The Tour de Danube

Sometimes it is useful to reflect how a successful event such as the now popular Tour de Danube started. In 2013 a cyclist from South Africa, Stefan Hugo, decided to cycle from the Danube river from where it flows into the Black Sea to it's origin at Donau-Eschingen in the Black forest in Germany. His efforts to start at the Danube delta in Romania were thwarted by the difficulty in obtaining a visa for Romania. From South Africa he flew to Istanbul with his bike and started his unsupported ride from the airport. He cycled to the border post with Bulgaria and from there to the coastal town of Burgas. From there he cycled to Rousse in Bulgaria where he first met up with the Danube and followed the river to across the Bulgarian  border at Negotin in Serbia, a total of 460km. There he met up with a friend who accompanied him through Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria to Passau in Germany. Together they did a further 1632 along the river, a total of 2090 km along the Danube. From Passau, on his own again, he followed the Inn river to Zurich. After 22 days of cycling at an average of 150km per day, a total of more than 3300 km, he arrived in Zurich. This was a totally unsupported effort, he had to transport all his clothing, tent and other essentials on his bike. He often slept along the road or in rooms provided by local people or camped in camping sites. Food was bought on the way. Quite appropriately for most of the way he wore a yellow cycling top! This extra-ordinary physical effort but also mental determination inspired the organizers to establish the Tour de Danube from the Black Sea to the Black Forest.