Strom Bombadil

Without further adieu, I'd like to introduce you to Strom Bombadil. He's not the best-looking, fastest, lightest, smoothest, most modern, aerodynamic, comfortable, powerful, fuel efficient, offroadworthy, or well-read motorcycle. But this big chungus is among the most reliable bikes out there. So far he's taken me to Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia, and Bosnia. My posts are actually about 3 weeks behind my current location, so I'll gloss over most of that to try and catch up.

Picking Strom up in Zagreb was bumpier than a Bird scooter on cobblestones (that doesn't seem to stop people here). But the small litany of problems were mostly resolved by evening, and I was off the next day. I really wanted to head to the Croatian coast, but a 10 day forecast of rain deterred me and I headed to Hungary instead. That forecast would turn out to be completely inaccurate, and I've since learned to mistrust whatever Yugoslav-era equipment they seem to still be using. For whatever reason - perhaps because the roads are so flat and straight - Hungary didn't really speak to me, so I stayed only one night in Budapest and headed to Slovakia.

I read an article warning that "if you value your life, my advice is to avoid driving on two lane highways in Slovakia... Underneath a veneer of patience and tolerance seethes a level of fathomless road angst." I can only say this was an understatement. Slovak drivers are the fastest and most aggressive - yet extremely skilled - I've ever witnessed. They'll do 100mph on twisty mountain roads and overtake in blind corners with what can only be described as vehicular BDE. But it's just as well, because I didn't realize temperatures would be in the 40's while the weather was far more salubrious just a few hundred miles away. I only spent one night in Slovakia, then rode 350 cold, tedious highway miles to Vienna, which was a nice city. I relaxed at a few of their famed cafes, where the baristas make the latte art into rorschach inkblots.