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Budapest

Another cool morning, another two countries, and now I am in Budapest. Here I shall depart from the Danube – I will cross it later, but at this point the river I have followed for 1000kms takes a different course to me.

Budapest is probably a good city, but I seem to be struggling to get into the mood for it. Probably because when I arrived it was getting to dusk, I was tired and covered in mud, and kept losing the trail into Budapest. I thought I was on the trail, then came up to a sign indicating no tractors, no horse-drawn carts, and no bicycles allowed. I am in the same category as agricultural vehicles.

A few white-knuckle rides on the side of very busy roads with no shoulder, and I finally got into the city itself. Major pain trying to get around in rush hour traffic to try and find somewhere to stay, but managed to find a hostel. Was thinking about only staying one night, then pushing on, but I was pretty tired (slept like a log for 9-10 hours), and I don’t have any great options for having a rest day for probably another 3 days riding, so figured I should stop for an extra night.

After being lucky with the weather for the last few weeks, things were due to turn. Fine weather cruising out of Vienna to Bratislava – I even stopped to have a nap in the sun at one point – then after stopping in with Biff things changed a bit. Not too bad, more just annoying drizzle, and plenty of spray from trucks/buses. The wind picked up yesterday though, which is more of a concern. Looks like it could be a bit of a pain for the next few days, but I think I’ll be OK with my current direction. Heading to Kecskemet, and on south across the border to Timisoara, Romania. More currencies, more languages I don’t know…was nice and comfortable with the euro and German, guess it’s time for a change.

Has been interesting to watch the changes from Austria, into Slovakia and now Hungary. You can really feel the change moving into Eastern Europe. Suddenly there are a lot of Ladas and Skodas on the road, and lots of people are on buses between cities. I will say that they do good bus stops though – perfect for a food stop on a damp day, with a seat, shelter, and a bin for my rubbish. I could have slept in some of the bus stops I’ve stopped in. Driving skills are tending downhill though, which is not so good as I’m now leaving the bike paths behind. Keys are to drive as fast as possible, and if you want to pass, don’t worry about road conditions, or what’s coming. Even got my first abuse from a truck driver. A classy touch.

Looks like some tougher road conditions coming up, with more hills too. Ah well, had enough of that easy stuff in Germany anyway…

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Performance enhancing drugs

I have a confession to make. I have had to resort to taking performance enhancing drugs – specifically Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride. I realise that this will now disqualify me from being able to take part in the (yet to be ratified) Olympic sport of bike touring, and I want to apologise to my fans and sponsors.

In the interests of helping rid global sport of this terrible phenomenon, I am prepared to name my suppliers (Boots the Chemist), and I will also say that none of my team-mates are involved. It was entirely my own decision, and not one forced by the team manager.

In Vienna now, with over 2,000kms on the clock. Had a cold for the last few days, that has made the ride from Passau much harder than it really needed to be. Not really sure why I didn’t just stop for a few days in Passau actually. Having a couple of days off here, getting some minor repairs done, picking up some more spare parts and new tyres – man those Marathon XRs are big and heavy.

I’ve been getting better the last couple of days, hopefully I’ll be more or less OK by Sunday, when I plan on setting out for Bratislava, and on to Budapest before my next rest.

Have just heard that the Iranian New Year’s period shut down goes longer than I thought, so it’s going to be cutting it fine for getting my visa without having to wait around, or backtrack. Looks like I should be able to pick it up in Erzurum though, which would be perfect, as that is not far from the border. Fingers crossed.

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Getting into the swing of it

Well, that’s the first 500km knocked off. Set off a week ago from Greenwich, under a glorious late-winter clear sunny day. Had a nice escort out of London with a local touring group who were going for a ride along the Thames path. They stopped for coffee at Erith, and then I was on my own.

Pushing on down to Dover, I got picked up by the cops in Canterbury for riding somewhere I wasn’t supposed to. I thought I was following a bike path, but I guess not. Got off with a warning though. Got the ferry over to Calais, and after some fun riding in the dark with no lights, got a hotel. The campsite doesn’t open until Easter apparently.

Got a rip in my sidewall, so swapped over the rear tyre – thanks to those who convinced me to carry a spare tyre. Will try and pick up another spare in Germany I think.

I was going to cross France and direct into Germany, but after taking into account the wind forecast, I decided to head more north-east, and into Belgium. I’m in Namur now, and will try and make it to Bastogne tomorrow, before crossing Luxembourg, and into Germany.

