Sunday 28 June 2020

Gimme the key to the highway

At long last... the weather's good - no thunderstorms forecast for today - so time to get on my motorbike and R I D E. Out into South Mazovia, where I'm minded as to where my soul is from.

Having a base in Jakubowizna is a Godsend. I don't need to worry about threading my way through traffic on Puławska or through stop-start Piaseczno - half an hour of riding through boring suburbs and exurbs - I roll out of my place, and straight out onto open, empty, country roads.

Below: the Pilica river has burst its banks. This is about a kilometre upstream from its confluence with the Vistula. The drought is over.


Orchard shrine; the Marian month of May and Corpus Christi are now behind us, but the wayside altars and shrines are still decorated.


Below: orchards and a big tank.



Below: crossing the Pilica; could be anywhere in the southern U.S.A.; the Deep South of Mazovia.
 
"I got the key to the highway, billed out and bound to go,
I'm gonna leave here runnin', because walkin' is much too slow"
- Charlie Segar, 1940


Below: but this is clearly Europe - the market square of Warka...


Below: Warka under a Mediterranean sky. The road leads west out into the orchards, following the Pilica towards Nowe Miasto.


This time last year: 

This time three years ago:
Unusual sights on the tracks

This time four years ago:
Brexit - it was new-EU immigration that swung it

This time five years ago:
Still flying after all these years

This time six years ago
Yorkshire's smallest city

This time seven years ago:
Cramp in the night

This time eight years ago:
Football goes home

This time nine years ago:
Birds of Omen

This time ten years ago:
Yes, it does matter who you vote for

This time 11 years ago:
Poland could do with some more mountains


This time 12 years ago:
Warmth of the Sun
 - the Beach Boys and Noctilucence


This time 13 years ago:
Polish roads that look like America

4 comments:

Neighbour said...

Michael,
Is that you? I don’t recognise you, rolling miles on a two-wheel gas guizzling monster? :-)
How much it burns per 100 km?
I have to admit I’m riding a modest 125ccm Forza since February! Man, what a joy!
Happy to join you on a ride!
Szerokości,
Neighbour

Michael Dembinski said...

The 'gas guzzling monster' will surprise you; it burns 3.0L/100km.

It's actually a 125cc too - the smallest-engined Yamaha Drag Star, though customised by Unikat 1/1pl of Wrocław, to suit my aesthetic tastes, yet with the fuel consumption, environmental footprint and safety (this thing tops out at 80km/h).

Neighbour said...

Wooow, this is Unikat?! I was following them on bikexif.com but later decided to buy something more utilitarian. Mine goes 2,7L/100km and runs up to 115km/h. But speed is not essential, I have grown up already. Now the wind and mosquitoes in your teeth are fun :-)
Happy and SAFE riding!

Michael Dembinski said...

@Neighbour

" But speed is not essential, I have grown up already" VERY wise words!