New cycle provision at Chynów station

The speed is amazing. It wasn't here yesterday evening when I returned from town – and now lookie here! Eight brand-new bicycle stands. Installed this morning. Można? Można! I had complained about the lack of sufficient cycle provision earlier this year, when I saw 17 bikes chained up at this side of the station , and only four stands. Each one is for two bikes, so the remainder were left tied to the fence (right) or to the handrails going down into the pedestrian tunnel. A nuisance for many, a hazard for a few.

The new stands are marvellous news, and a sign of a new commitment from rail infrastructure operator PKP PLK. I photographed the sign below in Warka station two years ago. The answer to the problem of where to leave your bike wasn't to put up more bike stands, but to threaten cyclists with confiscation of their property should they chain their bikes incorrectly.

Attention!

The fastening of bicycles to barriers is prohibited.

Vehicles left will be removed at the owner's costs.

And as the number of cycle-using passengers grow, so PKP PLK should continue to provide more and more stands. Then we get a virtuous circle. (Motorists – apart from anything else, driving your car ultra-short distances twice a day is really bad for internal-combustion engines. Walk or cycle. Fifteen minutes there, fifteen back – good daily exercise.)

And work on the new pavements connecting Jakubowizna to ulica Wspólna and ul. Wspólna to ul. Wolska is already under way (below). I am really impressed at the tempo. I presume that once the pavement's been laid, the next job will be putting down a hard surface on the station car park (the former goods yard). Not too bad today, but when it rains, it's gloopy mud from edge to edge.

Below: recording another new bit of infrastructure – newly laid asphalt on the lane leading off Jakubowizna's main street. This part of Jakubowizna is known locally as 'Działki'.

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A tiny bit of pavement for Karczunkowska

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Welcome to the machine, Mr Kaczyński

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'F' is for 'Franco', not 'Fascist' [Prescient post!]

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Christmas lights: all in the best possible taste

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Letter from Russia

Encouraging more cycle-railway journeys

Dear PKP PLK [PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe - Poland's rail infrastructure operator] - this is not how to do things: 

Attention!
The fastening of bicycles to barriers is prohibited.
Vehicles left will be removed at the owner's costs.

More and more of these signs are appearing on Polish stations. Two are posted at Warka station, to which an ever-increasing number of passengers cycle each day to catch their trains. These signs are precisely the wrong reaction. Don't limit the place where people can't chain their bikes - increase they places where they can!

The correct response to a phenomenon that should be encouraged would be to put up more stands and put a small roof over them. At Warka there are two lots of bicycle stands - a group of five next to the station building and a group of four on the other side of the tracks by the entrance to the pedestrian underpass. Here we are in late November. It's snowing. And yet each stand has a bicycle attached to it. 

Now, the stands are designed and spaced so that two bikes can be attached to each one, but even so, that's space for a mere 18 bicycles. At a station that sees 68 trains a day passing through. And the bike stands leave the bikes exposed to the elements. So some cyclists attach their bikes to the railings in the space dedicated for wheelchair users inside the shelters on the platforms or other spaces under a roof. This behaviour indeed should not be tolerated, bikes left here need to be removed. But in general, there are more bicycle users than the number of stands provided for them. And as the number of cycle-using passengers grow, so PKP PLK should plan to provide more and more stands, while discouraging local people from driving a few hundred metres to the station.

Below: in the distance, we can see five bicycle stands, to which eight bicycles are attached; it's 24 November. Imagine the scene on a warmer day. Now, the bike in the foreground is attached to a barrier. But it's not in anyone's way...

...unlike this bike (below). This is absolutely unacceptable, the cycling equivalent of parking on a pavement. Imagine a partially-sighted person hurrying down to the stairs to catch a train on the other platform.

In the meanwhile, car parking space outside stations continues to grow. Wrong priorities, people! Unless there's a good reason, walking or cycling to the station should be the norm. Not mindlessly driving there. PKP PLK should do everything in its power to increase the numbers of cyclists riding their bikes to the station - and not to discourage them with unthinking prohibitions. Cycle stands (professional type) cost around 400zł with another 50zł for installation, each which won't break the bank at PKP PLK, but would send the right signals to commuters.

