Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
The Big Loop (accepting the RabH's challenge)
Our fine Scotsman @RabH got on my nerves doing a 50 miles ride against stormy wind, in sleet & snow, a great feat. Neither the current Polish weather nor my capabilities/endurance are to match Scotland and RabH but at least I rode out into the rain and against significant wind! I originally planned a 120 km journey but wisely contented myself with the half of the distance today.
The person at the far left was a Retired Man With A Mission. He was trying to convince me to cast a vote for an extreme far-wing politician (read: a Nazi) because "Poland needed to be saved". I don't particularly think Poland needs any saviour so the guy went away full of contempt for a stranger who even didn't watch the news on the TV (that was me) What I want to show really is the Old Style shared pedestrian/bike lane in Milanówek. Those pavings haven't survived many years and are damaged in many places.
Jaktorów revisited! On Fat Thursday, I was unable to get pączki at that fine bakery/cake shop. As there is no Fat Monday, I could buy as many donuts I wanted today. I took two of them to control my glucose level on the ride: no bonking welcomed! (The price is US cents 53 apiece).
A segment of the Voivodship Road 719, a 68-km stretch that makes a trip to Warsaw the shortest from the place I live. The road quality is fine. Unfortunately, there is high traffic there. I'm used to riding on the 719 but it is the best to avoid it. The bike ban sign means there has to be a bike lane nearby. It actually exists on the left hand side.
'oo have we got here? Some goats but I am not any good at recognising animals.
Direction change at Sade Budy, meaning change from headwind to side-wind. The Queen La Petite Marie Street. When Poland had a female ruler, she was styled the King of Poland and actually we had one female King, Jadwiga. The title of Queen was given to the King's spouse (queen consort). Our most successful King, John III Sobieski (the victor of Vienna against the Turks) married the French Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien when she was 24 and he was not a King yet. (It was her second marriage; she was married to a Polish aristocrat earlier and married the future King as a widow). The couple actually fell in love, which is proven by letters both of them wrote to each other. The Poles are affectionate of the memory of the Królowa Marysieńka (La Petite Marie).
Although I am proud of the new roads we have in Poland nowadays, it is still easy to find cracked blacktop, or worse. On the Big Loop I found no worse road than that, though.
On one of the County Roads; these are not numbered. Not bad. Another direction change to downwind.
A beautiful Park & Palace in Radziejowice. The property was in hands of the Radziejowski family since 15th c. Several Polish Kings lived there, including the aforementioned John III Sobieski. The current palace got its form between 18th and 19th centuries. Currently it is run by the State as the Home of Creative Work. Artists can stay here and do their work in peace. There are also exhibitions inside, the current one of the realistic painter Józef Chełmoński of 19th century. Chełmoński was painting exactly in the area I live and died in a village I passed on one of my recent rides.
With Ignacy J. Paderewski, a virtuoso pianist, composer and Prime Minister of Poland (1919). Paderewski was the owner of the Bristol Hotel in Warsaw (since 1901), now Luxury Collection Bristol Hotel, one of the most posh hotels in Warsaw. When Poland was about to regain independence in 1918, Paderewski came in Warsaw and gave a passionate speech from the balcony of his own hotel!
Wet, wet, wet! I found my thinner gloves completely soaked so I swapped them with dry, thick and water-resistant CHIBA ones.
The New Style pedestrian/bike lane. There are literally many kilometres of such lanes built wherever people live by the S7 motorway. In lack of a bike lane, you can safely zoom over the neighbouring road, where the traffic is minimal (good for my Vado 5 that is not allowed on bike lanes).
By a mistake, I rode onto an overpass of the S7. The company at the left is (as the name suggest) a Canadian-Polish joint-venture for baby products. They have been there since early 1990s.
Refuelling the Lovelec after 50 kilometres. I have noticed very short range on both bikes this winter.
I was very happy about that trip!
The route stats & map.
