“WET & DIRTY“
Already at the end of first day of this ride to Eastern Poland, I had an apprehensive look at the weather forecast. It announced for the third day of my ride incoming heavy showers in the area, which I was going to ride through. Often these forecasts are not reliable, but I knew from the Late Spring Ride 2018 and the Iron Curtain Ride 2018, that I’m not the luckiest guy, when it comes to the factor weather.
Also, on this riding day number three along Polands-Trans-Euro-Trail, the weather was a real pain in the ass …
The ride on day number three followed the track of Polands Eastern TET-Section. It started in the east of Warsaw and went southwards, first close to the border with Belarus, later further inwards the country. As you can see on the chart above, the slope in this part of the world is quite “manageable”. As a consequence also my daily progress along the planned stretch was higher than estimated. The day began …
like day number two ended: With a great view out of the tent and the proper handling of stinky riding boots. ^_^
The camping gear was quickly stowed on Чернотas back, and we continued our ride on along the TET. Short in the morning we …
passed this old railway station, located near the village Chominszczyzna. That remnants of an old railway platform are located near the TET. After a little braap on the platform itself …
we went on …
along some villages and later, …
Чернотa and I found ourselves next to the border with Belarus.
On the left side, …
the stylish pole from the country Belarus. A small copper plate is mounted on it. On the right-hand side, the classy designed border pole of Poland. The borderline itself is marked with the little white granite cube in the middle between both poles. A …
information sign with a small sketch explained that. It also said that it is forbidden by law to enter Polands part of the border strip next to the cube (15 meters or 50 feet on the Polish side). It also made sense to me that there is video surveillance mounted. I doubt that the strip itself is monitored, but surely there are surveillance cameras along the trails, close to this EU-External-borderline. Also the tracks along the border have been heavily used/good maintained, probably by/for border control vehicles. Along …
huge, fresh plowed agrarian fields and big tractors, we rode southwards until we reached …
this men operated cable ferry near the small town Mielnik. I had to wait about 15 minutes for getting onto it. That was my plan, but then I was told from the ferry staff, that I had to pay with Polish money. I had none with me. No Euros in a European country. :-/
I was forced to ride back into the village Mielnik. Luckily the one and only ATM there was working and I got a few Zloties.
With fresh cash in my pockets …
I was able to buy a ticket for Чернотa and me. Slowly …
we crossed the river called “Bug” with that simple ferry.
Along old datchas, …
and gigantic …
trees we followed …
the soft tracks of this huge sandpit. When it was midday, …
it was time for a small snack and short nap next to Чернотa. Like always the thumper was doing a great job. Thirty minutes later I went up and the ride continued. It offered nice views …
over with high grass overgrown meadows, …
plenty of vivid cherry trees and …
the flat landscape itself. In the early afternoon …
dark clouds show up in the distance. I stopped for having a look to the weather forecast. It showed me that heavy showers are incoming within the next few kilometers. It …
started with some single wet places along the incoming track and …
and quickly got worse. Just when the track got really muddy I was a little too harsh with the throttle! We’ve been riding along a soft right-hand bend in the track, when the back wheel suddenly washed out and decided to take …
another way than the front wheel was doing. As a consequence Чернотa and I took a muddy bath. Because I’m a lucky guy I didn’t harm myself during this slide out. So I took Чернотa back on her wheels and made a short check of the bike.
The right mirror …
was ripped of because I’d forgotten to fold it inwards. Doh! -_-
Also the right …
soft luggage bag was damaged. The lower strap of it was ripped apart. Ordinary this strap is sewed somewhere inside the bag to another rubber strap. This combination allows to keep the bag mounted tight and flexible down at the foot peg. On this picture I had already made little makeshift out of the ripped strap.
After getting the worst dirt off of my clothes, the ride …
went on. Out of nowhere this nice old village/marketplace showed up. Just as fast we’ve been…
back in the woods. The bad weather accompanied us …
along these wet and slippy forest trails and …
plains of middle-east Poland.
In late …
afternoon it began again …
to pour down heavily. I made a stop for getting some fuel and food. The employee at the gas station was obviously wondering from where the hell I was coming and why for god’s sake I was looking like a soil born Uruk Hai. Totally understandably. ^^
At the gas station I recognized that the back-right indicator has also got a hit. The rain was coming now from all sides and …
the Trans-Euro-Trail turned into a flowing creek. The sand along the soft …
and hilly southern part of Polands-TET changed in deep and nearly impassable mud. My beloved Mitas E07 on the back …
wasn’t the right choice for such conditions. But riding in heavy mud has also its upsides: Whilst riding through it …
there’s surely no need for oiling the chain. It was already late afternoon. Because of the heavy clay I decided to leave the TET, right into a …
forest nearby. Besides some high speed gravel I found also an adequate …
spot for this day’s shelter. It was still bucketing down, whilst I was setting up the tent. Getting all the gear reasonably dry into the tent was quite a challenge. Also getting out of the soaked protective gear wasn’t that easy. But finally I made it.
Luckily I had bought some snacks at the fuel stop before and had them for the early dinner. There was also some weak cell signal for doing some surfing on the internet. The weather forecast said, that the bad weather will continue the next days … . I’ll see. *Yawn*
Total covered distance on this day of riding: 510 km or 315 mi.