This time last year:

Time's Telescope

This time two years ago:
Justify the buy: Nikon D5600

[2,990zł two year ago, 4,849zł now]

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First frost, 2020

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Edinburgh, again and again

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Ahead of the opening of Warsaw's second Metro line

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Keep an eye on Ukraine...

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Płock by day, Płock by night 

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Warning ahead of railway timetable change

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Some thoughts on recycling

Muscle memory

One of the joys of greeting a new day is a cup of freshly made coffee from my espresso machine. One medium black coffee, then off to work (in the old days of course!). At the station, I'd wonder - did I switch the espresso machine off...? If not, the thing spends all day using electricity heating itself, and if the water level is low... I dread to think. Fortunately, I have long since learned how to avoid this anxiety - by switching it off with the mains switch at the back, rather than with the chromed knob on the front which merely cuts off the flow of coffee into the cup. As the cup nears full, my right hand darts round to the back of the machine and flicks the switch. Muscle memory. It's the only way I ever switch off the machine, and one of several hacks I have instigated to ensure I've not overlooked something.

Another is the gas cooker. When a pan is taken off the stove, the gas is turned off, and then a plate or bowl is placed on the still-hot ring. This has two functions. One is to warm the bowl and keep my food warm for longer - the other is to ensure I don't place a plate or bowl onto a gas flame. This muscle-memory habit ensures I'm never worried about "did I leave the gas on when I left home".

Muscle memory is a wonderful thing. I'm using it now in touch-typing, something I learned on my postgraduate journalism course at the City University in London 40 years ago. 

It is something that I'm developing but have not yet perfected while riding my motorbikes. Each is slightly different, but the principles are the same - namely changing gear and remembering to cancel the indicators! I started to ride motorbikes six years ago, and since then I have limited my riding to warm, sunny days. I also avoid as far as possible riding in or through big cities, and it his here that one acquires the muscle memory needed for motorcycling the fastest. All those stop/starts at traffic lights, all those cars to contend with.

In total, in those six years, I've covered a mere 18,400km on motorbike, slightly more than the average car-driver would do in one year, the vast majority of it on quiet, country roads on sunny days between late-April and mid-October.

Decades' worth of muscle memory on show here.

In the same way that riding a bicycle or driving a car (with manual gears) is about muscle memory, learning to ride a motorbike is moving from the stage of unconscious incompetence (you don't even know what you don't know), to conscious incompetence (you are very much aware of the skills you don't have) to conscious competence (you are doing it right, but having to think about it), to unconscious competence (when you're just doing it automatically, right every time).

I've yet to get to that stage. Many's still the time when I give a friendly left-handed salute to a fellow motorcyclist coming the other way to be greeting by a more frantic hand-waving - which I then realise to have meant that my indicators have been flashing right for the past two kilometres. Or when I look down at my instruments and see that green light blinking, meaning the same thing.

Worse is when I change down gears as I approach a junction, and as I see all's clear, I rev the throttle to zoom into a gap in the traffic - only to discover I'm in neutral. There is no substitute for getting kilometres under the belt, getting good habits ingrained as muscle memory, so after a winter's break from riding, they come back naturally the next spring as unconscious competence.

The hardest part of learning to ride a motorbike - as with driving a manual-gearbox car - is clutch control - feeling the biting point, coordinating right hand (clutch release), right foot (gear selection) and left hand (throttle). There's nothing more embarrassing on a motorbike than letting the clutch lever go too early and jerking forward suddenly (often on rear wheel, though this is impossible on a cruiser). You can also embarrass yourself all too easily at traffic lights by attempting to start in second gear having failed to put it in neutral as you stopped.

One major muscle-memory trick I have acquired from my nine years of cycling in Central London has been the habit of looking into side-roads for traffic. Approaching a junction, my head involuntarily swivels left or right; something that can be a real life-saver.

