Monday 9th September

Ahoy! That is hello in Slovakian people.. I'm giving you a condensed/double package today as I missed yesterday...

Our Catalan chicas, Laura and Anna left us yesterday.. A sad day. We'd become a little family and you get very close within only a few days together. Perhaps being alone you look for stronger bonds with people around you. They were both lovely and their constant laughter was infectious. I also added pigeon Catalan to my repertoire of 'languages'.

So testosterone heavy, we left the camp and had a quick nose round Bratislava. Back on the trail out of town we got to see what life was like out of the capital. Almost half of the country's GDP is created in Bratislava so I wasn't expecting much. We had a huge headwind to contend with and the canal tow path was depressingly straight and unrelenting. We got back into our drafting formation and I relished putting the power down at the front. But with all this slow pace of late had my clicking knee didn't agree and was causing discomfort. 

We followed this canal all the way for 80km. It was the most boring stretch so far and I hit a couple of metaphorical walls. This man made water way was the result of late 80s scheme to generate hydro electric power for the surrounding area. This culminated in an enormous dam, a concrete example of soviet construction. The locals seemed to love it as they congregated to get a picture. I am a big fan of heavy industry as I think it has an inherent charm but this was just ridiculous. Their snack stop was also ridiculously cheap so with some loose change I stocked up the reserves.

So to bed and we awoke this morning to some glorious English rain. A persistent drizzle, just enough to dampen my sandwich.

We travelled along and I could sense we were all itching to get going at our own pace again. As much as I love chris's company, he does cycle like a grandma with a hip replacement and we have to hold back the whole time. This makes slow progress and I wanted to free the legs again as my mileage had ground to a halt. 

After lunch we took the decision to split. Scott stayed to eat something at a dubious rest stop and Chris found a camping spot by the river. I carried on through the rural landscape towards Hungary. For the first time in 8 days I was solo again, just as I had been from the beginning. It was liberating and I slapped one of my podcasts that had been back logging and cruised at a steady 27kmph for an hour and a half tucked right down onto my drop bars. This was what it was like the pedal free! Cracking stuff.

You can only be astounded by what Slovakian people can carry on their bikes. All the old fellas wear construction hard hats tied on with string and camouflage gear. I got an approving nod at my army jacket. I saw one guy carrying a lawnmower on his shoulders and a strimmer across the handlebars. 

And I had my first brush with the cool hand of the law today. I thought I would cross over the Hungarian border under the cover of darkness, partly because I  was loitering about the Slovakian side trying to find a good meal that wasn't a hamburger or hotdog, and partly because I always wanted to slip stealthily over the border like Andy Mcnabb. So as not to draw attention to myself I didn't have my light on and sure enough I got a good flash from the policeman's torch to pull over. Papers please... Gulp, I nervously handed over my passport. "You know it is an offence to cycle without a light Mr Thomas Smith". He made some phone calls and wrote me out a ticket to sign. I naturally tried to read it to make sure I wasn't signing a confession. He told me it was a warning notice although it could have been anything. Next time 100€ fine... Yes mr officer sir... So there goes my first bit of border trouble. Undoubtedly not my last either.

So to camp, to bed, sweet dreams

Ben