Tailwind into Esztergom

Tuesday October 4th
In Which we Share a Tailwind to Ezstergom

We awoke to a morning with a slight drizzle. Could this finally be the day when our run of fine weather draws to a close ? With only two more days to go till we roll into Budapest, it would almost feel cruel if the weather cracked at this late stage. Fortunately it didn't, it actually fined up to give us another dry day.

Our ride began on the left bank on the Slovakian side. The previous time we rode this section it gave us the worst and roughest riding of the entire trip. In fact it was so bad that we christened the section as "Siberia". Rather than being a bike path, it was just a series of rough tractor grooves that saw us continually switching from one track to the other, just trying to make any sort of headway.

Well it is amazing what a difference seven years makes

As we rode this same section I was staggered the find that the entire rough section had now been replaced with a lovely sealed bike path. Not only did it give us a perfect surface to ride on, but we were also aided by a steady tail wind, meaning that our progress was easy and swift. For most of the first hour we were able to effortlessly ride along between 25 to 30 kph.

I was also surprised to find that the main pace setter was none other than Rosemary. She bolted to an unfamiliar position at the front of the peloton and I had to really work hard to keep her in sight. She explained her newly found stamina as being due "to the coffee she had at breakfast".

One hazard in this otherwise beautiful bike path was the large number of strategically placed bollards, right in the middle of the path, where they could inflict the most serious injury. As we hurtled along there was an, almost continuous succession of shouts of "bollard", "double bollard", "another bollard", "bollard down", "hidden bollard" and so on.

Each time I turned around I could see dark clouds billowing behind us, however we were making so excellent progress that they did not seem to be getting any closer to us

It started to become a race between us and the chasing weather. We won.
Last time we rode this section we stopped for lunch at a large restaurant boat that was moored on the riverbank. I thought that it would be n ideal spot for lunch once again. Unfortunately, when we reached the boat, it was obvious the the last seven years had not been kind to it. Not only was it all locked up, but looked like it had been left neglected for a long time. No lunch for us today !

We immediately decided to continue to Esztergom instead. The tailwind stayed with us, but the lovely bike path did not. In fact we found ourselves riding along a very busy road for the final 10 km into the city. With a succession of huge trucks apparently doing their best to drive us off the road, it made for the most unpleasant riding we had done so far. One particularly evil truckdriver seemed determined to kill me. In spite of my normally placid nature I did find myself involuntarily giving him a huge shout of abuse and the sight of the raised middle finger of my right hand. I just could not help it. Another similar driver tried to run straight over the top of Gerry !

Esztergom is best known for the huge basilica which can be seen from at least 15 km away as you ride towards the city

It is fascinating to see it gradually growing larger as you approach, till it dominates the entire skyline.Unfortunately we were too scared for our lives to spend much time admiring the basilica as we approached.

Our hotel was very near to the basilica and, thanks to our energetic riding we arrived at around 12.30 pm - far too early to get access to our rooms. We were extremely pleased that we had managed to complete yet another cycling day without getting wet. Can our incredible run of meteorological good fortune hold out for just one more day ?

We spent the afternoon exploring the basilica, before returning to the diminutive rooms of the hotel. In many respects this hotel was one of the worst of the entire trip. Not even the sheet extended all the way to the foot of the bed, finishing about 15 cm short of the end of the mattress ! Oh well, sometimes you just have to take the bad with the good.

Tomorrow our odyssey draws to a close as we ride into Budapest.Read more