Day 9: Vienna to Győr, via Bratislava

Day 9: Vienna to Győr, via Bratislava, Giovanni, and a Restaurant like a Sauna → Győr | Country count: 3

Vienna delivered right until the end. The Arte Hotel let us bike through the lobby, park in the lobby, and charge in the lobby. At this point in the trip a hotel that understands bikes is worth its weight in gold. The Croatian restaurant next door was authentically Croatian and entirely empty, because the whole of Vienna had gone to Eurovision. We checked Ticketswap. No luck. We watched our bikes charge instead. Almost the same atmosphere.

Morning came, and before hitting the road PJ made one critical adjustment: pumping his tyres up to the same pressure as Adem’s. The hypothesis was that softer tyres meant more battery drain. After 157 km, both bikes landed on exactly 17% battery remaining. Hypothesis confirmed, mystery solved, PJ vindicated. Adem was silent for the rest of the day. Science. 🔬

First stop: Bratislava. Country number three, a castle photo, and lunch at a restaurant that was perfectly pleasant until the sun came out and turned it into a greenhouse. Adem sat there in full thermal winter underwear with 3 extra layers. PJ was in a polo shirt and shorts. Two men, same temperature outside, entirely different internal thermostats. We did not resolve this. We never will. 🧊🔥

On the road we kept spotting a man on a regular city bike, heavy bags on the back, enormous rucksack on his shoulders, just absolutely grinding along. We saw him before lunch. He passed us during lunch. We caught him again after. We stopped for a chat. His name was Giovanni, he had started in Pompeii, and he was heading to Budapest. Look at the picture. You will understand why we were impressed. Some people make our trip look like a leisurely weekend. 🤝

Then: Hungary. The border was marked by a man named Robbie, who was friendly, thought we were completely mad, laughed with us about it, took our flag photo, and pointed us in the right direction. Robbie was great. More Robbies, please.

What followed were some of the finest cycle paths of the entire trip. Smooth, wide, occasionally doubled up, one on the dyke and one at the bottom, running in parallel for no apparent reason other than generosity. Somewhere, a European infrastructure budget made a decision, and we were the direct beneficiaries. We have never felt more grateful for EU taxpayer money. All €620 million of it, apparently. 🇪🇺

We rolled into Győr quickly and in good spirits, which is exactly what great infrastructure does. Two nights planned here, with a rest day in between.
The legs have earned it. So have the bikes. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️Read more