day 17 - Bratislava to Vienna

Day 17
July 19th

With the largest group so far, we gathered once again in Sad Janka Kral'a (really, it's a great meeting point!) and welcomed yet another two more cyclists. No ride in the park anymore, we're in it for a big one.

We hit the road, had a break in Orth an der Donau, had a little picnic, two more riders joined the group and we went on our merry way. We were joined by - whom else - our friend Reinhard, who can't resist tagging along with us on his bike and put together a nice surprise for us. We had a quick break in the park, before we moved our first big meeting, in front of the UN building.

By the UN building, we met disabled students and took some time to learn about a very important resolution. Students on wheelchairs, deaf students, they all encounter many more obstacles that the rest of us do, and their rights need much more riding from all of us.

For the final stretch, we crossed the Reichsbruecke into the center, and had a buffet at the University of Vienna. Guess who was there: Stephanie! This lady has no Boris, and yet she managed to reach Vienna in time to meet us again. Always nice to meet fellow travellers...

As most of the riders went home (more than half the group came from Vienna), the rest of us who live elsewhere made our way to Meininger Hotel, where we found the comfort we need for a couple of days of recovery. Much thanks to Pascal, who is our acting babysitter at the moment and, despite the attempted poisoning with Bulgarian rakia, he seems to enjoy our presence very much.

Stage D completed, eleven more to go.

day 16 - Bratislava

Day 16
July 18th

Everyone dispersed on this half sunny, half rainy break in Bratislava. For those who made it, there was a city tour led by Michal. For the rest, BA has always something to offer, being the welcoming city that it is.

In the afternoon, we gathered again in Sad Janka Kral'a for our scheduled event. We had a short visit from a few activists from the local Critical Mass, then welcomed four new riders coming from Vienna, and we rolled out the Bike of Honour for the Director of Higher Education from the Slovak Ministry of Education, Mr Peter Plavcan. During our informal meeting we had the chance to express our concerns and the goal of the project, discussed the recognition problems with an informed perspective and collected another signature on our GoCycle.

We've become a large group at this point. We'd like to see it even larger up ahead. After all, this is the Ride for your Rights!

After this, the same old story: rain on the way home, dinner and a bit of clubbing, as the group prepares for an impressive arrival in Vienna...

day 15 - Gyor to Bratislava

Day 15
July 17th

We began stage D lighter than expected (some jackass stole a bag from our camp) and once again crossed the Danube, making our way to the dam in Gabcikovo.

There we met a true citizen of the world, currently based out of Bavaria. This nice lady came up to the group, inquired about the project and where each of us came from. She then proceeded to speak in nearly every language represented by us: Serbian, Hungarian, German, Portuguese and the classic Globish we all use to communicate around the world. She told us about her amazingly full life, signed our Manifesto and wished us luck for the rest of our way.

We followed the cycling path to Bratislava, short one member: Sasha's day off. Washing hands is overrated, but only to a certain extent. We later gathered in Sad Janka Kral'a, where we met Michal, our local organizer. He led us to the dormitories, presented us to the amazing old school bureaucracy there and we all made it to our own respective rooms.

Out to dinner, we were met by 3 more riders, coming in from Vienna: Connie, Miriam and Tanja hopped off the bus with their bikes, right under our noses! Then, those who were still feeling fresh went for some clubbing. The best part of the dormitories in Mlynska Dolina is that you don't really have to go far to find some food and some fun.

Again, we deserve it!

day 12 - Esztergom to Komarom

Day 12
July 14th

As we took off from Esztergom, we immediately encountered our first misfortune of the day: Sasha had a flat. The group waited, while Boris rushed to leave Andi at the trainstation and Mario rushed to cross the Slovak border and drink some Kofola.

Then we found out we have much to improve on the stopping signs within the group. Nina was the main casualty, but fortunately the asphalt broke her fall. Since we couldn't find a store selling replacement knees, she was all patched up and Boris came back for the transport.

The group had split in three: some took the direct road, some went up and down the hills and Mario drank half the Kofola available in Komarno. We all met at our shelter for the night, a gym in a school on the Hungarian side (the magic formula), where we were met by the vice-mayor. We took a little while to shoot some hoops and ended up delaying an aerobics class, much to the boys' liking. Off to Komarno for dinner, a long streak of inappropriate jokes and finally a storm, to make the way back much more challenging.

We continue to enjoy the local hospitality, but we're eager to meet more people in high places to express the purpose of this whole ride, which is not just interrupting someone's tennis match. There's a part for the legs and a part for the brains. Looking forward for the next days.