The 10 km arrestor bed

Left Budapest about 8.30 and the traffic was not as bad as we thought.  Dave had planned a big off-road day, so Thorpy would again ride alone, but at least we could share a breakfast first.  We climbed the long hill out of the city to stop at a huge park, and more importantly a cafe.

Unfortunately the menu seemed a little more oriented to a lunch, so some of us ended up with Chicken & Chips...

Thorpy said his byes, and we carried on using a selection of excellent forestry lined roads, until finally our leader found the start of what was to become a very long day "on the dirt".

The first tracks took us through a forest that had been set up with Camping villages in the middle, probably used for Scout & Guide trips.  No dib dib dib going on today so we had the place to ourselves.

The tracks were wide, stony and relatively easy.

While most of the track was level and dry, suddenly a rutted, slimy, climb appeared from nowhere and claimed Neil as a victim ....

Having eventually broken free of this particular section of the TET (Trans Europe Trail), we made a decision to abandon the next, and head through some countryside to the section that runs along the banks of the Danube.

Now Dave had mentioned it would be an easy ride along the gravelled track that had been laid on the top of the dykes/levees, which initially it was. He the dived off into a complex of tracks, bridges, islands, creeks, and a river.  We followed, and in fairness, I have never ridden along an arrestor bed before, ... the sort of thing you find at the base of long road descents to catch lorries whose brakes have failed.  

They stop runaway lorries well, they are also quite effective on motorbikes.  What had happened is the roads had been dressed with stone ballast, but it had not yet been rolled in.  

Neil took an unexpected excursion into the undergrowth at one point as the front wheel decided it wanted to be at the back....

Harris making it look easy on the KTM ...

We eventually mastered individual styles to cope with the terrain,, which probably lasted 10km or so. 

 As the surface became more solid, we were making decent progress. and started counting down the km to a cold beer.  Then, one more spillway to cross, but this one was different... it had been gainfully employed.  

The water was actually spilling from the lake at a considerable rate of knots. I did try testing the depth and speed, but once my boots made contact with the slimy base, we all realised it was a no-go.

Turning round, Harris gets us back onto the top of the levee ... I'm desperately plotting a new route to the cold beer, when he announces he's going on further. Well I suppose when you invested that much money in the ultimate bike, every minute of enjoyment counts.  Me and Neil, chose the cold beer option, so we parted for the last hour.

Settling into our hotel, we later ventured out into the city

And while walking around, we were treated to an impromptu classic car show ...

Finished the night with a Czech meal, which three us enjoyed, while poor old Thorpy get excited by the dumplings, but they turned out to be not very good. A decent breakfast  in the hotel the next day made up for it