September 26, 2012
Heading for Eurovelo 6: Kecel - Domsod
IT WAS JUST a guess that Eurovelo 6 would be there, but not such a wild one considering it was going to be one side or the other of the Danube. And therefore that if I rode to the river, I would find it.
The EV6, as you know, is one of the long-distance routes that cross Europe. For the most part they are signposted, too, and along quiet roads or even bike paths. That had an appeal today because every road from here to the horizon is funnelling traffic towards Budapest, the capital, and if there's a quiet way into the city then I was keen to find it.
Sure enough, just before Rackeve and its river crossing I found the yellow 6 mounted on the blue European flag with its 12 yellow stars. Across the water were a row of pretty houses and churches and, beyond them, quieter roads that wriggled through villages and peeped at the busy highway before finding another way through.
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Of course, it wasn't perfect. I lost a lot of time riding a grass trail and then an unsurfaced road between the river and what I took to be second homes, whose owners were resigned but not thrilled to have cyclists on "their" road. Among those cyclists was a lean Frenchman, from the Alsace region, in his late 20s, heading as far east as time would allow. Strapped behind him and attached to a pannier was an orange tube a metre higher than his head.
"You're expecting trouble from the natives?"
He looked puzzled. I pointed to the tube.
"You appear to be carrying a bazooka."
He laughed. "You don't know what it is?"
I confessed that I didn't.
"It's a didgeridoo," he said, as though it were obvious.
I'm a sucker for the obvious question, so I asked it. "Why on earth are you carrying a didgeridoo?"
"It's fun to play when I camp wild," he said. I agree it would be. It would be fun to play any time. I have one at home and I've never progressed beyond a farting sound. But to play in the darkness in a wood or a hidden meadow would both attract attention and scare the willies out of anyone considering coming to investigate.
I don't think I'd carry one but I recommend you consider it.
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