About : Other Tours

August 2010 Beaune, France to Florence, Italy (no posts) July 2011 Vienna to Istanbul (posts below)

7/24 –Belgrade to Paracin 97m 155k**

Ottoman 8:  Belgrade to Paracin
Sunday, July 24, 2011
97m 155k**

A few firsts today.  Cherie and Katharine joined the team.  The first day of hills: 1 category 4 and 4 category 5s.  And this is our last day with any riding along the Danube.  The last graphic for today has the map (sideways) and elevation.  We prepped and did our ‘new’ team photo in front of Hotel Townhouse 27.

image

image

It’s now Bob, Nels, Katharine, Cherie, Jurgen, Annie and Lisa.  The Serbian EuroVelo signs in the big city get a bit more attention than most of those in the rural areas.  This one says, “The price of a thing does not reflect its monetary value, but the amount of life we are ready to give in exchange for it.”  Profound, after you think about it for a bit.  No attribution. 

image

I also note on this one two urls which I’m putting here for reference
www Danube info.org   and   www. Ciklonaut.com

We rode out of Belgrade in almost perfect conditions on Bulevar kralja Aleksandra.  Traffic was light on the Sunday morning but the roads went from under construction with tram tracks in the middle to somewhat trafficked two lane roads without shoulders.  Here’s Jurgen at the bottom of the first downhill, and Cherie navigating through a brief very busy section – maybe people heading to services.

image

image

Riding up the second climb you could see Belgrade in the distance.  This is the new ladies team, Katharine, Cherie and Lisa up that hill and perhaps the only picture of Bob and Lisa riding together on the trip.  Also a countryside hill photo.

image

image

image

Here’s the last picture of us along the Danube.

image

We refreshed for the last time along the Danube at mile 25, then headed in for another big climb that ended at U.S. Steel’s Serbian plant.  We lost Annie for about 30 miles here and rode in the hot sun heading south along the RR tracks.  Here’s a Katharine and a Nels action shot along this section

image

image

And it was along this route that we discovered the joys of ice cream to accompany the usual liters of various beverages.  Here’s the shop were we did an unscheduled break, and Lisa sitting in the colorful shade amidst the refrigerators with her popsicle. 

image

image

We had a satisfying lunch out of the coolers at the bigger village Velika Plana, and stopped at a ‘casino’ in town for an extra beverage so people could use the facilities.  Then it was back south again, passing various street vendors and taking a couple of breaks along the way to Paracin.

image

image

We rode by a wedding or two during the day, and stopped at a little café to regroup… some of us with a bear //

image

Five miles before Paracin we found a water feature/water evet.

image

image

image

Refreshing.  Bob & Lisa brought beers.  Then it was off to the UFOish Petrus Hotel in Paracin and the view from our window on the second floor. 

image
505

We ate on a hotel terrace next to this little river.  Inside there was the loud Serbian wedding.  We were the only non-wedding guests and ate the same buffet food as celebrants.  Around us the place was set up for the cake cutting, which we sat in the midst of, and then there was a long fireworks show to cap off the evening. 

image

Bob 8/3/11 9:36a   Geneva

Subscribe to email updates from Bob