Has been hard going for the first few days, but I’m starting to get into the swing of it, and it’s getting a little bit easier now. Another week or two and I should be good. I had thought I’d have more time to do some thinking, but it’s funny how you keep occupied with stuff like route planning, food and water, where to stop, etc.

Perhaps it will be different when I’m camping, and I can’t watch the French version of “Wheel of Fortune”. Not sure exactly why, but it has been compulsory viewing for me. Hopefully I can find a German equivalent shortly.

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Left a good job in the city…

Well, it wasn’t exactly in the city, but it was a good job – and now I’ve left it. I finished work last week, and now I’m in NZ, enjoying some warmth and sunshine.

A few days in Auckland, time for a haircut and a few booster jabs. Will head up to Whangarei tomorrow, to spend a few days at the beach.

It’s good to be home again – there’s something nice about walking down the street, and every house is different to the one next to it. What a novel idea. Good to catch up with a few old friends too, enjoying the balmy weather, sitting outside well into the evening.

Now that I’ve finished work, things are starting to seem closer, more real – it’s only just over two weeks until I’m on the road! I’m now getting into the living out of a bag stage too. Still got lots of stuff here though, so I haven’t yet had to adjust to having one clean/one dirty. Handwashing’s not too far away though…

For those in NZ, will try and catch up in the next 10 days. For those in the UK, we’ll have to do something on the 16th. Not sure what yet, will probably be fairly low-key though. Starting with a mean hangover might not be a good idea.

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Beer and Chocolate

And waffles of course. Just a quick post about a recent trip to Bruges, in Belgium. I went with some good friends for a long weekend, via Eurostar. Definitely the way to travel – so much less hassle than flying anywhere. I like arriving in the centre of town, rather than some godforsaken industrial wasteland miles from the city.

I learnt several things about Belgium:

  • They understand nice dogs – this pleases me greatly, for it will make riding through there so much easier next year. All the dogs were nice friendly breeds, well kept. I think I equate that with nice people. It’s the f**kwits who want ugly fighting dogs.
  • They love their rotisserie chicken – I don’t believe I have ever seen so many chickens being rotisserised at one point, as at the market in Bruges.
  • You can drink copious quantities of Belgian beer without suffering from a hangover, provided you get enough sleep. 11-12 hours is good.

Work is ticking along well – I’m really enjoying my current contract. The only thing that is killing me is the commute – I spend between 3.5 and 5 hours commuting every day, depending on how Thameslink is feeling today. I was quite impressed by their effort today – it took us nearly half an hour to cover the distance that Southern manages to cover in about 7 minutes. I haven’t quite worked out why, but for some reason there is a train pecking order, and Thameslink is the very bottom of the heap. Frequently trains stop – not at a station – for no apparent reason. Some times they roar along, proving they can go fast. Other times they just trundle along at about walking pace. My personal favourite is when we are forced to stop at a station to let other trains go past…but we don’t let anyone on! I also can’t work out why we trundle through stations when other trains fly through, barely slowing down.

Oh well. Less than 7 weeks to go, and then I’m going to go to NZ for 2-3 weeks, before coming back up this way, to set off home again…the slow way

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You can’t watch Xena reruns forever

Apparently. At least that’s what people tell me. I might disagree, but anyways, I have decided it’s time to be back at work. With that in mind, I’m starting a new contract. I was just getting into being unemployed – I knew what time Knight Rider and The A-Team were on, I even saw a little bit of Ricki one day – just a little bit though, there are limits.

Another 3 month contract this time, which suits me well. It will take me through until the end of January, which is near when I’m aiming to depart. A possible 1 month extension could work well, or maybe even more if there’s a particularly bad patch of weather going across Europe.

The only problem is that I’m now going to have to become a commuter. I’m in zone 5, south of London, whereas the closest train station to my new workplace is in zone 6, to the north of London. Luckily First Capital Connect serves both East Croydon and Elstree and Borehamwood, so I only have to change once, and I can stay on the train system the whole way. Still, I’m looking at around an hour on the trains, plus a 20-25 minute walk. I’m not sure how people regularly do that sort of time – or longer – but I guess I’m going to find out. Certainly I’ll now have plenty of time to read The Economist though. No more going home at lunchtime though.

It’s going to make visiting the chiro and physio particularly difficult. I think they do have extended hours, but it’s going go be tricky to fit it in. I may have to try and find someone else, closer to work.

Daylight savings has just ended here. That means that sunset is now 16:40 – and it’s still October! There’s something very wrong about that. In another couple of weeks I’ll be leaving the house in the dark, and leaving work in the dark. I was thinking about doing a snowboarding trip over winter, but perhaps I should be planning a trip to somewhere sunny instead…