Balaton Bike Derby 2021

• 360 km overall length
• 40 °C heat
• 4 counties
• 3 sections
• 2 days
• 1 hiding Lake Balaton
• 0,5 pack of salt tablets
• Countless bottle fillings

PAST

I heard about the Hungarian Divide bikepacking event in 2017 in Greenzone bikeshop (Zalaegerszeg). In 2017 I succesfully finished the XCU series (=10 hour long XCO race on diverse locations). I am a relatively slow rider on XCO/XCM races. The longer races are a bit better for me. I like the monotony of riding, the narrow forest paths, and climbs. The bikepacking riding style got popular and it reached me as well. Of couse on such races is the competition strong. There will be always a stronger/quicker/luckier rider in the peloton. I am too sweaty, I can’t ride far away without any sleep. I have a competitive self and a wanderer self. They complement each other well. In Covid times is my lastly mentioned self much activer.

I did a couple of tours in the past years around the Lake Balaton. Once I did it in one day. 250 km (from Veszprém)/15 hours in the saddle of a 16 kg weight MTB. I had a two day long adventure with a restday (and different concerts). And I had a 3-day-long-round with my friends as well. Road bike definitely comes in handy on such long, but paved roads. It has the same sports value, but it is much easier. You must hold a relative uncomfortable “aero” position for hours. But the rolling resistance of the skinny tires is really low. You can have some rest even on the flat sections. Wind shadow of other riders can give you some helping hand too.

I would say that the Balaton Bike Derby is Lake Balaton round with extras. It is performance oriented as a solo cyclist, but you can do it with you friends too, so you can have more fun. Don’t fall in the trap of the illusion: either way you will be tired in the end.

After Fonyód the race area was locked up due to the hunting. That was some sort of CP. If you couldn’t reach it in time, you could have continued your race in the next morning. It was a good motivation for not stopping. The restaurant and pubs were shining aside of the road. After I reached Fonyód, my brain melted down. Fortunately I found a small pub and I drank almost instantly 1 liter of Spritzer. And an half package of salty hazelnuts.

After my camera card got full, I made a couple of photo breaks with my phone. And when I did not find my place in the saddle I made alibi pee breaks. Before the sunset I even eat some sour cherry from a tree. It was deliciously sour.

Around Kőröshegy I got eaten up by the darkness. I was lack of water, when I reached the first village, I cycled to the first house, where I could see some light/movement. They offered me water… beer… barbeque… whiskey with ice… hot shower… and bed for sleep. Their kids weren’t at home, so they could give an another (but bigger) child accomodation for the night. That is the true hungarian hospitality!