iccmain

ICC day cycling festival in autumn

The autumn ICC Day cycling festival has been held on 5–6 October 2019. During the weekend the bikers could choose among 4 routes considering the length of the tour, the sights and the thematics of the cycling tour.

On the first day the cyclists started from Ptuj, the oldest and also one of the nicest towns of Slovenia. They had a lightly cloudy but beautiful weather, ideal for cycling.

Following the registration the participants were informed on the project, the program of the tour, the right and safe way of cycling before starting. The day started with the view to the town from the hill behind it. We enjoyed the wonderful panorama to the old town, the fortress, the river Drava running under the town, the lake of Ptuj and the near Slovenian and Croatian mountains. The route went on the southern part of Drava river and the Lake of Ptuj. On the nicest spots the participants got brief information and they had an opportunity for relaxing and refreshing. They visited an old water-mill, Drava river, then the forests of Sturmovci Protected Area. During our way back to Ptuj we went on the southern embankment of the Lake of Ptuj which offerd also a great adventure for the cyclists. The view to Ptuj city looked like a set for a movie. It was an extremely hard performance for some of the participants, since it was the first time to undertake a nearly 50 km long cycling, but they could perform it. After the arrival we had an other opportunity to wander the old-town, cycling there or visiting the castle. As a close of the day we could refill the calories which had been lost during the day. In the course of the dinner we could call back the stories, pleasant experiences of the day in our discussions.

On the second day the tour routes started from Őriszentpéter, cycling along the Hungarian – Slovenian border, visiting the neighbouring Slovenia. At the beginning we visited the sights of Őriszentpéter. During the visit to the Szikszay Edit Local Historical Collection we could peer into the history of Raba Region/Őrség. The next one was St. Peter’s Church, then the medieval brick-burner, which led the participants also to the past. In Szalafő following an authentic pumpkin seed oil extraction, after completing all work phases – toasting the pumpking seeds, then pressing them – we could taste and bottle the ”green gold” of Raba Region/Őrség. We could refresh ourselves with drinks and food in the course of the program. Cycling towards each participants could see from the viewpoint ”Eye of Kömpe” what the „szer” means in Raba Region/Őrség. We could have a nice view from the viewpoint to the surrounding hills, the group of houses on them, ie. the „”szer”-s, as thely are called in this region. The travel continued with visiting Pityerszer, that was also a time travel. The renewed ”Zöldike” play-park is a lovely choice for the relaxation of the children or even the adults. It’s hard to leave Szalafő, since buffalos and wild horses, and the Border Stone Park lying on the border tempt the visitors to stop again and again, thus also our bikers could not surmount the temptation and visited them. As we reached Slovenia we had to cope with a hilly area. The lake at Hodos, then the renovated ”mafi”, the old border-guard’s tower – that was an important element of the active border suirvellance system not so long ago – served as a refreshing point with interesting information. The Border Guard Museum at Apátistvánfalva gives a detailed, authentic display on the former border suirvellance of the region, while Hársas-lake offers a relaxing place with its extraordinary location. The rich local historical collection of Bajánsenye provides a detailed  insight into the life of our ancestors. As the closing of our short tour we visited the Wooden Church of Magyarföld as a curiosity. Following the tours we had warm meals and the participants received their gifts – superb rucksacks together with the warm-cold keeping accessories - on both days.