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Summer 2003 cycling
Poland
Agelasto2004-05-18 20:19:39
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About one-third of this cycling trip -- some 1,300 kms -- has been in Poland (Polska) through the regions of Mazury, Podlaisie and Malopolska. On one particular day I shattered my previous personal best for distance set on my across the USA trip over 20 years ago. In Oregon, then, I had cycled 96 miles (or about 155 kms). On this trip, on 10 August, I achieved 184.5 kms, or 114 miles, aided by tailwind into Lublin. And I wasn't particularly any more tired than usual. My head cold, accompanied initially by a slight fever, which I had through most of Poland, did not seem to affect my riding.
In cycling matters Poland compares well with France, which for me provides the world's best touring. Roughly the same size, both countries have extraordinarily well developed road systems. I've heard it said that Poland has more paved roads than the entire continent of Africa! Unfortunately, I didn't have Michelin-equivalent small scale maps (mine was 1:715,000 - one meter wide), so I only managed a few times to stumble onto Poland's smaller roads; I seemed to get lost on them quite easily. Whereas France has a super-highway system that pulls trucks and impatient vehicles off the N (nationale) and D (departmental) roads, Poland lacks this infrastructure. The Polish 'red' roads - the top of the food chain -- are hectic affairs; they often have cyclable shoulders, but not always. The 'yellow' roads (the color of the highway markers for this type of road and the color of the roads as represented on maps) are much more pleasant, but they usually don't have shoulders, but often don't have much traffic either. The rest of the country('s) roads are not numbered, or color-coded or well-signed and carry mostly locals and farm vehicles. Yet they prove hard to follow without the sufficient detailed map. I found all of Poland's roads to be fast roads -- at least for cycling -- because they are slick asphalt rather than
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See photographs from:
Poland Gallery
