For the last few years my fit old lag of a father has been cycling the EuroVelo 6. What is that, I hear you cry? Well, it’s a bike route that starts in France on the Atlantic coast at Saint Nazaire and goes through France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria ending up at Constanta on the Black Sea. 3,653 km. Phew.
You’ll be relieved to know that he’s doing it in stages, and this time he’s cycling from Budapest to Constanza which he predicts will take him a minimum of 16 days. (I might have it wrong, he might be stopping somewhere different, tell you what, I’ll ask him and update this if necessary).
He plans his route months in advance with maps and gps, and then spends the days running up to departure packing his kit, making sure he has enough inner tubes and puncture repair kits to survive the trip. He stays in small hotels, guest houses and B & B’s along the way, finding accomodation as he goes which gives him maximum flexibility. As he says, he doesn’t know what the day might bring and it’s much easier to just stop and find somewhere to stay.
He’ll be texting progress reports every couple of days, and so I thought it might be fun to post them here so anyone who is interested can keep track of his journey…
1st September. Started cycling from where he left off last trip: Komárom near Budapest.
“Arrived at Dunaföldvár after a cycle of 130 kms. An extra 36 km as the crossing of the Danube was blocked. I had to go back which didn’t amuse me! Found B&B quickly, so now looking for food!”
2nd September. Dunaföldvár to Baja.
“In Baja after riding 90 kms. Weather better although the wind was unhelpful. Stopped at Kalocsa which is the Paprika capital of Hungary where I had a delicious tuna salad by the side of one of the Danube’s tributaries. Then it was back on the bike for another two and a half hours, getting here at 3.30pm, much fresher than yesterday! I’m staying at the best hotel which is only costing me 21 euros – last night’s B&B was only 15 euros. It’s not expensive, that’s for sure!”
3rd September. Baja to Osijek.
“Overcast skies and wind all day. Cycled 119 kms to Osijek in Croatia. Met with another closed dike road but it was at a junction so this time it was only an extra 5kms. Croatia is a much poorer country than Hungary but there seems to be plenty here in Osijek, it’s a nice town. Met a young lad from Vienna (also cycling the eurovelo 6) who is hoping to get to Constanza before his university term starts. He was fairly slow – he’d started from Budapest the day before me so I don’t know whether he’ll make it. I’m starving so off out for a beer and food!”
4th September. Osijek to Ilok.
“Clear skies and sun all day with a light wind. I left at about 8.30 and got to Vukovar at 11am. Had to walk through town because of a large crowd protesting about a Serbian letter. Riot police were there. It was peaceful and good natured. They were walking up to the water tower. I eventually got through the crowd and after taking some shots (ed. Photos, I presume. Could confuse a girl given the aforementioned Riot Police…) I very quickly cycled out of harm’s way. Arrived here at Ilok at 1pm after 74 kms. The Serbian border is only a couple of miles away and I’m hoping to get to Belgrade tomorrow but it’s 127 kms and some hills! But right now I’m sitting on the terrace of the Hotel Duna by the side of the Danube having a beer…”
5th September. Ilok to Belgrade.
“Arrived in Belgrade at 5pm after cycling 142 kms. I don’t know where the guide book gets 127 kms from! The weather was good today and I feel less tired than yesterday. Stopped for coffee in Novi Grad and then again for a salad lunch in Beska. In the afternoon as I got nearer to Belgrade the traffic got heavier and as I got near to the city, a van stopped in front of me and a young guy got out to give me directions to the cycle track along the river. “It’s too dangerous” he said. Great, eh? I then wanted to find the Royal Hotel and asked an ice cream stall holder. He knew where it was but couldn’t explain it in English. A young guy told me to follow him on his motorbike. After about 10-15 minutes he said “it’s on this street” – I found it! It’s not the best, but it’s fine. So getting out of Belgrade tomorrow will be the next problem. This is the last big city day, thank goodness – heavy traffic on a bike is no fun. Only about 100 kms tomorrow…”
6th September. Belgrade to Bela Crkva.
“As expected, had a nightmare getting out of Belgrade. I thought that once I had found the bridge to take me to the north side of the Danube towards Panesco my troubles would be over. It was a 20kms 3 lane highway, I missed the turnoff and had to go back about 3 kms. Somewhere along the way, my map dropped out of it’s holder – luckily I knew where I was going having looked at it last night and again this morning over breakfast. I headed for Kovin (45kms) and had lunch there and then cycled on to Bela Crkva which is 11 kms from the Romanian border. I’m staying the night at a small motel kind of place – definitely downmarket. Have already seen a few horses and carts, I think it’s going to be like this from now until I get closer to Constanza.
