Day 400 – Balf to Petofitelep

Day 400                                                   23rd August

 

51 miles (Balf to Petofitelep) Average speed 11.4 mph Top speed 31 mph

 

I got up at 8.30 and had brekkie of 4 magdelenas and tea, I didn’t have quite enough gas so I used their microwave in the kitchen, I was careful not to tread on the frog that joined me eating. I packed up and showered and left at 11.30. I went on a cycle path to Fertoboz, then turned left up a 10% hill to Nagycenk, where I had a coke at a railway museum which was closed.

Then into town and a lovely church, bought some bread rolls for lunch and onto the 84 main road. It was very rutted even on some of the freshly laid tarmac where the heavy lorries must make big ruts in the road when it gears up in the sun. It made it very tricky to choose a route, as riding on the top of a rut meant balancing almost like being on a knife edge but a serrated one. Once I mastered it, the road surface would change and give me a different challenge, all the time with cars and lorries haring past too close for comfort. The Hungarians were much less accommodating than the Austrians.

I found a lake to have lunch which took me about 2 miles off route and when I got there I wasn’t particularly welcome unless I was fishing. They made it clear I shouldn’t be cycling there, but I stayed and had lunch anyway and sat and watched a carp fisherman with a radio controlled boat. I thought it was only to deliver bait to your swim but he used it to deliver the hook bait too. I don’t know where the skill is in that, he didn’t even have to cast!

Then I noticed a father and son had ridden alongside the lake so went that way too. It was a bit uneven but turned out OK. As I went through the grass I had another reptile experience as I ran over a grass snake. He didn’t look too happy but I I don’t think he was too hurt. Then after I’d ducked under a locked barrier I found a church with lots of memorials along the path and went to take a photo but panicked when I couldn’t find my camera in the pocket of my lock bag. I retraced my tracks until the barrier and then checked the other pocket and found it there.

I was very relieved. I’m not sure what I would do without my phone! I then headed for a campsite in the busy town of Szombathely, but on my arrival after a long hot day I discovered the gates were locked and the site overgrown and derelict. With the nearest campsite another 15 miles south I tried to find a hotel, but everywhere was booked as there was a big Roman carnival on for the next 3 days. On the busy road south I followed the cycle path but when it ran out there was a hotel, so I asked if they had any rooms, but they were full too. Cheekily I had checked out their car park and noticed a big garden so I tried my luck and asked the lovely receptionist if I could camp there. To my surprise she said yes and I promised to eat in the restaurant. It was such a relief as I was very tired. I had little choice as there wasn’t much else about but the chicken and cheese and bacon was delicious. I had a couple more beers and watched some of the Liverpool game before an early night.

Hotel joszi bacsi free but I did promise to have dinner here.