Yep, getting hold of good maps on the road is a bit of a challenge now. Even if you can get a road atlas in a petrol station, it's unlikely to be particularly good for cycling (not to mention being rather unwieldy to carry about and use!).

So I've tended to have to specially order in decent maps before I go. Obviously this detracts something from the spontaneity of it all (you need to know fairly closely where you're going if you're going to get a detailed map), and it can be hard to see what features a map has before you order it - my Czech map *kind of* shows tracks and off-road routes, but they're so tiny and faint you have to strain your eyes a bit. I order quite a lot from https://www.themapshop.co.uk/ - even if they don't have what you want, they've got a really extensive catalogue which shows pretty much everything published by region.

I like paper maps better for planning also, but they’re getting harder and harder to come by. I miss our earliest days cycling in Europe, when you could count on every town having a tobacconist that stocked a good inventory of detailed regional Michelin maps.

Interesting Jon.

I also believe in paper maps for planning
I wonder how much longer we will have these.

Cousin Mike

There is that of course!

it might also have to do with being on the losing side . It is a lot harder to put up statues and plaques about how great the struggle was when your lot didn't win.

Aha, yes that would make sense!

Thanks guys for the entomological sleuthing - yep, I think they're firebugs. I've never seen them in the UK, so my only guess was "cochineal beatle" purely on the red colour. But then they're apparently "very rare and historically known only from a single Devon population, with sporadic reports from the mainland". They do look remarkably like the Box elder bug too - which is strange, because they don't seem to be taxonomically related. Convergence!

I think they might be firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus), you can see their characteristic coloration with the black triangle and two dots on a red background. They don't occur on the American continent, but they are fairly common in temperate and mediterranean zones of Eurasia. Fun fact: Their wings are tiny which is why they can't fly.

Looks like a notice of route change sign, more than a warning of upcoming danger one.

Looks just like box elder bugs here in N. America, but they do not occur in Europe, that I can find.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxelder_bug

Hi Scott- Glad it's of interest! Yep, I'd been to Poland a couple of times before when travelling through to the Baltic or Eastern Europe but never outside the cities, and the extensive woods and open country looked good for biking (and great for wild camping, as you say - more animals than people around!). You read a fair bit about people riding along the coast, but there seems to be less about the south (perhaps because it's a bit harder to get to).

Indeed! That must be about the equivalent of hiking the full Appalachian Trail from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. This must be the Lower Silesian Way, but there’s a complex network throughout Poland: https://polska.pl/tourism/traditions-and-holidays/way-st-james-poland/

Glad to finally getting around to your journal, Jon. I’ve wondered what it might be like to bike through Poland, and this is giving me some idea. I love the boar tale too - it reminds me of a few wild camps of my own with deer or elk crashing around my tent in the dark.