day 6 - Pecs

Day 6
July 8th

We had our first resting day in Pecs. As it turned out, we had no plan, and we would have slept in if it weren't for the burning sun, starting at 7am. Not much to tell about this day. We needed some rest and relaxation, and that was precisely what we had. City tour at will, no pressure.

While some of us took a stroll around town, some others had to work. Andi was a busy bee, looking for a nice place to shoot some scenes, Julian and Sasha were dragged around as well, but Tiago was the lucky one. While on our search for a place with wifi coverage to start publishing some of these stories, we accidentally came across a bike repair / rental, called Velosophie. After a quick chat about who we are and what we're doing, they invited us in, offered some refreshments and let us use their space and wifi to get some work done. Tiago stayed there all afternoon, told them about the project, got some contacts of a few Hungarian cycling activists, and eventually some of our riders came in for a last minute check-up.

Velosophie is part of the LABOR Cooperative. They're not just about the bikes. One of their catchiest operations is light painting buildings. We sign off with a word of thanks to these guys, a sneak peak of some of their work and a piece of advice: check out their website and open your mind!


velosophie újrenyitó 2011. by labor_media

day 5 - Mohacs to Pecs

Day 5
July 7th

Waking up by the Danube with the quiet company of a nearby mine field is a rather soothing experience, and it would have been a rather calm morning if Tiago hadn't driven off with the "cottage" keys, closely chased by the janitor across the Duna-Drava park.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, leaving Mohacs took forever, forcing us to change all our plans for the day. We hit the road under extreme heat (nothing new there...) and found out that cyclists weren't allowed on that particular road. We went offroad for a while, quickly gave up on the idea and went back on the original route. We then found out we're not that good at reading traffic signs.

We toasted under the sun, had a quick stop in Pecsvarad and eventually made our way to Pecs, the first real objective of the route. That would be the end of our first stage. The first obstacle to overcome. By the time we arrived at a family-run camping site outside of town, we all had that feeling of "mission accomplished".

Ride for your Rights! had reached its first destination. After long days under the burning sun, getting lost and misleaded to the worst possible roads, going off budget and almost losing our minds, we'd made it.

Stage A completed. Fourteen more to go.

day 4 - Osijek to Mohacs

Day 4
July 6th

The day began early for some. The same "some" as usual. Andi, Sasha and Julian went to meet Ivan once again for a city tour and some filming, since Julian and Andi were late for yesterday's tour. It would be a shame not get some footage of a beautiful place like Osijek.

After this second tour for the three, or sleeping in for others, everyone gathered for breakfast. We were bit in a hurry, because we had a meeting with Boris at "lega lega" shop arranged. There were guys from "Bike my day" organisation waiting for us, we took some photos, exchanged ideas and contacts, and once more sat on our bikes and left. That day, our goal was Mohacs.

This part of the route was unknown to all of us, so after a few wrong turns we were on our way to the Hungarian border through the Nature Park "Kopacki rit", what we like to call Jurassic Park, mostly because of the entrance.

The route was surprisingly interesting, the road was more than comfortable for riding, and after a couple of signs "Danger! Frogs!" and 40km we met the Hungarian border control. After some minutes of explaining what we were doing and which way we were taking, they wished us luck and we continued to Mohacs.

We were just about to enter the city, when we saw Tiago and Boris sunbathing and waiting for us. We stopped to get info about our accommodation for that night, and we heard only good news: "Tonight we are sleeping in an old cottage by Danube. Do not even think about going into the river, the whirlpools are too dangerous, there is an army of hungry mosquitoes, and you have 13 more kilometers to reach the place. And yeah, I almost forgot to mention, don't go beyond the fence, since there is a mine field. Also, it's not really a cottage."

Once we got there we were quite surprised that it is not that bad. the "cottage" was actually a former military post on the tri-border area, with a ramp for patrol boats. The mine field issue began to make sense. It looked creepy from outside, but the interior was quite cozy. Comfortable beds, equipped kitchen, and hot showers was exactly what we needed. We prepared some kilos of pasta, had dinner, and went to sleep, exhausted from heat and mileage that was far over our plans.

day 3 - Vukovar to Osijek

Day 3
July 5th

Our day at the horse ranch began on a positive note, when we were told that our friend Reinhard had picked up part of the tab. His generosity will not go unpunished :)

After lifting camp, we headed for Vukovar proper, where we visited an important landmark: the water tower. This was one of the few monuments that the city authorities decided not to repair, and instead preserve as a memorial of the horrors of the civil war that ravaged the region in the 90s.

We took a little while to talk about this sensitive issue among ourselves. Our group is quite diverse, and while some of us are all too familiar with this dark chapter in History, some others know very little about what happened. We took this chance to learn, reflect and hopefully we'll be able to pass on the message as we go along.

After this visit, the group split in two. Our participants went ahead, the crew stayed behind to catch up with all the pending work. Here's the first group's story:

We left Vukovar, heading to Osijek, and this part of the road was calm enough for us to relax and get to know each other a little better. We're always a bit too tired when we're off the bikes that it takes long until you really get to know the person riding beside you.

When we reached Osijek, we were met by Ivan, from Pannonian, who took us for a city tour on bike. We visited old town, the pedestrian bridge, the Cathedral and all the parks in between. We even took the ferry to see both sides of the Drava. Osijek is a beautiful and hospitable place. We'd like to thank the city of Osijek for arranging free meals and accommodation for us.

