Floods, Ferries, Fones and More
It has come my attention that if you are receiving and reading the email version of the blog, that sometimes the email versions have missing paragraphs or you may have paragraphs that are written over each other. The blog was written to view in a browser, of course, and you can do this easily by clicking on the blog title inside the email. That will open the post in your default browser and you will not have those rendering problems.
Viewing in the browser also lets you see the other pages on the site, like the Cycling Activities and Archives pages, in case you're interested in the actual routes and data of my rides, or if you're interested in (re)reading other posts, searching for information, etc.
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The weather today promised to be fine: not hot, but with a lot of sun. Kościuszko and I were looking forward to exploring some new roads further to the south and west. We mapped out a full 75k (47miles) that took us out and around the suburb town of Piaseczno. As a cyclist I am built like a sprinter and, unfortunately, my tendency when I go out is to race like a horse running free in an open field. Today I wanted to try and curb this tendency so we could manage the miles... and not ride myself into the ground in the process. We would soon see how this hope would play out.
In my last post I talked about the Vistula alluvial flood plain. A 'flood plain' implies, of course, flooding and the curious among you might have asked, "When has the Vistula flooded or will the Vistula flood again?" If you didn't ask, that's OK--I did. It is a good question, especially if you live here. Actually, it's a good question if you live anywhere near any body of water!
In any case, I set about doing some research. I started with this article and then this article. There have been about 15 catastrophic floods in the Warsaw area since 1800. The cause of these floods was typically one of two reasons: (1) sustained rainfall or (2) rapid snow/ice melt. In March 2005, the most recent event, the river reached 21' (658cm) above normal levels. In the flood of July 1997, 23' (706cm). That's a lot of feet, but not as much as some floods have been.
Kościuszko and I cruised out of the drive at about 8:30. It was clear and cool, just the way we like it, but the wind was whipping up quite strong and we had to make a much stronger effort than normal as we wheeled south. We passed all of our now-familiar places: Powsinek, Okrzeszyn, Obórki, Ciszyca. What were once incomprehensible village names had real meaning to me and my cycling activities.
I am very interested in toponyms, and being here in Poland in unfamiliar surroundings makes that interest especially important for understanding what is going on around me. Take, for example, the nondescript little village of Piaski, which we have ridden through a number of times (including today). This town name means "sandy". Piaski comes from the Polish word piasek and that word in turn from the Proto-Slavic root *pěsъkъ, meaning 'sand'.
All of the modern Slavic languages have this same root for 'sand', as you can see on the table to the left. The three groups of languages are East Slavic, West Slavic and South Slavic, from top to bottom. Interestingly, this root, however, does not relate to the English word 'sand' and if you want to understand how this root relates to other Indo-European languages, you are in for quite an investigation. If you would like to know more, feel free to invite me to tea. We can talk then.
So who cares about the village of Piaski? Well, I do. The reason is as follows. Besides the possibility of floods, it is important to remember that rivers can also change their courses over time, and the Vistula is no different. Following one of the great floods (1715), the village of Kozłów, which was on the banks of the Vistula was destroyed. All that was left in its place was a huge sandbar. When the waters receded, the surviving inhabitants built a new village on this sandbar, naming it Piaski, but the river had changed its course and now flowed nearly 2km to the East. During that same flood, the little village of Cieciszew (which I have mentioned elsewhere before), lost its church to the rising waters. Cieciszew, too, was on the banks of the Vistula at the time. In fact, the lower part of the village had a ferry service going across the river! When the flood hit and the course of the river changed, Cieciszew was left--so to speak--high and dry and the ferry was no longer needed.
Speaking of "high and dry", to the discriminating cyclist, it is actually outside of Cieciszew where the ground begins a very shallow (1%-2%) ascent, a tell-tale sign that the little hill climb at Słomczyn was just around the corner. You might recall I fondly discussed this "hill climb" in my last post.
Anyway, it was sometime after the river's course change that Gassy became the new ferry landing, and has been on-and-off ever since. Gassy, of course, is a popular destination for cyclists. We go by there often. There is a fine route to get there, on good roads and relatively free of traffic. I've written about Gassy before, each time neglecting to mention the war memorial that is there. You have to know where to look--it is not visible from the road. You have to climb up the embankment and then clamber down 16 muddy steps into a hollow to see the thing. We did that. I carried Kościuszko on my shoulders so he didn't get wet or muddy and could be a part of the picture. Then, of course, I managed to get a finger on the lens. Well, at least you know we were really there! The plaque reads: "Eternal glory to the heroic defenders of the homeland, the Polish soldiers defending the ferry crossing in September 1939." (That's my translation. Apologies to Poles everywhere.)
