Day 59 – 28. June 2013

At 9am I started the last 80 km to Warschau.

The weather was good and  I was fast getting closer to Warschau.

At about 3:30 pm I reached the city and had only 5 km to go to my host.

I meet with Marcin who hosted a lot of travelers form around the world through couchsurfing.org.

The first thing we did was to unload my bike and to go to a nearby bike-shop to store the bike there.

In his apartment he showed me around and we talked about the plans for today.

After I had taken a shower, Marcin had done some phone calls and reorganized the evening.

We had to hurry to get to the town-center.

But first we rented some bikes. There are many automated stations for bike-renting all around the town. You can rent it for only a few minutes, or for days. If  you don´t need it any more you just have to return it to one of the stations in town.

After we got the bikes we took the underground train to the center and after a few minutes of cycling we where at the King´s Castle (Zamek Królewski) in the heart of old-town.

Me meet with probably a few thousand other bikers for a monthly tour through the city.

Some main roads were closed and we went by some of the sights of Warschau.

After almost 2 hours we decided to get off and go get something to eat.

We ate some traditional Pierogi.  It is dough filled with cheese, potatoes, onions, cabbage, mushrooms, meat or other things. It lookes like a big tortelini.

After the dinner we meet with some friends of Marcin at the beach at the river close to the new Soccer stadium.

Day 59: 81,97 km  all: 1741 km

Day 58 – 27. June 2013

[gw] At 9am I was ready to go on.

It was about 40km to Ploch where I planned to meet an old friend.

The weather was nice, some clouds, about 20°C and the wind from the north.

After 3 hours I reached the town and met with my friend Jagger. (see Day 1)

He was on a Motorbike-tour from the north sea to the North Cape and to Helsinki, Tallin, Riga, Warsaw, Dresden and then back home.

We went to the city-center and ate something together. He had to get on, because he still had a long way to go on this day.

It was very nice to meet an old friend along the way in the middle of Poland.

I went on in direction of Warsaw. After 75km I found a small motel and decided to stay there for the night.

The room with shower was only 50 zl (12€) and I also had a Hamburger (probably one of the worst I ever ate).

Day 58: 74,29 km   all: 1659 km

Day 57 – 26. June 2013

[gw] After a good night and an excellent breakfast with scrambled eggs I had to start in the rain again.

It basically rained the whole day. Occasionally it stopped for a Brief moment. The only good thing about the weather was the strong wind directly from behind. So I was very fast.

At 5pm I reached a town called Wloclawek where I had something to eat.

After my trip through the town I went to look look for a place to sleep again. After about 10km I found a nice house.

In one of the many rooms I put up my tent and so luckily did not have to care about the rain.

Day 57: 86.47 km  all: 1585 km

Day 56 – 25. June 2013

[gw] In the morning it was still raining, so I turned over and slept another hour.

Finally, at about 10am the rain started to ease off and I packed my things together. When I got on my bike the rain was almost gone.

After days in the tent I decided to go to the next town and look for a hotel.

In the afternoon I reached the town of Strzelno where I searched for a hotel. I finally found probably the only hotel in town, but it was closed.

A few minutes later I saw two young men unloading a truck full of flowers. I asked them for a hotel. One of them told me to wait and 2 minutes later he was on his bike and to told me to follow him.

He took me to a house I passed on my way through town. He said the Hotel is almost finished and introduced me to the owner, his older brother.

The room was nice and clean, the price was good too, and they helped me with all my bags. The bike and trailer was securely locked in a room.

I was offered a beer and learnt that the hotel is just about to open officially. The restaurant it not finished yet but the rooms are done.

His english was very good and he told me he is in the Netherlands every week once ore twice to buy flowers on the biggest flower market in the world.

After a nice shower I went to eat something and have a look around town.

Day 56: 51,85 km   all: 1499 km

Day 55 – 24. June 2013

[gw] Today I set up a new record: “greatest distance in a single day”:

The conditions were almost perfect. The weather was nice, between 20-25°C, the wind was coming from the west, the terrain was flat and the roads mostly very good.

Packing is getting faster and so I was on my bike at 8:30am.

At noon I had already covered 50km.

In the evening, after about 120km, I reached the town of Gniezno, decided to eat something, and afterwards find a place for some ‘wild’ camping.

After I wandered around for some time I could not find a good place. Then I passed a house under construction.

The garage was good for my needs and my tent fitted perfectly.

Just after I pitched up my tent it started raining. It rained the whole night and I was glad to have found this place.

