Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

Hey, guys, don't let ourselves derail this nice thread! :)

I'm quite excited about my upcoming trip. Jacek lent me his Toyota for a convenient and safe journey. I only hate the thought of 7 hour driving to the first base, which is Ustrzyki Dolne at the foot of Bieszczady Mts in Carpathia. I will have a chance to ride in Slovakia for at least 3 times. Should I bring beer for you? :) (As I said, while I love the Republic, I'm not fond of Slovakia. Don't ask why). Anyway, sometimes the shortest route from Poland to Poland leads through Slovakia :D

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Stefan Mikes said:
Hey, guys, don't let ourselves derail this nice thread! :)

I'm quite excited about my upcoming trip. Jacek lent me his Toyota for a convenient and safe journey. I only hate the thought of 7 hour driving to the first base, which is Ustrzyki Dolne at the foot of Bieszczady Mts in Carpathia. I will have a chance to ride in Slovakia for at least 3 times. Should I bring beer for you? :) (As I said, while I love the Republic, I'm not fond of Slovakia. Don't ask why). Anyway, sometimes the shortest route from Poland to Poland leads through Slovakia :D

View attachment 96846
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We won't derail Stefan. We're just kibitzing while you get your stuff organized. 👍
 
David Berry said:
In Australia everyone (well, almost) knows how to pronounce the names of the continent's highest 'mountain' and the Queensland Premier (both Polish). Problem is, no one knows how to spell them!
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Seems like it has a z in it that wasn't there when I first heard it years ago thanks to being a Midnight Oil fan.
(The mountain, not the Premier- I have no idea who that is)
 
Normal service has been resumed…

Fairney View

Fairney View
Brisbane Valley Rail Trail​
I don't have any adventures to report*, so here is a cattle grid photo (taken last week, but somehow mislaid) to get thing going!

These things are far better than latched swing gates. Farmers are accepting and cyclists love them (get a bit of air!); cattle keep their distance (there's one far away on the extreme right); walkers and horsey people are probably ambivalent in their attitudes.
—————
* 'No adventures' because I'm on self-imposed 'gardening leave': weeding (mostly), plus putting in the fifty or sixty plants that have been neglected since they were bought in a fit of excitement at the garden centre last week.​
 
We have cattle grates around here on some rural roads and even on the Coast Highway. In Sonoma County California there are free range cattle on the highway. It is interesting how the grates work. Cattle see contrast as a hole. If you put one on a checkered floor such as the floor in an Italian restaurant or in a chocolates shop it will freak out thinking that it is surrounded by bottomless pits. You just need to cross these grates slowly because they can be slippery and are bumpy. Always cross perpendicular to the cattle crossing. And avoid them if you are on a motorized skateboard!
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Why avoid throttles around cattle?
 
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I had a cattle guard constructed by a local swindler made of wood. It worked as well as it sounds. Fortunately it was just the entrance into my yard and I soon had gravel spread over it. My swindler retired after his 94yo father passed and the estate sold the forty acre farm (in the midst of tony shopping centers) for 40 million.
 
Chargeride said:
OK..I'll take the bait.
How in gods Earth do you pronounce that?
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Ooh-stzhee-kee :D

You can hear the name sung in the chorus:

Fun fact: In 1979, there were only three punk-rock bands in Poland: Deadlock of Gdańsk, Kryzys of Warsaw, and KSU of Ustrzyki Dolne. You might want to ask how it happened a punk-rock band was created in a small town at the foot of remote mountains. The answer is simple: Because no-one cared about them there :) The lyrics start with: "A beautiful town in the heart of the mountains, two streets, and a single bar..." :D Today, at 8 p.m., I'm about to have a beer with the original singer whom I met last in 1979... He's now a local guide and a promoter of Ukrainian culture.

BlackHand said:
(The mountain, not the Premier- I have no idea who that is)
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Pałaszczuk :D (the name is Polish but has Ukrainian roots to my ear).

BlackHand said:
Seems like it has a z in it that wasn't there when I first heard it years ago thanks to being a Midnight Oil fan.
Click to expand...
Tadeusz Kościuszko was the name of the man who fortified West Point during the American Revolutionary War. Oh, I used to listen to Midnight Oil, too!
 
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Stefan Mikes said:
Ooh-stzhee-kee :D

You can hear the name sung in the chorus:

Fun fact: In 1979, there were only three punk-rock bands in Poland: Deadlock of Gdańsk, Kryzys of Warsaw, and KSU of Ustrzyki Dolne. You might want to ask how it happened a punk-rock band was created in a small town at the foot of remote mountains. The answer is simple: Because no-one cared about them there :) The lyrics start with: "A small town in the heart of the mountains, two streets, and a single house..." :D Today, at 8 p.m., I'm about to have a beer with the original singer whom I met last in 1979... He's now a local guide and a promoter of Ukrainian culture.


Pałaszczuk :D (the name is Polish but has Ukrainian roots to my ear).


Tadeusz Kościuszko was the name of the mam who fortified West Point during the American Revolutionary War. Oh, I used to listen to Midnight Oil, too!
Click to expand...
There's a bridge, I believe, named after him in NYC. The Triborough Bridge is easier to pronounce (g)

"The Thaddeus Kosciusko Bridge, a twin bridge structure across the Mohawk River in Albany, New York, completed in 1959,[122] and the Kosciuszko Bridge, built in 1939 in New York City, were named in Kościuszko's honor.[123] The New York City bridge was partially replaced in April 2017 by a new bridge of the same name, with an additional bridge that opened in August 2019.[124][125]"
 
Stefan Mikes said:
...
Tadeusz Kościuszko was the name of the man who fortified West Point during the American Revolutionary War. Oh, I used to listen to Midnight Oil, too!
Click to expand...
The only Polish war hero I remember learning about growing up was Kasimir S Pulaski. As a matter of fact, the ride I posted last week showed me riding through Pulaski Township and the town of Pulaski(1 stop sign big) in Pennsylvania.

Now that makes me want to go listen to 'Kasimir S. Pulaski Day' by Big Black!
 
Stefan Mikes said:
Ooh-stzhee-kee :D

You can hear the name sung in the chorus:

Fun fact: In 1979, there were only three punk-rock bands in Poland: Deadlock of Gdańsk, Kryzys of Warsaw, and KSU of Ustrzyki Dolne. You might want to ask how it happened a punk-rock band was created in a small town at the foot of remote mountains. The answer is simple: Because no-one cared about them there :) The lyrics start with: "A beautiful town in the heart of the mountains, two streets, and a single bar..." :D Today, at 8 p.m., I'm about to have a beer with the original singer whom I met last in 1979... He's now a local guide and a promoter of Ukrainian culture.


Pałaszczuk :D (the name is Polish but has Ukrainian roots to my ear).


Tadeusz Kościuszko was the name of the man who fortified West Point during the American Revolutionary War. Oh, I used to listen to Midnight Oil, too!
Click to expand...
We all know Stefan was pogoing at the front.
 
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