The record-breaking heat wave ended with a vengeance!  From sweltering heat we switched to stormy, cold and rainy starting with the day we descended from the high pass in the Carpathian Mountains.

What a day that was!  It was raining when we got up so we knew we were in trouble.  We just didn’t know yet how bad it was going to be.  We geared up in our warmest, supposedly rain-proof gear and headed down the mountain.

But I get ahead of myself.  First, let me tell you about our ride through Romania before the pass climb and preceding my last post.  We had a couple of days of climbs and descents as we worked our way to the Carpathians.

We tried to take it slow, saving our legs for the big climb.  Sometimes slow was the only option even in the flat areas because of the road conditions.  The roads have been particularly variable in Romania.  We could be riding along on great pavement when suddenly it ends and there in front of us lies a few kilometers of the terrible dirt,

gravel or potholed

and patched pavement.  I suspect that there is some politics behind this (hmm, divert the money to my pocket or finish the road….).  Particularly on the recumbents, these roads have presented us with bone-jarring challenges.

Despite the hazards, there have been some very special moments.  One day, we noticed an unusual number or horse-drawn wagons on the road.  We came around a bend and there was a gathering of Roma clearly in the midst of buying and selling animals:  pigs, cows, horses.

It was fascinating.  Finally, we got close enough to get our first glimpse of the mountains that we were going to climb the next day.  As Liz, fellow rider, aptly shared.  Her first impression was “Wow, beautiful”.

Within a split second, that changed to “S___” as the realization hit that those were the mountains that we were actually going to be climbing.

So I have already cheered about finishing the climb.  At the top, there were a remarkable number of primarily Romanian sightseers on a holiday weekend.  There was a fun open-air market full of the Romanian version of fast food.

Jim got to eat a funnel cake a pastry made by forming dough around a metal cylinder and then rolling back and forth over a charcoal fire until it is browned on the outside.  The funnel of pastry is removed from the cylinder and rolled in cinnamon and sugar.

Delicious!

Ok, now we are back to the descent.  We had already planned to descend slowly as the road was reported to be very rough.  The road surface was wet and it was very cold and windy so we started slowly.  Within minutes, thunder boomed and the deluge began.  I have never ridden in such hard rain, let alone going down as much as 10% grades.  Dense fog set in as well and we could barely see.  Our wet brakes would only slow us partially so we had to drag our feet if we wanted to actually stop.  To top it all off, our gortex gear didn’t work and before long we were soaked to the core.  It was really rugged.  We had 80k to go that day so this went on for hours.  I can rarely recall being so cold and wet.  The rain would let up for a bit only to downpour again.  There were muddy rivers flowing across the road at some points and lots of evidence of rock falls.  Finally we decided that if the rain hit hard again we would take shelter under a dense tree and wait to see if it would let up.  As the rain hit hard again we pulled over under a tree.  Sitting there hoping it would lighten up some, suddenly a rock about 5 inches in diameter bounced down the slope and hit me in the leg!  Wow did that hurt.  Missed my kneecap by about one inch.  I pretty much lost it after that.

We slowly made out way about another kilometer where we found an inn.  The people there were so kind.  They gave us a room to use at no charge along with a space heater and a hairdryer.  We took hot showers, managed to get a hold of some dry clothes from one of our guides, ate some hot soup, and hit the road again.  The rain had stopped and we managed to finish off the day.  The stress and hypothermia took their toll.  I was wiped out for a couple of days but managed to ride.  I am so grateful that rock didn’t hit me where it would have done more damage but I do have a pretty good bruise to show for it.

We head off again tomorrow and will enter Bulgaria.  We have now completed about 2900 kilometers or 1780 miles.  Just 8 more days of riding left.  We are hoping for sunnier days and less drama!

Want to share one more great photo.  This Romanian gentleman let me take a picture of his bike to which he has attached an axe!     I told him via a friend that it looked like a perfect solution to the Romanian dogs and bad drivers!

Enough for now!  Good bye to Romania