Just in case you’re worrying about maps and tyres etc:
“I start a new map tomorrow. There are several maps for this trip and Map 3 was the one that I lost. Tyres are good, I bought new ones for this trip.”
7th September. Bela Crkva to Orsova.
“Cycled to the border and there were 6 cars in the queue. The guards were emptying each car and wiping them for drugs. They were taking ages, so I went to the head of the queue and slipped into the next spot. My passport was checked and I was sent through. My back tyre was almost flat so I changed my tube. That cost me half an hour so I pressed on. I stopped in Moldova to get some Romanian cash and then cycled on. At about 12 I stopped for a bite – I’d bought bread and bananas in Bela Crkva. It’s been hot today, so having drunk all my water, I stopped at a roadside cafe and refilled my bottles. I caught up with a young couple from Salisbury who have just finished university and started out from London 8 weeks ago. They’re camping… I got another puncture (oops, I think I might have tempted fate by asking about tyres yesterday…) so we parted company. I eventually reached Orsova at around 5 and found a nice hotel. This section has been very interesting; I passed through the Iron Gates, and have seen the massive carving of the last Dacian king in 84AD. Covered about 140kms today.”
A quick Google search says the carving is of Decebalus, who was a king of Dacia (AD 87–106), famous for fighting the Romans. The Iron Gates are in fact a gorge on the Danube that forms part of the boundary between Romania and Serbia.
8th September. Orsova to Calafat.
“Woke up this morning tired and with legs that felt heavy. Lay thinking I needed a rest day. I had some breakfast and decided to cycle to Drobeta Turnu Severin which was about 26 kms away and see how I felt. The road was good and I asked a few people how far it was to Calafat. I got a variety of answers, from 70 to 150 kms. There is no accomodation before Calafat, so if it turned out to be 150 kms, I was in trouble! I decided to press on and was relieved when I saw a sign saying 94kms. The road was fairly busy but a good surface. I arrived at just after 3pm. It was another hot day, and as I was passing through a small village a lad about 14 years old cycled up to me and asked me where I was going. As I replied he tried to snatch my bag which was slung round my neck. I reacted quickly and he veered away. I was surprised it happened but will be more cautious in future. I’m feeling really good that I made it to Calafat. Looking forward to a much easier day tomorrow!”
9th September. Calafet to Bechet.
“Last night a couple of guys from Bristol came down to dinner. They were 67, and had done the EuroVelo 6 in 3 stages. They left early this morning while I was having breakfast. I left at 8 am and cycled through lots of small villages where young kids held out their hands wanting high fives and shouting hellos. Much friendlier than yesterday! I stopped at a shop in Carna and a little further on stopped to eat the bread and cheese I’d just bought. A lady dressed in black and wearing a headscarf walked past carrying a bucket of grapes. She stopped and gave me 3 bunches of grapes before walking on. They were delicious. My destination was Bechet which was only about another 40 kms, and I arrived at about 1.15 pm – a short day. I’ve 3 shortish days to come followed by one big last day into Constanza.”
10th September. Bechet to Turnu Mgurele.
“Discovered last night that I was an hour behind! Romania is GMT +2! So I had left at 9am yesterday, not 8 am! This morning I got up, had breakfast and started an hour earlier than I did yesterday. It was short day, only 77 kms, and I arrived at Turnu Mgurele at 12.20. A police car was at the outskirts and I asked them the whereabouts of the hotel. They asked me to follow them and took me to the door! It’s been a long flattish road today, passing through lots of small villages with more and more of the same. Tomorrow is about 113 kms, then another couple of short days before a big day into Constanza.”
11th September. Turnu Mgurele to Giugiu.
“Left at 8 this morning with a heavy sky and a threat of rain. More of the same endless straight roads through many small villages. People friendly but the road surface wasn’t! It was full of potholes and very uneven – not a pleasure to ride on. I pressed on, hoping to arrive before the rain started, and just got into Giugiu when I felt heavy drops. The hotel I’m staying in tonight is the worst so far – no hot water, no toilet paper and plugs hanging off the wall. The room is clean so that’s something… I’m going out to look for a restaurant to eat. Hope tomorrow’s accommodation is better!”
12th September. Giugiu to Oltenta.
“I left at 8 again to another sunny day. Getting out of Giugiu was asking about 10 people the way. Lots of roundabouts and not one sign! Eventually found the right road and after about 20 kms the countryside changed. It’s a lot hillier and the road passed through many wooded areas. When it wasn’t wooded there were a lot of vineyards, and the roadside and villages were a lot cleaner. A welcome change – it was becoming monotonous day after day of the same! Today I’m in Oltenta and staying in the Pension Azaro which is much nicer and cheaper than last night’s hotel. I arrived at about 1pm after cycling 74 kms. Tomorrow it’s into Bulgaria briefly, staying in Silistra.”