It is hard to find detailed information on the battle at the ferry. The gist of it is that by 8 September 1939 the Germans were pushing into the western suburbs of Warsaw. The Germans had crossed the Vistula north of the city and also further south at Góra Kalwaria. To cross at Gassy would complete the encirclement more quickly and enable the Germans to besiege Warsaw. The Polish defenders at Gassy were hopelessly outnumbered, but stood their ground as long as possible before being overwhelmed by the German assault. By September 15th the encirclement of Warsaw was complete and the siege began. The Poles capitulated on September 27th. The picture to the right shows a group of officers at the ferry in 1939. If you are a good researcher, you can further pinpoint the date by identifying the uniforms of the officers. Are they Polish or German? Is it before or after the Gassy crossing was captured? I'm riding the hard miles, so I have to leave something for you to do, now don't I?
Kościuszko and I left Gassy and proceeded to Piaski. The plan was to stop here briefly for a rest and to take a photo for the blog. Unfortunately, on taking out the phone, we found it to be quite dead. How this happened is still unknown, but it put us in an awkward situation. The phone is essential for finding alternative routes or, more importantly when riding alone, in cases of a roadside emergency. We contemplated aborting the ride immediately, but after some thought decided to proceed cautiously around and towards Konstancin-Jeziorna, where we could get help from friends at the American School of Warsaw, if necessary.
The original plan, now aborted, was to map out the edge of the flood plain from our little hill climb at Słomczyn, northward and then to continue our efforts to explore westward, towards the town of Piaseczno and beyond, a large suburb of Warsaw. (See the graphic to the left; the approximate aborted portion of the ride in blue.) Without the phone, however, I felt it more prudent to return home safely. Safety first. This was a decision that I probably would not have made in my younger days, but those days are long gone.
As part of the return journey we did cover some new territory, however. Most notably we were finally able to cycle through the Chojnowski Park Krajobrazowy (Chojnowski Landscape Park). It was chilly under the heavy forest canopy and I enjoyed the sudden onset of darkness that the canopy provided. (NB: Always ride with lights!) There are large tracts of such forest in Poland and I'm looking forward the exploring some of them in the future. (I will write about trees at that point. I have a lot to say about trees. I really do.)
Emerging from the dark forest, we found ourselves closing in on Konstancin-Jeziorna and familiar territory. We found the roundabout that led out of town to Ciszyca, and knew we weren't lost and had our route home. We returned in good time, and although Kościuszko seemed in fine shape, my own morale was low over the failed effort. Of course, there's always "tomorrow" and we can only truly enjoy our successes when we have our failures to measure them against.
Viewing in the browser also lets you see the other pages on the site, like the Cycling Activities and Archives pages, in case you're interested in the actual routes and data of my rides, or if you're interested in (re)reading other posts, searching for information, etc.
***
The weather today promised to be fine: not hot, but with a lot of sun. Kościuszko and I were looking forward to exploring some new roads further to the south and west. We mapped out a full 75k (47miles) that took us out and around the suburb town of Piaseczno. As a cyclist I am built like a sprinter and, unfortunately, my tendency when I go out is to race like a horse running free in an open field. Today I wanted to try and curb this tendency so we could manage the miles... and not ride myself into the ground in the process. We would soon see how this hope would play out.
In my last post I talked about the Vistula alluvial flood plain. A 'flood plain' implies, of course, flooding and the curious among you might have asked, "When has the Vistula flooded or will the Vistula flood again?" If you didn't ask, that's OK--I did. It is a good question, especially if you live here. Actually, it's a good question if you live anywhere near any body of water!
In any case, I set about doing some research. I started with this article and then this article. There have been about 15 catastrophic floods in the Warsaw area since 1800. The cause of these floods was typically one of two reasons: (1) sustained rainfall or (2) rapid snow/ice melt. In March 2005, the most recent event, the river reached 21' (658cm) above normal levels. In the flood of July 1997, 23' (706cm). That's a lot of feet, but not as much as some floods have been.
