day 10 - Budapest

Day 10
July 12th

Another break, another small city tour. We began strolling around the market, then a few of us went for a longer walk, while Andi took the longest in order to find a good spot to film. As usual, no break for the core team, because work never stops.

Our group grew larger when we were joined by Juliane and Christopher Soyka, sister and brother who came all the way from Vienna to ride with us. We expected more people, but it seems it's not easy to convince you lot to get up on your bikes. Let's hope we can still change your minds before we reach our final destination.



We later met Zsofia and Henrietta from the local organizing team, Tiago ruined dinner (although claiming he was sabotaged) and we all got some much deserved rest. A slow day on the story side, but a nice one for sightseeing.

day 9 - Dunaujvaros to Budapest

Day 9
July 11th

On this last day of our second stage, we were invited / advised not to hit the road in the morning. Morning turns to noon, cyclists turn to roast and it just doesn't make sense. The school staff were kind enough to let us sleep in, and then use their facilities all morning and early afternoon. We sent e-mails, made phone calls, took care of laundry and prepared a decent route up to Budapest. Andi set up his studio and got some statements from the brave riders.

We left Dunaujvaros, crossed the Danube again and rode against strong wind and through some challenging sand banks. We progressed slowly but steadily, and eventually came to Rackeve, through the natural park. Tiago had snacks for our pitstop, so we recharged our batteries (in Andi's case, literally), switched on the headlights and set off howling in the night.

We rode up to Csepel, met Boris again in the city, Tiago had somehow managed to find Brazilians to hand out flyers to, made our way across the Danube again and finally reach our destination, a dormitory / hostel by Corvinus University. With Mirko as our guide for the last few days, we'd survived another stretch in our long way to Russia.

Stage B completed, thirteen more to go.

day 8 - Szekszard to Dunaujvaros

Day 8
July 10th

We left Szekszard early in the morning, trying to avoid the hottest part of the day. We would cross the Danube and take a path on the left bank, while Boris would follow on the right bank. According to the advice we got the night before, we'd all meet up in Paks before lunch, wait until the temperature dropped a bit and then carry on. Once again, our plan went down the drain, as it was nearly impossible to get a ferry on a Sunday and make it to Paks. The group arrived around 2pm.

Tiago had been waiting for 3 hours, completely unaware that it was free spa day. Once we figured that out, we all jumped in the pool, refreshed and had some nice lunch. All but Mario, anyway, since he had to take a nap and ended up with the worst part of the whole deal...

After a few hours of rest, we once again set out to cross the Danube. Cycling is not so easy around these parts. We prepared to ride in the dark, got out our lights and vests and moved on. It took forever to get to Dunaujvaros! Of course we still managed to get lost once we got there - why miss out on all the fun?

Once we arrived at our sleeping place, an elementary school, we were met by the lady keymaster, who had been waiting for hours, and her son, Matt, who also helped us around the school. Our kitchen was the cooking classroom, our master bedroom was the gym, our internet hotspot was the teacher's lounge and Andi's and Niki's bedroom was the school grounds outside. These two prefer sleeping outside (they did so the night before) but were probably not expecting one particular visit: a fox!

This was, so far, the longest day of riding. More than twice the distance we'd originally planned. Although riding in the night was a lot of fun and a bit more comfortable than the usual course of the desert, we're reconsidering the given number of 4000 km. Our legs are really paying the price.

PS: the mexican sausages from Tesco are excellent!

day 7 - Pecs to Szekszard

Day 7
July 9th

At the beginning of a new stage, the same old story: painful heat and serious limitations to bicycle traffic. To help digest breakfast, we climbed up a mountain for half an hour. We called in for map support, and still ended up getting lost up there. At some point, we found that part of the bicycle path had been swept away by a stream, leading to some healthy high-noon weight lifting.

Funny how the longest riding days turn out to be the ones with less stories to tell. The more time we spend cooking on the asphalt, the less chances we have to see the sights, talk to the locals and gather some stories to tell our grandchildren one day. One thing we did find, though, was an amazing hospitality on the part of the local population. Any time we needed, the good people were there for us. Especially for Mario, when he lost his phone...

Upon reaching Szekszard, we found the place where we were supposed to stay: the Police Judo Club. There was some sort of mix-up with the arrangements, so the President decided we were welcome to stay there for free. It still felt strange to sleep in the back of the Police yard, behind doors with metal bars and a subtle scent of feet on the judo mats, but the fact remains: these people are generous! Even the officer at the reception was extremely helpful, providing us with details about the upcoming ride towards Dunaujvaros.

We still hit the town, bumped into a bicycle racing event, handed out some flyers and relaxed in the warm Hungarian evening. The only thing still bothering us was Tiago going on about some twins he saw that afternoon...