off to smaller roads where even they had cycle paths easing the ride.

The first part of our ride worked it’s way across the very flat fertile Slovakian plain north of the Danube. This was a good change from pounding by the Danube and saw us run through several small towns and villages, where we did enjoy the Slovak National Anthem as mentioned earlier.

Agriculture abounded with apples, vines, various grains and sunflowers all in evidence. Running occasionally next to irrigation canals and rivers we saw more wildlife than for some time with a couple of very rapid deer, a hare that bounded across the path in front of us , and Nick even saw his first ever Kingfisher.

The other great variation of the day was the type of surface we cycled on. We reckon the only thing we didn’t cycle on was wet concrete we had cycled on before.

We enjoyed or should we say endured. Tarmac, new, old, almost vanished ( see above) , gravel, pebbles (like cycling on Hastings beach), grass, mud, dirt, concrete (various varieties) and even different types of cobblestones. Suffice to say to protect our delicates nether regions there was much warning and standing on pedals!

Before we made it to our coffee stop next to the Danube after the longest leg of the day we came across the longest wooden bridge in Europe and managed to cycle across it.

With the temperature rising Nigel & Monica’s coffee stop was shorter than usual and we set off on the standard Danube levee in some ferocious heat.

Unannounced we came across this Roman fort which was occupied from the first to the fourth centuries in keeping the Germans at bay. I had a walk round but Nick & Chris thought I was bonkers to venture out in the heat, but it was an interesting little detour.

Not long after this we came across a reconstruction of a Roman watchtower, although the fact it had ceramic tiles and plastic four glazing suggested it was not an accurate rendition.

Continuing along the levee we sought out shade when ever we could and did drop down to hide in the shade of trees on dirt tracks as preference to gravel on the top. We even had a brief stop by the Danube to cool down.

We need not have feared as Nigel had found a nice shady spot for lunch just by our cycle track so we were able to enjoy a relatively cool break.

It was not far now to the bridge to cross the Danube and enter Hungary which we had seen for some miles on the opposite bank of the river.

The Maria Valeria bridge was built in 1896 was destroyed in the Second World War but not rebuilt until 2001! After crossing the bridge we came into Esztergom which is home to the largest basilica in whole Hungary and the centre of Catholicism in The country.

Having got here we thought we ought to pay it a visit and climbed the cobbled hill to have a look. It’s size certainly makes it impressive although it is presently undergoing extensive renovations both inside and outside so was not at its finest.

Leaving Esztergom we had decided the final climb of the day up to the castle at Visegrad was better served by doing it first thing in the morning when it is cooler and the legs less tired. This just left twenty odd miles to the campsite. Sadly the last ten running along a busy road with cars and vans whizzing by every few seconds.

We need not have feared as on arriving at the campsite as Nigel had some cool beers waiting and we were able to shower quickly before spag Bol completed the day.

More warm weather is forecast tomorrow so we aim to get up and away even Earlier to tackle to climb to Visegrad before going on to Budapest.

Day 9

Dunajska Streda, Slovakia

78 miles 577 ft climbed

Today was a big day in more ways than one. After enjoying Vienna in the company of our wives it was back on our bikes after two days resting our tired limbs and sore bottoms. In addition we were about to leave Austria to start our journey into what was behind the Iron Curtain prior to 1990. Lastly and significantly it was our compadre Nick’s birthday today.

Birthday boy with his cakes

With us all fully refreshed apart from Nick who had walked around 35 km in the last two days and the forecast due to be hot we decided on an early start once again.

The mornings leg started out along the Danube levee before a detour round this huge oil depot before moving slightly away from the Danube and then we ran along a old railway line which was straight and true for at least fifteen miles. As ever Chris & I let Nick lead the majority of the pretty mind numbing and scene-less route, although I did feel sorry for him and took the last five miles

Completing this part of the route we moved away from the Danube towards Schloss Hof where we met up with Nigel & Monica for our coffee stop already in the shade as the temperature had begun to climb. As we cycled between large fields we came across a huge field of onions left out to dry so I popped down and scrumped one for dinner!

Leaving coffee we quickly passed Schloss Hof itself and almost ran over the marmots that were squeaking noisily near its entrance gates. We were now close the the border and were able to cross a river over the cycling friendship bridge as we left the castle’s estate. Poor Nigel and Monica had a long trip round over the Danube to get into Slovakia.

Moving into Slovakia there was a slight deterioration in the quality of the cycling infrastructure but realistically this amounted to slightly uneven tarmac. It is still far superior to that in the U.K.

