Szelicse (Salicea) Ride in the afternoon

We planned a ride for the afternoon, it was cloudy with a chance of rain but we still wanted to get out of the city and ride a bit. We headed for the forest starting from the end of the tram line into the Bükk (Faget) forest. This is the usual path that the bike marathon takes every year, it's a long climb but it is almost entirely in the forest. The trees are beautiful in the springtime there are fresh green leaves. Soon we ended the first stint in the forest and came across a small road intersecting it. It's sad that the city is pushing out in this direction and there is no protection for this forest that has unique plant and animal species. After crossing the clearing with a rusted road sign, we were in for even more climbing.

In the second stint there are downhills and it gets flatter so we could increase speed. Before exiting the forest the bike path has a big dip that is fun to cross. Once we were on the pavement again we headed left and than at the fork, took a right turn. The road was recently rebuilt and it has a long section of a dedicated bike lane which we appreciated. It would be even better if they did not suddenly stop at some point but it's better than most bike paths I've come across in the city. After this, we started climbing there is quite a climb once we leave the houses behind. The turn into the forest is magical, but there is no bike path and the drivers don't care much for bikers here - quite a few of them don't leave space or slow down. Perhaps signs to share the road would help.

At the end of the climb we were rewarded with a nice view of Szelicse and the surrounding hills, and it was all downhill riding from there. It is a nice spot and there are more options to return to the city, it's possible to go right and get into the forest and out into green pastures again. We chose the shortest path which was to trace our steps back the same way. It was a 1.5 hour ride, 20 km and about 400m ascent it's a good warm up ride or afternoon relaxation.

This is the map of the ride on BikeRoll if you'd like to try it: