Adventures by Bike
If possible, the Tóth-Dänhardt family exercises and plays sports together.
Who do you call an athlete? Someone who humbly prepares day after day to achieve their goals in competitive sports? Or does this category also include those who are completely average, everyday people, who do not consider themselves athletes, but whose life revolves entirely around exercise? The Tóth-Dánhardt family belongs to the latter group. Sport is an integral part of their everyday lives in some form or another, and if possible, it also determines their family vacations and summer holidays.
The parents, Viktor and Ági, say that they never competed in sports, but only exercised for pleasure during their school years. Both are police officers, so they easily passed their physical fitness tests every year.
"The bus service between my workplace in Balatonfüred and our home in Tótvázony was terrible. It was easier to ride my bike to work. I dug up an old bike that was almost 20 years old and used it to get to and from work. After a few weeks, I could feel the improvement, and I found it easier and easier to ride up the hills on my way home. I got so hooked on cycling that I replaced my old bike with a more modern, better KTM,"
Viktor begins. He adds that today, not only he, but every member of his family cycles, loves public challenges, and family bike tours.
The children, Vivien, Korina, and Tamara, nod in agreement and explain with youthful enthusiasm and energy that this is not the only sport they play. All three girls are members of the women's basketball team at Veszprém University Sports Club (VESC), and there are weeks when the three of them travel together to a game.
For Vivien, the eldest and slightly mischievous one, basketball is just a hobby; she is more interested in rollerblading, but she also goes horseback riding in the village several times a week and enjoys ice skating. She regularly goes ice skating with her friends in Veszprém and Zalaegerszeg. Tamara, the youngest member of the family, loves any kind of exercise that she can participate in, such as soccer, basketball, or anything else. Korina, the middle child, is a real bundle of energy. In addition to basketball players, local runners have also discovered her. She runs, cycles, and plays basketball. She has competed in a half marathon, but would also like to try a triathlon. Once, she cycled from Tótvázony to visit her grandmother, who lives in Zalaegerszeg. Last year, she entered the Bakony 200 amateur cycling challenge on a whim, where she won by a country mile in the 50-kilometer race. This year, she is also a member of an UltraBalaton running team.
Ági takes the floor and explains that they have already cycled around all the major Hungarian lakes. First Lake Velence, then Lake Balaton, and in the summer Lake Fertő and Lake Tisza. They go on multi-day trips in their caravan, as their other favorite pastime is camping.
"Camping is an endless source of enjoyment for us. We have an old caravan, and when we set off on a trip, we take our bikes with us too. Wherever we end up, we enjoy exploring the area, whether on foot or on two wheels. This year we visited Austria, where our neighbors at the campsite named us the most athletic family. For us, active relaxation means unwinding: we hike, cycle, swim, and enrich ourselves with fantastic experiences along the way,"
says Ági, who has already competed in amateur triathlons with her colleagues, goes kiteboarding with Viktor and swims every week.
All these adventures always hold some excitement: once Vivien fell off her huge bike, another time Korina had to have her leg bandaged, and sometimes Tamara suffers unexpected injuries. The parents laughingly say that a competition has developed among the young people to collect ambulance reports, with Korina currently leading the pack.
The family plans to travel to Italy and Croatia next year and continue cycling, and they will try to discover as many Hungarian gems as possible, such as Szarvaskő, Lillafüred, and Fátyol Waterfall, which they recently visited.
They all agree that there are too few bike paths, and that people would cycle to many more exciting places if they didn't have to weave in and out of traffic. They are very confident that Tótvázsony will also be included in the cycle path system, as the settlement is in a wonderful location, but it is also worth exploring the countryside.
At the end of the conversation, I ask the question: who can we call an athlete? They laugh and say they don't know if they can be considered athletes, but they can't imagine their lives without exercise.
Author: Rita Bényi-Virág
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