As one grows older, so forgetfulness can creep up. It is therefore worth working on those mind-hacks that prevent accidents - caused by leaving appliances switched on, and muscle memory can make up for shortcomings in the mind. We are always tiptoeing on the edge of chaos - getting older, one becomes naturally more careful, more risk-averse - but on the other hand, the rim is getting narrower, the precipice steeper.

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The journey there, and the journey back again

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Sandomierz - another outstanding Polish town to see

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Food hygiene and lies as Russian foreign policy tools

This time seven years ago:
Asphalt for ul. Poloneza (to Krasnowolska at least)

This time eight years ago:
A welcome splash of colour to a drab car park 

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To Hel and back in 36 hours

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Honing the Art of the Written Word

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Of castles, dams and brass bands

Times pass, things go, things remain

At the western end of ul. Świętokrzyska, the block of flats is being torn down to be replaced by the 155m-tall PHN/City Tower. Construction begins next year. Communist-era flats are coming down across Warsaw; their presence in the centre of the capital are de facto social housing, a reason why so many elderly people live right in the middle of town (something unthinkable in, say, London). While social diversity may be judged a good thing, these buildings are rigid with asbestos. This particular block was built in the mid-1960s for foreigners, and was home for many Western firms that set up offices in Warsaw in the early 1990s. This view, with the top of Spektrum tower (formerly TPSA Tower) reminds of Marineville from the 1960s children's TV series, Stingray. Photo taken from the bus stop outside Costa Coffee, Rondo 1 on 4 October. All pictures in this post: Nikon CoolPix A.

Below: update, photo taken two weeks later on 18 October. Here's the progress in the demolition for you...

An InterCity locomotive with interesting heritage. This is a retro-liveried EP07 at Warsaw Central station. Most InterCity EP07 locos are painted blue and grey like the carriages, but this one's paint scheme harks back to the 1980s. Back in 1962, Poland bought 20 electric locomotives from English Electric, serving PKP as EU06 (Elektryczna Uniwersalna 6), along with a licence to build more locally. These were the  EU07 series, built from 1963 on. Many were converted to EP07s (Elektryczna Pasażerska 7), with more powerful motors and different gearing appropriate to stop-start passenger work. Originally built in 1987 as EU07-442. it was converted to EP07-442 in 2003.

Rarely does one see a mode of transport that's nearly 140 years old - but here in Warsaw I chanced upon a penny-farthing based on original parts from a 1878 German bicycle.. I stopped and had a chat with the friendly owner, who told me that the Polish for penny-farthing is bicykl, while the Polish for bicycle is rower, from Rover, the British brand that had two wheels of equal size, the rear one chain-driven by pedals. Before Rover became such a language-changing hit in Poland, the word welocyped meant any human-powered two-wheeler without chain drive. So a bicykl is a welocyped, but a rower isn't!

Which reminds me that last week saw the 50th anniversary of the first airing of British TV of the cult series, The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGooghan. Shot in Portmeirion, the fictitious village featured in the series had as its logo a penny-farthing.

Left: Finally, the passing of time does not bypass me. On my way south to do some real-estate scouting - I'm looking for a działka to buy. Today, for the first time ever, I got a old folk's discount on train travel. All 35% of it. So instead of paying nearly 14zł for the return ticket from W-wa Jeziorki to Ustanówek, I paid 8.80zł. Neither did the conductor on the way out nor the ticket inspector on the way back want to check my ID to ensure that I wasn't lying about my age. Haven't done that since I was 17!

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Feels like the U.S.A. again

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Warsaw's craft ale revolution kicks off

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Poland's president inaugurates Moni's academic year 

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Autumn evening, central Warsaw

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Short-term future of suburban development

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"You'll look funny when you're fifty"

Karczunkowska is open (sadly!); Jeziorki ponds path being built; bikes for sale

Anyone who's been away from Jeziorki for several months will hardly recognise the place. Below: ul. Karczunkowska merges seamlessly into Gogolińska, on its way past the new 'up' platform towards the temporary level crossing. The asphalt you see in the foreground will give way under a new alignment of Karczunkowska - this view in a few years time will be of a viaduct carrying the road over the tracks. It will run roughly between where the red Seicento and the blue portaloo are standing.

