I've been in Gyor, Hungary for three days now. I've been in Europe almost a month. The 'second' day of this tour has broken all my records for days on tour but not touring.

When I came down with the flu, I assumed, based on past experience, that I'd get over it in a week or so. I didn't expect to end up in intensive care for six days, hospitalized for two weeks, and told to take it easy for at least another two weeks. I also didn't expect to end up back in Atrial-Fibrillation and stuck there until I can get treated back in the States. So it goes.

I was first hospitalized in Timmendorfer Strand, DE, but, "because I was too sick," I was quickly transfered to the bigger hospital at Lubeck, DE. My problems were pneumonia and a nasty heart arrythmia caused by the break down of the control of my Atrial- Fibrillation by a drug that isn't used in Germany. My temperature was very high, and I was often delusional during the time I was in intensive care. In my delusional state, I scared my wife and older daughter badly when they each talked to me on the phone from the States. I don't remember either phone call. Fortunately, my friend Dirk came up from Hamburg twice to visit me during that time and he was able to reassure my family, by phone, that I really wasn't in as bad a shape as those phone calls made them think I was.

My daughter Adriane, who lives in Germany, was in the States for a meeting while I was in intensive care. She came back to Germany and came to Lubeck to be with me the week I got out of the hospital. With her help, I was able to do the hospital and drug related stuff I needed to get done that week. Since I was told to take it easy for a while, I decided to take the train down to Gyor - 15+ hours, but with a sleeper for the last 7 hours - and see my dentist here. I had planned to ride down here later in the summer to see him, and I expected I'd have to wait to have some crowns made, so it made sense to incorporate that time into the down time requested by my doctors.

Gyor is a good place to be for down time. It is the sixth largest city in Hungary and a very popular tourist destination. There are lots of things to do, lots of things to see and lots of places to explore.

When I got to see my dentist, I told him about the hit and run incident that happened just before I left the US. He immediately starting checking the front teeth that were damaged when I 'bit the pavement' and determined that two of them were dead. He told me I'd need a six tooth bridge - all my top front teeth - to replace the two dead teeth. I had expected to do some crowns on my rear teeth this year, but he said it was much more important to deal with the front teeth ASAP. He initially wanted to schedule me for the next Saturday to prepare the teeth for the bridge and the following Friday to fit the temporary bridge - almost two weeks - but then decided he could work on me in parallel with the other patients he already had scheduled that (Monday) afternoon and save me a week of waiting. I could tell that he was pushing himself hard to save me that week. I get the temporary bridge on Saturday. I have to come back for a week, in October, to get the permanent bridge fitted. For what it is worth, except for my medical bills ;-{, the savings by having this bridge done here rather than in Asheville, will more than pay for my two months in Europe this summer and the week here in October. Since the damage was done as part of an 'unsolved' hit and run, I'm responsible for the cost.

After I leave Gyor, I hope to 'resume' my tour where I left it, heading for Sweden. Because I'll be touring while in Atrial-Fibrillation, I will not be able to tour as intensely as usual nor will I be able to tour in mountains. I will also need to get my blood coagulation - INR - measured regularly because I'm taking warfarin to prevent clots from forming in my heart. As a practical matter, these requirements are going to restrict most of my touring to Sweden and to river valleys in Germany. I know - sort of - how to deal with the INR testing in Germany and I will be visiting a relative who is a nurse in Sweden so I should be able to find out how to deal with it there.

I do plan a side trip into Poland to visit my friend Robert Mink and his family near Wroclaw. Today, it occurred to me that I could ride up the Oder Radweg which goes along the Germany-Poland border, then ride over to visit Robert and then back to Dresden to ride down the Elbe Radweg. The Elbe Radweg will take me near another place where I'll be meeting people and to Hamburg at the end of this tour.

I really don't know yet what I will be able to do while touring this year, but I'm looking forward to finding out.