Day Eleven - Ustka to Łeba (47mi)
Rain. All day long. There are things I wish I had done differently today. It starts with the route planning.
I hung on to hope that the “trasy”(trails) close to the sea would be rideable. They were stretches of beach sand. Nope.
When re-routing in the moment, I assumed that the Euro Velo 10 route would be paved. Hell no.
Knowing the mileage was shorter, I took my time getting started this morning and had breakfast during the one stretch of sun there was. As soon as I went back to pack up camp it started raining, so I had to wait it out in the bathroom, which wasn’t all that bad actually.
Last, I wish I had stopped for that Zimne Piwko (cold beer), but I guess I didn’t really need it as it was already so cold outside! Mid-50’s Fahrenheit.
It was a challenging day in terms of just not being annoyed all day, and in a bad mood. It wasn’t all drudgery. There was a cool area for cyclists at the head of a trail. I do have to say, however, it’s odd that this attraction was built here, as less than 1km later the trail turned to unrideable mud. Stacyka Rowerowa means “bicycle station.”
I tried outrunning a storm cloud and didn’t make it. I had to take refuge in a bus stop 2km outside of Gardna Wielka. I took the time to shoot some interesting photos. The place had character. I shot this first photo after the storm passed.
Lemon vodka, cigarettes, and pantyhose (on the floor).
As the storm passed, this is what the back side of it looked like. There were 40mph winds and sideways rain. Legit. Before I dove into the bus shelter it was hard to keep the bike going straight.
Towards the end of the ride, a paradox was in plain sight. There was a house spewing coal ash out the chimney, reminding me of how bad my asthma got when I lived here. Look at the chimney in the below photo. Coal smoke is so heavy it sinks, and even can leave ashes on your clothing.
Less than 2km away, there was a whole field of windmills in operation. The past and the future, together at the same moment. This exemplifies where Poland is at as a country, moving forward as it’s past is still visible.
So, I eventually made it to my destination in Łeba. As I write this it is still pouring rain. Tomorrow I am headed for Gdańsk, and the planned route looks like a sandy mess like today’s. It’s 85 miles, and I’m not going to mess around, especially with this weather. My plan is to ride pavement, unfortunately with more vehicle traffic than preferred, but this is the only chance I have to make it to Gdańsk tomorrow. More to come tomorrow!
I grabbed some nice kaczka (duck) pierogies from a local restaurant and now I’m off to bed.
