Part 2 (of 2) - the homeward leg

Is there a better feeling that getting into a cool shower at the end of a long and roasting day? Suitably refreshed from our ride to Jimbolia we walk into town for a couple of s and dinner and get shown round the charity's first school building (we are staying in the second one). One thing which is apparent in Romania is that everyone hates the gypsies and no one is slow in telling you. Keen to do something positive about this our friends take children in after school, feed them lunch, help them with homework, put on afternoon activities, then feed them dinner before they go home. This way around 80 gypsy children are well fed and educated each day in the hope that, over time, this sets up a more positive cycle where, for example, the girls decline to get sold into marriage by their families as early teenagers (they have some say, but are under huge pressure to agree). It shocking to think that, even in Europe, this is a norm for some children, but heartwarming to be reminded of the great good that humans are capable of when they set their own self interest aside. Suitably inspired we return to base for a couple of bottles of Romanian wine and some stunning green walnut schnapps (from Austria).

Following a lazy following morning (in which part 1 of this report was written), we eat the meal of the trip (a Romanian speciality called sarmale - home cooked stuffed cabbage) and head into Timisoara for ice cream in the square in front of the church where the revolution in Romania started following Ceausescu's order to fire on the crowds. However, the main reason for the trip is to pick up our friend from the hospital, where he has just had his collarbone wired together. It was great that he got it sorted but looking at the state of the hospital makes me appreciate what we have in the NHS. He is staying on for couple of weeks before flying back to the UK at the end of the month. He will then fly back out in September, pick up his bike and meet us for a few days riding in the Swiss alps.

We spend the evening with our host arguing the merits or otherwise of apple vs microsoft over more Romanian wine and pilinka, before heading off early the following morning for a effortless but rather dull ride across Hungary, stopping for the night in a pretty village a couple of miles from the Austrian border.

The plan was to spend the next day riding in the Austrian alps, but alas my lack of preparation came to bite me. I have been planning for my Cape Town to Bristol ride in 2016 and neglected to prepare properly for this shorter trip. My chain is shot and is not going to make it home. Thankfully my poor bike preparation is made up for my inspired choice in riding partners (both competent engineers) so, even with one of them broken I have a spare to help me fix the bike! A call to a motorcycle superstore in Graz, Austria's second town and only an hour from us, means I have a new chain and sprockets waiting for me, along with a full set of brake pads and all the necessary tools at 9am the following morning. We turn one of their parking bays into a makeshift workshop, which proves a great way to meet a range of Austrian bikers throughout the morning. By 1.30pm we are off, ride transformed by a bling gold DID chain and new sprockets.


We still have time to ride some great roads, finishing with the excellent Nockalmstrasse before dropping into Sankt Margarethen im Landau for the night. Our B&B host is a biker himself and unexpectedly produces a Gas Gas trials bike and points us in the direction of his 'kick start' course, complete with humps, jumps, rocky ravine and a range of tractor tyres. We find the energy for an hour's play (how could you say no?) before walking into the village for a meal.

Friday is catch up day; we have rolled two days into one to get the trip back on track so rise early for 500+ miles of motorway. Lady luck is not smiling on us. First we are stranded on the motorway for an hour when it is closed to recover a lorry from a tunnel and then, 10 minutes after resuming, the heavens open making riding treacherous. On the plus side, even the motorways in Austria are beautiful! Further delays for roadworks and another broken down truck follow, but we finally make it to our B&B on the Mosel river at around 9.15pm.


As an aside, you may all know this, but this €9.99 'cramp buster' proved a real help when knocking off big motorway miles.


Our B&B hosts' main occupation is running a vineyard so before even checking in we were given an impromptu wine tasting session (6 different whites between us). This was a very nice way to sign off on the ride, but by this stage all the restaurants were closed and the one remaining option was a donner kebab, which slid down nicely with a pint of the local .

Given our long day on Friday, we opted for a bit of a lie in (up at 7.30 instead of 6) and spent the morning riding to Ghent (one of our two preferred 'last night' destinations since it is a nice city and an easy hop to the Chunnel the next morning). We split up in the afternoon; I took a walk round the town and went to see an excellent photographic exhibition '80 days of summer' that I stumbled across in the university district.

We ate dinner at an alleged gastro pub (ok but gastro would be stretching it a little) wandered through a drizzly but beautiful old town, stopping for coffee and a bit of people watching, rising early Sunday morning to knock off the 100 or so miles to Calais. From there is was back to normal life, the assimilation helped by multiple tailbacks on the M25.


Being home has its rewards too. It was great to see my wife and kids and my eldest daughter (14) made me a welcome home cake. 30 minutes ago my wife came in to say the dog had climbed on the table, licked off the cream and eaten the strawberries.........5 minutes ago the dog climbed onto the sofa and gave them back. A glamorous end to a fun trip :-)


Cheers
Andy


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