River Sona Ride
To find something new for our rides, I decided exploring Mazovia north of River Narew. I took a ready made "gravel cycling" route from Komoot, and I admit it was as gravely as it only could be
The difficulty level was "Hard".
Mazovian Railways have no plan to improve bicycle transportation on their trains. The train was tightly packed with bikes! We were lucky to get on the train at the origin terminal! So we reached Pomiechówek, a spa on the Wkra around half past ten.
Mistakes I made
- As the morning was very cold but the day very warm, I had to hide my outer jacket and the smartphone to my hydration pack. Meaning, I had to ask Tommy to extract my "camera" from the backpack whenever I wanted to take a photo! Hence, only a few photos, none from the actual ride!
- I shouldn't have gone for a longer taxiing ride the day before. I wasn't well rested!
- To travel light, I intentionally didn't take a pannier with extra Range Extenders. That forced me riding in artificially low assistance, making me exhausted already in the half of the trip! (The terrain was "hard" meaning many climbs and often riding in the sand).
Otherwise, the route was splendid! Hardly any asphalt, mostly gravel, dirt or forest paths. Mazovia is undulated there, and the weather was gorgeous.
We even had tailwind all the time as the wind direction reversed at the ride midpoint!
We were surprised to find a village by name of Toruń Dworski on our trip Toruń is a big city elsewhere! Hence, our surprised and solemn looks
It is the canola time!
After emerging from one hard terrain (and before immersing into another), we were surprised to find a train stop on our way!
Szynobus ("rail-o-bus") or a very short local train. It even has a proper bicycle compartment!
Our first encounter with River Sona.
We arrived in Nowe Miasto nad Soną (New Town-Upon-Sona). First, we visited a Żabka convenience store...
...then we had an hour long picnic at the Nowe Miasto Reservoir.
A little bridge across the Sona.
I said to Tommy: "Mate, I apologise for being tired. Would you mind if we skipped the terrain segment and just ride to Nasielsk by the main road?"
So we rode to "At Kaban's Pizza" in Nasielsk. The restaurant has greatly gentrified since I was there for the last time! No more an open verandah but nice big glass windows, artistically painted! Still, it is a place where you can get home made Polish cuisine at economy prices! (Left: beef tripe, right: pork chop).
Fortified with the meal, we returned on the original route. There was something
@Chargeride could be interested in
There are "bridleways" in England with the right of way. On contrary, we never enter private properties in Poland. However... What if a farmer had selfishly harrowed a local dirt road with public access? We even didn't think but brutally rode through the soft soil to the other side of the trail!
I was totally disoriented because of the tiredness. Could not understand the time flow or the world directions! Fortunately, Tommy was taking care of me. All ended well but he told me: "Now,
I ban you from any longer ride on the day before our special trip!"
Ride map. I must go there again to complete the entire route!
www.bicycleretailer.com
