Bratislava 2 – Day 9

It was raining heavily when I got up today, and continued as I had my breakfast in the dining room. So I went back to the room to plan some routes for less rainy days. However, a little before noon I noticed that the sun was shining.

One of the rides I had planned was a 25 km ride to the northeast of the hotel to pick up 10 tiles. Michael anticipated getting off work early so I didn’t want to go too far. I wasn’t expecting it to be as picturesque as my other rides, and it wasn’t, but it was a bit of an adventure.It was mostly on roads, or really sketchy laneways, and foot paths. It also took me along the muddy edge of a field, and over a creek on a jury rigged bridge. 

I had a  multi-use path for a bit at the start.

Right turn channels are light controlled here, for the most part.

The sun which had beckoned me out, didn’t stay out strongly, and the roads were mostly wet, but it didn’t rain anymore.

Here are some residential streets that I was on and some of them were more rundown than I’m used to seeing.

Then I was riding through an industrial area, then down a laneway which had a posted limit of 15 km an hour because it’s a shared space for pedestrians and motor vehicles.

That laneway led me to a beautiful little lake called Zlaté piesky which translates as Golden Sands – it is kind of like Professors Lake in Brampton.

Then I rode down a footpath between two fences, which, at some point, wasn’t much more than a metre wide, and had razor wire on the fence top on one side. The third picture is what it looked like when I got to the next road.

Then I went around the edge of a very large self storage place and up over an active transportation bridge over the busy road and the tram turnaround of the same name as the lake.

I was then on a couple of very busy roads, including one that ran over the main railway line before going down this small ramp to the station Road.

This small footpath lead from the station into the adjacent neighbourhood which had some nice cycling infrastructure around the local school.

This road was quite busy and had no cycling infrastructure, but still had bus service, and the cars drivers were reasonably patient, although I was getting quite a lineup behind me at one point, so pulled over to let them pass.

Gasoline prices here are about 50% higher, but people still drive much smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles, and drive less than in Canada.

I had to take this road very slowly. A driver came along while I was stopped to take this picture. I don’t often have to stop to take pictures, but the surface was so bumpy that I did. He had no English, and I have no Slovak, but he seemed to be inquiring if I was all right, and I was able to indicate that I was.

I accidentally turned into this property because I couldn’t see any other left as the navigation had just directed me. A woman came out of the building and indicated that I shouldn’t be there and was pointing to the right side of this picture. I wasn’t sure what she was pointing to, but it was clear she didn’t want me to continue so I turned around And looked on the other side of the fence to see this desire line through the woods.

That led to this rough puddle strewn road between two fields. Ride with GPS didn’t actually show a heat map for the route I chose through this area, but it did show pathways. I chose these pathways, rather than the parallel route, which showed a heat map of cyclist using it, to pick up a tile.

That gravel road led me to this muddy truck. At that point there was a locked gate to continue straight or I could have returned over a couple kilometres of rough surfaces, or I could proceed. I dismounted and walked the bike along the stubble on the left. Then the route directed me through this small gap in the weedy hedge.

Someone set up boards to cross the small creek. I stood for a while and contemplated whether to retrace my route, but it would’ve been a couple kilometres back along very poor surfaces, and then I might have missed the tile, continue forward along the muddy field edge I was on, but possibly not be able to cross the canal at the end – Google satellite was too pixelated for me to tell for sure, or go across those wooden boards.

In the end, I decided to go across the boards. I didn’t understand at first how I was supposed to do so. I started out by rolling the bike across the boards on the right and walking on the lower board on the left, but it quickly became clear that the lower board would not support my weight. So I lifted the bike down onto the lower board, and climbed up onto the top board and successfully crossed.

This is what I saw when I made it to the top.

I was very happy to get back to civilization.

However, it wasn’t long before I was riding along another rough, muddy path for a short distance.

Finally, I ended up on a good quality multi-use path running along the tracks.

I passed this interesting modern building, and this communist era circular shopping mall.

Then I rode a couple kilometres on this parking protected bike lane before using the elevator down to the pedestrian subway near the hotel to finish my journey. I got 10 new tiles, and the tile with the jury rigged bridge across the creek was possibly the most challenging one I’ve ever acquired, and that includes trespassing in a quarry in Halton region. The goal of collecting tiles is to ride in places you might not otherwise do so, and in that, it was a successful day.

I had a late lunch in the room while Michael took the tram home from work, then we went to a local coffee shopfor coffee and cheesecake. When I went to the bathroom, I wasn’t sure which door to use. I guessed the one on the right, which apparently was correct.

It was twilight by the time we left the coffee shop. I notice different things walking at night, than in the daytime. Here are a bunch of beautifully lit up shops.

The modern streetcars here reminded me of Toronto’s. They have a lovely collection of older street cars, as well, and it’s astonishing how long they have kept them in service.

The Christmas market opened last night. It was beautiful and well attended, but not overly crowded.

They have staffed recycling stations set up to ensure that waste is disposed of properly. And there are many municipal employees wandering around, sweeping and picking up litter and making sure that the area is spotless.

The food choices were overwhelming.

And so were the drink choices, including many alcoholic drinks. it is legal to drink in public here, and I haven’t seen any public drunkenness or bad behavior. When you purchase a drink, you pay two euros for a reusable cup which you can get refilled, and return  for a refund when you’re done.

I’ve never seen balloons like these before, but I don’t generally go to festivals at home, so perhaps I’m just out of the loop.

Last week not many places had tables and chairs set out, but with the Christmas market in full swing, there seems to be an expectation of more customers, and even with the cool weather that people will sit outside.

I was very excited to notice that it would appear Bratislava has a critical mass ride. It’s the last Friday of the month and this group had gathered at 6:15, which is when we used to gather in Brampton when we ran a critical mass ride. Unfortunately, my bike was back at the hotel so I couldn’t join in.

This street is for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit only.

We met John and Fury for drink and Slovak pub food.

I was feeling tired so I left them to continue and caught the tram back to the hotel. You don’t have to look up a schedule to use public transit here. I arrived at the stop and there was a six minute wait, which is about a long as it gets. In the app on my phone I purchased a 30 minute two zone ticket for €0.97. I was back at the hotel much faster than I would have been if I had had to walk to a parking lot for the car, and then parked it again under the hotel. 

No biking for the next couple days as Michael and I will be sightseeing together. It seems that most of the bike share bikes have been put away and there’s only one or two and some stations, and none and others. the weather looks like it will be wet over the weekend so will try to find things to do.