Our fine Scotsman @RabH got on my nerves doing a 50 miles ride against stormy wind, in sleet & snow, a great feat. Neither the current Polish weather nor my capabilities/endurance are to match Scotland and RabH but at least I rode out into the rain and against significant wind! I originally planned a 120 km journey but wisely contented myself with the half of the distance today.
The person at the far left was a Retired Man With A Mission. He was trying to convince me to cast a vote for an extreme far-wing politician (read: a Nazi) because "Poland needed to be saved". I don't particularly think Poland needs any saviour so the guy went away full of contempt for a stranger who even didn't watch the news on the TV (that was me)
What I want to show really is the Old Style shared pedestrian/bike lane in Milanówek. Those pavings haven't survived many years and are damaged in many places.Jaktorów revisited! On Fat Thursday, I was unable to get pączki at that fine bakery/cake shop. As there is no Fat Monday, I could buy as many donuts I wanted today. I took two of them to control my glucose level on the ride: no bonking welcomed! (The price is US cents 53 apiece).
A segment of the Voivodship Road 719, a 68-km stretch that makes a trip to Warsaw the shortest from the place I live. The road quality is fine. Unfortunately, there is high traffic there. I'm used to riding on the 719 but it is the best to avoid it. The bike ban sign means there has to be a bike lane nearby. It actually exists on the left hand side.
'oo have we got here?
Some goats but I am not any good at recognising animals.Direction change at Sade Budy, meaning change from headwind to side-wind. The Queen La Petite Marie Street. When Poland had a female ruler, she was styled the King of Poland and actually we had one female King, Jadwiga. The title of Queen was given to the King's spouse (queen consort). Our most successful King, John III Sobieski (the victor of Vienna against the Turks) married the French Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien when she was 24 and he was not a King yet. (It was her second marriage; she was married to a Polish aristocrat earlier and married the future King as a widow). The couple actually fell in love, which is proven by letters both of them wrote to each other. The Poles are affectionate of the memory of the Królowa Marysieńka (La Petite Marie).
Although I am proud of the new roads we have in Poland nowadays, it is still easy to find cracked blacktop, or worse. On the Big Loop I found no worse road than that, though.
On one of the County Roads; these are not numbered. Not bad. Another direction change to downwind.
A beautiful Park & Palace in Radziejowice. The property was in hands of the Radziejowski family since 15th c. Several Polish Kings lived there, including the aforementioned John III Sobieski. The current palace got its form between 18th and 19th centuries. Currently it is run by the State as the Home of Creative Work. Artists can stay here and do their work in peace. There are also exhibitions inside, the current one of the realistic painter Józef Chełmoński of 19th century. Chełmoński was painting exactly in the area I live and died in a village I passed on one of my recent rides.
With Ignacy J. Paderewski, a virtuoso pianist, composer and Prime Minister of Poland (1919). Paderewski was the owner of the Bristol Hotel in Warsaw (since 1901), now Luxury Collection Bristol Hotel, one of the most posh hotels in Warsaw. When Poland was about to regain independence in 1918, Paderewski came in Warsaw and gave a passionate speech from the balcony of his own hotel!
Wet, wet, wet! I found my thinner gloves completely soaked so I swapped them with dry, thick and water-resistant CHIBA ones.
The New Style pedestrian/bike lane. There are literally many kilometres of such lanes built wherever people live by the S7 motorway. In lack of a bike lane, you can safely zoom over the neighbouring road, where the traffic is minimal (good for my Vado 5 that is not allowed on bike lanes).
By a mistake, I rode onto an overpass of the S7. The company at the left is (as the name suggest) a Canadian-Polish joint-venture for baby products. They have been there since early 1990s.
Refuelling the Lovelec after 50 kilometres. I have noticed very short range on both bikes this winter.
I was very happy about that trip!
The route stats & map.
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How utterly convenient to have a Liquor store at a UPS access point.
