Blogs from Olsztyn, Warmian-Masurian, Poland, Europe

In the forest 10 km. before Stanica Wodna, 20-07-2001. It's only 10 more kilometers to Stanica Wodna, an easy 20 minutes with the late afternoon sun slowly sinking in the west but the shape of a huge but strangely formed bird out on this small lake stops me dead on my pedals, my hands gripping the brake handles in a death hold... It takes me a few precious seconds to get my small binoculars out of my daypack - a prized birthday present from lovely Amanda back in Amsterdam. For a short moment I search the lake's dark blue water before seeing HIM again, surrounded by spoonbills that sift their weirdly shaped beaks through the water hoping for small aquatic life, wading slowly through the water on incredibly long legs, his wings standing slightly up giving ... read more

Day 12..last race day done and dusted All finished here re racing..did a realy event with one other 2day...got lost again at first control and them went okay till I passed 4 people and got excited andn went off course again....stayed lastish till teh finish Just had swim, spa and finnish sauna so that feels good. Body held up well considering. Dinner is at 6 till 7.30 the the "banquet" begins at 2030..might save some room for that..just saw cartons of french red going in so I will have some of that! Bike is all packed so its just now to pack clothes bag which will all be done pre banquet tiem so I can have fun and then get up at 7.30 brekky and struggle 500m down the road for the 8.53 to Warsaw....4 hour ... read more

Yesterdays race was good by my standards, had a latish start time..1650..we had 120 minutes to do it and I took 104..near the back again but it was funn. 4th last I think but only 20mins behind a fast NZer who was an hour ahead of me the other day, Funny thing happened nite before..I went to reception to complain by 2 sheets had been taken and not replaced in the morning clean. They said they wld refer it to Mnaager next day. 5mins later a lady turned up with big smile bearing 2 toilet rolls..something about sheets got lost in translation! early in the day just hung around and did domestic duties and worked on office ppt presentation as Im now having to deliver paper! Todays race was 1030 mass startand ultralong. It was cool ... read more

Day 8..race day Okay lets talk about 2moro instead of toady eh. Executive summary would go like this: Had nice breakfast Trained well Had nice lunch Started race at 5.50pm..better luck 2moro Had nice dinner and beer to commiserate with. Race day was back in Olsztyn so I travelled in with some other kiwis who had some errands to run...bit boring bit nothing else to do. 2 of us wanted coffee and as the conisewer I suggested Gazeta..ran out of time tho so tried our luck at hypermarket pub. I took one sip and left mine. Race event area was a uni grounds as this was a sprint around a urban area..complete with live pedestrians going about there biz and bikers going all directions as there were 5 courses underway at once. It was essentially blatting ... read more

Day 6 This was to be another trip out to NK for training but I awoke ton pouring rain and thunder etc which a hadnt let up by time I was to have left..9am and showed no signs of doing so, So I flagged that idea s I wasn’t keen to do 35km in wet on Polish roads no matter how much I needed to train on the intricate tracks in forests, I know i am going to get lost big time when racing starts but will still enjoy it. Took a cab into old town as I needed a coffee...it was pouring and huge puddles had collected in rutted roads! Cab was 6 dollars for 3km trip. Driver asked if I knew German so I said nein. Located the cafe I wanted as it said ... read more