Day 2 - Malá Bara to Michalovce - Tent testing trip - CycleBlaze

June 22, 2025

Day 2 - Malá Bara to Michalovce

The night was quiet, with just some animal sounds in the morning. I was afraid of condensation on the outer layer of the tent, but that wasn’t the case. I had "opened" the tent "doors" during the night because I was worried about condensation, so it looks like it worked.

I had breakfast around 8:00—meat from a can with two bread rolls. After breakfast, I started packing the tent. There were two lessons, though:

  1. Don’t set up the tent on solid ground without grass; otherwise, the tent floor will get dirty, and the ground stakes may be unstable.

  2. Use the flattest surface available, because sleeping on sloped ground is not pleasant at all.

After the tent was packed back onto the bike and the extension cord I had borrowed yesterday was returned, I took off at 10:08. The weather forecast was good—sunny, clear skies, with a maximum temperature of 27 °C. There were only two climbs in total, the first one near the beginning. The road during the climb wasn’t ideal, but after the climb, it improved and was quite good. There would be almost no cycleways during the day—just a few in Michalovce. Also, the wind was at my back, which was pleasant. Traffic was minimal during the first part of the route. One Polish caravan with bikes on the back greeted me with a honk, and I just waved back. (I don’t know if they were also in the campground or just random travelers.)

The first quick stop was in Oborín at 11:22 (20 km) to refill the water bottles from the spares stored in the panniers. At 12:00 (32 km), I stopped in Budkovce for lunch. I had canned goulash with my last bread roll. It was getting really hot.

From there on, the traffic became more noticeable. I arrived in Michalovce at 13:33 (46 km). My plan was to reach Lake Vinne, where I would spend the night at the campsite. My backup plan was to spend the night at my cousin’s place—or, as a last resort, in a hotel. Getting through Michalovce went smoothly. I used a short cycleway, although one man was walking right down the center of it while both sidewalks were empty. One last climb and I arrived at the lake, but on the opposite side from the campsite. So I went over to the campsite and, even from a distance, I noticed there were no tents or caravans. When I got there, I found out the campsite wasn’t open yet—it looked like their season hadn’t started, even though there were lots of people around and in the restaurants.

First, I asked at an ice cream stand to refill my water, and then I thought, why not try a little ice cream? So I bought a small apple ice cream. This was my first ice cream in two or three years, I think—and it was really good and refreshing. Next, I moved on to my backup plan. I called my cousin, and there was no problem staying there for the night. I put the coordinates into the navigation and took off at 14:40 (58 km). I went downhill and back to Michalovce. I arrived at my cousin’s around 15:30 (71 km), where I had a shower, a Caesar salad, and plenty of water. I went to bed around 23:00.

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 168 km (104 miles)

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