Slogfester

Okay – I was right to have concerns about the cycling being onerous…..since my last update we have moved into the ‘onerous zone’!! Since going ’round the bend’ we have cycled up what seems to be an inordinate number of hills (my city mates would describe them as mountains!!). I’m by no means ’sporty’ but through determination rather than fitness I’ve achieved a few challenges in recent years including Kilimanjaro, Kinabalu and a half marathon.

I had forewarned Mr G that I was likely to throw my bike on the floor and stamp my feet in protest at least a couple of times during the trip, but that I would then compose myself, get back on my bike and complete the route.

The ride out of Paszto (straight after writing the last update) was the one that brought me closest to that moment so far. It was not a steep hill (a breeze for you bikies out there) but it was just unrelenting, every corner revealed another incline… on and on and on… for 20km, plus it was 6pm and still over 30 degrees. I managed not to throw the bike… I just swore out loud a few time, then resorted to my headphones and loud music.

There have been many more hills since then, and apparently many have been steeper and longer but none has matched my ‘hill from hell’. Maybe that’s because I’m getting hardened to the hills now, or because the weather has cooled down, or because the ‘hill from hell’ was the end of the day… whatever the reason I’ glad to say that no hill has pushed me to the edge in the same way since

From Holloko we cycled to Paszto and took a quick detour to Tar to visit the largest Buddhist Stupa in Europe. The ‘hill from hell’ took us up through a gorgeous forest with views over into Slovakia on the way back down the other side. Next stop was a couple of nights and a rest day in the lovely town of Eger. Our rest day was spent chilling out and exploring the town’s many historical buildings.

From Eger we headed to Szilvasvarad, a popular spot for hiking and horse riding. We opted for a less energetic afternoon taking the narrow-gauge railway up the hill followed by a gentle stroll back down. Here we had our first rain since the afternoon storm at Lake Balaton.

After the rain we enjoyed some cooler temperatures and some fantastic riding. From Szilvasvarad we headed through rolling countryside, national parks and then into (limestone)Karst country, ending up in Aggtelek National Park where we took a trip into the vast Baradla cave system

Aggtelek is right on the Hungarian/Slovakian border and from there we crossed back into Slovakia and cycled to Roznava for a night camping with views of the impressive Roznava castle.

From Roznava we crossed the low Tatras. This was my steepest climb so far – 600m of ascent at 8-12% gradient but it was in a beautifully shaded forest and we tackled it first thing in the morning so it failed to match the ‘hill from hell’ despite being marked at ‘arduous’ on the cycle map (Mr G didn’t tell me this fact until we had completed it!). So I have conquered my first col (pass) at 999 metres – it was fun but I’m in no hurry to tackle another one just yet!
[Editors note: she loves hills really]

Tags: hills, Hungary, Slovakia