Eye of the Needle, or How Gnats and Winds Must Be Your Friends
Greetings, Dear Readers! I thought I would treat you with two posts this week, both posted today.
Our ride this past Monday explored the crest line of the flood plain north of Konstancin-Jeziorna, and knowing that it extended south to Góra Kalwaria, it didn't take a rocket scientist to look at a map and surmise that there are two other accessible places we could expect to find a continuation of the crest: Turowice (south of Słomczyn) and Łyczyn (just north of Słomczyn). We were more familiar with the roads south of Słomczyn, and so opted for that exploration, and we weren't disappointed. It was mid-morning when we finally got organized, and out we went to partly cloudy September skies and a cool, but pleasant 16º C (60º F) air temperature. Winds were mild (to begin) and out of the North.
It was on 24 August when I wrote about the summer crops in the Słomczyn 40k and Agronomy post. Today's route was virtually identical, except that we hugged the Vistula rather than swinging around through Opacz. What a difference a few weeks can make. Nearly all the fields that I talked about two weeks ago have been harvested. Corn, cabbage, potatoes, all gone. The one field of pumpkins was being harvested today. Ten or twelve workers were there, piling up pumpkins for pickup. It is wonderful to see the harvest bounty, but there is also some sadness, for what remains after the harvest are the remnants of summer: dead and dying foliage, spoiling fruits and vegetables left behind after the harvest, and a clear end to the season. There is a different smell in the air and the sun is distinctly lower on the horizon at midday than it was five weeks ago when we arrived in Poland. Temperatures are cooler. Many of the other cyclists we encountered are already wearing long sleeves or arm warmers, something I honestly cannot fathom, but each person has different comfort ranges, something that is important to remember whenever and wherever you are.
We headed south uneventfully, proceeding nicely at 25-30 kph (15-18 mph). We paused outside of Gassy for a picture of the harvested corn field (above). At Cieciszew, the high water mark of the flood in 1715 that I wrote about in the Floods, Ferries, Fones and More post, we stopped for a photograph. Kościuszko doesn't mind being photographed; I am the shy one of the two of us. The road to the Słomczyn climb proceeds off to the right of the picture, our approach through the village of Piaski was from the left. At this intersection, today, however, we turned south (left, behind the rock) and headed slightly downhill to find the climb at Turowice. It's not a proper climb, just a steep pitch like Słomczyn, but it hits 9.2% so it will slow you down more than a speed bump. At the top we merged with the traffic on Route 724 and then took the first turn (at Słomczyn) for a nice (albeit short) "E" ticket ride. For those of you not old enough to remember tickets at Disneyland and fairs and the like, the "E" tickets were for the fast and fun rides. The ones we thought were dangerous. The ones that pumped the adrenalin. OK, Słomczyn is not really an "E" ticket. It's a "C" ticket at best, but it's the best we have!
We hit the Turowice climb twice today. After rolling back into Cieciszew, we turned and did it again. The second time around there were two villagers walking their bikes up the hill. I didn't do much better, honestly, managing the second attempt at 13 kph (8 mph). My justification (internal rationalization) for our slow speed (aside from the pitch of the thing), was that the winds had picked up and we were still quite some distance from home. Fifteen miles in a stiff headwind is tiring and I had nothing to prove to anyone today, so I wanted to make sure there was gas in the tank to get us home.
The ride home was, actually, eventful. I saw scores (yes, scores: 40+) cyclists all headed south towards Cieciszew. They were in groups of five to eight and were very friendly and receptive to my waving. Clearly they were setting up pace lines and taking turns at the front of their respective groups and actually doing/practicing race dynamics. It was wonderful to see! Then, sometime near Gassy two cyclists passed us in quick succession. We were moving along at a good clip, despite the headwind, so I was a bit surprised. In the end, they settled in ahead of me, one about 100m ahead, the other about 200m. We stayed spread out like this for nearly 16km back to Wilanów. Had I had the energy I would have caught them and asked to ride together; the headwinds were very strong and drafting would have helped, but I just didn't have it in me. Kościuszko, as usual, was unconcerned about it all. With both bicycles and sailing ships it is the same: you can't fight the wind, you'll never win. You have to work with it the best you can.