13th September. Olenta to Silestra.
” I’m in Bulgaria at a town called Silistra, which is on the south bank of the Danube. Rain fell last night and it was still raining when I was having breakfast. It looked like I was going to have an unpleasant day… but first I had to go to the chemist as I’d had the trots all night (Thanks for that useful piece of information, Dad…). By the time I was ready to start cycling, the rain had stopped, and I had a tail wind almost all the way! Progress was very quick and I’m now sitting outside having a beer on a busy terrace and have just been joined by a smoker. In fact everyone is smoking. Back to Romania tomorrow for the last leg. I may do it in one, or I might split it, I’ll see how I feel and what the weather is like.”
14th September. Silestra to Constanza! 135kms.
Well he’s done it! Once again he set off at 8am, thinking that he would cycle to Ion Covin, 55 km from Silestra and stop there. However when he got there it was to discover that the pension he’d planned to overnight at had closed for the season. Hmm. So on he went, the next place was also closed and so he ended up cycling all the way to Constanza after all. He looked at the Black Sea and was quite pleased with himself.
Well done Terry! Now go home and rest your poor weary legs…
The next challenge, of course, is to get back to the car left at the starting point, on trains that might or might not take bikes, using train timetables that might or might not be written in cyrillic.
🙂
Oh wow, what an inspiration, whilst Summer slips into Autumn.
Do hope there are less inner tube changes and lots more nice places to stay.
The gates sound interesting.
Love Rutsxx
It’s Monday and I’m back at Amanda’s in Bad Tolz. I left Constanza at 11 am on Saturday and travelled to Bucharest by bus. I’d asked at the train station if I could take my bike on the train but was told it would be up to the conductor. I paid 62 ley about 10 pounds for a ticket and then went for a coffee. When I came out of the cafe a taxi driver came up and asked if I would like a taxi to Bucharest. How much, 100 euros, Ithought the train’s not leaving until 1.30 so although it’s too much it may get me on an earlier train out of Bucharest. He then tried to get my bike into a small car, initially in the boot with half of it hanging out No I said, then inside at the back seats again half hanging out. At this stage another 2 guys came across and one said to go on the bus. How much I asked, 100 euros with bike he said. I agreed and we almost had to wrestle the bike away. He took me round to the bus, put my bike inside and I paid him the money. It was a modern Mercedes coach and no sooner was I on the we were away. After a few minutes I spotted a sign saying the fare was 62 ley same as the train. I’d been conned but I thought to hell!!
On arrival at Bucharesr train station again I met with the same response I would have to negotiate with the conductor for the bike. There was a train at 17.40 that went to Budapest without changes, arriving at 9am the following morning which allowing for the time change was 10am Romanian time. I had at seat reservation and the carriage was next to the engine, I put my bike on in the door nearest to the engine so there was no through traffic and found my seat. In Romania there were 3 changes of crew an each time I was asked if I’d paid for my bike I said I’d paid the first guard so I was left in peace. When we got to the Hungarian border I
they put about 6 more coaches on and when the new crew asked about my bike I had to move it to the front and pay the Hungarian crew 10 euros but I did get a receipt. We finally pulled into Budapest at 9 am and I went for a coffee before my last leg to Komaron. This train had a bike compartment and I spent another one and half hours struggling to stay awake so not to miss my stop.
Got back to the hotel where my car was parked at noon and booked in, I was too tired to drive. Showered, shaved and put clean clothes on had lunch then dozed for the Afternoon, more food in the evening then in bed and asleep by 8pm
End of my happy adventure
You’ll be glad to know that Dad has gone up to Munich for the day on his own. I had to stop myself from fussing over him too much (this is the train, here is the train station, this bit here is complicated, go to this platform etc etc) since, of course, if he can make his way through half of the former Soviet Union on his own he’ll manage Bad Tölz – Munich. And back.
I had to laugh though – it’s raining hard here and he asked me for a plastic bag to put his stuff in (map, wallet etc), as I thought to line his day pack with. Whilst dropping him off at the station, I realised that the really rather scruffy plastic bag from Aldi (not that I care) was basically his “day pack”. I didn’t like to contradict his street smarts (“it means no-one will try to steal it from me”) (“no, actually Dad, snobby Munich people will turn their noses up just a little bit”)….
Love you Dad, glad you’re back.