Audaces Fortuna Iuvat (Rivers Liwiec & Bug, Off-Road)
Fortune favours the bold. All weather forecasts promised violent, Belarussian thunderstorms to occur throughout the Poland on Sunday. It was pouring the night before. Yet my brother Jacek and I are tough men and we believe Fortune loves us
8:30 a.m I drove into the Jacek's homestead with my
Monster Trance, and Jacek was ready with his mechanical Giant Boulder Duo Shock. Jacek used to be a test driver for the automotive industry in his youth, so I let him overtake the steering wheel and to Wyszków off we drove.
Our route was similar to my Saturday's one with the important exception we would utilise off-road and gravel roads to the max instead of riding tarmac. After 13-14 km of uneventful ride we arrived to the tiny lake in Gaj, from where I started my road-based adventure the day before. It was a real Summer day, sunny, with temperature up to 29 C (84 F), almost no wind and high air humidity.
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Jacek taking pictures of me
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Why are we just riding and riding? Sometimes I dream of a proper sun-bath and taking a bath in a lake...
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Friends! I regret this photo could not render the drama of that steep climb! "Which way are we riding now?" -- Jacek asked -- "Fast forward, bro!" -- I shouted and spurted forward in the granny gear and in the POWER mode. The first part of the climb was loose sand... Monster
was climbing easily so I pulled over to take a photo of Jacek. He didn't even blink at the challenge; he downshifted to the small chain-ring and to the granny gear but after he overtook me, he... stopped. Or, the climb stopped him. He stood on his pedals and victoriously reached the summit. I just stamped on a pedal.... Monster
did a wheelie :-D I threw my body onto the bars and joined my brother in few seconds. Viva e-MTBs!
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"We're not going to make that hill, Jacek! There is no track ahead. Go back!"
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It's a morass. I was safe: Because of the drought in the months before, the morass was pleasantly dry and felt like a meadow.
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An anthill.
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The Jacek's Giant Boulder Duo Shock. Jacek: "Bro, I have to confess something to you; I've just understood my Giant was not a proper MTB..."
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"Jacek, I need a rest. My blood circulation is not in good shape now..."
"Ride on! We'll take some rest by riding tarmac!"
He was bloody right. Riding tarmac seemed to be effortless compared to off-road...
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On the River Liwiec, a tributary of Bug. The river is beloved by holidaymakers and tourist for its beauty. I had unforgettable bonfire parties on the Liwiec when I was 17-19. It was Urle on Liwiec where I got drunk for the first time in my life. I and my best friend Julian drank a half-litre bottle of cheapest, warm vodka straight from the bottle in ten minutes by bonfire on Liwiec... Many stories to tell
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Kayaking is the most popular pastime on Rivers Liwiec and Bug. A perceptive eye with notice a group of people taking a bath. The Liwiec is reaching their thighs, so shallow it is now.
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A family (or two families) kayaking.
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The place name translates to "Empty Meadows"
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That name may translate to "Wheel Housing" (an automotive term)...
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People bathing in River Liwiec near Kamieńczyk. Soon, Liwiec will join River Bug.
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A sculpture of a rafter in Kamieńczyk on Rivers Liwiec and Bug.
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"Fortuna audaces iuvat". The Fortune favours the bold. As soon as we reached Kamieńczyk and sat in a tourist shelter, it poured. Jacek asked me what time it was and suggested he believed it was 2 p.m. Why?! Because he read a weather forecast predicting raining in Kamieńczyk to 2 p.m. And yes, it was 14:00 hours sharp! There was a thunderstorm over Wyszków and another one approaching Kamieńczyk from the east. After a quarter, it stopped raining. We put everything into the race between two thunderstorm fronts. We made it. Dry.
When Jacek was driving back, there was a massive rainfall. The rainfall occurred throughout Poland and was so severe that the President of Poland felt he needed to express his opinion on the TV. I could see many cyclist wringing wet on my drive back home. But Jacek and I made it dry. Because the Fortune favours the bold!
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We were intentionally making circles near to my car to make up the distance to 50.00 km sharp!