To Komarno, Slovakia
Today was a surprisingly draining day. The ride was only 68.5 miles, but it felt longer. I think several factors all contributed a bit to this perception. First, while I felt great yesterday as I added 30 bonus miles, this morning my legs were noticing yesterday’s effort. Second, the view was largely unchanging for very long parts of the day. This is the only photo I took during the first two hours of today’s ride.
Shortly before lunch, we had a 4 km gravel section which was not pleasant. The gravel was chunky so it sent a lot of vibrations through the bike. After that, we were on paved roads through farmland for the final couple of kilometers until lunch. As the day progressed, the temperature rose eventually reaching the low 90s. Also, while the wind was not strong, it was generally a headwind or crosswind. Collectively, these made the day feel longer.
After lunch, we were on roads except for a couple of kilometers. The small towns we passed through were newer without the old churches, village squares, cobblestone roads, and general charm of so many of the villages we have ridden through since our start in France.
This was one of the few churches I saw today.
We cycled past several sunflower fields. However, the sunflowers were not bright yellow and pointed up towards the sun as we had seen in France, but washed out and droopy, likely due to insufficient rain combined with excess heat.
We had about a 10 mile stretch on a busy road. The shoulder was good throughout, but it is still a bit more stressful when cars are driving by at high speed. While I never felt crowded, I also did not notice the degree of caution by the drivers that I experienced in France and Germany.
I was happy when we eventually turned off the busy road and were able to cycle along the river again shortly before the end of today’s ride.
Today’s ride was fine, but it was nice to reach our hotel. One way I can judge a tough ride is the degree that I am counting down the milage before the finish. I have had rides in the past where it seems like I am counting down every mile for many, many miles. Today was certainly not one of those days. After lunch we had a bit under 45 km to cycle. I definitely made mental notes at 30 km to go, 15 km, 10km, then 5km.
Right across from our hotel is the bridge to Hungary that we will take tomorrow morning. At 78 miles, tomorrow’s ride is about 10 miles longer than today. The temperature is going to start around 70 then climb to about 96 by 2pm. Like today, we will have mild headwinds and crosswinds. Hopefully, the scenery will be nice as we make our way to Budapest, the midpoint of our trip.