Ride to Roztocze

A two-day motorbike journey to the Roztocze hills of south-east Poland. The weather was ideal - no rain forecast, hot - but not scorching. Jakubowizna served its purpose; giving me a base outside of Warsaw's exurbs, so I didn't have to negotiate Saturday-morning shoppers in Piaseczno before getting out onto the open road. Total distance there and back: 662km (411 miles).

The route: Jakubowizna - Warka - Głowaczów - Brzóza - Pionki - Sucha - Zwoleń - Chotcza - Boiska - Solec-nad-Wisłą - Kamień - Wandalin - Boby - Urzędów - Kraśnik - Rudnik - Wysokie - Frampol - Biłgoraj. Backroads as far as possible. Main roads are boring. When the engine revs stay the same mile after mile the noise becomes a monotonous drone. But backroads are so much more rewarding. Winding, rising and falling, passing through villages (slow down!) requires a constant change of throttle and frequent gear change. Then you can really savour the exhaust note!

Below: the Road favoured by few. A typical Droga Gminna, no kilometre markers, no verge. But now, new asphalt. And most important - hardly any traffic. Downside of travelling these roads is frequent map-reading stops, but in a way, that too can bring joy. This is the forest west of Kozienice, around Przejazd. Looking at this same stretch on Google Maps Street View (dated 2012), one can see huge progress.

The face of Poland's roads is changing as EU money makes its way down to the smallest local administrative level. New asphalt makes riding old motorbikes more comfortable. Below: "I got a new road, I got it good" - south of Opole Lubelskie. Road awaits markings.

This is not travel for the sake of blasting quickly from A to B. It is to get to one's destination gathering as many qualia - subjective conscious experiences - as possible. Travel should involve taking the bare minimum. No more than a small rucksack. Camera and two lenses, toothbrush and credit card.

Below: I took an road atlas, published around 2010, easier to refer to than Google Maps on a phone (hard to see the screen in harsh sunlight). So much has changed since then. I crossed a new bridge near Solec nad Wisłą, a little south of Chotcza Dolna, where I took this photo (below).

 

I stay the night in Biłgoraj. Devastated by war, there's little of heritage value to see here - but there will be. Below: a nicely done Kresy-shtetl theme park is nearly complete; as well as a restaurant and hotel (opening next month) there are apartments to buy or rent in the same style. The architecture is compelling. This is, after all, the town where Isaac Bashevis Singer spent some of his childhood. I'd have loved to stay the night, but was too early. So I stayed in a motel by a petrol station across town, paying a mere 120 złotys (£25) for the night with a good and massive breakfast.

The next morning, I set off to Zamość, avoiding the main road, taking in the Roztocze National Park along the way and stopping off at Zwierzyniec, a popular tourist spot, to see the old brewery there. 

Built in 1806 for the Zamoyski family, the master brewer who set it up was a Scot, John McDonald. Currently part of the Perła - Browary Lubelskie business, the Zamoyski family is still trying to get the place denationalised. While taking snaps, I could hear native English spoken - and could see a full car park. Tourism is returning (though so, sadly, is the pandemic - second weekly rise in the number of new infections).

I continued through the National Park, taking the scenic route to Zamość, one of Poland's must-see towns. Also built by the Zamoyski family, Zamość is a perfectly conceived Italianate Renaissance town, a precious gem of European culture. I last visited in (again on my motorcycle) in June 2016, to get over the shock of the Brexit referendum result. That visit was longer and more memorable - crystalline blue skies are essential to get the Mediterranean feel of the place. That and the fact Zamość was hosting the Festival of Italian Song during my first visit. This time, the sky was slightly overcast; the sunshine charm wasn't quite there.

I pushed my bike, engine off, of course, across the square to get this shot. As always, it attracts admiring glances. Like Zwierzyniec, the tourists are back; I hope the holiday season Covid blip is just that rather than the start of a second wave... Click here for fuller pictorial coverage of the splendour that is Zamość.

