I’ve been to Kraków several times, so didn’t feel the need to sightsee: I was keen to get on the bike, especially as heavy storms were forecast for late afternoon. I even got a rather dramatic text message warning me of power outages, floods, and the inadvisability of sheltering under trees: it didn’t state the…
Category: End to Ends
Poland 3: Kasina Wielka to Kraków
The promised day of sun and downhill proved one of drizzle and tedious climbs. Neither accuweather, nor the BBC website nor yr.no got the weather right. However, Polish TV seemed on the money (and I was pleased to see my rule of thumb vindicated: the worse the weather forecast, the more the presenter smiles, as…
Poland 2: Zakopane to Kasina Wielka
A delightful day of local wildlife such as frogs (ish), storks (ish), dinosaurs (ish) and elephants (ish), fine scenery that could have come out of Scotland, and plenty of pleasant downhill riverside cycling. This was where I stayed last night (pic): a lovely, cosy little wooden chalet hostel in the woods on the edge of…
Poland 1: (Poprad to) Łysa Polana to Zakopane
I found out last night that there’s a local bus for €3 from Poprad up to the Polish border (48km, 950m of climb) that takes bikes free, so a decision made itself. Eastern Europe seems pretty casual about bikes on things: there was no special area but nobody seemed concerned that a large amount of…
Poland 0: Poprad (Slovakia)
A day off in pleasant Poprad today, before the bike ride starts tomorrow. I spent it doing an easy but very scenic hike in the Tatras in the fine company of Dewi, my hostel inmate. These are the High Tatras (pic): 2650m peaks in a compact range just a few miles across, and conveniently accessed…
Poland ≤-1: Tirana (Albania) to Poprad (Slovakia)
This post summarises the three weeks before starting the Polish End to End, making my way up from Albania by train and bike. I’d been planning the Polish E2E schedule when my friend Tim (who I cycled Taiwan with in 2017) proposed a get-together of friends in a villa in Montenegro to celebrate a special…
Spain 14: Bilbao
Yesterday we were on a coach from Gijón to Bilbao, from where Nigel flew home this morning, and I’ll fly home on Wednesday. The look and feel of the Basque Country capital is rather different to that of a Spanish town, and it’s exciting to see all the signs (such as this cycle counter) in…
Spain 12: Oviedo to Gijón
The final day of the trip was a short, sunny, easy hop up to Gijón. Just as well we had all day to do it: just north of Oviedo our intended back-roads route was closed (pic). It was a rally – not one by Extinction Rebellion, but a car and motorcycle one. Somehow the spectators…
Spain 11: León to Oviedo
A tough day in prospect today, with plenty of climbing, and rain forecast. But, to compensate, we had the most spectacular scenery of the trip, and a unique Asturian experience at the end. And perhaps most importantly, a fine breakfast where we discovered yet again the delights of León’s custom of free tapas – in…
Spain 10: Benavente to León
A fairly low-key day today, all on minor roads, almost all flat, through quiet villages. A notable feature of many of them was these hillside entrances that suggested a house in the cliffs, complete with chimneys on the bank top (pic). They’re bodegas: cavelike chambers used for smoking meat and making wine and, increasingly nowadays,…