Cycling from Bucharest to Budapest: £2,500 raised

If you fly from Bucharest to Budapest it will take you just under two hours. Or you can cover the 850km by bike in 6 days, with no support.

Richard Haring chose the latter option and whilst struggling up the Transylvanian hills in 35C heat he realised someone should be benefitting from his pain and decided to raise money for Nicki’s Smile, a cause close to his heart. In just a few days he’s raised £2,500 and you can continue to donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/Richard-Haring

No stranger to reassembling his bike in foreign lands, carrying his own luggage and handling his own repairs, you could previously have spotted Richard wending his way through the Balkans or the Caucasus amongst other far-flung outposts.

For Richard the pleasure in undertaking a challenge that most readers would consider more akin to punishment is myriad, “I love waking up not knowing where I’m going to sleep. I love not knowing how the day will pan out. I love seeing ordinary people happily living their lives as I pass by on my bike. I love the physical challenge of cycling great distances. I love climbing the mountains. I love the feeling of the hot sun on my skin. I love listening to my music. I love daydreaming as I cycle. I love trying to speak a new language. I love trying the local food.”

The best part of Richard’s day on this trip would come, perhaps unsurprisingly, towards the end, “Cycling at about 6pm each day is always a pleasure. The sun is setting and you can feel that the locals are finishing their working days. The road is quieter, the temperature cools (albeit only slightly to about 30C!) and the cycling is very peaceful. I always find some extra energy from somewhere.”

Bucharest to Budapest wasn’t all plain cycling though with the hardest part being, as Richard explains, when “I cycled 15km slowly up a gravelly dirt track only to be told I had gone the wrong way and had to cycle back the 15km to get back on track. 30km of unnecessary cycling is mentally tough to deal with when you’re cycling 140km per day.”

As for the next challenge? “Almost certainly Africa, although I’m undecided where exactly. I have a couple of routes planned in my mind, but I’ll see how I feel nearer the time and make a decision.”