Slovakia, is incredibly the country with the highest car production per capita with plants already building Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Citroen, Land Rover and Kia with a new Volvo facility due to come online soon.

We then started to enter Bratislava itself, initially on the bank of the Danube before we then rode through the pretty pedestrianised centre of the city.

After having had a whizz round the city centre we then left to rejoin the river levee. At this point the river must have been a mile wide and really did not look like a river.

This leg was our most interesting of the day and Nigel had arranged a lunch stop just off the levee having put up the awning to give us some shade. We saw very few other cyclists all day and even Nigel wasn’t able to persuade a couple to stop and join us.

After this stop we ran along the river for around fifteen miles before leaving the river at Horny Bar and then running on small roads across the flat plain. As the heat was climbing further we stopped in the shade before the last push to the campsite. What was noticeable was that it appeared that all houses had just had fibre fitted but that the roads were just filled with gravel. This left a gravelly bump every 20 metres as we rode through each town. The choice being fibre or smooth roads!

The day being a little shorter we managed a finish at 3 pm. Followed by a glass of Zlaty Bazant and a quick cool down swim in the lake.

Monica had set out to explore Slovakian shops and branch out further than Lidl’s to ensure that Nick had quality cakes, delving into her German to secure the nicest ones at a patisserie.

There was no perceptible climbing today and I am glad that we have not slavishly kept to the Danube cycleway. I believe it would have been an even harder challenge without the variety that we enjoy. Interestingly as usual every Austrian cycle path we have ridden always has a kilometre of gravel despite the rest being beautiful smooth tarmac so we wonder if there is some rule to say this. ( There must be as Austria has rules for everything!)

Nick demanded a one pot curry with Monica’s beetroot & apple salad as his treat tonight so that’s what he got, before his super cakes. It is due to remain very hot tomorrow so it’s an early start again, with most of the day in Slovakia before crossing the Danube into Hungary.

Day 8

Vienna

56 miles. 421 ft climbed

660 miles completed on the first leg.

When cycling for long distances you do become somewhat obsessed by the quality of the surface you are travelling upon as it directly affects the pain transmitted to your ever more sore backside.

Generally speaking we have been spoilt by the super smooth tarmac or gravel paths in all the countries we have visited. Only occasionally he we had to evade difficult terrain. Well today was a first for all of us as just after leaving Krems and crossing a bridge under construction (but open) we actually cycled across some newly laid cement, having to push extra hard to get out to the other end before we would have become statues embedded on the bridge. The workmen seemed none too perturbed and straightaway started to tidy up our tracks!!

Today was always planned as a short day to get the final 55 miles to Vienna then meet up with our wives who had flown over the day before. Once again we ran alongside the Danube and luckily the headwind abated for the first 30 minutes before coming back on song for the rest of the day.

We crossed over the Danube on a few occasions using the huge hydro/ locks as crossing points watching a barge through on one occasion

Cycling along the levees was tough with the only respite being either these crossings or a short section of woodland as another tributary joined the Danube meaning a diversion in the otherwise consistent pedalling.

Whilst we haven’t seen as much wildlife as we thought we may as usual first thing we did spot some large slugs who seem destined to be caught out by the sun before they are able to make it across the path. Nick continues to frighten the grasshoppers who ping into the undergrowth as he powers past. Chris has no such luck and has so far squashed a slow worm and a lizard, although a grass snake did evade his concrete tyres this morning as it slithered away into the bushes!

We had a brief coffee stop with only 25 miles to go and arranged to meet up with Nigel, Monica and the ladies in Vienna so all was set. Nigel performed a quick clean up of the bikes to remove any traces of the early morning’s concrete encounter before we left.

Coming into Vienna was a breeze with the specific cycle lanes guiding us passed complex road junctions and into the city centre without an issue.

We even managed to work our way through the Hofburg Palace and Spanish Riding school.

Sopping briefly to meet up Nick’s wife Carolyn who was on her way to a music museum as befits a piano teacher we carried on until we arrived at Schonbrunn, a palace fit for the end of leg one.

Not being allowed even to walk our bikes passed these gates we then went to meet Nigel & Monica who had by this time been joined by our wives, Caroline & Karen, our Austrian friends Moni and ( my Austrian daughter) Tini.

Leg one completed successfully over 1000kms on mainly dedicated cycle paths, not a drop of rain Incredible. We have s lot to Learn in the U.K.

We now have two days r’n ‘r before the next stage of the trip into the old iron curtain. We are not expecting the same level of sophistication or quality of campsite!

The next update will be published o. Monday until then BBFN.