The End of My EPW

The week went quickly. As I wasn't up to walking the 24 day trek to Italy, I decided to still go and get a taste of the EPW by riding a mountain bike as best I could along its way. There were a few sections where this was possible, and it was fun to ride alongside my fellow Walkers, chatting and getting to know them better.

But the organizer had done his best to make this an off-pavement walk and so I was left to try to mirror the route as best I could by finding roads that paralled the Way.

I actually rode through this for about 500m on the marked Walk until I saw a road and stuck to gravel & asphalt the rest of the day even though it took me into the wilds of Austria (no maps app yet) and added about 18km

I also tried to ride longer each day, partly for exercise and partly in commiseration for my poor companions who were struggling with the distances in the tremendous heat we experienced.

Twice I rode on ahead to the end of the next day's stage to deliver a forgotten object left behind by another Peacewalker, and another to sightsee a nearby town rumored to be a "don't miss" sight. 

Hungary has turned out to be a remarkable country. The first week's pancake flat terrain of cornfields and vineyards was slowly giving way to gentle hills and leafy forests. The Walk took us to some extremely minor villages with just a restaurant or two and a few homes, to one-street towns, and then small cities.

Ha! Bad example of local homes but I did go by the Esterházy palace in Fertod 

Everything seemed so much more prosperous than expected - perhaps because we were so close to the Austrian border there was a financial benefit to the locals? (I wouldn't blame the Austrians for shopping in Hungary, everything was so cheap! ie  €1 for a cappuccino vs. €2.60 in Austria). Anyway, the houses were large and modern and well-kept, the cars were mostly new & shiny, and the people unfailing polite and friendly, if perhaps a little confused as to what we were doing.

Our group with our 2 young college-aged hosts in Sopronkövesd as well as Lizzie and her mom from the night before.

The mayor of Sopronkövesd comes to meet each and every group of Peacewalkers!

But riding wasn't walking, and I was alone for most of the day, so a week was enough, and I'll go back another year and try it again. It was sad to say goodbye to my new friends but I'll follow their journey on Facebook and I wish them cool temps, shady roads, short distances, and fantastic times!