Day 102
Friday 14/10/2016

Last night while waiting for the ferry I met an old German cyclist with more kit than I had going to Oslo, he had a front suspension mountain bike with bar bag, 2 front panniers, 2 rear panniers, a very large hold all on top of them and a Bob Yak trailer as well, with a full Bob Sac and a couple of bags on top, he showed me his hydraulic rim brakes, but i think my cable disc brakes were better for a number of reasons, he did seem very interested in how I had managed to fit a pannier rack and 2 panniers on my trailer wheel, will I end up like him being and old man on a bike drinking extra strong beer.
Had a good laugh on the ferry watching pissed Polish men trying to walk straight while the ferry was gently rocking, when I looked outside it was only a 3, possible 4 and quite calm. There was even a strong smell of vomit about, I only wish I knew enough Polish to tell them the best thing for sea sickness is tinned fruit in syrup, it does not stop you being sick but it does come up easy.
There was even a dog toilet on the boat.

Dog toilet on ferry

When I booked the ferry I asked the lady if dogs stayed on the car deck or went up and was given a strange look and told of course they go up, it’s dangerous for them on the fume filled car decks, I told her that in England the had to stay on the car deck and she seemed very shocked.

The ferry docked about 6am and I was one of the first out and cycled a couple of km to a petrol station to wait until daylight, I had a large coffee for 8 zlotty, in Sweden for that price I’d be lucky to be able to have a sniff of coffee.
At 7am when it was light enough I hit the road again, stopping 5km later to have a pee and noticed frost, the first frost I’ve seen since setting off, but then again the last time I was up this early was in July.
At 9 am I stopped in a lay by in the woods for breakfast and had already covered 22km, had my tea and morning porrage and then had to wash up, the way to wash up in the woods is after daddy bear has eaten his porrage he puts the pan on the grass and now it has cooled down to the right temperature baby bear ( Pippa ) goes to work, not only does she clean most of the inside she also pushes the pan around and takes to soot off the outside, leaving minimal washing up to do and saving water.
Made it to Reclaw before noon, did some food shopping and headed south past a reconstructed Viking fort.
At 1pm I stopped for lunch and felt very tired due to minimal sleep last night, I’d stopped in an abandoned bus shelter made out of concrete, and looked about 50 odd years old, I’m guessing it was from the old communist days when people were shipped out to the fields to work, these days the farmers are using tractors from the 1960s.
Saw lots of wildlife today, deer, red squirrels, and a couple of snakes.
Just before Stepnica I had another nasty encounter with a German Shepard, this one was a dog and not a German who was a Shepard, it ran out of a garden and grabbed hold of a strap on the trailer bringing me to halt, I don’t know much about dogs but i do know if you run they chase and they are hierarchical, I don’t know why but i growled very loud, it was more of a roar from the gut that I had never planned, the dog backed off, and I must have roared about 20 odd times until it returned to its garden looking very sheepish, the owner’s must have been able to hear me roar, but no one came out.
Just past Stepnica I decided to stop at a bench in a shelter, I have no intention of cycling in the dark in Poland, as the drivers are nutters, I met 3 drivers in shops that were clearly drunk, and I think the drivers work on the might is right way of driving as this morning I saw an hgv force a car off the road onto the grass verge while overtaking another hgv, plus I’ve passed countless shrines beside the road to mad dead drivers.
I do not like wearing a cycle helmet as I prefer my Tilly sun/rain hat or a woolly hat, and have not worn it to date but tomorrow I’m wearing it, hi viz jacket and keeping my lights on, something that I’ve only done in bad weather.

Proberly the scariest thing about the roads is the Polish like to drive a lot faster then the speed limit and also like to tailgate at high speeds, this is the scariest thing for me as the car in front might see me and move over, but if the tailgater is not looking through the car in front he may hit me.

Free Polish hotel for the night

Today 60 km

Day 103

Left the shelter with helmet on, hi viz on rear lights of bike and trailer flashing and front light on, in nice dry conditions, today I’m not taking any chance with Polish drivers.
In Goleniow I did some shopping and checked out the maps outside the tourist office and photographed them as I usually do, plan for the afternoon is to get to Czarna Lata and stay at the campsite there. Made it there and found it was now a private campsite and I could not stay there.
When I was outside the campsite checking my map and working out where to go another large dog ran out of a garden to attack me, I was standing next to the bike and roared again, this time I picked up a large stick and chased the dog away, the owner must have heard me, and came out, called his dog off and returned to his house without even a sorry look on his face.
I’m considering moving my axe to somewhere I can access it fast, a 3 lb lump of steel on the end of a 2 foot length of hickory, even with the sheath on it will do some damage.
Carried on south 10km and camped in the woods. I heard what I think was wolves in the distance, small deer near the tent and large deer some distance off.
The people in the north of Poland seem strange peasant farmers who look at me as though I’m the first white man they have ever seen, ( I do know what that is like and if you ever go to the democratic republic of Congo and see a pygmy with a Crystal Palace FC t-shirt, I swapped him that for a stabbing spear. ), I was proberly the first person they had ever seen with a tan.
The only friendly people were drunk old men who I did my best to avoid.
Today 50 km.

Day 104

16/10/2016

One month since my last full shave, I decided to give myself an outrageous moustache for my birthday and I’m starting with a goatee until I can shape it, but with the grey bits I have in my beard I’m looking like a well seasoned cyclist now.
Packing up camp I was considering to try and act like a local and throw my rubbish beside the road, but decided to keep it until I found a bin, it’s such a beautiful country, apart from all the rubbish about, and most of it alcohol related.
Wet drizzle all day, did my best to avoid big main roads. Still the only smilly people are drunks, and at about 2pm decided to skip the Czech republic and head west back to Germany again, if I’m going to be cycling in bad weather, I’d rather do it somewhere safe.
Stopped at a petrol station in the afternoon to get a coffee but their machine was broken, so I bought a small bottle of vodka, buffalo brand.

Something to keep the chill out

Still no campsites so found a wood to camp in about 20 km from Germany, I need a rest day and a campsite, I’ve been wearing the same clothes for 8 days and nights now, and it has been 5 days since my last shower, no point in changing my clothes until I can wash them as I only have 2 full sets, Pippa does not mind and will try and lick any bit of exposed skin she sees.
Today 29 km.

When you see this sign, it’s time to go south

Day 105
17/10/2016

Packed up my camp in the woods and yes vodka does keep the cold out at night, but not too much as I have to ride.
I made my way to Gryfino where I tried to use up some more Polish money on food, but still had 520 zlotty in notes, but i did manage to get down to 3 grosz in loose change that is not that much of a loss. Over the boarder in germany i checked into the campsite in Meschern for 2 nights, not enough energy to cook dinner so tea and sandwich for me and dried biscuits for Pippa.
Today 27 km.