Adventure Day

Wed, Jul 31, 2024

Zegoty, Poland to Milomlyn Poland

miles today 53.2

miles so far 1,821.7

feet climbed today 2,234.0

feet climbed so far 52,491.0

Relive video  

Strava link

Maciej (sounds like Magic without the 'c' on the end) picked us up at 815am.  We had a nice breakfast and visit.

We finally left around 930am which is a little late for such a long day ahead.  Getting from the lodge to the main road was gravel and hilly, but not long. 

Once we got to the main, paved road, we could move faster.  Until this...

This road closed sign was only a few miles from Zakatek Sczczescia. I wonder why Maciej didn't tell us about it when we discussed and showed him our route for today. The sign says something like does not apply to construction vehicles and residents. We walked through. There was a lady in her front yard that was very friendly and tried to help.  I thought she said we could walk through but I was getting conflicting answers from her when I asked questions through Google Translater. Meanwhile, Lynn walked ahead and called me to say we could get to the road we wanted to turn onto. The bridge work over a river was just beyond our turn. The road was still gravel and narrow and slow going.

This is near the place where two semis and two cyclists met. One semi was able to pull into a side road which was fortunately there while we had stood in the grass to allow the other semi to pass! 

We had passed another gravel intersection which must have been where one was going and one was coming from. It was just crazy to meet them when we thought we were in the middle of nowhere! And finally, we made it back to a paved road. 

By 1230 (3 hours since we left), we'd only gone 16 miles but we saw a coffee shop in Dobre Miastro and decided we needed a treat (and some caffeine).

I saw this corn picking machine as I was going up a hill but stopped anyway to take a picture.  The guy saw me and gave me a big wave! One kid is sitting in front and someone else had just gotten off and was walking behind when I took the picture. 

Then, we found another construction zone.

Around 2pm, we pulled off the road at a scenic spot to have a lunch break with the food we had intended for last night: cheese, salami, cucumbers, red peppers and chips.

We stopped for dinner at a restaurant by a lake before getting to our lodge since there is no food near it.

Then we had only a few more miles to the lodge. The last 0.8 was gravel, sand and terrible. Of course the roads are not marked so we only trusted Google and booking.com and our navigation skills to assure us that we were going the right way. 

Who would think there would be a lodge 0.8 mile on this road?

We had to walk most of this road because the sand was too soft or the rocks were too rocky. I actually saw a couple walking with their dog coming towards me. And they spoke English! I asked if there was a lodge down the "road" and they said "yes, you are almost there". Whew! I guess we weren't lost in the wilderness in Poland after all.

The hosts were waiting for us! 

The bikes go in the garage.  And we go upstairs. 

The place, Dom Goscinny Sowia Stopka is $49.40 plus $6 for each breakfast. 

There are 4 rooms upstairs and each had their own bathroom.  Here is a shared kitchen and dining area.

This is where I met a new friend, Amelia (11). Her mom speaks English but she doesn't.  However, she knows what English looks like. She found several books and maps for me that contained English. I gave her a St. Christopher pocket token. 

Today was another tough day, and full of adventures. Pretty early on, we decided to add 6 miles to stay on a paved road instead of taking a shorter gravel road. It probably would have taken longer. 

I decided there are 4 kinds of roads in Poland.

1. Paved

2. Cobblestone 

3. Gravel that's just as bad as Cobblestone only let's add some soft sand in the mix

4. Broken paved that's just as bad as Cobblestone only let's keep it blended in to make it look like it's paved from a distance