On the “Biking Banat” tour we met breathtaking nature of idyllic Banatian villages and towns, diversity of their cultures, and people of unbreakable sport spirit and passion for cycling and healthy lifestyle
Early in the morning cyclists, journalists and organizers of the “Biking Banat” cycling tour gathered in front of the Belgrade’s Pionir (Pioneer) Hall. Cyclists’ great passion for this sport is obvious at first sight. The sun is already high in the sky and their moves and conversation show nothing but a true pleasure and anticipation of the tour.
We’re all in a great mood and we head for the town of Deliblato where the start of a 118 kilometers long cross awaits us. The cyclists will have a break in Vršac and the finish is in Alibunar.
Narrow streets, surrounded by corn and sunflower fields, bring us to our destination. The cyclo-cross with around 40 participants starts near Kraljevac Lake which is hidden in cane just beside the road.
It is impossible not to notice the oldest among them, Žika Mićić, the former Yugoslavia national team cyclist. Despite being 90, he has no intention to give up on his bike and he says that he has never been sick. Bursting with energy, Žika puts his bike helmet on and the race can begin.
The tour route leads us along the lower edge of the Deliblato sands that remained after Pannonian Sea withdrew 34 million years ago.
The sand dunes of the “European Sahara” still hide the fossils of prehistoric sea creatures, inspiring film directors for decades. We remember the old classics of Serbian cinematography filmed here in the Banat region, on these Deliblato dunes, where we now in disbelief see cows grazing some kind of “desert vegetation”.
And while our team passes bottles of water to the cyclists, they hurry through picturesque Banatian villages. Curious locals on streets in front of their colorful houses connected by brick walls follow the cross, cheer and support cyclists even though it’s over 40 degrees Celsius.
The same way every village we pass through has its church, typical Vojvodinian – baroque style church, almost each house has its great wooden barn filled to the top with loads of Pannonian fields.
The path leads us from the Deliblato Sands across the blue Danube-Tisa-Danube Chanel all the way to Bela Crkva. This small town stunned us with the beauty of its city lake full of swimmers. We stopped to admire the beauties of Banat, but the inexorable cyclists overpass us.
The oldest participant of the cross, Žika, waves from the forehead of the column with a smile on his face, leaving behind much younger cyclists.
We rush back into the car and we head for Vršac across Crvena Crkva, Jasenovo and Straža, disturbing the afternoon nap of these villages in the plain…
And cyclists, they hurry forward following the Vršac wine route. We leave Gudurica behind, a village where almost every house has its own wine cellar.
One of them hides a 150 years old barrel with the unbelievable capacity of 26 thousand liters.
Of course, true wine lovers won’t miss such a curiosity and the village is visited by numerous tourists.
On the horizon, the Vršac mountains are inviting us to visit the city known for sport, vineyards, monumental cathedral, Vršac tower from the 15th century…
One of the most famous citizens of Vršac, a great writer and the founder of the Serbian drama Jovan Sterija Popović, described his city with the words: “Vršac, a beautiful town!” And truly, with its buildings in the Baroque and Art Nouveau style, it is one of the most beautiful cities in Vojvodina.
Its Victory square welcomed our cyclists of the “Biking Banat” tour. Tired and sweat, but with the same flame in their eyes, they hurried to get some refreshment. They were welcomed by strong cheering of locals, stunned by their exceptional sport spirit.
“Serbia is extraordinary country for many things, but this day is particularly exceptional as it has gathered so many people from different cities who build the community through sport”, commented the initiator of the entire manifestation and the Permanent Representative to the UN in Serbia, Mr. William Infante, who was so pleased despite being tired after 100 kilometers of cross.
And as usually the unique fairy-tale moments appear out of nowhere, we heard unusual sounds of Spanish music mixed with the clamor of our brave cyclists.
We turned and saw a group of young men and women singing and playing cheerfully on the staircase of a nearby building.
We learned that they are coming from the South of Spain and that they are here for the International Folklore Festival “The Wreath of Vršac”! And then we were pleasantly surprised by the authentic way of performing Katyusha, Besame mucho, Hasta siempre…
There couldn’t have been a better sendoff for our cyclists who set off to conquer the last 20 kilometers to the finish in Alibunar with the same passion from the beginning of the race.
And there they were welcomed by a loud applause, which was at least what these people of great heart and sport spirit have earned. And when they finally got some break, all of us together went to lunch and swimming at the Sports center.
Our team got slightly lost on the way and got picked up by the police – kind policemen from Alibunar offered us a ride and took us to our destination on the back seat of their car.
The day and the “Biking Banat” adventure were ending and we wished to go back to this beautiful part of Serbia, but also we thought of going to work by bike instead of by car of city transport.
Promoting tourism
The “Biking Banat” manifestation was created in order to promote tourism in Banat, cycling as an alternative way of transport, healthy life style, building of a community through sport, as well as cross-border cooperation.
The event is organized by the Office of the United Nations in Serbia.
