Tour diary

The first one took me completely by surprise. I just rode in. It took a

minute to realize what was wrong. The light from the entrance faded and i

found myself riding slower and slower, until we were in complete

blackness. I was still riding. Was this a good idea? Shouldnâ??t i stop?

Donâ??t you need to see to ride a bicycle? Right. You do.

I stop.

Lights, lights. There they are. A little flashing red one on the back of

my helmet. Much safer. Now at least thereâ??s a chance that the drivers

behind will see me. I donâ??t exactly have a front light. I have a headlamp,

a little flashlight that straps to my head. Except that i canâ??t strap it

to my head with a helmet on, so i wrap it around my handlebars. A very

slight glow is barely visible on the ground ahead of me. It may make me

more visible to oncoming traffic, but as far as seeing the road in front

of me, both lights are completely useless.

Obviously, i canâ??t be on the road like this. I canâ??t even see where the

road is. I shine my light to the right and see that there is a narrow

sidewalk. Oh, thank god. I â??ll just walk. Slow, but the only option,

really. I pull my bike up and take a step.

I escaped stepping into the gaping black hole by about three centimeters.

What the hell? An entire square of the sidewalk is just missing. Gone. No

tape, no sign, no warning of any sort. Blackness, straight down, as far

as the eye can see, which isnâ??t far. That was a close one. Obviously,

nobody walks here. So the sidewalk is more dangerous than the road. Great.

My cycling companions have put their lights on, mostly about as useful as

mine, and theyâ??re pedaling on. Shit. Iâ??d better go with them. At least

then i can follow the bobbing red light ahead of me.

A roar in the distance gets louder. Cars are really incredibly loud

things. Especially echoing menacingly in the blackness. Itâ??s almost

unbelievable how loud it is.

"Please let them see me."

"Please let them see me."

There is no shoulder in the narrow, two-lane tunnel. My life depends

entirely on the illuminastion of their headlights and how much the

anonymous driver is paying attention. It comes closer. The roar is

deafening.

"Please donâ??t hit me."

"Please donâ??t hit me."

They pass. Iam still alive! Halleluyah. It seems like a miracle. I speed

up to try to keep up with my friends.

Thump! Oh shit! My bicycle shudders beneath me. OK, relax, it was only a

bump. Keep pedaling. When is this going to end?

Oh, great, another car.

"Please donâ??t hit me. "

"Please donâ??t hit me. "

Oh, lovely. Oncoming traffic, too. At least the headlights help me see the

road for a minute. Wait. Nobodyâ??s slowing down. I know they usually donâ??t,

but weâ??re in a tiny tunnel! Thereâ??s no room for two cars and a bicycle to

fit here. The car coming toward me is still not slowing down, and i can

hear from the mounting roar behind me that neither is the other one. Oh,

come on. Canâ??t anyone see how crazy this is? Please slow down and let the

other car pass. You canâ??t be in that much of a hurry.

They donâ??t. What do i do? Stopping wonâ??t help. I get as close to the curb

as I dare and try to ride in a straight line. My life flashes before my

eyes. What ever made me think this was a good idea, spending the summer

cycling?

Nobody is slowing down. Tbereâ??s no time to get on the sidewalk, even if it

exists intact here, which i canâ??t tell. The roar from behind envelopes me.

Honk!

Ahhhh! I jump in my seat and nearly swerve into them. Thanks. That was

really helpful. As if i couldnâ??t hear you coming.

The driver behind me speeds into the left lane, meters in front of the car

hurling itself at us from the opposite direction, apparently trying to

kill us all in a head-on collision. My mind is blank as i prepare for

death.

But i guess itâ??s not my day to die, because the car swerves back into my

lane directly in front of us, having missed the other car by what looked

like centimeters. As far as i can tell, nobody ever slowed down.

A light appears ahead. The light at the end of the tunnel! Daylight pours

in and I pedal faster to get out before the next car, whose roar i can

hear somewhere behind me, can catch up.

Thatâ??s it! I am free! Sunlight dries the cold sweat from the back of my

neck. The trees are green, the flowers bright, and the road widens ahead

of me. Warm air rushes into my lungs. I am alive! The road has never

looked so beautiful.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------Bosnia

is a mountainous country, and more than thirty tunnels lay on our route to

Serbia. Some were worse than others, but almost none had electricity.

Believe it or not, by the end i was almost enjoying them. It was

definitely an exercise in trust. All the cyclists in our group arrived at

the Serbian border still alive.