Biking Poland

15 June 2023, Szydłów, 58.18km
Pensjonat przy Karpiu 140zł [R641]

I ache from the hips down. Cumulative tiredness, I guess, but also 60 (mildly) hilly km done today between Starachowice and tiny Szydłów, population just over 1,000.
My accommodation research had led me to select Pensjonat przy Karpiu. When I tried calling to make a reservation, the phone was answered by a woman who spoke zero English, so we departed Starachowice this morning with no confirmation of a bed for tonight. At a garage where we stopped to pump a soft tyre, we were lured in for breakfast by a colourful billboard (see, advertising does work). The young man behind the counter spoke pretty good English and agreed to make a reservation on our behalf.
Booking accommodation in advance is both a stress-reliever and a stress-inducer. It is nice to know exactly where you are headed on any given day. On the other hand, if anything goes wrong, being committed to doing a specific distance can be tough. Today, for example, Charl's chain snapped not once, but twice. The repairs robbed us of over an hour and had it been possible, we may have opted for a different bed in a different town.
We cycled the 744 and 42 to the outskirts of Starachowice, and then spent the bulk of our day on the 756. Although drivers are accommodating, never hooting and waiting patiently behind us until it is safe to overtake on the narrow road, we were glad that in each village or town through which we passed, there was a cycle path on a raised sidewalk.
We cycled forested and farmed hills, the scene bucolic, through towns named Rzepin-Kolonia and Ambrożów and Zamkowa Wola and Raków. People are house- and garden-proud. Where old water wells still exist in gardens, either they have been closed up and are being used to add a decorative note, or have had an electric pump installed, a little less romantic than the original turning handle.