And here we have the traffic. Four cars in a row indicate the density of usage that'll be expected once drivers get to hear that that road's been reopened. Note the road signs - no trucks (other than municipal services and construction plant), and a 40km/h speed limit.

Further changes to Jeziorki: a footpath is being built around the eastern edge of our ponds, and ul. Dumki will hopefully be closed to motorised traffic beyond where the asphalt currently stops. More on this story as it develops...

The middle and northern ponds will get bird-watching platforms built out into the water. The NIMBY in me fears an invasion of beer-drinking youths who mindlessly discard their litter around here.

In other local news, the pavement along ul. Karczunkowska has now been extended all the way from the junction with ul. Trombity to the PWPW security printing plant. This now means I can walk safely and with clean shoes all the way all to ul. Puławska. Still to do: the entire stretch of Karczunkowska from Trombity to Nawłocka.

Finally, with the bike season almost upon us - two of my vintage bikes have to go to make room in the garage. Both are mega-rare hipster treasures that need an appreciative buyer... Below: my handmade 1989 Pete White urban flyer, designed by me for city streets. Upright frame angles for responsive handling, Shimano hub gears and enclosed brakes for perfect braking even in the wet. Brooks B17 saddle. Frame (22") made of Reynolds 531 tubing. 27" alloy wheels. Complete with London Cycling Campaign sticker with an '01-for-London' (pre-1990) phone number.

Below: my 1984 Holdsworth Triath Elan road bike, 27" alloy wheels, 21" frame, Reynolds 531 frame, Campagnolo groupset, Brooks B17 saddle. Eroica Britannia eligible (bikes have to be pre-1987).

I'm open to offers around 1,000 złotys per bike, free delivery to anywhere within 20km of Jeziorki. Drop me an email (michaeldembinskiATSIGNgmail.com) if you've any questions regarding these two deliciously retro bicycles.

This time four years ago:
Cycling in Warsaw: waiting for the snow to go

This time five years ago:
Progress on the S2/S79

This time six years ago:
Literary flavours of the PRL - Janusz Głowacki's Z głowy

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Television - the Drug of the Nation

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Needs and wants and economics

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On the Road from Łódź

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Aerial views of the ground

Planes and boats and trains and bikes

Took off yesterday from Warsaw Okęcie at just before daybreak, runway 15. Below: looking out to the south, Al. Jerozolimskie and the S2 intersection; beyond lie Piastów and Pruszków.

Below: before long I was in Ealing; over the rooftops the planes stream in to land at London Heathrow, one after the other, from the east. It's a Boeing 777, but which airline?

Below: other planes fly right over London at cruising altitude. What's this - a Boeing 747 or an Airbus 340? No visible underwing registration...

Reaching London St Pancras by train, I take a few moments to visit the food fair outside King's Cross station next door. Delicious artisan pork pies took the edge off my morning hunger. Below: the Great Northern Hotel, sandwiched between St Pancras to the left, King's Cross to the right.

Below: I cross London on the Piccadilly line, which takes me to Acton Town, where I change for an Ealing Broadway-bound District line train. And here, I snap a Piccadilly line train advertising the fact that tube trains will run all night on the line on Friday and Saturday nights, from 16 December.

On my walk around Ealing and Hanwell today, I crossed the Jacob's Ladder footbridge crossing the GWR line running west out of London; here, between West Ealing and Hanwell stations, by the Plasser sidings, work is underway on the CrossRail project, due to open in 2018.

Today I repeated a walk I did last year, over 11,000 paces. Below: Wharncliffe Viaduct, Hanwell, taking the Great Western Railway over the Brent valley. Work began on this structure 180 years ago. It still carries a very busy railway line (four tracks) over it.