I mentioned earlier that one of the sad things about this time of year is that it is the end of a life cycle. The fields (unless they are to host winter grains or crops) are played out and what remains now is little more than organic debris. Until cleaned up, that debris is there, rotting, attended by all of the symptoms of rotting vegetation and fruit. Specifically, as it affects cyclists: gnats.
There had been tiny swarms of gnats all summer. They emerge at a certain temperature and in certain places in limited numbers that you fly through, occasionally swallow, and deal with. "Protein!" we will call out. We could, after five weeks, predict where we would find these small groups of gnats, but today we were in for a surprise. With the end-of-season fruit and sweet smells that they are attracted to, they had proliferated in overwhelming numbers. For nearly 5km we endured a continual cloud of the things! Wow! You must smile (with your mount closed), they're not going away; they are part of the experience. And they didn't go away, until we reached a more urban setting.
By the time I got home I was--quite literally--covered in them (dead, trapped in mustache, arm hair, smashed on glasses). I kid you not. It was straight to the shower for me! It was straight into the laundry for the kit. Kościuszko fared better. His narrow and polished (Polish?) profile saved him from the broad exposure I got, but I still had to give him a quick wipe; the head tube (being perhaps the widest part of him) had gnat remnants. This was a physically difficult ride (we worked very hard), with the wind and the gnats, but I wouldn't trade the experience. Regardless of how you might feel, it is always better once you're on the bike, so don't lose any opportunity to get out there!
When next we explore, it will certainly be to Łyczyn. I am sure there is a tiny climb there and at that point I will submit to you a topology problem. You will have several roads and you will have to trace out a route that Kościuszko and I can travel that maximizes climbing our (soon-to-be) three little hills without going over the same road twice (in the same direction). For those astute readers, I am setting you up for the something akin to the famous Seven Bridges of Königsberg problem. The solution (as such) was given by the famous mathematician, Leonhard Euler, but as he is Swiss I have little more to say about him at this time. I hope you're ready!
Our ride this past Monday explored the crest line of the flood plain north of Konstancin-Jeziorna, and knowing that it extended south to Góra Kalwaria, it didn't take a rocket scientist to look at a map and surmise that there are two other accessible places we could expect to find a continuation of the crest: Turowice (south of Słomczyn) and Łyczyn (just north of Słomczyn). We were more familiar with the roads south of Słomczyn, and so opted for that exploration, and we weren't disappointed. It was mid-morning when we finally got organized, and out we went to partly cloudy September skies and a cool, but pleasant 16º C (60º F) air temperature. Winds were mild (to begin) and out of the North.
It was on 24 August when I wrote about the summer crops in the Słomczyn 40k and Agronomy post. Today's route was virtually identical, except that we hugged the Vistula rather than swinging around through Opacz. What a difference a few weeks can make. Nearly all the fields that I talked about two weeks ago have been harvested. Corn, cabbage, potatoes, all gone. The one field of pumpkins was being harvested today. Ten or twelve workers were there, piling up pumpkins for pickup. It is wonderful to see the harvest bounty, but there is also some sadness, for what remains after the harvest are the remnants of summer: dead and dying foliage, spoiling fruits and vegetables left behind after the harvest, and a clear end to the season. There is a different smell in the air and the sun is distinctly lower on the horizon at midday than it was five weeks ago when we arrived in Poland. Temperatures are cooler. Many of the other cyclists we encountered are already wearing long sleeves or arm warmers, something I honestly cannot fathom, but each person has different comfort ranges, something that is important to remember whenever and wherever you are.
