I woke up with the plan to get to a village near Warka to meet friends who had also been on a biking trip in the east of Poland and were nearing the end of their adventure. I will keep the anonymous here for legal reasons. The intial aim had been to get there on day four
but I had been over optimistic and unrealistic about this as it is about 85km from
Kazimierz Dolny to Warka.
In my charming wooden room I felt better but still tired but resisted the temptation to have a lazy morning and leave later in the day. Knowing that my bike was back to good working order also gave me the encouragement needed to force myself to pack up and leave. Since being a
child I have always hated riding my bike when something is wrong with it. I
used to spend so much time trying to fix things and often made them worse by
not having either the tools or the skills with which to do it. Nowadays I am
willing to humbly pay someone to do it especially if they are genuine and trustworthy which I don't always find bike mechanics to be.
Once packed, I bid the owner of the house a fond
farewell as she had been very helpful by not only getting my bike fixed but
also by making me feel very much at home. If I come back to Kazimierz, I will definitely stay there again. From Kazimierz to Puławy I cycled at a good pace, not
too fast but steady, and got there pretty quickly. Once again I crossed the
Wisła, this time by bridge and stuck to the main road, the 738 and later the
48 all the way to Kozienice. I really felt pleased to be making a lot of ground
with my knee behaving itself better than before and my bike reveling in the speed I was pushing it to do. Taking the main roads also made the journey easier despite things
getting a bit hairy at times. Keeping concentration was the most challenging
part as lapses caused me to veer off the road on more than one occasion
into the gravel or stones that lined the road. I didn't injure myself or fall but it meant breaking the rhythm I had built up.
A phone call from my friend gave me
the energy to really push myself to get there before they left. Her mother was willing to feed me and put me
up for the night in her place in a small village called Czerwonka, not far from Warka. There
was still the slight chance I could make it to this village before my friends
had to leave. It was unrealistic but I made myself believe it was possible in order to maintain the pace I was keeping. Knowing there was a place for me to stay was another motivating factor.
I pushed hard and got to Głowaczów and
then took the 730 which was a pretty good road. The cars on both
sides which raced past made me pedal faster. I found myself in a good rhythm
with my legs feeling stronger than before.
When I arrived at the village my friends had just left but I was
warmly greeted by my friend's mother and aunt. I had a wonderful shower and was fed with a delicious meal. It was a chance to enjoy the comforts of a nice
home – the luxuries of civilisation which I must confess I really missed. It
sounds great taking a tent and going into the wild, and I love this idea, but
when it actually happens I find myself craving a good bathroom, a proper
bed and all the modern comforts that I have at home.
After eating, I slept, woke up, ate again and chatted with my friend's mother and aunt for a while. Having a long conversation was an activity which had not happened since leaving Krakow. It was nice to share my thoughts out loud with someone else. I had started talking to myself a little while cycling, a sure sign of the need for a conversation and perhaps the beginning of a mental breakdown. After drinking some wonderful homemade cherry vodka (wiśniowka) it was easy to fall asleep early satisfied with the position I was in.
Time was starting to run out so I knew I would have to do more of the same over the next few days if I was to make it toToruń
Time was starting to run out so I knew I would have to do more of the same over the next few days if I was to make it to
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