Yesterday was a mixed day. I felt strong, I had energy all the way, but it was a challenge since it was difficult to get a hold of food and because of the head wind. I’ve checked the weather forecast which reports much stronger wind against me today….Not sure if I’m prepared.
It’s early morning when I wake up. I haven’t had a good night. Normally I will have a bottle of water of some drink available when I’m sleeping, tonight I didn’t. I woke up at 2am and were all dry in my mouth. Impossible to sleep like this.
I went down to see if they had a water machine or something like that. Of course they didn’t. I went back to my room after checking the streets for something that is open. I was able to get a bit more sleep, but I can’t say that I was full of energy when I woke up.
The breakfast was nice. I got a lot of drinks and egg with bacon! I’m preparing myself for a ride in the wind. I’ve looked out the window and it looks quite crazy.
I’m on the road. I have filled up my bag with food and drinks from the supermarket. At the beginning I can feel the wind quite hard, but I’m able to keep an ok speed. This is while the wind is coming from the side. The problem is that I will change direction after just a couple of kilometers and that I will keep this direction most of the day.
The feeling I’ve got when I look at my GPS which tells me that I’m cycling in 12Km/h is not good. I’m using a lot of power and energy, and what do I get? 12Km/h!!! This will be a long day.
I need to cycle continuously today if I want to reach Bela Crkva. Sometimes I ask myself the question: «Why can’t I just cycle shorter stages, why do I have to push myself this hard?» The answer must be that this is what I like, I like the challenge combined with the nature I can see. I like that it’s been a bit hard, and the feeling I’ve got when I manage to reach my goal, even if it’s a small goal. To be honest, this is one of the ways that I’ve built myself up again after the accident. Giving myself small goals and doing everything in my power to complete them. The important thing is to be happy everytime you reach a goal.
The wind is continuing. I’m pushing hard to move. Sometimes the wind is so strong that it gets me down to about 9Km/h, but in average I think I’ll be around 15.
It’s not much for me to see on a day like this. I have 100% focus on progress and of how to make the trip easier. At one point a tracktor is passing me. I do everything in my power to stay close to him. If I’m lucky, he will take most of the wind from me. The wind is coming strong from the side at this moment and are to strong. I couldn’t manage to stay on his back around the bend. I can just see that he leaves slowly…ARGH!!!
I cycle through Vrsac and stops for a quick break. I have more than enough time to reach Bela Crkva before sunset. I sit down to have some food and drinks.
The wind continues towards Bela Crkva. I’m passing a farm and there are two dogs coming after me. What should I do, I’m not able to cycle really fast now? One of the dogs are changing side, now I have them both after me on different sides, what a nightmare!
Finally they stop after a car is using the horn on them. Thank you very much!
I arrive at the hostel in Bela Crkva. It looks like a construction area. Everything is laying on the floor. The woman that met me couldn’t speak a word english, but she was prepared. She gave me a written note saying: «When would you like your breakfast? 07:00, 07:30, 08:00» and so on. I point at 8:00 and she showed me my room.
I’m thinking about cycling a long distance tomorrow. Actually I’m considering to reach Kladovo, which is 170Km from here. Time will tell. I need to cross Danube with a ferry, and I haven’t been able to find info about departure times. I have decided to stay on the Serbian side of the Danube. Mary and Pit have sent me an e-mail and informed me that they crossed over to Serbia from Romania again because of the horrible traffic. I will cross over to Romania at The Iron Gate, and then cycle back to Serbia.
Picture album from todays hard ride:
GPS Data from todays hard ride:
Norwegian