Below: zooming into the Lord Wharncliffe's coat of arms above the central pillar of the viaduct. It was he who steered the Great West Railway Bill through parliament.

The River Brent flows into the Grand Union Canal at Hanwell, just under the Hanwell Lock Flight. Below: and here on the canal is the first of the locks; looking north, a barge about to enter it.

Below: a lovely vintage Raleigh Roadster bike on a barge moored on the Grand Union at Hanwell. This is how bikes looked 75 years ago - steel brake rods, stout rubber pedals, enclosed chain, end of rear mudguard painted white for the wartime blackout; plastic bag hides the sprung-mattress saddle.

A walk through Hanwell would not be complete without passing the legendary Reg. Allen motorbike shop on Grosvenor Road; below: here's a 1966 Triumph 350cc twin parked outside in the November sunshine.

Finally - back down by the canal - can anyone recognise this waterfowl? A moorhen?

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Schadenfreude! The downfall of Hofman & Co.

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From the Mersey to the Tyne

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Autumn in Dobra

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Autumn ploughing

Cars must fade from our cities, and fade fast.

"What puzzles me is how the cult of the car remains such a popular one. Motorists - the kind who drive as a default rather than occasional or emergency mode of transport - adhere to a religion that hurts society and themselves. Some seem even brainwashed by Top Gear repeats and motoring festivals into thinking a honking lump of metal can be "sexy"."

This is not me ranting away, but an op-ed piece by Rosamund Urwin in London's Evening Standard newspaper. Varsovians - your love affair with the car is a throwback to the 1960s. You are catching up with lost time; but things change, and car use is slowly fading in world's largest cities.

Fading all too slowly. My fourth week in London, I can see how our planet's developed cities are being fouled by the motorcar just as the less developed cities are fouled by open drains. Walking around Ealing, this lovely suburb is blighted by cars. We humans want it all - house, car, clothes, etc - status, in a word. Cut the car out of the equation, and suddenly everything fits. The beautiful Brentham Garden Suburb, so carefully designed by Arts and Crafts architects between 1903 and 1915, is today visually ruined by cars parked in a solid line on both sides of the streets.

Below: Flog the black SUV with the darkened rear windows and buy a detached home, for God's sake. Apart from anything else, the cars are spoiling the view.

It's time to move on. The age of the oversized, fossil-fuel powered car has passed. Its demise will not be quick - people are lazy and selfish. But it will happen, in stages, as the new reality dawns...

Stage One. Realise that there is nothing big or clever about owning a large, powerful car. No, in the developed world, it no longer impresses; it is a symbol not of status but of your anti-social, egotistical personality (think fart in a crowded lift). What does impress, especially in London with its house prices, is property. (A nice detached house at the top end of Birkdale Road is a lot more impressive than a semi off Brunswick Road. And motorists - you could afford it if you just ditched the motorised status symbol.) Averaged out across the week, you spend 12-plus hours a day in your house and (if you're unfortunate) two hours in your big vehicle, which costs you a small fortune to finance, insure and run. And contributes to your ill-health in later life.

Stage Two. If you really must have a car, have a small one, and use it as infrequently as you can. Save energy, emit less. Treat the car as a domestic appliance, not as a status symbol. It should be as energy efficient as possible. No low-profile tyres to scrape expensive alloy wheels on kerbs. No barrage of optional extras that pump up the list price to twice that of the base model. No 'performance pack' that potentially gives you vastly more speed than is legally permitted on public roads. Still, if you do need a car - hire one, or share one. Or call a taxi. The ownership model is in decline.

Stage Three. You live in a city. Use its amenities - public transportation. Walk. We all need to rack up 10,000 paces a day (8km/5 miles) of walking a day, according to the NHS, the World Health Organisation and the Surgeon-General of the US. That's really hard to do if you drive everywhere by default. Half and hour of brisk cycling is the equivalent in health terms of 5,000 paces. And on a bus or train you can benefit from Twitter, Google and the rest of the social media. Which you can't in a car. The Millennial Generation is more interested in the latest mobile devices than in owning cars. You'll not impress them with a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. The latest Apple iPhone draws more gasps.

