Berlin to Helsinki Day 3: Sarbinowo
Here's a good way to describe the motivating factor behind today's 128km ride:
Sunset on the beach at the Baltic Sea
We made it to the Baltic Sea! Maybe not quite as exciting as the Mediterranean but we don't have any bodies of water at all in Berlin so this is a big deal!!!
We had quite a varied day of travel but, as you can see, in the end the work payed off.
We left out host, Ilona after a nice breakfast. Fortunately, she had an early train to catch so we followed her out.
We were trying to avoid riding on the highway as much as possible so we had Google make some suggestions - we've had mixed experiences with this method so far and today didn't disappoint! It started out inauspiciously enough with a large shoulder along the highway which eventually gave way to a bike path which were all too short lives as we turned off into tractor roads inside miles and miles of fields growing all sorts of vegetables and grains.
At one point we crossed a guy in a small SUV who asked (eventually) where we were going. "Koszalin" I replied, to which he exclaimed incredulously while indicating the path and our "Koszalin?! No!!" I argued to the contrary and his only advice was to take the tractor road running through the field and not to the side, which actually was quite helpful even though, compared to the street, we were crawling. But on the plus side it was tranquil and beautiful:
After wending our way through the gauntlet of fields and the lone village that connected them we finally made it back to the highway - we were out of options, time to grind out some km's. We pedaled diligently and the Polish drivers were very respectful. It then started to rain, and the shoulder disappeared. But I didn't want to stop pedaling and I think Mylene was too, so we just kept at it until we managed to hop onto a bike path which in my experiences never last more than 100 meters or so. But as luck would have it, this seemed like a completely brand new path and it carved a great shortcut for us while leading us through sprawling pastures and lush forests as the weather cleared and the sun came out. We were practically alone on the path. We crossed one boy pulling his grandfather who was holding onto the bike with a leash:
I've been trying to modify my biking technique and pedal faster in a lower gear rather than pull all my weight along in a high gear. Consequently, my heart rate is lower than usual and my speed is higher than it has been during other tours. Part of it is probably the training, the other part is probably a late realization about an essential part of propelling a bike.
Once in Sarbinowo we met with our host, Gabi who lives in a house literally across the street from the beach. But she is just visiting her mother for the weekend from Koszalin and fortunately, like us, also felt like going to the beach. Furthermore, she knew the best places to eat local fish so we filled up our stomachs and legs.
We are of course wrecked after a long day, I will have to save some more stories for tomorrow.
Polish countryside.
Sunset on the beach at the Baltic Sea
We made it to the Baltic Sea! Maybe not quite as exciting as the Mediterranean but we don't have any bodies of water at all in Berlin so this is a big deal!!!
We had quite a varied day of travel but, as you can see, in the end the work payed off.
We left out host, Ilona after a nice breakfast. Fortunately, she had an early train to catch so we followed her out.
We were trying to avoid riding on the highway as much as possible so we had Google make some suggestions - we've had mixed experiences with this method so far and today didn't disappoint! It started out inauspiciously enough with a large shoulder along the highway which eventually gave way to a bike path which were all too short lives as we turned off into tractor roads inside miles and miles of fields growing all sorts of vegetables and grains.
At one point we crossed a guy in a small SUV who asked (eventually) where we were going. "Koszalin" I replied, to which he exclaimed incredulously while indicating the path and our "Koszalin?! No!!" I argued to the contrary and his only advice was to take the tractor road running through the field and not to the side, which actually was quite helpful even though, compared to the street, we were crawling. But on the plus side it was tranquil and beautiful:
After wending our way through the gauntlet of fields and the lone village that connected them we finally made it back to the highway - we were out of options, time to grind out some km's. We pedaled diligently and the Polish drivers were very respectful. It then started to rain, and the shoulder disappeared. But I didn't want to stop pedaling and I think Mylene was too, so we just kept at it until we managed to hop onto a bike path which in my experiences never last more than 100 meters or so. But as luck would have it, this seemed like a completely brand new path and it carved a great shortcut for us while leading us through sprawling pastures and lush forests as the weather cleared and the sun came out. We were practically alone on the path. We crossed one boy pulling his grandfather who was holding onto the bike with a leash:
I've been trying to modify my biking technique and pedal faster in a lower gear rather than pull all my weight along in a high gear. Consequently, my heart rate is lower than usual and my speed is higher than it has been during other tours. Part of it is probably the training, the other part is probably a late realization about an essential part of propelling a bike.
Once in Sarbinowo we met with our host, Gabi who lives in a house literally across the street from the beach. But she is just visiting her mother for the weekend from Koszalin and fortunately, like us, also felt like going to the beach. Furthermore, she knew the best places to eat local fish so we filled up our stomachs and legs.
We are of course wrecked after a long day, I will have to save some more stories for tomorrow.
Polish countryside.
Position:Nadmorska,Sarbinowo,Polen
Comments
Post a Comment