There is hope

Well, this is the second time I am writing this story, as I somehow lost the story yesterday...it was an interesting day, so I don't really mind.

I had to be hopeful when I woke up, first, that the weather would hold and then that Mihai would somehow be able to fix my bike. It rained during the night and was rather pleased to see some blue spots in the sky. Anyhow, Mihai was wide awake when I finally met him around 7:30 and he started working on my brake with his father, the owner of the B&B. To cut a long story short, they worked on it till noon, but I was amazed to see my bike in working conditions again. That little piece which broke off was causing all this pain. As soon as the bike was ready, I turned towards the Transfagaras Highway.

It was then that I met Dereck from the UK, who was doing something much much more serious than me: he is biking around the world in two years. His story is a sad one: he has cancer and instead of getting a treatment, he decide to bike as long as possible. He already had already had half of Africa behind him, when his passport was stolen in Senegal and had to return to the UK. Once he got his documents replaced, he set off anew, this time going through Europe, heading towards Asia. The nice thing is that he is doing this ride for charity. I got a word of warning from him: he warned of a very ruthless climb. I hope he has a great trip and will be able to tell his stories for years to come.

Somewhat uneasy, I continued my trip, which was long, but somewhat easier than I expected. I had to literally cut through a herd of sheep, there were hundreds of them on the road and instead of waiting, I just cried "Beeeeee" and they made way for me. The road went past the ruins of Dracula's castle, but I did not stop, as I had a lot of distance to cover. Then came the largest lake in Romania, which is an artificial one, formed by a gigantic electric damn. I knew the real climb would start at the end of the lake, but it never wanted to end; it went on and on and on, I think for some 30 kilometers or so. What then started was probably the worse rain I had experienced on my trip; the larger part of those 30 kilometers were in pouring rain.

Everything has to end once and both the lake ended and the rain stopped; now it was the start of the real climb, I had some 10 kilometers to the summit; luckily, with more and more (late afternoon) sunshine, so I could see the largest peaks of Romania and the surrounding ridges. A lot of the people parking on the road cheered me on, handed me chocolates; which was a welcoming boost to my morale. It was a tough one, but still not as tough as the Transalpina Highway I crossed a couple of day back. The climb ended in a long, dark tunnel, I was singing at the top of my lounges as I was crossing it, to enjoy the echo.

Reaching the other side, I understood what Dereck told me: it was a gigantic drop with a number of switchbacks and hairpin turns as far as the eye could see. Of course I am always happy to cross any summit, but here I was even happier I did it northwards and not vice versa: it would have been killing.

It was thus a test of my repaired brakes if they would hold, when I started my descent into the sunset. The brakes held beautifully; but I still had to pay a lot of attention not to slip on the melting snow: the road had just been opened a few day back after being closed for winter, at certain places, there were still three meters of snow blocking one lane. I reached the bottom, saw the sign of a campground in Cartisoara; they convinced me not to camp (which cost 20 Lei) but take a wooden hut (for 30 Lei); which I happily did. The smile on my face reached from ear to ear when I laid down, freshly showered.