Shumen to Ruse.

 The photo above was taken during our evening walk through the mall last night in the town of Shumen.

Now for today.

We rolled out of the hotel at 8am for the long ride to the Bulgarian/Romanian border and the town of Ruse.  When I first looked at Google maps it looked like 2 large hills and then from the 50km mark it would mostly be downhill all the way to Ruse.  NOT.

First we had to climb out of the town and this took about 30 minutes as I probably took us on the worst possible route out of the city.  Once back on the No.2 highway it was all pretty much a headwind for the next 100kms.  The pace was pretty slow today and this meant getting into town late in the evening.  We pushed on to the 40km mark and then rolled on down to a small town for some snacks.  A couple of bananas and a drink with the locals was all we needed for the next 30km section.  We try and do 30km blocks of riding to break up the day.

 We had to climb several long climbs today and I could tell this was taking it's toll on some of the others.  Peter is improving everyday on the ride and it won't be long and he'll be pushing me up all the climbs.  As we were climbing we came across a couple of herdsmen tending to your sheep.  Thought I would take a photo of them.  Each time we rode past the locals they would wave at us and generally appear to be accepting of the strangers on bikes in their part of the world.

 The photo above is of Mary and Maurice cresting one of the many long climbs during the day.  The climb out of our morning tea stop was a 10% gradient for 5kms.  It was so tough this climb.  We were sweating like pigs and we had the flies coming along for the ride to the top of the mountain.  Once we got up some speed the flies were not good enough to bother us anymore.  We rode through the town of Razgrad, Osenets and into Ruse.

 With 85kms to go the road never let up with hills.  We would roll down one hill and have to climb back up and out of the valley again.  This was going on and on and on all day.  At 4.30pm we had to stop and fill up for the final push into town.  We found this nice little cafe and had some rissoles and a salad dish.  This meal was excellent and filled the hole to get us through the remaining 45kms.  In total today we rode 125kms and climbed over 1200metres. 

 As the afternoon was getting on we could see some serious storm clouds building up behind us.  There was lightning and thunder all around us.  The photo above is Peter climbing one of the major climbs with the storm behind him.  When we all met at the top of the climb I told the others I was going to push on to find a place to hide out of the storm and let it pass over.  I found this deserted building and quickly pulled in just as the rain hit.  It bucketed down for over 30minutes.  I couldn't see the others and didn't dare back out to see if they were coming.  I could see the riders from my hiding spot if they came past in the rain. 

After about 30minutes Peter, Mary and Maurice rode past.  I quickly got my bike and rejoined the pack.  Peter told me they had to huddle under a tree under his tarp to get out of the rain.  It wasn't that successful and they all got wet.  I was nice and dry.

With a change in the weather came a change in the wind.  Now we had a tailwind to push us to the finish line.  We rolled down into Ruse and found the English Hotel down near the Danube.  When I asked the lady if they had any rooms, she said, 'No'.  But to our amazement she said we could pitch out tents on the front lawn for free. Now we all know I always love things for free.  We were allowed to use the kitchen and toilet facilities during our stay.  The owner is going to put on breakfast for us as well.  Now this is true hospitality.

That's my tent in the front of the photo. 

After pitching the tent and having a shower we all went for a walk up into the square.  Took some photo, had a snack and an ice cream to make sure I wouldn't get hungry during the night.  It was back to the guesthouse, update the journal and try and get a goods night's sleep.

Tomorrow we cross the border and enter Romania.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.