Kościuszko and I cruised out of the drive at about 8:30. It was clear and cool, just the way we like it, but the wind was whipping up quite strong and we had to make a much stronger effort than normal as we wheeled south. We passed all of our now-familiar places: Powsinek, Okrzeszyn, Obórki, Ciszyca. What were once incomprehensible village names had real meaning to me and my cycling activities.
All of the modern Slavic languages have this same root for 'sand', as you can see on the table to the left. The three groups of languages are East Slavic, West Slavic and South Slavic, from top to bottom. Interestingly, this root, however, does not relate to the English word 'sand' and if you want to understand how this root relates to other Indo-European languages, you are in for quite an investigation. If you would like to know more, feel free to invite me to tea. We can talk then.
So who cares about the village of Piaski? Well, I do. The reason is as follows. Besides the possibility of floods, it is important to remember that rivers can also change their courses over time, and the Vistula is no different. Following one of the great floods (1715), the village of Kozłów, which was on the banks of the Vistula was destroyed. All that was left in its place was a huge sandbar. When the waters receded, the surviving inhabitants built a new village on this sandbar, naming it Piaski, but the river had changed its course and now flowed nearly 2km to the East. During that same flood, the little village of Cieciszew (which I have mentioned elsewhere before), lost its church to the rising waters. Cieciszew, too, was on the banks of the Vistula at the time. In fact, the lower part of the village had a ferry service going across the river! When the flood hit and the course of the river changed, Cieciszew was left--so to speak--high and dry and the ferry was no longer needed.
Speaking of "high and dry", to the discriminating cyclist, it is actually outside of Cieciszew where the ground begins a very shallow (1%-2%) ascent, a tell-tale sign that the little hill climb at Słomczyn was just around the corner. You might recall I fondly discussed this "hill climb" in my last post.
Anyway, it was sometime after the river's course change that Gassy became the new ferry landing, and has been on-and-off ever since. Gassy, of course, is a popular destination for cyclists. We go by there often. There is a fine route to get there, on good roads and relatively free of traffic. I've written about Gassy before, each time neglecting to mention the war memorial that is there. You have to know where to look--it is not visible from the road. You have to climb up the embankment and then clamber down 16 muddy steps into a hollow to see the thing. We did that. I carried Kościuszko on my shoulders so he didn't get wet or muddy and could be a part of the picture. Then, of course, I managed to get a finger on the lens. Well, at least you know we were really there! The plaque reads: "Eternal glory to the heroic defenders of the homeland, the Polish soldiers defending the ferry crossing in September 1939." (That's my translation. Apologies to Poles everywhere.) |
| Gassy Ferry. 1939. Source. |
Kościuszko and I left Gassy and proceeded to Piaski. The plan was to stop here briefly for a rest and to take a photo for the blog. Unfortunately, on taking out the phone, we found it to be quite dead. How this happened is still unknown, but it put us in an awkward situation. The phone is essential for finding alternative routes or, more importantly when riding alone, in cases of a roadside emergency. We contemplated aborting the ride immediately, but after some thought decided to proceed cautiously around and towards Konstancin-Jeziorna, where we could get help from friends at the American School of Warsaw, if necessary.
The original plan, now aborted, was to map out the edge of the flood plain from our little hill climb at Słomczyn, northward and then to continue our efforts to explore westward, towards the town of Piaseczno and beyond, a large suburb of Warsaw. (See the graphic to the left; the approximate aborted portion of the ride in blue.) Without the phone, however, I felt it more prudent to return home safely. Safety first. This was a decision that I probably would not have made in my younger days, but those days are long gone.As part of the return journey we did cover some new territory, however. Most notably we were finally able to cycle through the Chojnowski Park Krajobrazowy (Chojnowski Landscape Park). It was chilly under the heavy forest canopy and I enjoyed the sudden onset of darkness that the canopy provided. (NB: Always ride with lights!) There are large tracts of such forest in Poland and I'm looking forward the exploring some of them in the future. (I will write about trees at that point. I have a lot to say about trees. I really do.)
Emerging from the dark forest, we found ourselves closing in on Konstancin-Jeziorna and familiar territory. We found the roundabout that led out of town to Ciszyca, and knew we weren't lost and had our route home. We returned in good time, and although Kościuszko seemed in fine shape, my own morale was low over the failed effort. Of course, there's always "tomorrow" and we can only truly enjoy our successes when we have our failures to measure them against.
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