Day 4. Sat. August 8

Day 4.       Sat Aug 8  Budapest (Hungary) to Szolnok (Hungary)

Distance: 126 km

Time: 6 hrs 03 min.

Speed: 20.8 km/hr

Climbed: 1061 ft

AHR (Average Heart Rate) 105 bts/min

Cum Distance: 433 km

Cum Climbed: 3035 ft.

Punctures: 0

Back in the saddle again after an interesting Rest Day in the centre of Budapest. And looking forward to moving on.

Before breakfast (6.45) we had the route briefing for today. A whiteboard is put up with all directions, we take a photo of it and also write it down to pin on the front of the bike for ease of reference. After a few days of using these notes it becomes second nature. Also the staff have all the said turns marked with orange tape...very effective.

No, the van is not broken down,

It was an extremely hot day again topping out at 42 deg.

Again to leave Budapest we cycled out in convoy for the first 14 km. That was an hours cycling but one and a half hours on the clock. The convoy was necessary but it added to the length of the day.

So now we were saying goodbye to the Danube (Duna in Hungarian) for a while. It continues south but we are proceeding east towards Romania. We’ll cross it again as we leave Romania to enter Bulgaria.

The edge of Budapest presented a different picture to the centre. It seemed rundown, plenty of street markets and austere soviet style factories. Road surface was also a bit rougher than the centre of the city.

After 14 km the group broke up into smaller groups and hit off at their own pace. The four of us again are a good team and three of us rotated at the front to take the light headwind (Attn Sarge and Steve...permission requested to operate DC (Europe) as part of DC (Worldwide)?!?!). Soon we were in countryside once beyond Maglod. From either side came the smells of freshly turned hay and of cut timber. The road undulated a bit but nothing serious.

For the day we alternated between quiet country roads and highways. The surface of the side roads was rough and crumbly and we tended to keep nearer to the centre of the road.

Speaking of highways, I was pleased to see that we spent a long time on Highway 32 (I like that number!). Didn’t meet any Irish people today.

Not many cycling tourists in these parts; most of them would continue on the Danube tracks down towards Serbia. But, there were some cyclists out, some out for a Saturday spin. But bikes are not just for fun.

At 10.30 heat was touching 30 and most stopped at Sulysap for a drink and some pastries.

Placenames here in Hungary don’t trip off the tongue easily like Cappa, Oola or Doon. They are multi-syllable with an overdose of consonants. Many of the place names we passed through today started with Tapio..... eg  Tapioszecso, Tapioszentmarton. They are all on the Tapio river.

Lunch was at 71 km and the shade was every bit as welcome as the beautiful food. A chance to rest and to refill water bottles.

Those on the recumbants (Jim and Barbara, US) were ahead of us. To me they look uncomfortable and unstable. I believe that they are faster on the open road.

We were now on the Great Plain of Hungary, a fertile agricultural area with black soil and producing corn and fruit. Tomorrow will be another day on this plain.

In the early afternoon the heat really kicked in. I had 3 bottles of water but they were well heated by the sun. Felt like drinking hot-water. We pulled into Jaszalsoszentgyorgy for a drink and ice-cream.

In the next village we just had to stop at the roadside pump and hold the heads under the cold cold water. Later on one of our group had to pull into the shade, sit down and rest as the heat was just sapping all his energy. 20 minutes and we were on the go again.

Our campsite is on the other side of Szolnok but we had no problem locating it with the orange tape.

Once in, it was high-fives all round and off for a refreshing shower.

Another enjoyable day - a hot one and tomorrow promises more of the same so we’ll all pull out an hour earlier to escape the big heat. You know the feeling!!!

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.