Vienna - Hainsburg (53km)
The proximity of the motorway and train made for a bad nights sleep. Updated the blog and found out some more on the web about the flooding. Extended forecast was for rain every day for the next week and a bit.
Despite the conditions we decided to at least get out of town and back to the peace and quiet of the countryside. Vienna is a stunning city but better suited to those in elegant dresses and designer suits than smelly cycle clothes.
We headed out of town past big bronzed bodies lounging by the river. After passing the last of the nudies we encountered more industry before the trail once-more was blocked and we navigated through the forest on trails using our trusty key-ring compass. We met a Venetian chap on a mountain bike with a trailer. Mark had been eyeing up these single wheeled luggage carriers with envy however a brief discussion confirmed the 6kg weight of the trailer along with the extra length made the bike unwieldy to handle. They are popular with 26" wheeled mountain bikes because you kick pannier bags as you peddle on the smaller mountain bikes.
In the heat we found a radler (bike) stop. These are very common on the Donau cycle trail and we enjoyed an escape from the heat.
We crossed the river to the south bank just before Hainsburg and again the trail became impassable.
The temperature however was soaring and at 6pm it was 32 degrees in the shade. Hot for riding.
We found a nice but expensive zimmer (room) with breakfast and TV. Bliss. We spent the evening pouring over maps. By around 10pm we had agreed to give the trip to Budapest a shot. We spent the remainder of the evening debating shortcuts to avoid the flood waters.Day 59: Wednesday 1st July
Hainsburg - Kormano (127km)
Unsure of the availability of currency and therefore food in the small towns of Slovakia we stocked up before departing Austria. It was about 10am by the time we headed off on the main road out of town. We had figured on a big short cut avoiding Bratislava to cross the boarder at Kitsee. The area wasn't shown on our maps but we decided to take a punt since we had details of the adjoining areas. We flew along the road at around 35km/hr, a record for us cruising on the big ladened bikes. Entering Slovakia back in 2006 with the car was a bit of a headache, wanting to see all your vehicle papers etc. At the border we pulled over and asked a police officer who was resting in his vehicle if we needed to have our passports stamped "Nooo, aaayyyyyeeee - oooooowwwww" (thats EU) came the reply as he waved us on.
Passing several small towns we reached the main stock bank where some 95% of the water of the Donau is diverted into an enormous canal which is used for hydro and controlling floods. Apparently its construction destroyed a lot of wetland, what remains of the river is still running naturally on the Hungarian side of the boarder (the river is the boarder in this area). The canal was massive and it was 30km before we had to turn across it. Water was on the horizon in front and behind us as we rode.
It was seriously hot on the stock bank and free from traffic our pace slowed first to 27km/hr.Riding through a haze of tiny bugs our pace slowed again. Every few minutes you needed to wipe the tiny critters from your sweaty skin as you rode - nice.
Polishing off the last of our 3.5litres of water we abandoned the river and headed to a local town. We had caught up with our Venetian friend with the trailer, who joined us on the detour. Fortunately he shop took Euros, but not many of them. Food and drink is very cheap in Slovakia. We later found out the official currency had switched to the Euro on 1 January this year.In the afternoon we arrived at the industrial town of Kormano. The city centre as pleasant and we enjoyed a 500ml Budvar for E1.06 before finding a E37 pension with a courtyard to lock the bikes.
Day 60: Thursday 2nd July
Kormano
Kormano was cheap and nice, so we decided to stay. Having ridden 684km in the previous 8 days from Straubing we were well in breach of our target of rest day every 350km.
We took a E2 tour of a massive and impressive fort. The guide spent over an hour with us and a torch guiding us through the fortifications that had once resisted the turks, and more recently housed Soviet troops. It was interesting to see the old Soviet marching ground. The place has applied for Unesco status and funding etc. It is really impressive but to restore the pace would cost millions, it is just so big.
In the evening we returned to our favorite restaurant (previous night we had the meat platter with sirloin steak, chicken etc for two people E14). Mark had a E2.20 trout for an entree which turned out to be an entire fish!Day 61: Friday 3rd July
Kormano - Dunabogdany (97km)
Hot morning with slow riding on loose gravel stock banks. We past several cycle signs indicating Budapest was 100km away. This didn't correlate with our maps, and it seems they made a run of identical signs then paced them different distances to Budapest.
We resorted to roads to the final Slovakian town of Sturovo. We had intended to have a pizza for lunch but ended up lost in translation with a medieval 3-course lunch (soup, half a chicken, soda water etc) for E2.50pp.
Crossing the bridge to Esztergom we enjoyed a slushy on the square, withdrew some money, and decided not to attempt the hill climb to the basilica.
We took the bike trail out of town and again found it consumed by the river. We went cross country past a waste water plant to find the nearest road about 500m away. In the afternoon we passed the fortifications of Visegrad and stayed in a guest house (about E22 total). Dinner again was very cheap and enjoyable, with mains and drinks totaling about E10 all together.
Day 62: Saturday 4th July
Dunabogdany - Budapest (47km)
Hot morning on busy roads into town. We tried several bike paths, all of which were flooded. It was great to see BudaParliament of Pest come into sight down the river. Sadly the camera decided it was time to end the trip also - alas no photos of the final section. In town we met Marks folks who had the champagne chilled. With 3,581km we ended our journey across Europe. Where to next?...
