Bart's Cycling Scribes 霸特單車遊記: February 26, 2017: Precipitation and Peril in Poland

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1596490457

154km, 7h06, 1800hm.

The breakfast at the hotel was really good. At 8 I started my ride into Poland.

Last town on the Czech side with my name in it

Grey and dooming skies

Faster than expected I approached the border

Welcome to the republic of Poland

First thing I noticed across the border was the poor condition of the roads. I was dancing in between potholes. Just terrible!

Funny place name. Means Beer Now! in Dutch. Polish are known to be drinkers with us.

It began raining gently and I saw dark skies

20 km done within Poland. I saw this name on the map before going on the ride.

Polish are very Catholic so there were many crosses

Welcome to the district of Lesna.

Weather started deteriorating and I was worried a little about that.

Picturesque church

Poland gives me a different feeling from Czechia

So this is how they indicate steep sections...

Sucha, funny for those who speak Russian language

Old castle

Very old building... looks like it is about to collapse soon

Another uphill section. This area of Poland was very hilly

A town name that contains my name: Bartoszowka

I was trying to understand as much as I could from all the signs and writings

It started raining more and more and I saw that I was entering the mountains. Not a good sign

You see the mountains there?

I covered up as much as possible

The next section was harsh: it constantly went uphill, there was headwind, it was raining and there were cracks and potholes.

Luckily I recognized one of the place names, which helped me orientate better

It began raining harder and harder and I went to a gas station for some snacks. I took my GPS to see if there was a shorter route back into Czech republic. Luckily there was! Turnov was only 78 km away. That became my new plan<

What followed was a relentlessly steep uphill to 650 meters. It was a difficult climb, it was raining, there was a lot of people and I was just tired.

The sign indicated that the border crossing with Czechia is near. That gave me courage

The climb had 15%

After reaching the top it descended very steeply as well. I found myself going downhill with rim brakes in the wet, on a road with many turns and steep gradients. All the things I hate most

I had to pinch my brakes constantly and my fingers were in pain because of that. I made it down safely

The border crossing was near, enough of Poland for this time. Do it again in the summer maybe

Czech Republic! I was happy to be back in the country where my phone worked, my currency was accepted and where I could take a train home from almost everywhere. I also noticed it did not rain on this side of the mountains, so going back was a wise decision.

It was still 75 km to Turnov so I needed to keep going

Back in the LIberec area. I took a break and then continued. Very soon, I found myself on the same route as yesterday

I was being sent back to Liberec

These tires again proved to be amazing, rim brakes however is a different story

One long climb in a forest and then a long descent. It was the Jizerske Hory where I was passing

Even today there was a lot of elevation gain

Beautiful lake near mountains

A place called Oldrichov v Hajich. It was 42 km from here to Turnov and I had two hours for the train. I tried to make it, but I knew there would be a lot of climbing

This section went through a series of cycling paths

I made a video report and then I went further on my way. It would be tight if I wanted to catch that train

This is the same area as yesterday

As I closed in on the town Liberec, I could see Jested again.

In the summer I will come back for it

There was a lot of climbing in this area so I did not take many pictures, but one from Jested yes.

It was less than 20 km to Turnov and I was well on schedule to make the 15.27 train, but then this happened. A bike lane next to the freeway was covered in ice. It meant I could forget about that train. I lost 15 min walking here.

There were two positive things to it: I got to enjoy this area more, which I visited in December 2015 when I came for Jested. And the time was right to catch the train from Mlada Boleslav at 17.24. It meant I would end up cycling 30 km more.

And since I had all the time I needed, I took it easy and enjoyed the area

The afternoon part became very beautiful with the sun coming out. Quite the contrast

Fairy tale like

Cute little house and creek

This ride kept unfurling differently from how I planned it, but that was not a bad thing

Bunch of chickens

In the middle of nowhere I sat down on a bench to take a rest, eat a cookie etc. I could still see Jested from here. And it was only 32 km from Mlada Boleslav. Clear weather day