Wien and onward!

Days 16-19

Day 16

Jeremy and I had booked our bus tickets to Vienna, so we rose at about 6:30, got packing and rode the 6km or so to the station on the other side of Ulm. I think a few less hours of sleep might have contributed, but I felt pretty wiped out. The bus got moving at about 9:30am, and I did a fair amount of sleeping and feeling nauseous and stomach crampy. Got a few job apps put in, and did some looking forward to Vienna and onward, so not too bad. 

We had a fun passport thing en route, apparently Hungary released a bunch of smugglers from a prison, so at one point, they pulled everyone off the bus, and guy in tshirt and shorts, kinda undercover, collected everyone’s passport. Nice hour stop. That plus some traffic, turned our supposedly 5pm eta, to a 7pm arrival. We put our bikes back together and made our way a few km to the campsite we were staying at for the next two nights.

(Some legit biking infrastructure in Vienna)

Day 17

Because of how crummy I felt on the bus, I decided to find a doctor, and get a consult. It was 50 euro, and she basically told us, since symptoms seemed to be better or at least not worse, stay hydrated and eat whole good foods. Felt a bit silly, but oh well, probably the right move. Afterward I was feeling good, and we took the subway into the city from near our campsite. So cool to be in a city with good public infrastructure, it was like 2 euro for all transit all day. 

We saw a lot of the big government buildings and palaces in the city center. Vienna was absolutely hopping and it was fun to do the tourist thing in a big city. We walked around the main city, and then grabbed a Radler in a beirgarten.

(They love their horse statues)

Afterwards we headed over to the gardens on the other side of the city. Pretty nuts to think this was their “Summer palace” and that someone actually owned the whole thing. We had some fun walking through the gardens before finding a grocery store to make dinner and then taking the subway back to camp. 

(I make a pretty good statue)

(Both our Percy Jackson knowledge escaped us, couldn’t recall what the sea horses were)

Day 18

And we’re back on the road! We got moving and set off around 11. Our plan was to ride ~50miles a day and make it into Budapest with 150mi of riding, following the Danube river, and the euro6 route. Overall it was some ok riding, I was just having some problems with my bike fit. We also had quite a few sporadic rainfalls throughout the day. 

(Some fields riding along in Slovakia)

We stopped into Bratislava around 3pm for some lunch, which worked out well because it absolutely dumped rain for about an hour. We hung out under a rain cover with quite a few Slovakians before getting back on the road.

(Into Bratislava clear skys. Storm moved quick)

We made about 53mi, before stopping at a nice spot along the river. We took a swim, made some dinner, and Jeremy got a needed win in cribbage and skunked me (2-1 now, cut into 2 double double runs to end the game, lucky guy). We started setting up camp, and a car came along and told us “no camping, try 2km down the road”. The campsite he was talking about was gated and locked so we tucked into some trees and hit the hay.

Day 19

We got moving a little before 10. After a bit of uncomfortable riding, Jeremy suggested I find a bike fitting guide, and that helped immensely on the riding today, much more comfortable. The hands have been a bit tough, but I think that’s just lack of experience with straight bars, unlike the drop bars I’m used to with road bikes. The first 20ish miles was straight and flat and looked exactly like the below.

(Did some water filtering along this part, couple of ferry’s crossing too.)

We made some pretty good time, and eventually crossed the border around mile 40 into Hungary. Slovakia was pretty at points, with lots of little villages off in the distance. The route was pretty straightforward and we saw lots of fields and countryside.

(Neat flowers!)

We crossed the border into Hungry around mile 40, and found a Lidl to grab some food and groceries. After riding to about mile 55, we stopped around 6:30, took another little swim, and made some salad, and potatoes. I realized while searching for my lost spork (dangit), that I bought some postcards in Ulm, and totally forgot to send them (whoops), will be soon. Much more comfortable day of riding and I’m looking forward to exploring Budapest as we make our way to the Hungary-Serbia border!

(Bridge crossing into Hungary)