Finally, a bit of good news...

Nearly 60% of Poles choose public transport over car
Poles are becoming conscious of the Earth's finite resources and are making changes in their own households, the Ministry of the Environment's research indicated. According to the survey, over 70% of Poles limit their water consumption, while 57% choose public transportation or cycling over cars whenever they can.  Half of respondents said they purchase energy-saving light bulbs, refrigerators and washing machines (40%), additionally, they switch off lights when leaving a room (67%).
Ministry of Environment

This time two years ago:
Leeds, by day

This time four years ago:
Bad customer service - a camera repairer to avoid

This time six years ago:
November weather notes

This time seven years ago:
First snow, winter 2008-09

This time eight years ago:
Escapism

Brompton back in action - fully

Over a year since it had to go in for a service, my Brompton is now 100% what I wanted it to be - thanks to Brompton's superb customer care (stepping in when the local agent couldn't get the parts). I finally got the 44-tooth chainwheel needed to make the bike ride and fold properly. The 46-tooth chainwheel - fitted when the bike went for a service three years ago was a disaster - only two teeth more, and yet twice the chain tensioner snapped while the bike was being folded; and when folded, the rear wheel became immobile, preventing the correct stowage of the left pedal.

Along with the chainwheel, Brompton sent me the basic rear mudguard (the bike was originally fitted with a luggage rack, which I neither needed nor wanted, but it was there on the ex-demo factory bike I bought). This is lighter than the rack and not prone to rust. And a new-style Brompton saddle, which doubles as a carrying handle when the bike's folded.

The bike is easy to work on. To remove the luggage rack and replace it with the new mudguard, I needed to replace the rear wheel. This is slightly harder than on a bike with derailleur gears, because the shifter chain needs to be carefully replaced in the same position as before so that all the gears work. But fortunately, Brompton has a whole lot of technical videos posted on YouTube to help you out (see below).

I fixed the rear mudguard, replaced the rear wheel, pumped up both tyres and moved onto the saddle. This is a huge improvement over the original. The Allen-key bolt allows easy and precise adjustment (it is crucial you get the angle right for comfortable riding). Under the saddle's nose is a sculpted handle that just begs you to pick the folded bike up by it. The new-style Brompton saddle is probably the greatest single innovation brought to the bike since it was originally launched.

Finally onto the chainset. I removed the old, 46-tooth chainwheel using a crank extractor (a very simple procedure if you have the tool), and replaced the new, correct, factory-issue 44-tooth one. Excellent! All of a sudden, the Brompton returns to its original glory. Now it folds and unfolds easily and quickly, just like it did when it was new - I don't need to worry that the chain tensioner will snap or that the chain will come off.

So then - here it is - back to life - my Brompton. The ideal form of urban transportation, used in conjunction with a quarterly travel pass. Lively to ride, a real bike - not a toy like some folders. I've ridden this bike over 100 miles (from Ealing to Bath) and can vouch for its seriousness. Below: as nature intended - no third-party bolt-ons, all pukka factory bits once again.

Below: new Kevlar tyres, new mudguards, grips, cables, brake blocks, chain, saddle - and most importantly - crankset. Note the small wheel on the rear mudguard - this provides rolling support to the back end while the bike is being folded.

Below: the crucial still from the Brompton instructional video, explaining how to correctly adjust the gear-change chain in the three-speed Sturmey-Archer hub. My one's 24 years old and still working fine.

Below: Once folded (which is quick and easy) the Brompton takes up little space. I have no problem stowing it in my office. Here it is in the garage.

Below: the serial number stamped on the frame - one of the first 3,000 built. Since then, over 300,000 more have left the factory, so mine's an early one. I've had it since 1992. Since 1997 it's been in Warsaw - probably the very first Brompton here. Despite the problem with the wrong chainset, the frame remains in perfect working order. Now the drivetrain is fixed, I intend to keep it this way. The most important lesson - had I checked that the right-hand pedal was screwed tightly into the alloy crank-arm, it would not have stripped the thread, leading to a problem that took a long time to fix.

