Pete's Ride of Dreams: Backa Palanka to Belgrade

5/30

80 miles (2246 miles total)

The hotel provided us with a delicious breakfast this morning so Chris and I went down bright and early. It has been a treat traveling with Chris. I am learning about the rest of the route, french life, and his ways of touring. It has not only been great talking, but he has increased my pace significantly. I was only averaging about 10 mph beforehand. Now, we are averaging 14 mph.

After getting ready again, we rode on from Backa Palank through a few small towns and many many farms. We eventually came to Novi Sad, a historic city that has survived Roman and Turk acquisition. We continued to Petrovaradin. The fortress along the Danube was breaktaking. The citadel has 16 km of tunnels, 5 gates, and a complex system of fortress walls.

We did not see any larger cities until Belgrade. The traffic was heavy at times, but not unbearable. We had one last meal in Sremski Karlovci of sausage, hamburger, ribs, and Ham...and a salad. Christopher and I have much in common. He has down 5 marathons, and stays physically active a on a daily basis. A few years ago he hiked 1000 km from France to Spain.

We rode on through Beska Krcedin and a few other small cities. Riding on poorly constructed roads, we managed to progress. We said farewell in Novi Baravici. Chris will ride on to the Black Sea, while I will head back to Budapest. Hopefully, I will stay with him when I read France in a month!

I continued on through Butajnica to Belgrade. My GPS does not cover Serbia so I used my maps to navigate. Along a cafe, I asked a man where to find a phone to contact my host. The man happily called my host and we chatted for awhile. I learned about Serbia, Belgrade, his family, his perception of America, and I talked about my trip.

Rade, my WS host, soon picked me up. A very remarkable host, he has had over 250 people stay with him. His last guests were a couple and their two toddlers. They are cycling from Istanbul to France as a family! Rade and I chatted about our lives. I told him about my travels and plans. I foundf it interesting talking about the war and his relations with Croats. Many people, mainly nationalists, are still resentful of the war and remains a difficult issue. It is amazing that the shopkeepers, taxi drivers, people drinking their expressos, were battling their neighbors just a few years ago.