day 39 - Bialystok

Day 39
August 10th

Sasha won the Early Bird award today, for starting his self-imposed common laundry duty before sunrise. Anet, our new babysitter, prepared breakfast for us, and then the whole group got a treat: the riders earned a nice massage at Rio Fitness, Boris earned a much needed trip to the mechanic and Tiago earned Boris's much needed trip to the mechanic.

The day continued with a visit to the Military Museum, afterwards it was time for lunch at the local Bar Mleczny (look it up) and for interviews with the local media. We topped it with a short visit to Branicki Palace before we gathered in a café for a discussion meeting with local students.

Our busy day was far from over. The local team had scheduled a Critical Mass ride across Bialystok. Many people joined, and of course, we had another police escort :)

In the evening we were joined by two new riders: Ola and Cezary, from Lodz. Anet, our guardian angel, prepared dinner for us, we went through the media coverage from our noisy arrival the day before and chilled out with our precious local crew.

That's when Anet, our adoptive mother, gave much needed haircuts to Tiago, Sasha, Julian, Tricky and Nina. Five star treatment today!

day 38 - Wysokie Mazowieckie to Bialystok

Day 38
August 9th

Today we postponed our departure for a few hours. This last stretch was shorter than usual, to we tried to work a bit before we'd be tired from cycling. We also had to clean our bikes, as we've trailed some rough terrain lately.

We rolled until half of the way and had our lunch break in a small town called Lapy. There, Julian decided to shock the locals by riding the unicycle and Andi began wondering why we carry a bottle of mustard since Hungary. We contacted our local team in Bialystok and were told to wait for police escort.

When the escort arrived, we were dazzled. Two police cars flew into the town, blue lights and sirens disturbing the peaceful square, and the caravan formed. "We don't stop at the traffic lights", the officers told us. This was about to become funny.

We set off with one man down, first car in front, then the cyclists, then Boris, then the second car, then a line of traffic a few kilometers long. We had to stop twice on the way for the officers to let some cars pass, and as we reached the rendez-vous point, our local team and a few more cyclists joined the caravan as well.

As we moved into the center, two more police cars joined, and then proceeded to block all the traffic, with four sirens on and the crowds staring at this unusual show. When we reached the main square, we were surprised by another large group of people expecting us, including many reporters. Tricky was the media darling, the city authorities officially welcomed us and we got to know our local team.

We went to the dormitories, settled in and had a great dinner with the crew. Another amazing Polish welcome.

Stage I completed, six more to go.

day 37 - Lochow to Wysokie Mazowieckie

Day 37
August 8th

This morning we thanked our kind hosts by making good use of the gifts we've been handed throughout the trip. Let's face, children have more fun with stuffed animals than we do. We took the opportunity to survey the depths of Boris, whose hidden content never ceases to amaze us.

After saying goodbye, we returned to the small roads in the region. We had an immediate encounter with an old man with a horse carriage, who shared with us stories about his past. Between some thoughts on the political situation in Poland covering several decades, we might have retrieved some knowledge out of the whole conversation.

As the day progressed, the surroundings became less appealing to the eye. There isn't much glamour anymore. We simply have our picnics behind the supermarket and keep going.

Once we came to our destination, we managed to find a cheap hotel, where we managed to stay together in one apartment. With our stomachs filled with pierogi (we're all addicted) we had a relaxed evening, getting to know each other a bit better.

day 36 - Warszawa to Lochow

Day 36
August 7th

This morning we said goodbye to our riders Natalia, Rosi, Ania and Sara, and also to our great team that took such good care of us. We had a local guide to get out of the city, and we kept heading East.

After the tough busy roads, we moved on to nicer forest roads. Riding is nicer without the trucks passing by. All of this crowned by a relaxing lunch in a small village, although the villagers were confused about our after-lunch routines. The day went calmly until we reached Lochow, our destination for the day. That's when the fun began.

We asked help from a local to find our accommodation. After realizing there was some mix-up, we asked Arthur (the local) about alternatives. He did some research and came up with the most pleasant solution, inviting us to camp in his yard! With this nice show of Polish hospitality, we set up our tents, his wife prepared our meal and we also got to meet the rest of the family. His two kids were especially fond of playing frisbee with the bike folk.

Unfortunately our hosts didn't have any control over the environmental conditions, so between the huge rain storm and the cloud of mosquitoes, we had a hard night. But getting to know these good people was one of the best experiences on this trip.