Living The Life of Parties and Breakdowns! (updated for a final time!)

Thursday 24/07.

Started the day with a swim in the Danube; it was freezing, but so nice to have a proper wash after the heat of the last few days.

Breakfast was bread and tea, then back on the bikes for the trip to the Romanian beach party!
We have two days to get to there, which will be tough as the roads are not great and we have about 1100 kilometres to cover.
I have started using the Air Hawk whoopee cushion but my bum still hurts!

This evening finds us in Deva Romania, still riding hard to try and reach the Cotton where there is yet another party.
We had a couple of breakdowns today; Lee got a puncture after we crossed Austria into Hungary. Luckily we found a garage and got a new inner tube fitted for 10 Euros.

Ko Lee and a broken bike!

Just after crossing into Romania my bike died and as I suspected it had blown the main battery fuse. A quick replacement and we were off and running again.
Romania is a complete hole from start to finish and I hope to be proved wrong when we get to the coast!
The roads are very sporting for bikes, but have pot-holes the size of dustbins and police hiding with radar-guns every few miles. This evening I was also chased by two stray dogs which seem to be everywhere.

-



Yet again we were cursed by the bike-gremlins; Lee's headlamp failed and as she was running on just dipped beam she had to resort to just a side light while on a pitch black Romanian motorway. There was attempts to fix it, but with inadequate tools and lit with an almost flat head-torch she rode with the side-lights.

Midnight repairs

Then Geoff lost all his front lighting! What is it with these little bikes that makes the electrics so hopeless?

Finally, as we arrived in a derelict industrial estate on the edge of Sibiu (map reading in the dark = mistakes!) we were chased by a group of wild dogs trying to bite our feet as we rode by.
About 3 kilometres from our destination my electrics died again, so another gaffer tape and car fuse repair happened.

We made it to Sibiu in Romania for the Cotton Pub party... only problem was we got there at 1:30am and the had just closed the bar!
Sulking after no reward for our efforts, Geoff and Mike managed to blag floor space in someone's room at the Ibis. Seemed like every room in town was full, not helped by it now being 2:30 in the morning. Lee and I both wanted a shower as we had been living in the same clothes for days, so we splashed out 48 Euros on a room at the Continental.
Perfect - shower, clean clothes, proper beds, air conditioning and internet!