An ironic punishment for complaining about the heat

August 12, 2019

Kębłów - Bolkow

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Needless to say I slept incredibly deeply, no distant sounds of music this time, though woke up slightly dehydrated. To my almost delight the day was bright but much cooler and somewhat overcast - I was keen not to have my head boiled for a second day, but frankly just the variety would be welcome.

Over a rather meager breakfast I plotted my route. The rough, over-optimistic plan had been to reach the Czech border in three days. I had another day to play with, but was still far further north than I expected to be - I was at least 30km short of Legnica, which was easily a day's progressively hilly riding away from the border. I would need to cover as much of the flat land today - if I could make it to Jawor, where there was a little camping symbol, then crossing the border on the fourth day (and being somewhat back on schedule) would probably be doable.

As I breakfasted I could hear the sound of chainsaws (and impressive crashes of falling tress - sadly no "Timber!" or the Polish equivalent) apparently quite near. I thought it best to gird up quickly, and had everything stored and ready to go at 8am.

The gravel roads through the woods between Keblow and Milogoszcz

The tracks through the woods were gravelled and much easier going - I had a surprisingly nippy descent on some single-track, and then popped out into the village of Milogoszcz. At this early hour nobody was about, and I woke up the dogs as I spun through the village.

I was short on water and provisions, so my first target of the day was the small town of Scinawa, about 18km away. The conditions were good and I found myself spinning through small villages, with virtually no traffic. Passing through Olszany I spotted a large brick compound - sweet, a graveyard! I drank my fill, dispelling a slight dehydration headache that I'd had since yesterday, and filled up bottles and bladder.

Quiet villages in the Silesian countryside: model farm with geese and cat

I covered the 20km or so into Scinawa in an hour and a half - it took me the whole morning to cover the same distance the previous day. I entered on the main road 111 from the north - to my amazement, a cycle lane ran the whole way from the suburb of Moczary. I repeatedly overtook (and then was overtaken by) a couple on bikes, going shopping in town.

A dedicated bikelane! Also, the town crest seems to be a sort of rabbit-fish chimera. A mer-rabbit?

The town is quite industrial and run-down in places

I spotted a Dino supermarket (a recurring theme will be amusing local supermarket names) and secured the Shift outside. I was slightly disconcerted that the first customer to come out was sipping a can of one of the stronger Polish beers, and settled down next to my bike. I dithered around with the derailer to see if he would move on - I felt a little uncharitable, but on the other hand didn't really want to get anything nicked at this stage. He didn't, but my quandary was resolved when a police car pulled up right in front. I nipped into the Dino, bought an armful of food, and of course nothing had been touched - my slightly wobbly friend even greeted me as I returned.

Needless to say, the security paranoia over the bike wore off pretty quick. A loaded touring bike just doesn't look that desirable to those not in the know, and is so bloody heavy they'd be hard pushed to move it anyway. And if you aren't familiar with pannier bags, it's a mystery how they come off (or even how they open). By the end of the tour I wasn't locking the bike, and even started leaving my valuables in the bar bag (minus the wallet - which I needed to buy stuff!).

Scinawa did look a little run-down. There were some nicer areas off the to south, but generally I was happy to move on towards Legnica.

Shopping for gravestones! This place was really busy...

I had some dotted roads to get me to the next village of Parzowice, but fortunately they were of the packed dirt/cobblestone variety, so there were no more sand-based shenanigans. The cloud cover was pretty absolute now, but it was still and cool and I made good progress. As I passed through the village, a lady weeding the side of her property beamed and waved enthusiastically as I went past.

The land started to roll, at first very gently. I was glad for a little topology.

Often the roads were cobbled, but anything was better than deep sand

Where did he get all the American plates from?

I made flying progress, eating up the kilometers and had no real desire to stop. Learning my lesson from the previous day, I headed directly to the next town Prochowice, even including a stretch on a red highway. It was absolutely fine, and I was somewhat astonished to pass the 50km mark before 1pm.

South of Prochowice I stuck to a major unclassified road, and it didn't take long to reach the A4 motorway linking Wroclaw with Legnica and ultimately Dresden. I was not far from Jawor now, and powered on, really thinking I could make up some time. I really was quite overcast now, and there was a bit of a breeze, but I could see the land undulating in the south and the suggestion of distant mountains of the Czech border. The fact that it appeared on the same page of the map was also a good psychological boost.

I kept on trucking down good road around Jawor - it was clear I could set my sites further, though I wasn't really sure where (I certainly could use a shower after two nights in the wild). As I approached the village of Snowidza I realised I was pushing 70km and starting to get pretty hungry, and there was light spitting of rain. I spun down a rather steep little hill, and found a rather pretty square and church. I didn't really have any shelter from the drizzle, but didn't mind too much.

Crossing the first major highway - one way Wroclaw, the other back to Germany

The land starts to roll, and in the distance the proper mountains of the Krknose loom

Church in Snowidza, with one of the many representation of pope John Paul outside. Perhaps not the greatest likeness here, though they avoid the classic error of making look exactly like John Peel.

A nice place to have lunch (but there was no tap!)

