Day 30 - Trzianka to Miedzyrzecz

Cycling with a partner brings a different philosophy to the process. Alone I just cruise along at my own rate, doing different things. Sometimes I am looking around, checking out the scenery or thinking about random things. Other times I like to cycle hard and get to the next place to have a break.

Pat, meanwhile, does most of his cycling as training on a road bike. This means it is head down trying to set consistent or improving times.

I, like most tour cyclists, want to be part of the picture and see every pedal of the way. For Pat, and most people who cycle in one place such as London, that picture is the bike and the clock. He is seeing things inside himself by pushing his limits.

The desire to push himself resulted in faster times and longer distances for us as we naturally achieved a default compromise position. That was fine with me as it was good to have a change of motivation, and I wanted to get to Berlin for the weekend.

One section we blasted down towards Miedzychod was a beautiful forested area of about 28km until the town. Miedzychod could have been a good place to stay down by a lake. We, however, didn't have time to check it out and were fairly tired by this point, 94km in.

There were a couple of fairly poor sandy sections, which were frustrating as the R1 is mostly brilliant in Poland. The one just west of Miedzychod is almost impossible to ride on, though it is just part of the challenge and experience. I guess I found it is easier for this reason than pat, who struggled on a city bike, but also with the lost pace.

Then again, I could be completely wrong about the philosophy of it all and just struggling as Pat is fitter. Either way, it is what I was thinking as we flew down that lovely wooded section.

Day 29 - Naklo nad Notecia to Trzianka

The weather forecast is predicting rain all week, and the storms were brewing on the train yesterday with lightning in the distance.

With worries about the weather hanging about we decided to get on with it. The large town of Pila was about 90km away so we could always stop there.

The route definitely becomes less interesting at this point in terms of the towns. Most of them are tiny blocks with very little going on and no history.

The landscape is still decent, entering popular hiking territory in the west of Poland.

Pila is big, hut grey and soviet. After a rest we though about going to look round following a detour off the R1 along the river to get into the city. The clouds, however, had other ideas and we decided to get to Trzianka before the storm began.

Luckily it came in behind us, and we made it to the town unscathed. There is not too much to see here. No old town, just a fountain in a tiny strip of park.

Day 28 - Bydgoszcz to Naklo nad Notecia

After a day of renting a bike and catching trains to get back to where I left the route it away 6.30 by the time we started.
A rapid 30km ride into Naklo got us on track. Industry is booming in the town, but tourism is definitely not.

Tomorrow we are going to look to make up for lost time to get to Berlin for Saturday.

Day 26-27 - rest day in Gdansk

Day 25 - Grudziadz to Bydgoszcz

A tale of two cities with names that are impossible to pronounce, but Bydgoszcz was the only place I could get the train to Gdansk from.

Yes, I know it is all meant to be pedal power, but my friend pat is joining me for a week and that requires an airport. Moreover, Gdansk is backwards and we should be kicking off again from Bydgoszcz again on Monday.

The last day of cycling before the weekend was brilliant. It is about 80km, taking you through the tiny hidden gem of Chelmno. Up a climb of about 8 pet cent there is a chess board of an old town. Here I soaked up the sun and atmosphere.

Back down the other side it is a descent of 6 per cent for a kilometre and a half before going up and down it again.

These hills are off the r1, but Bydgoszcz isn't actually on the route.

My own navigational skills have been as dubious as some of the signage going into towns in the last couple of days. The day before I took a copilot inspired route along the river that led to sand, an overgrown path through the woods, sewage (probably) and a fence, meaning I had to climb back up through it.

Today's was infinitely more successful, following a cycle path down a rocky descent and then up a paved hill chasing two guys in lycra. It is always fun to see their look at the panniers.

Bydgoszcz is surprisingly big, and rather industrious. Luckily there are cycle paths along the roads. The old town is small, but this is becoming a modern city and a decent one.

Day 24 - Sztum to Grudziadz

Kwidzyn made the perfect lunch stop after the disappointment of Sztum. The cathedral towers over the surrounding countryside.

All the best towns in Poland appear to be up steep hills, probably because they were defendable in the middle ages.

The perfect view was also supplemented by a tasty bakery and the attractive city centre helped put the life back in my soul.

Aside from these hills the rest of the land is flat and makes comfortable cycling.

Grudziadz is also nice, though not really on the tourist trail if not for the r1. The city centre has a vibrant cafe culture with some outdoor pizza places.

Day 23 - Frombork to Sztum

Most of the time cycling doesn't really require much thought.

If you concentrate on the 75-90 reps a minute - about 15,000 with 5 hours in the saddle - it would get quite boring. That's why time is spent listening and watching the birds, brushing off the insects attracted to the maillot jaune, or just random thoughts. For example, roughly how many pedal strokes I do in a day.

The nature in Poland has been the best so far. There have been foxes, deer and a lot of cattle and horses, contrasting the Baltics where farming seems to have dried up. There was also a badger, but rather sadly one that is visible during the day is likely to have met a car related end.

On other days strong winds, busy roads or tough hills take up thought, but this was one of the easiest 100km I've done.

The problem was that it led me to Sztum, an absolute dead end town. All the young people had got out, and I'm pretty sure the hotel had fleas. The lake was quite nice though.