…in case the weather of June 20th had supported this kind of
footwear. 180 km within a day, so this time the lake won with its 220 km. I
couldn’t finish it entirely. I surely would have done it if I had been alone and
there was no one to pick me up. But my feeling is that I would have been crazy
to continue it. So many impedimental factors arose: the pain in my knees, the
pain in my ass (even after the 40th kilometres), the stormy wind all along the
south shore. I slowed down and the collected kilometres stopped to increase. If
I want to find some other excuses, I would enumerate my age which is 4 years
more than I was at my last Balaton round, my weight which is 4 kgs more that I
ever had but these are negligible and are
just excuses. The most important factor is my bike. This is the very same that
I used in 2016 but to tell you the truth it also gets older, not only me.
Although, we spent on it and fixed what needed but it proved to be not enough.
Other cyclists outrode me one after the other, with much less effort but with
much better bicycles. 
My KTM is a trekking type and is very OK for relative
short distances and now I know that it is not a solution for such a huge
distance any longer. So I gave up, the car’s GPS showed 38 km till the hotel
when I sit into. The temptation of fulfilment was strong. To continue the tour
would be the last and most difficult 3-4 hours in darkness, complete darkness
between towns, without cycling path. I COULD give up and I believe it was the
best choice. I will change my bike to a better level after baby Nolen has grown
out the seat and will be able to ride on his own. New bike, new equipment
(helmet, glasses, clothes), new speed. Regarding the speed, I expected to be
much faster than previously because I was alone and I did not stop at the
checking points to collect the stamps. Against my expectation I judge myself
very slow with my average speed of 16 km/h. I guess it was mostly because of
the bike and of the wind. I can’t wait my super bike. New bike, new challenges.
The most frightening part of the tour was before
sunrise, when approaching Lake Balaton from Tapolca. I let myself to be guided
by the signs. This can be done during the whole tour. (I only lost the path in
Siófok.) Animals ruled the countryside at that part of the day. I had luck to
meet some foxes, I needed to tinkle to the group of deers to get out of the
road and I also met a cute badger. It lasted hours to meet the first people and
cars in the morning. While approaching the Lake Balaton, I often look left to
the direction of monadnocks of which the sun tried to rise behind.
I spoke to the sun to rise as soon as possible, I spoke to the application to work properly and I spoke to the lake when it appeared. That was my strategy against darkness – speaking. Seemed a bit crazy but it worked. And once the sun came up, the fragrances became intensive and I hardly could fill up my lungs with it.
I want to say a big thank you to my husband, without whom
this tour wouldn’t have been realized or rather would have been realized in a much
different way. He got my bike prepared, invested into a roof rack, supported my
goal, took me on a bit during my Balaton-round (near Balatonvilágos), recorded video while cycling, looked
after the children and immediately saved me when I decided to give up. He is
very proud of me for this achievement and told me million times well done, well
done…
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