{"id":855,"date":"2012-08-20T09:32:45","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T09:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/?p=855"},"modified":"2020-08-23T02:04:20","modified_gmt":"2020-08-23T02:04:20","slug":"so-whos-counting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/?p=855","title":{"rendered":"So who&#8217;s counting?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0;float:none;height:30px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/?p=855\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Just two more countries to go and Effie is struggling. Well, only in the sense that we have the same problem that\u2019s plagued us throughout the trip \u2013 the back hub &amp; spokes. I&#8217;m only doing about 20kms an hour and it\u2019s at the point where major repairs are urgently needed. The noise makes my teeth chatter but I&#8217;m determined we&#8217;ll do it under our own steam. So we\u2019re cautiously making our way back to the Czech Republic, this time to Prague, where Libor is waiting to help with welding the spoke flanges and redrill them. Then we\u2019re home sailing!<\/p>\n<p>But I\u2019m getting ahead of myself here, so back to where I left off\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>So where were we? That\u2019s right, Slovakia. Near Bratislava a chauffeured car stopped and the passenger asked if he could take some photos. Nothing unusual about that, it happens all the time, but then he said he\u2019d been following my blog and would like to be a minor sponsor. My view is that any kindness shown, be it an offer of assistance, a place to stay, some food, or as in this case, a generous donation, they\u2019re all fantastic. A few people have added to the travel coffers and it\u2019s really appreciated, especially when I\u2019m often down to my last Forint or Lev. That\u2019s until I can find another ATM. Sometimes locating one of these is as hard as remembering what day it is!<\/p>\n<p>I rode into Vienna on a miserable day and trying to negotiate the tram tracks in the rain took some doing. By the time Lynne joined me I was settled in our accommodation, showered and able to relax. Sometimes it can seem like weeks since I had a decent bed, but it\u2019s usually only about a week. The weather cleared and the next day was spent wandering around the city ogling at all the beautiful buildings and enjoying a free classical concert at the Housdermusik. The open horse-drawn carriages, leafy parks, wide avenues, trams and amazing metro\/tram system make it easy to get around this lovely city.<\/p>\n<p>While we were here the Hungarian program on SBS Australia called and did a phone interview. Nice to know there\u2019s some new folks back home following my odyssey. A couple of days were spent cleaning gear, catching up with paperwork and photos before slipping out at first light and heading north east to Brno, in the Czech Republic. Route 7 kept me off the motorway and given it was a public holiday the traffic was light. I camped 50 kms before Olomouc when a passing motorcyclist stopped by and mentioned a vintage rally happening 200kms away in Poland on the coming weekend. It wasn\u2019t out of my intended route to Krakow so I accepted the invite and agreed to join him. That\u2019s the neat thing about not having any fixed plan as it means I can deviate here and there to see whatever is on offer instead of following a rigid timetable.<\/p>\n<p>Traveling on the E462, I learnt this area was the scene of Napoleon\u2019s biggest battle. Some 30,000 soldiers lost their lives. It\u2019s hard to imagine the peaceful region witnessed so much bloodshed. I guess that\u2019s the same the world over, grass grows, buildings are replaced and life goes on, but the sad memories remain. Lynne &amp; I had heard the stories of how the Hungarian invasion took place and we tried to imagine what it might have felt like to see Soviet tanks rolling down the streets on a day like any other. How fortunate we are to have never been affected firsthand by such horrific events.<\/p>\n<p>After stating recently I don\u2019t usually like to carry maps, a nice guy stopped and gave me a book of European maps, so now there\u2019s no excuse for being lost again!<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been enjoying the meandering countryside with gentle hills and Effie seems to be in her element. Near Brno, I met up with Jakub who took me home, introduced me to wife Helen &amp; their friends. Together we enjoyed a great BBQ, drank a few beers, probably more than I\u2019m used to, but given the Czech Republic is renowned for its ale, it wouldn\u2019t be polite to turn down a beer or two, now would it? Thanks Jakub &amp; Helen for a terrific time &amp; your friendship.<\/p>\n<p>Just as I was getting away the phone rang and a guy on the other end said his friend in Prague had told him to find the \u2018madman on a motorcycle\u2019. Jifi restores old bikes and rode with me for a good part of the day and he was able to show me an interesting route. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oldtimer-helfstyn.cz\/\">http:\/\/www.oldtimer-helfstyn.cz\/<\/a> Despite more rain, it was a pleasant ride, apart from Effie missing a bit \u2013 she doesn\u2019t like the wet, but a squirt of WD40 keeps her going.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped at the Technical Museum Tatra at Koprivnice where the curator kindly gave me a personal tour of their great collection of vehicles and we posed for pictures in front of the museum.<\/p>\n<p>After crossing the border into Poland I made inquiries about the rally at Bielsko Biala. Well, apparently the date I was given was wrong and it\u2019s already happened! Not to worry, one of the locals took pity on me and invited me home for the evening. Well, as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men\u2026 The road was one way and by the time I worked it out I was too far gone to turn back. What was I saying about never getting lost?<\/p>\n<p>So now I\u2019m heading back to the Czech Republic, and Prague, some 600kms away.\u00a0 Apart from the back hub, there are a couple of other things that need attending to. Push starting at the lights the other day, I jumped too heavily on the pedal and it fell off! So that\u2019s one of them. I managed to pick up a horn along the way so having one that works is a relief. That\u2019s one less thing for the police to pull me over for.<\/p>\n<p>I happened to click on my little bicycle speedo the other day and it showed that since we left Kathmandu Effie has traveled more than 12,000kms! Amazing. Once she has her hub attended to and her pedals repaired, she\u2019ll be like new. Well maybe not new, but she\u2019ll get us to Bernkastel and that\u2019s the main thing. Only 26 days to go and counting! As my friend Jeff would say, EEEEH, HAAAA You can do it Effie, I know you can girl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just two more countries to go and Effie is struggling. Well, only in the sense that we have the same problem that\u2019s plagued us throughout the trip \u2013 the back hub &amp; spokes. I&#8217;m only doing about 20kms an hour and it\u2019s at the point where major repairs are urgently needed. The noise makes my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,266,38],"tags":[267,213,271,270,269,268],"class_list":["post-855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-czech-republic","category-poland","category-slovakia","tag-bratislava","tag-map","tag-rally","tag-technical-museum-tatra","tag-timetables","tag-vienna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=855"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1218,"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions\/1218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldblokeonabike.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}