Korboloza 3: Land of Nur (full report)
It has been the idea of mine to ride a Mazovian Railways train as far as possible then make a bike ride in an area far from the beaten paths...
I was the first of the group at the Warsaw Vilnius Station.
Dramatis personae
Paweł Jońca: An artist and videographer, riding a carbon Marin Headlands 2 gravel bike
Anna: A lady of my age group. Flyer Gotour6 (Bosch) e-bike
Tommy: A big 45-yo man, Marin Muirwoods, a steel flat handlebar gravel bike
Stefan: Yours truly, Vado SL, gravel version
Krzysiek: Quite a character! More on him: later
Ride to Sterdyń
We started the ride at 11:28 from Małkinia train station. Paweł and Tommy reported they didn't have enough water but they remained deaf to my suggestion to buy more water in Małkinia...
8 km into the ride, we passed the memorial site of the former Nazi death camp in Treblinka.
10 km into the ride, we were saved. We found a very rare convenience store in Wólka Okrąglik of a very poor appearance (see the wall!) However, there was a nice tree and flowers in the garden. I asked a friendly local wino (or rather "beero") to take pictures of us. Actually, I had to teach
him how to take photos with a smartphone! 
18 km into the ride, we took a decisive turn towards Sterdyń (more on that later!)
We were riding on a very warm day, initially against the wind. It was a farming area with the smell ranging from manure to slaughterhouse We soon got used to the smell but some of us felt tired after only 26 km! We were not aware our first destination, Sterdyń, was just a kilometre away!
As we were riding on the train, some people recommended visiting the ice-cream shop in Sterdyń. The ice-cream was delicious on the hot day but it was nothing special: just regular good ice-cream!
Sterdyń was a village in Podlachia (near the border with Mazovia) when it was mentioned first in 1425. In 1737, our King Augustus III Saxon founded a town there. The Ossoliński family were the owners of Sterdyń since 1628 (it is their latest palace). Following the January 1863 uprising against Russia, the Russian invaders demoted the town to the village status in 1869.
The River Bug Landscape Park (NPK) is one of the largest landscape parks in Poland. It mostly extends along River Bug and is split into 15 nature reservations. There were no direct roads to our next destination, Nur. We had to ride through the Sterdyń Nature Reservation!
There were premium gravel roads inside NPK...
...but also all other flavours of the "Mazovian gravel" involving pushing our bikes up a deep sand dune! Good Anna had the Walk Mode on her Bosch E-Bike!
Krzysiek, who is senior to me, was the only true
cyclist among us. "The gear is of no meaning. It is your leg and experience that matter" is his motto. He has accumulated an enormous experience of cycling during his lifetime. He is a strong person. No Strava, no GPS navigation, paper maps only and no helmet He is using traditional leather pedal clips! As a lover of vintage bikes, Krzysiek brings very interesting rides to our trips. This time, he brought a 26" wheel Chinese folder bike, and trust me, Krzysiek could smoke us all if he wanted!
Fancy you are a medieval horse rider, a traveller. You have just emerged from the woods and now ride paths between farming fields. You can spot a church at a distance. You came to the civilisation again
We arrived in the village of Nur across the River Bug.
A historical note
Nur was made a town in 1425 by our successful Duke Janusz I of Warsaw (the independent Mazovia ruler was the one who founded Warsaw, too!) Janusz also acquired Podlachia as a (forced) dowry of his Lithuanian princess wife
After the incorporation of Mazovia into Poland, Nur became an important Crown City and the capital of Land of Nur, extending on both banks of River Bug. Local Parliament was gathering in Nur for a long time! However, the wars ruined the city. The Second Northern War (1655–1660) with Sweden was the most devastating. For many years later, local farmers were (to their surprise) excavating cobblestone of once big streets and squares... (Eventually, the town was demoted to a village by the Russian invaders in 1870).
We were skylarking in Nur. Paweł tried Anna's e-bike and was delighted! (He thinks of buying an e-bike when his age overcomes him). We started discussing finding a restaurant..,
A viewpoint on River Bug in Nur.
A group photo there.
We left Nur with the intention to eat at "Warm Corner of Mirabelle" restaurant 4 km away.
So we crossed River Bug again.
We Have Been Cheated. The Race With Time.
The "Warm Corner" was closed. I think the owner didn't care to change the opening times on Google Maps or whatever. Now, I made a difficult decision. Turned out, we were expected to ride the River Bug flood embankment. I decided we would follow the only narrow asphalt road that could take us from Przewóz Nurski back to Małkinia. I found it was feasible to catch the 17:34 train in Małkinia.
We did our best. We lost.
The train left at 17:25. Fancy that. The trains from Małkinia leave at 13:34, 14:34, 15:34, 16;34: 18:34... But the only fugging train leaves at 17:25!
WHY?!
Killing Time
Paweł and Anna went to a kebab place nearby. Krzysiek set off for a "2x20 minutes" riding practice. I found a pizza place 2 km away, so we sprinted there with Tommy.
Arrived in "Voyage", an elegant pizza restaurant at 17:50. Got our pizzas at 17:59 (!!!). Ate the pizzas by 18:15. Were back at the train station on time
Ride map with POI.
The big danger at this time of year is trees being in full bloom, I think it will be carnage in exposed areas!