Along the way, I seek, as ever, the Perfect Stretch. Just as surfers pursue the Perfect Wave, I search for the ideal stretch of road. Winding through a forest, rising over views of wheat fields - or just dead straight and flat, under a big sky. The Perfect Stretch depends on lighting - weather, season, time of day. You can find it on the Droga Wojewódzka something-or-other between two small places. Come back again and the magic's no longer there - the sun's at a different angle. But come back yet again, and the magic can be even stronger.

Below: I'll always stop for a plane or train mounted on a plinth. But just look at this one! It's a TS11 Iskra trainer, commemorating the Polish Air Force's technical school (Szkoła Techniczna Wojsk Lotniczych), which was here in Zamość between 1944 and 1995.

Below: a view looking north from the DW837, a beautiful stretch of road starting just north of Zamość and heading north-west; hardly any traffic, rolling scenery to please the eye. Puts me in mind of Eric Ravilious. Frequent stops for landscape photography.

Below: looking west along the DW837. PAFF! Instant past-life anomalous memory flashback xenomnesia event big time! Kentucky!

This stretch of road is also notable for garlic. Every farmhouse has a sign outside saying czosnek. Like the stretch of the DK48 between Klwów and Potworów is famous for its red peppers.

Below: the sleepy town of Urzędów. I drove through on Saturday and thought - a nice enough little place - will have to return. Which I did - on a Sunday. Everything's locked shut with the solitary exception of a Lewiatan grocery shop; tiny, yet crammed with people like a rush-hour tram. Mostly buying ice cream in five-litre tubs. I'd have happily stopped in Urzędów for lunch, but there was nothing. This picturesque small town is developmentally retarded by not having a cafe or restaurant on its otherwise lovely town square. Result - no life, no vibrancy; people scoffing ice cream at home rather than partaking of social life and creating a sense of community. And so I rode on a further 24km to Annopol and had a pizza there in a little restaurant filled with families and young people enjoying their ice cream and cold beers.

Local authorities should do more to encourage entrepreneurs to open what's called 'mała gastronomia' ('small gastronomy') - it does wonders for the economy!

Below: Poland has some great village names! There are three named Babilon - this one's just outside Lipsko, southern Mazovia.

Journey back: Biłgoraj - Zwierzyniec - Zamość - Krzak - Płonka - Wysokie - Dębina - Popkowice - Urzędów - Księżomierz - Annopol - Kamień - (cross Vistula, boring part of trip to get to Lipsko along DW747 then up DK79 to Zwoleń) - Sucha - Pionki - Głowaczów - back onto the DK79 but far nicer, less traffic and lots of forest, plus the allure of dusk), Grabów nad Pilicą - Warka - Jakubowizna.

The level crossing at Chynów, 600m across the tracks from my działka, is still closed as the finishing touches are being added. This necessitates a 12km detour to get home from here, because I can't get across 12m of unfinished crossing! A bigger problem for my neighbour, who drives an ambulance.

For the journey, I used 20.9 litres of irreplaceable fossil fuel, giving me fuel consumption of 3.15 litres/100km (89.5 miles per UK gallon).

I got back to the działka, locked up the bike, and headed for the shower. Shock. I have sunburnt skin between the left cuff of my motorbike jacket and my left glove. When I stretch my arm, it looks like the flag of free Belarus - white fist, red wrist, white forearm!

The most important takeaway are the memories: "For oft when on my couch I lie/In vacant or in pensive mood/They flash upon that inward eye/Which is the bliss of solitude". The Road shall come back again and again.

I give thanks for the safe journey.

This time last year:
Poznań and Wrocław - two boomtowns

This time seven years ago:
Scaling the highest peak in Wales

This time eight years ago:
Beaches of the north coast of the Llyn Peninsula

This time nine years ago: 
The Accursed Soldiers - a short story

This time ten years ago:
Driving impressions of the Toyota Yaris
[Ten years on - still no imperfections to report whatsoever]

This time 12 years ago:
Poland's dry summer

This time 13 years ago:
The UK's wettest summer ever