Day 10

We just went through some events that could be part of an action movie! Of course, we didn’t expect anything like that when we started our day. Calmly we prepared ourselves for all weather related events that could possibly come, we packed our things, organized ourselves, had a good breakfast and put back our sports field – bedroom in its original orderly state. We gave thanks to our generous hunter host with a round of applause and rolled away towards the Polish border. After nine days, the inscription on our vests finally made sense: „Polak, Węgier, dwa bratank i- Lengyel, magyar, két jó barát”, that is “the Polish and the Hungarians are good friends”. Our first stop occurred at the Slovakian-Polish border, where according to our traditions we made a group photo and for the last time in this expedition changed the inscription on the lead car for the Polis version of “Warning, bikers”, then we biked on towards Nedec castle.

Although we had to make a small detour, and we couldn’t go in the castle, it was still worth seeing it from the outside and also the wonderful landscape around it. It was a special feeling to see that once upon a time Hungarian nobility lived in these castles that are 600 kilometers away from our home, castles that used to be part of Hungary. We didn’t want to go on unpreparedly so we had a snack in the parking lot, we replenished our water supply before starting towards today’s destination: Kasina Wielka. Right from the start we faced a pretty difficult climb that we all braved well. The usual good pace took us through the hills and mountains. To our surprise we found out that Polish drivers are all in a hurry on the narrow roads. Luckily we were well organized so we could slow them down successfully in time.

About one third into today’s trip there was trouble, the action movie part began here: because of an unrelated accident the road on which we were supposed to travel with about 30 bikes and 7 cars was closed for two hours. After weighing our options and negotiating with the local police, we decided to let the bikers go forward on the original route. Cars couldn’t follow them because a large part of the road was closed and secured at the scene of the accident, so the seven drivers found an alternative route and within half an hour everything was alright again.

Since we had a pause of almost two hours, one of the cars went forward to our accommodation place, the bikers followed in two groups. Weather wasn’t very pleasant either, it rained and often there was some fog too. Still that didn’t hold us back, all those in good health and bike made it possible, rolled on faithfully.

Both teams were exceptionally disciplined, they took today’s kilometers seriously knowing that this is the next-to-last day when we ride our bikes. Today it really showed that we have become a real team, everyone knew where he or she should be, what must be done and how he or she can help the others.

A serpentine road led us to the wooden cabins where we will spend the night, but we got so used to them that it didn’t take us by surprise. Whether we rode in the saddle or we enjoyed the sights sitting in one of the cars, we made it through the last kilometers TOGETHER, even if those last kilometers still had some surprises for us in store. When we thought that this was the last uphill climb, there came another one appearing suddenly from the dense fog, and yet another one. Such unexpected turns can be dangerous at the end of a long day. But there was no reason to worry! Our bikers took up such a good pace that there were times when they sent word to the drivers, even at the bottom of an uphill struggle: FASTER! Our good feelings were increased by the beautiful place where we spent the night and the joy of our teammates. So ended the biking part of today’s story, followed by dinner which was served as soon as we arrived. Shortly after dinner Viola and Marcin, our friends from Krakow arrived, they’ll help us tomorrow when we’ll ride into the city.

Tomorrow will be a great day because at the end of 11 days, 700 km and seemingly endless turns of wheels we will reach our destination!