Day 55: 133,91 km   all: 1447 km

Day 53-54 – 22-23. June 2013

[gw] It was a perfect day for cycling.

But somehow I did not feel like it was going to be fun doing so.

After only 20km I noticed a lake with a camping place and decided to do some swimming and relaxing.

The camping place was located in a nice wooded area and after I had set up my camp I did my laundry.

At the lake was a big event. Some kind of Firefighter competition.

It was interesting to watch the event and I also did some swimming and sunbathing.

It was a nice relaxing day and so I also stayed there the next day.

Day 53: 22.32 km   all: 1312 km

Day 52 – 21. June 2013

[gw] In the morning the storm was gone and the weather was getting better.

I left the petrol-station and proceeded to the east.

After some time an older gentleman with a historical car from 1969 passed me and started talking to me. At the next bus-station we stoped and made some pictures. His german was very good because he had organized many veteran meetings.

He wished me luck and one hour later we passed each other again.

I took some lonely roads through the woods but sometimes they were so bad that I had a max speed of 10-12 km/h.

Besides that it was a nice day riding the bike.

After 80km I noticed a camping place on my GPS. Located close to a lake, I hoped for a refreshing bath.

When I reached the place it had a nice beach too. It was just past 5pm and the beach was packed with people.

I decided to wait for them to go home and then pitch up my tent.

I got my refreshing bath and also some rays of sun.

At the beach-restaurant I got a Cheeseburger, some fries and a beer for only 13 PLN (3€). So far Poland is very affordable.

After the sun went down there were still many people at the beach and the Beach-Bar had some kind of event with loud music. So I decided to move my stuff a few meters into the woods. It was warm and no sign of rain for the night, so I did not pitch up my tent.

For the first time I slept in my hammock.

I hung it between two trees, put my matress in the hammock and used my synthetic sleeping bag as a blanked.

I slept wonderfull this night.

Day 52: 81,62 km   all: 1290 km

Day 51 – 20. June 2013

[gw] A few minutes past 9am I was on the road again.

After some nice roads and two castles I reached the border to Poland just past 2pm.

Goodbye Germany!!

As I was standing there I was thinking when I will be back?

After about 70 km I decided to go to a camping ground near the town of Witnica. The Hotel and the camping-ground were located at a lake 3km north of the town. The camping ground was closed and I did not want to pay 28€ for a room.

So I went back and just east of the town was a petrol-station with a restaurant. I was hungry and so I decided to eat a Pizza and look for a place for some ‘wild’ camping.

The petrol-station had a little rest area and while eating I thought why not stay here for the night.

I asked the waitress and after a confirmation of her boss I was allowed to pitch up my tent.

I was also able to take a shower. The shower-head was missing, but the water was warm and everything was for free.

In the evening a thunderstorm came up. Lightning came closer, and at about 11pm the guy from the petrol-station came to my tent. He showed me a room, gave me the key and told me if the thunderstorm is getting dangerous I should go to the room.

I watched the storm coming closer and closer and decided to take shelter. A few minutes later it started raining with heavy winds and some hail and lightning. But the center of the storm passed in the south. After about 2 hours the worst was over and I was able to go back to my tent.

Day 51: 75,15 km   all: 1209 km 

Day 50 – 19. June 2013

[gw] After 14 days in Berlin it was time to move on.

After I packed my stuff I left Ronny´s apartment at 11am.

After one hour I passed a cycling-shop and I decided to buy a tube for the trailer as a reserve.

Just 5 minutes after the purchase I had a flat tire. Yes, it was the trailer. What a coincidence!

After only 15 minutes the tube was replaced and everything was fine.

After a few hours of flat terrain I met a guy from Lithuania.

He showed me his collection of stamps and autographs from famous people and politicians. He is now on the way to Berlin and wants to ask for an autograph from Angela Merkel.

After a nice warm day I decided to look for a camping place. Almost 65 km was enough and I even had time to go swimming in the nearby lake.

In the evening I cooked something. For the first time I used my new “table”. It works very good.

Day 50: 64,74 km   all: 1134 km

Day 37-49 : 06 – 18.06.2013

[gw] The last two weeks I spent in Berlin.

I did some sightseeing, met with friends and repaired my bike and trailer.

I had the chance to see the training of a special Federal Police unit. I was chosen to be the VIP who had to be protected.

 

On sunday morning we met at 8am at the world clock on ‘Alexanderplatz’ to make an early bike tour through Berlin.

At this time Berlin is very empty.

Berlin, Germany

Berlin, Germany