Bucharest-Ruse-Veliko Târnovo (Days Forty One to Forty Three)

Bucharest to Ruse (Day 41: Friday 21 August 2015)

Just before the start of the convoy out of Bucharest I noticed that one of the group did not have the strap of their bike helmet done up – this gave me the opportunity to say “Helmut, helmet!” 😀 (Helmut being the name of the person concerned).

The convoy out was about 12km then we were on a main highway i.e. dual carriage way with an excellent surface and enough of a shoulder to ride on which made it a safer and more relaxing ride.

Liz teamed up with us again and set a cracking pace – not a “gentle” pace by any standard 😀. Started raining after a while – moderately heavy in patches.

Due to a mix-up in regard to the distance between the “Coke stop” options (places to get a drink and snack – have become known as Coke stops due to the perchant of some – not naming names Trond – to purchase and imbibe a Coke a Cola or two at them) we ended up (aside from a quick toilet stop) riding straight through to lunch (65km).

Just before lunch Debbie, Gill, Tone and Fergal (new addition to the group as of Bucharest – Irish based in Hong Kong) caught up with us and we road with them after lunch.

Started to get cold at lunch (due to temperature as well as being a bit damp from the rain) and then more so making way across border due to slow progress – due to one lane of the bridge that crossed the Danube being closed for repairs. It was an unexpected reacquaintence with the now even mightier Danube – which forms the border between Romania and Bulgaria – though perhaps if I paid more attention to the bigger picture geography of where we are going (and have been) then I would not have been surprised 😀. Nonetheless it was good to see how the river had grown whilst we had been away from it.

  
  
When we arrived at the border we met up with Vilma and Gergö -because of the roadworks it had taken them two hours in the truck to get through the border crossing. So our group had fortunately timed it just right in the the traffic flow was going in our favour. It was just the last few hundred metres that we had to weave our way through stationary trucks/cars with the space sometimes not more than the width of the handlebars. Also heard later that some of the others had negotiated to be able to ride along the side of the road/construction works when the traffic had stopped flowing in the preferred direction and was not going anywhere soon.

The border procedures themselves were very simple for those of the group from the European Union – who just had to show their passports but no stamp required. As an Australian mine required a stamp – compared to some that I have the stamp itself was a little underwhelming. Next stop was to change our Romanian currency to Bulgarian. Then we were able to get back into peddling with some intent and warmed up a bit as a result over the remaining 20km.

Due to the delay in the lead van getting through customs we kept playing leapfrog with them as they kept stopping to mark the remainder of the route.

It was 13C when we arrived at the hotel – a stand alone entity on the banks of one of the arms(?) of the Danube delta just outside of Ruse. Not long after we arrived it started raining heavily and continuously. Those with rooms that backed onto the hillside could hear falling rocks throughout the night.

Ruse to Veliko Târnovo (Day 42: Saturday 22 August 2015)
Within a hundred metres of leaving the hotel, Liz hit an unseen pothole in large/deep puddle and as a result took the full upfront immersion approach to getting wet on a rainy day. This did put a dampener (pun intended) on her day. 😀 Hopefully by the time she reads this she’ll see the funny side of it.

On a significantly lesser scale – my riding shoes got soaked in the same puddle- justifying my approach of not bothering to dry them out the night before. I find if it is not raining they will dry during the ride and if it is raining then not much point in having dried them beforehand.

Just beyond the aforementioned puddle (“Excuse me, it was a small lake!” I hear Liz saying) there was a steep (peaking at 17%) climb up onto the main road. It rained for the first 75 minutes and then it was fine until lunch. However the wet start did influence the approach to the day – making it seem a long slow day (it was 120km which is above the daily riding average).

Nonetheless there were still good patches of riding which I chose to enjoy and the pace allowed time for taking photographs. Liz, Trond, myself and Fergal rode together at first then also Helmut and Pat joined us, and later Bill. Liz, Trond and myself separated from the other at our chosen morning tea / “Coke” stop (35km).

Now as for the ride itself it, as mentioned above there were good patches despite the inclement weather – it would have been a great ride in dry weather. Though the roads were not perfect they were okay. The terrain consisted of rolling hills (small to medium sized climbs) through fields of corn, sunflowers (at the end of their growing season and plowed fields and the minor roads we were on seemed to take a rambling route which is not matter on a cycling trip where the pleasure in the ride itself is more important than just getting to the destination as quickly as possible. A plus was that there was not much traffic and what there was took care in passing us.

At the lunch spot there was a much welcomed bonus of hot water for a cup of tea. Gill and Debbie’s eyes lit up in anticipated pleasure when I pointed this out to them (they’re from the UK 😀).

After lunch it rained again on and off lightly – and as noted by Trond, this was due to both Trind and Liz having provoked the rain gods. Trond by not wearing his rain jacket and Liz by having changed into a dry top.

Mostly  I rode with my glasses on but after I while I’d get tired of the permanent rain affected view i.e. Even when it wasn’t raining – so then I’d take them off for a while. Also a constant need to adjust rain jacket – hood on and off – air vents open or closed in an attempt to strike a balance between being wet and cool/cold or warmer and damp. It might be pertinent to add that it was a cold day i.e. Average temperature was (according to the Garmin) 12.4c with a max of 17c. Fortunately it was not windy so it was  mainly at the breaks that the cold seeped into the bones.  As usual on such days it was encouraging to know at a warm and dry abode awaited us i.e. grateful we were no longer camping.

 Post lunch we three joined up with Debbie Gill and Tone till just before downhill of last big climb.

Fueled up on chocolate and banana at the afternoon Coke stop (95km) in preparing for the long hill climb that awaited us late in the ride. I felt good enough to enjoy the challenge of the hill climb – though I think I was in a minority in regards to enjoying it

Of course all was good with the world once we had showered, put on warm dry clothes and fed ourselves.

We completed our movie trilogy with Man from Uncle that night with Trond (cinematic cultural advisor), Bill, Liz, Debbie and Gill in attendance.

Have now clocked up 3,133km in 34 riding days (42 including rest days)

Veliko Târnovo Rest Day (43 Sunday 23 August 2015)

Veliko Târnovo is very much a tourist destination with plenty of picturesque views and history to share with visitors

Spent the morning working on the blog and a bit of bike cleaning e.g. lubricate the chain, wipe the wheel rims- to improve braking and reduce break pad wear.

Then Bill and myself headed out to lunch and a bit of tourist sightseeing. For some reason Bill’s entree and main came well before any of the dishes I had ordered – and when they did the mains was not what I ordered but I suffered prawns and wild rice.

Then we caught a cab up to the main fortress. Got there the same time as Denise coincidently so we walked up and around the fortress with her and then back into town.

 
Had a super sized and delicious ice cream – Barb, Jim and Trond were well on the way to finishing theirs at the same place.

  
Went I went to dinner that night with Bill and Trond. I had gone ahead to the same place as we had had lunch to see if the WiFi at the restaurant would enable loading the photographs to the blog. When Trond and Bill joined me we decided to stay at the same place as the food was good. I ordered the dish I hadn’t received at lunch and the waiter acknowledged this second go with a knowing smile. Liz joined us part way through the meal and we were happy to linger a bit longer.