Below: the crucial bits - the rear-triangle fold, crankset, chain tensioner and new Brompton Kevlar tyres.

The Brompton is not a cheap bike, but it is built to last - it is an investment; buy one and it will serve you well and hold its value (like a Morgan or Harley-Davidson). In Poland, you can buy Bromptons at AirBike, just off Al. KEN in Ursynów.

Brompton's website is excellent as is communication with its technical staff, who are very keen to help the customer. Not something one would expect from cheaper Far Eastern fold-up bikes.

The Brompton's fold, invented and patented by designer Andrew Ritchie in 1979, has yet to be bettered by a more practical and robust system. Evolving all the time (minor improvements boosting ride and strength), the Brompton is without doubt the best folder in existence and well worth the investment.

This time two years ago:
Pl. Zbawiciela rainbow gets torched for the first time

This time three years ago:
Why no one is Occupying Warsaw

This time four years ago:
Of electoral sausages and town drains

This time five years ago:
In search of the Sublime Aesthetic at 36,000 ft

This time seven years ago:
London from the air

Around the Czachówek Diamond, again

The sun and wind... I love that combination - a crystal-blue sky, utterly cloudless, and hot; together with a strong, cooling wind in the face, magically together the two elements evoke the Sublime Mood. Time, then, to get on my mountain-bike and head off for the country, to make the most of the late summer. A 12.24 złoty (£ 2.30) day return ticket from Jeziorki to Czachówek Górny gets me out of suburbia and into the Mazowsze countryside for a five-hour, 33km cycling excursion.

Czachówek Górny station lies 17km south of W-wa Jeziorki, in the centre of the 'Czachówek Diamond', where the Warsaw to Radom railway line crosses the Skierniewice to Łuków line. Four rail spurs connect the two lines, allowing trains to go off to all points of the compass (see map from Google Earth, below, with railways marked). It is from here that I start and to here I return.

Below: I head east, into the wind, in the direction of Góra Kalwaria. The road follows the line, then turns into a sandy track with the railway on an embankment, and forest to the south. Though there are few passenger trains using this line at the weekend, there are many freight trains, with varied loads. Below: empty coal wagons heading back east to the Bogdanka mine.

Below: a long westbound train of oil tankers. It is encouraging to see freight returning to the rails. Whether it's EU funded projects or simple economics, I don't know; but just think how many trucks would have to carry this cargo along public roads.

Below: my Cannondale takes a break at an unguarded level crossing. Time for lunch - I buy a quality, high-class length of kiełbasa, a long bread roll to accommodate it, one-and-half litres of Cisowianka mineral water, two lovely large Polish apples and a tin of Warka Pstrąg beer (sadly only mainstream brands out in the country - no craft IPAs or ciders). Total cost of lunch is 13.50 złotys (£ 2.55).

Below: the building of the sołtys (elected village head) in Krzaki Czaplinkowskie. It is part Wild West fort, part radio transmission station, part drop-in constituency surgery, part village store and part metal anodising workshop.

Below: another eastbound coal train, this one coming from Skierniewice, approaching the level crossing at low speed. Lack of gated crossings means trains have to slow down; this hurts their operating efficiency. If we want to see more goods taken off the roads and put onto rail, the Polish state must invest in the safety infrastructure. Today I passed three crosses indicating where people had died under the wheels of passing trains.

Below: a gaggle of geese outside a farmhouse in Uwieliny, to the north-west of Czachówek. As I cycled slowly past, the geese waddled away, honking noisily, evidently irritated.

Left: the worst bit of the journey - soft sand. Time to get off and push. After several dry and sunny days, the paths that are in the open can quickly become impassable to cyclists. Still, I have my pedometer with me, so even if I'm not cranking out the kilometres on my bike, I am contributing towards my daily walking target of 10,000 paces.

