Brown Coal Mining Ride (with Jacek)
My brother is a lucky bastard
Were I to ride around The Biggest Pit of Poland alone in October, I can bet I would get wet, cold, and unhappy. When Jacek is on a group ride with me, he is usually getting sunshine on a cold and windy day. Moreover, he gets sunshine exactly when he is about to take photos! When it rains, he's happily eating pizza and drinking beer at a warm restaurant... Finished eating? Sunshine again! The rain coming again? Oh, that's the moment I need to replace the Vado battery, and we do it under a bus shelter. Battery replaced? Sunshine again!
I actually made a shorter trip around the Bełchatów Open Pit Brown Coal Mine on May 30th this year. On last Saturday, I could take my brother on a perfectly planned, long and interesting trip. And he was so lucky! Whereas I had to negotiate roadworks in May myself, Jacek came to the area when all the roads and bike paths have been already built for his (and my) convenience!
I need to say something more. If you are
not Jacek, and trespass the brown coal mine area, be sure you'd have an intervention security brigade on your back in a few minutes. If you
are Jacek though, are perfectly visible for
miles in your yellow reflective vest, skiing helmet and googles, no one ever pays any attention: they think you belong there...
I was very lucky to have Jacek with me on the trip!
Jacek has been a cyclist, a sailor, a scuba diver, and... a skier When we started our ride from a parking lot in Piaski, Jacek demanded I took him to a skiing base in Huby Ruszczyńskie (a terrible name, even for myself!) that he had been familiar with. Off-season, the bar closed!
Kamieńsk Mt. is a man made hill, created of soil dug out from the Bełchatów Open Pit Brown Coal Mine. A wonderful recreation area, ideal for gravel cyclists, MTBers, and roadies. The centre picture focuses on the ecologically reclaimed part of the Open Pit #1: There is a lake (inaccessible to the public though), and a large stretch of sand filled area. The plan is to totally reclaim the Pit #1 by 2050.
Jacek now owns a Giant Trance E+ 2 Pro e-MTB. He does not have many chances to use all the capabilities of that excellent e-bike. And he spotted an extreme steep ascent atop the Kamieńsk Mt. So he simply climbed it in the POWER mode Later, he told me the climb was technically difficult because of the slope angle: he had to stand on the pedals and move all his weight onto the handlebars to avoid a wheelie!
There is only a single asphalt road onto the Kamieńsk Mt. I would love a very fast downhill ride but we had to stop for several times to take some pictures. My Wahoo told me I achieved only some 50 km/h max speed (Strava claims it was faster than that!) The bottom photo shows a wind powerplant atop the hill. The Government plans assume 50/50 renewable/conventional power parity by 2050.
Bełchatów Power Plant that feeds on the Open Pit Brown Coal Mine of the area. That powerplant is the biggest coal-fired one in Europe, and the least ecological of them. It contributes with 20% to the Poland's electricity demand (I'm sure our e-bikes are charged with the Bełchatów power!) There is a plan to shut the powerplant down by 2036. It is hard for me to imagine what Poland would actually do without Bełchatów. Nuclear power perhaps? The powerplant chimneys are both 300 m (984 ft) tall. To compare, the non-operating Moszna Smoke Stack I live by is not short either (256 m/840 ft).
Jacek at the Kleszczów Viewpoint.
It was 7-9 C (45-49 F) and the headwind was 33.3 m/s (21 mph). Raining was imminent. So we went in Fanaberia Restaurant in Kleszczów for excellent pizza (what else in Poland under the pandemics?) Jacek had a beer, and I enjoyed dry tea. We got warm, and there was sunshine again!
At the Viewpoint #2 in Żłobnica. As I said before, the route was meticulously planned that time!
The 3D map shows the nature of the terrain.
At the Pit #2. Actually, we trespassed the area. Later, Jacek with his captivating smile said to me: "Brother, I really didn't see the NO ENTRY sign! And I'm sure the operator of that large excavator could see me!"
As for me, I was shocked with something different: the size of the coal mine. There was a field marshalling box loosely put on the ground. A thick cable went all the way from the ridge down to the pit. It was certainly necessary for something. But who could remember about and control thousands of such cables, of high pressure hoses, of hundreds of obsolete vehicles in remote parking areas? It was like some Outer Space to me.
One of so many conveyor belt trains. There was a fire in one of vital conveyor belts earlier this year, effectively shutting down the powerplant for a few days (Poland had to import power from Germany at that time).
Shortly before, I had to swap batteries in my Vado (we avoided a short rainfall, as the swap occurred inside a bus shelter). The growing Coal Mine has "eaten" many of existing local roads of the area. We, for one, were stopped by a nice security guard on one of such roads: "So you say your bike navigation told you to ride over there? I stop many cyclists who tell me the same, hah! No worries: You can do a detour over there!"
The Brown Gold: lignite at a heap near to the powerplant.
The road into the powerplant area is closed with barriers and red lights. However, an unaware cyclist (or aware driver) is never stopped by the security there. They know you are moving from the point A to B, and will always open the barrier for you if you don't stop
Yours truly inside the powerplant area. We were already riding with tailwind, hence the goggles were not necessary anymore.
The last look. We arrived in Piaski soon. I was stiff from the cold and sleepy. Jacek had to drive his car all way to Warsaw yet!
Ride Map. We both wore skiing helmets, goggles, warm gloves, and proper cold/wind resistant clothes.