Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
From Siberia to Volhynia (A Lot Of Vodka Meanwhile!), Or E-Bike Group Ride Over Łódź Heights
It was two of road-cycling friends of ours (people with great sense of humour!) to tell us about that very route. For some reasons (unknown to anyone), the area of the Landscape Park of Łódź Heights is full of place-names funny to Polish ear. The trip of Jacek, Justyna and me was special because:
Jacek turned out to be a champion of "bike-packing"
He managed to fit as many as three e-bikes (and as many as three people) inside his Toyota RAV 4. Kudos!
(L to R: Vado 5.0, Vado SL, Trance E+).
Mikulskis, probably at their family estates in Mikulin (In reality, only our grandpa Jakub owned land; most of our other ancestors were landless peasants).
Friends and family call me by different names and nicknames. Stefan is my given name which I only prefer to use for formal purposes.
Mroga is a touristically attractive river. It's pity that the old watermill is in ruin, instead to be converted to, say, a restaurant. Sadly, most of old Polish watermills have been left to demise.
"Road to Siberia". We chose a straight dirt road among the fields to get to Siberia. (It was a demanding part of the trip, trust me; good all our e-bikes were ready for such terrain).
In Syberia (Siberia), LD, Poland. (Trivia: Siberia is an enormous region in Russia known from its harsh winters; in Imperial Russia at peacetime, convicts used to be sent to Siberia instead of death penalty. Poles who were taking part in uprisings against Russia were in most of cases exiled to Siberia).
In Moskwa (Moscow), LD, Poland. (Trivia: Moscow, now the capital city of Russia was captured by the Polish forces only once, in 1612. The city lost its status in 1703, replaced by St. Petersburg in that role. Moscow was made the Soviet/Russian capital again only in 1918).
Mr Navigator On the ride again!
In Wódka (Vodka), LD, Poland. The village inhabitants must be people full of good sense of humour! Here: Rye Vodka, Wheat Vodka, Barley/Wheat Vodka, and Cereal Vodka streets. A Moonshine Vodka street is there, too! In the second picture, I'm showing the Polish gesture of drinking vodka ("cut-neck"). Is that gesture known elsewhere?
In Ukraina (Ukraine), LD, Poland. Scenes from the life of Ukrainian peasants: Cossacks posing, dancing, farming (Trivia: The Ukrainian flag is blue and yellow. The colours in the picture are upside down).
Yes, we even have Palestyna (Palestine) in the Land of Łódź! "No vehicles over 8 metric tons. Excluding vehicles serving inhabitants of Palestine, Józefów, and Ukraine"
In Podole (Podolia), LD, Poland. (Trivia: Podolia is a region in Ukraine now, long in the past belonging to Poland).
Going bananas in Wołyń (Volhynia), LD, Poland. (Trivia: Volhynia is a region now shared by Belarus and Ukraine. It was part of Poland since 1939).
In Boginia (Goddess), LD, Poland. Although I WUZ THERE before, it took me some time to find the village's name-plate.
I took Justyna and Jacek to see Lipce, the village made famous by Wł. St. Reymont in his Nobel Prize winning novel "The Peasants". As Reymont used to work for a railway company in his early life, railroadmotives motifs can be seen there.
Ride map with POI.
It was two of road-cycling friends of ours (people with great sense of humour!) to tell us about that very route. For some reasons (unknown to anyone), the area of the Landscape Park of Łódź Heights is full of place-names funny to Polish ear. The trip of Jacek, Justyna and me was special because:
- It was purely an e-bike ride;
- Instead of some road cycling route, we took the cross-country/touring attitude, often taking unpaved roads;
- Justyna refused to use e-bike assistance! She returned from the 80+ miler with 130 of 150% of battery charge! (It only proves how close to a traditional bike the Vado SL is).
Jacek turned out to be a champion of "bike-packing"
He managed to fit as many as three e-bikes (and as many as three people) inside his Toyota RAV 4. Kudos!(L to R: Vado 5.0, Vado SL, Trance E+).
Mikulskis, probably at their family estates in Mikulin
(In reality, only our grandpa Jakub owned land; most of our other ancestors were landless peasants).Friends and family call me by different names and nicknames. Stefan is my given name which I only prefer to use for formal purposes.
Mroga is a touristically attractive river. It's pity that the old watermill is in ruin, instead to be converted to, say, a restaurant. Sadly, most of old Polish watermills have been left to demise.
"Road to Siberia". We chose a straight dirt road among the fields to get to Siberia. (It was a demanding part of the trip, trust me; good all our e-bikes were ready for such terrain).
In Syberia (Siberia), LD, Poland. (Trivia: Siberia is an enormous region in Russia known from its harsh winters; in Imperial Russia at peacetime, convicts used to be sent to Siberia instead of death penalty. Poles who were taking part in uprisings against Russia were in most of cases exiled to Siberia).
In Moskwa (Moscow), LD, Poland. (Trivia: Moscow, now the capital city of Russia was captured by the Polish forces only once, in 1612. The city lost its status in 1703, replaced by St. Petersburg in that role. Moscow was made the Soviet/Russian capital again only in 1918).
Mr Navigator
On the ride again!In Wódka (Vodka), LD, Poland. The village inhabitants must be people full of good sense of humour! Here: Rye Vodka, Wheat Vodka, Barley/Wheat Vodka, and Cereal Vodka streets. A Moonshine Vodka street is there, too!
In the second picture, I'm showing the Polish gesture of drinking vodka ("cut-neck"). Is that gesture known elsewhere?In Ukraina (Ukraine), LD, Poland. Scenes from the life of Ukrainian peasants: Cossacks posing, dancing, farming
(Trivia: The Ukrainian flag is blue and yellow. The colours in the picture are upside down).Yes, we even have Palestyna (Palestine) in the Land of Łódź! "No vehicles over 8 metric tons. Excluding vehicles serving inhabitants of Palestine, Józefów, and Ukraine"
In Podole (Podolia), LD, Poland. (Trivia: Podolia is a region in Ukraine now, long in the past belonging to Poland).
Going bananas in Wołyń (Volhynia), LD, Poland. (Trivia: Volhynia is a region now shared by Belarus and Ukraine. It was part of Poland since 1939).
In Boginia (Goddess), LD, Poland. Although I WUZ THERE before, it took me some time to find the village's name-plate.
I took Justyna and Jacek to see Lipce, the village made famous by Wł. St. Reymont in his Nobel Prize winning novel "The Peasants". As Reymont used to work for a railway company in his early life, railroad
Ride map with POI.
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in a savage land
... Paladin
Was into the Rifleman too but that kid was such a twerp. 
To capture images in most of the mountainous regions here, at times, requires a lengthy drive which makes for a long day. The drive out to Abraham alone was 4 hours return. It sure beats riding the local MUPs which I now do less frequently.
