A couple of years ago I enjoyed cycling through Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania with BalticCycle, the Baltic States equivalent of the CTC. In 2004, I took another trip with them, from Warsaw to Belgrade, part of a Peace Ride from North Cape in Norway, to Olympia,in Greece (7,800 km on EuroVelo Route 11 through 11 countries in 111 days) - the easy, i.e. flatter, warmer, more scenic section through Poland, Slovakia, the Hungarian Plain, and Serbia.

Being pretty flat, central Poland may not seem the most interesting of places to cycle, but there was a good mix of ruined and restored castles and churches, plus lake and riverside cycle routes. The majority of cyclists on this section were Polish, and their friendliness and humour was reinforced in the evenings with vodka & pivo (beer).

Towards Krakow, things began to get a bit touristy, with a visit to Czestochowa - the spiritual heart of Poland and home of the Black Madonna. The place attracts thousands of pilgrims every year and, approaching the city, we passed many columns of people singing and marching to the accompaniment of brass bands carrying various religious banners and icons.

After a week of cycling through rural Poland, the city of Krakow came as a huge culture shock. There was lots to see and do and eat and drink, plus a rest-day to chill-out (see photo). At this point, many people who had cycled the week from Warsaw left and were replaced by others keen to cycle in southern Poland and beyond.

Next up was Wieliczka, famous for its salt mine which is on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list, an amazing place with triple-decker lifts. One cavern was large enough for a church for 300, and another big enough to accommodate a volleyball court. After a night in the resort town of Szczawnica, which I thought bore a passing resemblance to Betws-y-Coed, it was over the border into Slovakia and some superb traffic-free scenic cycling along a deep gorge while watching others white-water rafting.

Slovakia started flat, as we admired from a distance the top of the Tatra mountains covered in cloud reminiscent of the Pyrenees. I then joined a breakaway group for a couple of days who offered to show me some wilder parts of Slovakia. Halfway up a mountain in the middle of a thunderstorm, I discovered that the leader had overheard me say that the route was a bit flat and boring, so thought he would show me a lumpy and interesting alternative. It also turned out that he has cycled Lon Las Cymru in both directions, so was familiar with cycling over hilly routes in the rain.

I survived the interesting off-road Slovakian route OK but my bike didn't do so well. Whilst speeding over the tram-lines on the way to a reception in the town of Kosice, the rear tube gave out with a terrific bang, which stopped about 50 cyclists dead in their tracks. The cause turned out to be a badly gashed tyre. Fortunately, it happened not far from a cycle shop, so I was able to replace both tyres to be on the safe side. Unfortunately, the stock was a bit limited so, if you see someone riding around Cardiff on a red bike with bright blue tyres and wearing a yellow tabard, it will probably be me.

Kosice was the last stop before crossing into Hungary. If we thought the Poles and Slovaks were hospitable, the Hungarians surpassed them. We were met at the border with glasses of Palinka, the local schnapps / firewater, and issued with a wrist-band which entitled us to limitless glasses of Tokaj at several places en route. The journey through Hungary seemed to be parties all the time - en route as well as in the evenings. There was also time for some culture, the highlight of which was a visit to Opusztaszer, which houses a huge panoramic painting commemorating the arrival of the Magyar tribes and the birthplace of the Hungarian nation.

Hungary was also the opportunity for the first full peace ceremony since leaving Warsaw. The idea was to plant a Peace Pole (see photo) in each country visited en route. This was a particularly important ceremony, as it was attended by several founder members of the Japanese World Peace Prayer Organisation who had flown in especially for the occasion. There was lots of waving of flags of all nations and chanting, "May peace prevail on earth".

Before leaving Hungary, it was time to say goodbye to many of the group, leaving 29 of us to cross into Serbia. Our guide was another person who had cycled Lon Las Cymru and whose fuel intake was of the liquid sort (it was only 25p a half-litre). Belgrade was big and bustling and not a pleasant place to cycle, but there was lots to see and do and eat and drink. Another 2 of us left the ride at Belgrade, leaving 27 to carry on, for the final section to Olympia.

Accommodation varied between campsites with amenities, rough camping (no amenities - bring own toilet roll), school gymnasiums, church halls and the occasional fully equipped leisure centre. Hotels and B&Bs were also available fairly cheap in some places, and some nights it was warm enough to sleep under the stars.

Info about the ride and BalticCycle plus events for 2005 can be found at www.bicycle.lt More info on the Peace Ride can be found at www.peaceride.org