Robert Beal

Entering Serbia was easy, and took only a couple of minutes at the border control. At first I was surrounded by farms, and relatively poor villages but as I got closer to Novi Sad the surroundings slowly became wealthier and roads busier. I had left at 1100 and arrived by 1400 so had cycled in the heat of the day… around 32C. It wasn’t very pleasant, especially as there were hills. I told myself I wouldn’t do it again (how little I knew!).
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Entering Croatia, psychologically, felt great. I had been 8 years before and really liked the country and people so was happy to be back. As I entered a huge thunderstorm ran along side my towards Hungary with flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder. I smiled to myself, glad I was out of Hungary. I sped on, averaging over 30kmh as the thunderstorm a bit too close for comfort. It was quite exciting being so close yet not actually in it (like I’m used to). I was so close that when the wind changed direction I could feel spots of rain. This continued for around 20km until it started to change direction!

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My first impression of Hungary was fairly poor. Since Vienna it had been, grey, cloudy with constant showers. This continued in the north of Hungary and into Budapest. The roads were for the most part quite awful, covered with potholes or littered with sand which got all over my chain and gears. In the wet the roads only became harder to cycle on as puddles masked potholes and bumps. My time on the bike was largely spent focussing on the road below me, rather than the scenery around me. When I was able to focus on the scenery it was typically boring and often industrial. On one occasion the Euro Velo 6 took me down a track completely flooded and covered in potholes. No cars were using it, yet I was expected to be able to do this on a touring bike fully loaded when it was something I’d normally take my mountain bike down!

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Germany was such a great experience, I had high hopes for Austria given their similarities. The cycle path from Passau to Vienna is the most popular part so a great place to meet other cycle tourers. The Danube trail goes right through Vienna where I decided to take a long rest break and repair/replace broken and lost items. After Austria I entered Slovakia, staying at Bratislava before moving on to Hungary. … Continue Reading