Biking Poland
14 June 2023, Starachowice, 57.21km
Hostel Starachowice 100zl [R458]
Many years ago, my friend Nigel Brown told me he thought the worst vice was ad-vice. I tender some nonetheless: do not ask Google Maps to plot a cycle route from Radom to Starachowice - it will lead you astray!
We began our day with a puncture, awaking to a flat back tyre, mine. Once we'd replaced the tube, we headed south through the city, using mainly but not exclusively dedicated cycle paths. These are usually safer than cycling on the road, but also usually slower as they dip into every driveway and weave back and forth to pedestrian crossings, sometimes on this side of the road, sometimes on that.
The cost to add cycle routes in cities must be prohibitive. I wonder while enjoying them whether anyone has done a cost-benefit analysis.
Anyway, 90 minutes after leaving the pragmatically but unimaginitively named Hostel Centrum (excellent value for money), we crossed the railway line for the last time and were free of the city.
Initially we cycled the fairly busy 744, then were directed onto the quieter 733. Faithfully following Google's blue-line directions, we unexpectedly found ourselves cycling a dirt track through farmland and forest. As the track narrowed, it also became sandier and harder to manage. It was inevitable, I suppose, that one of us had a fall. I was moving very slowly when I hit a deep sandy patch which yanked my handlebars from my hands. In truth, I was virtually at a standstill when I toppled sideways off the bike, landing with it on the grass covered middle of the track. No harm done to me or the bike...
The track turned shortly thereafter into dense forest. Not only was it too sandy to cycle, but we were suddenly enveloped by a mass of mosquitoes literally baying for blood. I think they would have wedged us both in a tree and sucked us dry long before we made it to the end of the track.
So... We turned around and found a tarred route that led us back to the 744, adding 11 long kms to our day.
Oddly, few of the villages through which we passed today had even a sklep, let alone a restaurant for a lunch break. We snacked on leftovers from yesterday's dinner, and on salt-n-vinegar crisps and an apple-flavoured ice lolly (despite the chilly day) sourced from a rare store.
We got rained on a couple of times, and admired from the outside a charming wooden church in the village of Bardzice.
A day more tiring than it should have been, but not without its pleasures.