The weather is starting to turn. Often the shops can be hard to spot in small villages, so they put up big "Sklep" signs.

The drizzle became a bit more persistent, so I set back off. Somewhere near Msciwojow I passed a huge ruined abbey - the gates were open and the grounds made a nice park (and would have been a good place for lunch - ah well).

The grounds inside the ruined abbey had a small lake. Silent and atmospheric on a rainy Monday like this

I hunted around the walls, and eventually found a tap

From here I crossed south of Jawor, and the land started to become noticeably hilly. Flushed with confidence, I selected an off-road track to cut a corner off the way to Wiadrow. My gamble payed off: the surface was fine, and the route took me past a working coal mine in one of the little road hills that sprung up. Silesia has been a coal-mining region since the Victorian era - the area was heavily industrialised during the cold war. The rain started to come down more persistently now, and I put the waterproof jacket on.

The cobbled route through mining country

Water started to build up between the cobbles

As I continued on I started to get a real hosing down. My simple waterproof did a good job, but my legs were soaking and the map was getting a bit soggy. Near Sniewkow it really started to hammer down, and I almost simultaneously passed a covered picnic table. Not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth I dived under it and resolved to stay there until it had dried out a bit. The rain really was quite amazingly persistent: not storm heavy, but continuous and soaking.

Still, I'd already covered more than I had on the previous two days, it was remarkably snug under the shelter so I made myself some coffee - being able to make a hot drink in these situations makes it so much more civilized - and consulted the map and GPS.

Taking a break while the rain lashed down. Cosy, but you know you have to leave sometime

My second target for the day had been Strzegom, where there was another little blue camping sign. But my GPS map insisted there was a campsite in Bolkow, which was more on my way towards the west and would put me in good striking distance of the border the next day. It seemed like a good option, so I sat and waited for the rain to stop. And waited. After nearly an hour, I had dried out, but it just showed no sign of abating. There was nothing else for it: I had to go and get soaked again.

Something else interesting the GPS had showed me, that was completely absent from my map, was a brand new highway running from Jawor to Bolow and ultimately Czechia. Of course, this avoided the villages, so I could still ply my route between them, but this next stage involved crossing and re-crossing the Droga expresseway repeatedly. There was hardly any traffic on it, but I didn't really appreciate these soaked climbs.

In Klaczyna I got a little lost, with my compass putting me straight, and turned west for the last push to Bolkov. There was a little traffic now and I put my lights on, as it was really dim and the rain was still beating down.

I don't think these wood piles are very dry

Crossing the new expressway for the umpteenth time. It really was empty. You can see how hilly the surrounding country is becoming, now.

I did manage to get this nicer picture when the rain slackened. Far to the south the Czech mountains loom.

Rolling into Swiny on the outskirts of Bolow, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw a prominent camping sign (featuring a tent!) on the road. A short and steep hill later, and there was indeed a well-established campsite. I lurched under the awning outside reception, literally shaking water off my gloves and sleeves. The reception was shut, and a Dutch family were there puzzling over it and (to my disappointment) obviously having to phone up.

This is always a massive pain and leads to comical miscommunications, and particularly when you're soaking wet and want to figure out if this is the place to stop it isn't the best. Anyway, the Dutch guy gave me the phone number, and I had a slightly stilted conversation, mostly surrounding the code I needed for the barrier. Getting off the phone, I realised I had no need of this whatsoever (no having a car) and sogged up to the really well terraced ground to set up my tent.

The rain had stopped, so I got the tent up as fast as possible and bundled my panniers inside. As always, the Ortleibs had kept absolutely dry inside, but I wasn't taking any chances. As I squelched down to the showers it started to rain (heavily) again - I'd forgotten my washbag, and had to make a run for it, not that I could get any wetter.

A warm shower, dry clothes and waterproof socks - the first time I have effectively used them! - later, I felt much better. Next, I really wanted to head into town to get some food - but it was a good couple of kilometers away and it was still raining hard. I perched in my tent, thinking that if it didn't stop by 8pm I'd just make a run for it. Around 7.30 it slacked off, and I hurried into town.

Soggy (but excellently flat) camping site in Bolkov

You know what? Bolkow is a really attractive place, even in the rain. It's all built up a steep hillside, with a rather grand colonnaded main square - the whole of which was being dug up when I was there, but it will look really good once it's finished. There were several restaurants in town - the Arkady looked inviting and indeed it was. I sat in a cosy table and ate an enormous meal of fried cheese and drank local beer. It was my last night in Poland, living in the woods for two days, I had Zloty to burn. I got through as many as I could, and left the rest as tip to the waiting staff (who were very friendly, especially considering my bedraggled state). There was a good mix of customers and I waved hello to the Dutch family.

There had been a bit of a smash here, and people were walking all along the roads looking for bits of their cars. Also notable for the first signpost for the Czech republic!

The entire main square was being dug up - it seemed permissible to just walk through the building works, but obviously no traffic or bikes could get through. On the right hand side was a colonnade with shops and restaurants under the arches. I was glad of this as it was still spitting rain.

I like these windows, peeping underneath the tiles

Today's ride: 95 km (59 miles)
Total: 301 km (187 miles)

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