Sunday July 15, 2007

 

DATE: Sunday July 15, 2007
ROUTE: Timisoara, Romania to Radimna Village, Romania
DISTANCE: 90 miles
TIME: 6h 55m
CEG: 2610’
WEATHER: HOT! 90s

Today’s ride can be divided into three parts.

We left Timisoara under blue skies accompanied by a fresh, light breeze. Being Sunday, the traffic was light and it seemed we had the city to ourselves. The first 30 miles were on an excellent flat road with dismal scenery. Fallow fields were interspersed with fields of weeds and fields of stunted corn and sunflowers. I pedaled fast just to cover the miles.

The scenery became more interesting when we got to Moravita, right on the Serbian border. We turned east and followed the border for about 40 miles through rolling hills and productive farms. However, the road conditions deteriorated considerably, as did my speed. I took out my camera to snap a picture and found that the battery had not re-charged in the outlet last night. Nancy offered to take pictures with her camera and share them with me. It’s a good thing she’d so generous because by this time we were far behind the pack in our usual position.

The final 20 miles cut through the high hills of southwest Romania. We had one big climb of 3 miles which wouldn’t have been too hard except for the heat. I had to stop to after 2 miles to cool off. My computer noted the temperature at 94 degrees. There was no breeze but every other switchback had us in the shade. We ended the day with a 3 mile descent. This would have been great fun except the road conditions had me braking to keep my speed under 30 mph.

We were told that this hotel was the only one in the area that could accommodate our group --- and not to expect too much. No internet or air conditioning for sure. All I cared about was having a cold beverage and a warm shower. I got both --- plus a hearty greeting by the resident pigs.

Thanks to Nancy for sharing her pictures.

more pictures