We headed south uneventfully, proceeding nicely at 25-30 kph (15-18 mph). We paused outside of Gassy for a picture of the harvested corn field (above). At Cieciszew, the high water mark of the flood in 1715 that I wrote about in the Floods, Ferries, Fones and More post, we stopped for a photograph. Kościuszko doesn't mind being photographed; I am the shy one of the two of us. The road to the Słomczyn climb proceeds off to the right of the picture, our approach through the village of Piaski was from the left. At this intersection, today, however, we turned south (left, behind the rock) and headed slightly downhill to find the climb at Turowice. It's not a proper climb, just a steep pitch like Słomczyn, but it hits 9.2% so it will slow you down more than a speed bump. At the top we merged with the traffic on Route 724 and then took the first turn (at Słomczyn) for a nice (albeit short) "E" ticket ride. For those of you not old enough to remember tickets at Disneyland and fairs and the like, the "E" tickets were for the fast and fun rides. The ones we thought were dangerous. The ones that pumped the adrenalin. OK, Słomczyn is not really an "E" ticket. It's a "C" ticket at best, but it's the best we have!We hit the Turowice climb twice today. After rolling back into Cieciszew, we turned and did it again. The second time around there were two villagers walking their bikes up the hill. I didn't do much better, honestly, managing the second attempt at 13 kph (8 mph). My justification (internal rationalization) for our slow speed (aside from the pitch of the thing), was that the winds had picked up and we were still quite some distance from home. Fifteen miles in a stiff headwind is tiring and I had nothing to prove to anyone today, so I wanted to make sure there was gas in the tank to get us home.
 |
| Route (climb in eye of needle at bottom) with elevation profile. This place is flat. |
The ride home was, actually, eventful. I saw scores (yes, scores: 40+) cyclists all headed south towards Cieciszew. They were in groups of five to eight and were very friendly and receptive to my waving. Clearly they were setting up pace lines and taking turns at the front of their respective groups and actually doing/practicing race dynamics. It was wonderful to see! Then, sometime near Gassy two cyclists passed us in quick succession. We were moving along at a good clip, despite the headwind, so I was a bit surprised. In the end, they settled in ahead of me, one about 100m ahead, the other about 200m. We stayed spread out like this for nearly 16km back to Wilanów. Had I had the energy I would have caught them and asked to ride together; the headwinds were very strong and drafting would have helped, but I just didn't have it in me. Kościuszko, as usual, was unconcerned about it all. With both bicycles and sailing ships it is the same: you can't fight the wind, you'll never win. You have to work with it the best you can.
 |
| Potato Field. Harvested. Plowed. |
There had been tiny swarms of gnats all summer. They emerge at a certain temperature and in certain places in limited numbers that you fly through, occasionally swallow, and deal with. "Protein!" we will call out. We could, after five weeks, predict where we would find these small groups of gnats, but today we were in for a surprise. With the end-of-season fruit and sweet smells that they are attracted to, they had proliferated in overwhelming numbers. For nearly 5km we endured a continual cloud of the things! Wow! You must smile (with your mount closed), they're not going away; they are part of the experience. And they didn't go away, until we reached a more urban setting.
By the time I got home I was--quite literally--covered in them (dead, trapped in mustache, arm hair, smashed on glasses). I kid you not. It was straight to the shower for me! It was straight into the laundry for the kit. Kościuszko fared better. His narrow and polished (Polish?) profile saved him from the broad exposure I got, but I still had to give him a quick wipe; the head tube (being perhaps the widest part of him) had gnat remnants. This was a physically difficult ride (we worked very hard), with the wind and the gnats, but I wouldn't trade the experience. Regardless of how you might feel, it is always better once you're on the bike, so don't lose any opportunity to get out there!
When next we explore, it will certainly be to Łyczyn. I am sure there is a tiny climb there and at that point I will submit to you a topology problem. You will have several roads and you will have to trace out a route that Kościuszko and I can travel that maximizes climbing our (soon-to-be) three little hills without going over the same road twice (in the same direction). For those astute readers, I am setting you up for the something akin to the famous Seven Bridges of Königsberg problem. The solution (as such) was given by the famous mathematician, Leonhard Euler, but as he is Swiss I have little more to say about him at this time. I hope you're ready!
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