One important stop of our city tour was a visit to the Lega-Lega store, which is a unique brand of the city of Osijek, ran by Boris (not the van). Boris runs the website BikeMyDay.com and he organizes various cycling events in and around Osijek.

Ivan still had a treat for us. He took us to see the skate park and the BMX dirt track, where they organize Pannonian Challenge, an extreme sports competition that takes place every year, all put together by these young lads.

By the end of the day, we met Boris again, when he treated us to some ice-cream and talked about all the possibilities of creating cycling events between Serbia and Croatia. No scars of the past will prevent good people from doing good things.

It was a great day, a lot of sightseeing, good food, interesting people. It could have been better, had we known where the rest of the people were...

Meanwhile:

The crew were left in Vukovar to try and clear some work. As it turns out, it's hard to even think about replying to all the e-mails we get, after we toast under the sun for several hours. Of course a short break in Vukovar was welcome, but we knew we were missing something nice in Osijek. Seems like we have to visit again.

As we made our way to Osijek, we met a French couple, also on bikes, who had been travelling from France to Turkey and back, with a few months on their legs. They were the masters of low-budget travelling, as they didn't spend a single cent on accommodation. We wish we had no schedule to follow, so we could do the same. But time marches on, and so must we.

Our arrival in Osijek was quiet, and we had the opportunity to share the dining room with roughly hundred construction workers in blue overalls. Svetlana was the only woman in the room. Lucky her, getting all the attention...

Then off to meet the group, let them have a much deserved shower, and some more work into the night. Next time, we're hiring secretaries.

In conclusion:

As the days go by, as we see new places, meet new people, try new recipes and learn new things, we all grow up a bit, but still manage to keep a young spirit. And home is anywhere, now.

day 2 - Backa Palanka to Vukovar

Day 2
July 4th

The day began quite early for Julian and Sasha, who went to the local TV and Radio station to give an interview about the project. As it turns out, everyone in Backa Palanka rides a bicycle. Everyone. Nice choice for a first stop.

After that, the group went for some nice breakfast and attended a meeting with the Mayor of Backa Palanka. We had a chance to learn a few things about the city and the municipality, and managed to spread the message that our generation only needs a few simple tools to achieve great things - student mobility being one of those tools, of course!



Once the meeting was over, we began an incredibly quick preparation for the road up ahead (about one hour) while we read the newspapers where the opening ceremony was mentioned. If we've managed to reach a few people already, that's a victory for us, but we hope to achieve many more in the coming months.



Off to Croatia, we crossed the border into Ilok and paid a visit to the local castle. From then on, we were cruising over the plains and battling the steep valleys that made our trip more challenging. Our legs suffered a bit, but nothing some roadside cherry picking wouldn't cure.



At this point we must mention some of the people who have joined the Ride for your Rights!, by conviction or by mere chance, and who don't exactly fit into the student category.

On the top of the list, we have Reinhard and Solbritt from Austria, both very young in spirit and whose path happened to cross our own during these first few days, bringing some good mood to the group - not a scarce commodity around here, but always welcome. They managed to take some time to ride until Vukovar, where we had to part ways, but only for a little while. We're all looking forward to seeing them again when we stop in Vienna.



We also ran into a most unusual character. Stephanie, a German lady who has been riding her bicycle around the world for the past two years, ended up joining us for the evening in Vukovar, with some pretty amazing stories to share. We all wish her the best time on her way back home.



In the middle of all this, we reached the entrance of Vukovar, where we took a little detour to a horse ranch called Dunavski Raj. Yes, horse ranch, with real horses, whose shower we shared. Hosing ourselves down after such a long day was quite the treat we needed.



We had a very nice dinner, set up camp, grabbed the guitar and lit the bonfire. Another day had passed, we'd come to the second country on our itinerary and we'd already met some very interesting people. Just a couple of reasons why we all decided to join this ride.

We're all looking forward for whatever comes next.

day 1 - Novi Sad to Backa Palanka

Day 1
July 3rd

The day started with a very informal meeting by the van, our sturdy Boris. Even though most of us were at the hostel the night before, we hardly got a chance to talk until we were forced to take on the first challenge: fitting all our stuff into the back of the van...



We headed to the meeting point, in front of the Novi Sad City Hall, where the opening ceremony took place. We had speeches from Aleksandar Kravic - city counselor for Sports of the Novi Sad City Council, Miroslav Veskovic - rector of the University of Novi Sad, Wojciech Wolf - vice-president of Campus Europae and our own Julian, then a spin of the Bike of Honour and the handout of the bikes from Ideas on Tour, to whom we'd like to address our thanks and wishes of great success in their future endeavours. They'll earn a longer reference soon, on your new favorite blog :)



The group headed out to Backa Palanka, on the bicycle path along the Danube, with a very relaxing stop at a place called Florida (not to be confused with state commonly known for its orange juice and sunglasses-wearing red-headed detectives).



We had a chance to meet some nice people from the Backa Palanka Youth Club, who welcomed us to our very first stop of the very first stage.
After a nice dinner at a local pizzeria and a relaxing moment by the Danube, we spent the night at the sports hall of the Desanka Maksimovic elementary school.



Our first day was over, and we couldn't really believe that our ambitious project had, in fact, begun. As we went to sleep that night, we had no idea of what lay ahead and the challenges that we'd face. But it was real, at last...