Day 26, Day 26, Esztergom to Budapest, 55km

2000km and 2000 km to go! First flat.

Last night we had a huge thunder storm at the camp site, but everyone weathered it well…more wet gear to pack, though. The news showed the European Soccer Simi-finals with Germany defeating Turkey in Vienna and a huge thunder storm dumping on a crowd of 100,000. We were part of the same weather system.

Terry made a good recovery and was able to ride today. This ride was cross country again, through a beautiful rain forest. I was delayed with my first flat…a metal filing in my flat resistant Armadillo tires. We rolled into lunch at 10:00 and spent an hour eating and gathering up the group. Then we were off into Budapest in two convoys. We sure needed the help. This was 20 km of riding through rough roads and crazy traffic that would intimidate the most seasoned biker. There are very few bikers here, and I can see why. Bike paths are almost nonexistent. Budapest is a beautiful old city on the Danube that has the look and feel of Paris, but being communist, it hasn’t been maintained. Plus, it has the feel of a South American city with too many cars and many drivers aspiring to be racing pros.

The city has lots of energy and is full of young people. It looks and feels a lot like Manhattan, with graffiti and many of the old building crumbling. There is lots of construction and cranes too, so it is a city on the move.

I’ll try to do a city tour tomorrow. Budapest was originally two cities: Buda was south of the Danube and Pest was north. Today it is a single city of three million with many bridges joining the two.