Morning Ride

Ayaguares dam

Pico Las Nieves

Tauro - Maspalomas

Soria Dam

I wake in the morning and almost feel a sense of relief, there is just under 700km still to go and one last country but in a strange way, it’s done now. The rules of the race were that to cross into Bulgaria riders are only permitted to take one of 3 ferry crossings, we are not allowed to cross the Danube by bridge. The latest ferry leaves at 11pm and is 350km away, there’s no way I make it today whatever I do, so I will ride to the crossing and get the first ferry in the morning. The timing of a ferry crossing is a bit frustrating because it compounds my bad day yesterday and means several riders behind me will have the opportunity to catch up and they wouldn’t be able to if I could just keep riding, but on the plus side it means some of the competitive tension has diminished. It’s a more relaxed cruise to the end now, the quicker I can get there the sooner I can stop pedalling and give my feet a rest but now there’s time to have as many ice creams and coffees as I want along the way – which I do. 
My bike has taken a battering from the off road track the previous day so I spend a while taking everything off and repacking, I leave the lady a big tip and I eventually roll out just to realise that my new inner tube is bulging through the tyre. The thought crosses my mind just to leave it but after a few more pedals and several more bumps on the perfect tarmac I come to my senses and stop to take that out and re-do it before I can be on my way. It’s 8.30am by the time I am moving again. In 3 hours I’ve got nearly all the days climbing done and its very much another flat day down to the Danube, I stop in the city of Ramnicu Valcea and treat myself to another pizza. A local dot watcher turns up to say hi, he’s really excited about the race and enjoys telling me about some of the crazy directions some of the other riders have taken today including an aqueduct filled with rabid dogs that runs parallel to an illegal section of busy road, no thank you! Our brief chat gives me a boost, I stop feeling sorry for myself and I’m soon back in my aero bars heading towards the Danube at a reasonable pace. It feels like a long day today, it’s about midnight when I finally make it to my B&B in Suhaia about 10km before the Zimincea to Svishtov ferry crossing. The landlord is really friendly and couldn’t be more hospitable, he asks me when my friends will be arriving and sure enough within half an hour an Austrian guy Max and a Belgian Tim show up. The landlord offers to make us all dinner despite it being 1am, we sit and chat about our rides, I thoroughly enjoy the meal and the opportunity for a civilised interaction with other riders at a table. The landlord generously offers to get up in a few hours and prepare us a breakfast before we roll down the hill to catch the first ferry. All the local people that I encountered in my brief time in Romania were especially kind and friendly. 


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Rob Webb

Transcontinental No 8 - Eleventh day - Mack Valley to Suhaia - (Romania)

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Morning Ride

Ayaguares dam

Pico Las Nieves

Tauro - Maspalomas

Soria Dam

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