Cycling through the middle of the diamond - Pan Heniek (below), equipped with scythe and a bucket for mushrooms. Though my layman's instinct suggests it may yet be too early for mushrooms, his bucket is nearly brim-full.

Nearing Czachówek Górny at the end of my journey, passing through Bronisławów, I see another oil train at the (unguarded) level crossing. This train is using the spur that connects the northbound and westbound lines.

My train back to Jeziorki is on time - it's been a splendid day out - my ticket and victuals coming to less than a fiver in British money, the weather fabulous. I feel a healthy suntan coming on.

This time two years ago:
Second line of the Metro runs into delays

This time four years ago
Army helicopters in action at Kielce defence show

This time five years ago:
World's largest helicopter over Jeziorki

Riding my Brompton to work

Today, Thursday 4 September, is Cycle to Work Day in the UK. Here in Poland, Monday 22 September will be Leave Your Car at Home Day. So today, along with 73,000 Brits, I'll get to work on two man-powered wheels. The choice of bike? My Brompton, which I picked up from the bike shop (AirBike in Ursynów) 11 months after dropping it off for a major overhaul.

The work has still not been done. No one could find the right chainset; so I'm left with a chainwheel with the wrong number of teeth, which leads to the chain skipping when I'm pedalling hard, and - worse - the chain tensioner snapping in half when the bike's being folded too quickly. Neither AirBike, nor Brompton's Polish agent, nor Brompton could suggest a fix after months of e-mailing. Secondly, I wanted to replace the rusting, heavy, useless rear carrier with a rear mudguard with jockey wheel that allows folding, keeps my back dry and doesn't add an extra half-kilo of useless weight. Again, no can do (after 11 months).

So - my Brompton - bought directly from the factory over 20 years ago, when I used to write for Bicycle magazine, is still not 100% as it should be. But it's had a lot of work done on it - new tyres, new chain, new brake blocks and cables, new front mudguard, new chain tensioner; 920 złotys worth of work.

Anyway - here it is (below) ready to go for a shake-down ride to work. This will be the first time I ride to my office on ul. Marszałkowska, where we moved last November.

Below: close up of the clever bits. Note the non-standard, 46-tooth Raleigh chainwheel - the best the bike shop could do. A 44-tooth chainwheel is needed here. I must source one myself. As well as a rear mudguard to fit this 1991-model Brompton. Second-hand, maybe.

Below: I cycled all the way in, a total of 15km. Up ul. Puławska (still largely bereft of a decent cycle path - the only exceptions are the new bits around the S79 interchange, and the old bits by the race-track and from Domaniewska to Dolna. The city roads authority, ZDM, is building a new stretch along ul. Waryńskiego, from Rondo Jazdy Polskiej to Pl. Konstytucji. Only a short stretch, but welcome. Below: on the last lap, along ul. Marszałkowska, north of Pl. Konstytucji.

Below: at my office, proudly folded up showing the amazing compactness and brilliance of the design - now over a quarter of a century old and never bested by any other folding bike. In terms of size, speed of folding and quality of ride, the Brompton remains unbeatable. Folded up, it sat safely all day long in the corner of my office, out of harm's way.

On the way home, after a few ales with the Błękitna Trójka Warsaw Chapter. I wheeled the bike to the station, and folded in the rear triangle, posed it for a photo while waiting for a train bound for Jeziorki.

Postscript, Friday 5 September: My colleague Ewa calls me at the end of the working day. Someone has stolen her bike, which she parked outside our office, on ul Marszałkowska. Cutting through the chain on Warsaw's busiest thoroughfare, in full view of security cameras. Her bike is a red and grey Gary Fisher Tassajara, with non-standard brass-coloured stem.

Postscript: By October 2014, the Brompton was restored to full functioning, thanks to the direct intervention of Brompton. Thanks guys!

This time three years ago:
Bike ride to Powsin as summer fades gloriously

This time four years ago:
Compositions in yellow, blue and white

This time five years ago:
When the Z-9 used to run, temporarily, to Jeziorki