Breakfast
First it took me a while to start in the right direction, my orientation is bad enough to be tricked by some bends and triangles that I interpreted as squares. And then it was (so far) the day with most head wind. It was interesting as the surface at first was totally flat and then slowly became wavy and then hilly. Still there are 2-3 days left to reach the real mountains, but I think these are early announcements.
Today I learned to look around in villages in a certain way: I gave up looking for public water supply and finally bought water in a plastic bottle, and I looked around for dogs. Some came from behind and I am not sure if there are better ways to react, but I speeded up as fast as I could and, in both situations, they gave up (and I was really exhausted and wondering how much Adrenalin and fear was necessary to escape.) When they run from a court at the side there is no good chance to be faster than they are. The first time I tried to get away, but in the end, I found myself with the feet in the air, waiting for a wonder – that was: they made terror for some seconds but didn’t bite and went back. Another time their respect for a passing car helped me. After that the next time I slowed down when I saw the dogs and did everything to keep them calm. It worked but can I know if those wouldn’t chase me anyway? Two times I felt lucky as those dogs were occupied by food, but again I don’t know which dog would have done what.
the sign I wanted to photograph…
…and this is the dog that approached me meanwhile. (I was not sure what he will do, so I had the camera in one hand and a stick in the other. But now, in the pic, he doesnt look dangerous 🙂 )
Today I started eating quite late and then it was plums from a broken tree. They were not full ripe and so I tried not to be to greedy to avoid side-effects. But the idea of “street food” also made me look around in another new way. (Foto above)
The last 25km were hard, as it were mostly very bad “streets” and that absorbed too much psychic energy to do what I thought I would do since entering Hungary: wild camping. Instead I was so happy that Garmin had worked well and brought me to a “Casa”
26.7.2018
Woke up at 6:20, giant breakfast at 7, departure 8:15, French couple around the 70 apparently also had spent the night in the Casa, they go from the Atlantic to the Black sea. Unfortunately, I asked them too little about their experiences and also a photo could have been nice, but theses are things I have to learn: don’t be hasty, at least sometimes, and know when it is a good time for that “sometimes”…
Today mainly bad (old concrete with holes and cracks) to very bad (mud and puddles) roads, some of them apparently by Garmin/komoot meant as shortcuts …Many dogs but no hunting 🙂 At first very pleasant in the morning fog (until 9), then quite hot. Ringlots and plums eaten, overall surprisingly little hunger, but I would have an appetite for cheese and fruit juices. However, anything else but my supplies brought from Vienna is forbidden until after the mountain (to reduce weight).
In Tom Allans bike blog I read to give at least one hour to find a good place for wild camping, so I started around 6:30. And soon, I found a place only asking myself if I shouldn’t do another 10-20km to reduce the distance for th next day. But then the mission “wild camping” was more important to accomplish. First my plan was to start with eating and then set up the tent, but then there was rain and I hurried up. Then, in the tent, I finished dinner and quite early started in a night of light sleep, as I still have to find the proper material to imitate a pillow.
27.7.2018
Mild night, at 5:15 I decided to end it and putting everything back on the bike and get ready took around an hour (this will not be much shorter even with more routine, I guess). Another start with riding in the fog, only more stressful as in 3 villages the dogs tried to hunt me. The first was a group of three, just barking but then from the background a bigger one came running very determined, I had some 30m lead and when I reached full spead it was only 10m but still that race was long enough to leave both of us exhausted and me saved. But in this condition I encountered the next bunch and even with more energy left there wouldn’t have been a way to escape as the were awaiting me in a narrow street. The problem in both cases was social pressure: they get angry by the anger of their fellows. So I don’t know exactly why in the end they let me go, but they did.
Today to times I got help of locals at construction site: at first when there was a sign that you can’t go on and I tried to find out what to do, a car driver stopped and explained me how I still could go on there. Well, it was quite hard, as I had to push and the lift my really heavy bike (48kg), but it was worth doing because I was on a “fast” street then. The second time a woman on a race bike helped me. By the way, I had my second clip pedal accident when I turned around to follow her and forgot that my left shoe was fixed. Luckily, like the first time, my mirror didn’t break and I only had some new scratches. She is doing training for a long distance race in Switzerland in September.
While on smaller streets dogs are hunting bikers, on bigger streets they lose their lives. Every few kilometres you find dead bodies in all stages of decomposition between open and bloody and only some remaining of their fur.
Today I had quite many long climbs, which became worse by the thought it will be four times harder in two days, the rest was even worse mud roads where I partly had to use all my power to push my bike forward while I balanced somewhere on the edge of vast puddles, caressed by stinging nettles.
I have to say that some villages are really pretty, others a bit depressing as you see them dying and they mostly are just two rows of houses along the streets.
Another example for me to stop when the moment is right:
On one climb there was a water pipe and when I realized how nice this is, I had gone another 30-40m and it was too much for me to stop and go back. Only I learned to look harder. (And indeed, 50km later there was a second one and I used it not only for drinking but for cleaning muddy shoes and cooling down. Even now the memory makes me sip at my bottle ?
Finally I found my “pensiune” and came back to my digital life of updating Garmin, saving pics and clips, posting, etc.