Day 12: Ostrów-Mazowiecka, Poland to Wyszków , Poland

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It was a shocking turn of events when I woke up in Ostrów-Mazowiecka to discover that, in fact, it was raining. Again. It alternated between a light drizzle and a hard rain. So I waited and waited and waited. I had 90 km ahead of me, so a full day of cycling to reach Warsaw, and this did not look good.

By 11 am, when I was facing a noon checkout deadline, I asked whether there was an Internet cafe in town. "50-50 there is cafe on this street", the reception said, pointing to the center street in town. So I packed things up and rode 2 miles into town. Sure enough, there was a computer store with Internet in the back (in a dark, black-lit room, strangely). I decided to quickly book my last nights in Warsaw and hit the road, rain or no rain.

Well, I haven't bothered to check the schedule on the Tour de Pologne, but I can only guess it and everyone connected with it are in Warsaw now because there was literally nothing available for less than $300 a night in town. This had me very worried. After 2 hours of searching and calling, I found a service that rents apartments in the old town for what you'd pay for a mid-range hotel, and they had availability, so I jumped on it and was all set -- or so I thought. But by this time it was 3 pm, I hadn't eaten and I had 4 hours to sundown. So I decided to book a hotel between Ostrów-Mazowiecka and Warsaw, so I could ride halfway there. I booked the only hotel I could find in between -- the hotel "Bias" (not making this up) in Wyszków, and got ready to hit the road.

Despite all these complications, there was also some very good news in my inbox. It couldn't be more random, but my friend from Williams, singer-songwriter Alastair Moock, whose music I has been listening to on my iPod in Latvia to pass the miles, sent out a message to his fans that he would be playing in Warsaw Wednesday night! I dropped him a note and we're going out for dinner and drinks on Tuesday, then I get to see his show at the American School of Warsaw on Wednesday night, just before I leave for the US. This is an uncanny coincidence!

Anyway, thankfully, after I went back to the same restaurant that had served the excellent goulash before, I got going towards Wyszków and there was just a very minor drizzle (it is all the same for the bike -- when there is wet pavement, it gets pretty nasty no matter what -- but much better for the rider if there is no rain falling, of couse). But that didn't last. Within about 3 miles of this very short, 24-mile journey, the rain kicked in. And heavily. And that was about the time that the shoulder on this major highway -- the first shoulder I have seen in Poland -- began to turn into a potholed, puddled, cracked mess. It was the worst 20 miles I've ever biked and I am amazed the bike survived it.

I got in to Wyszków and you'd think that I had been biking in a downpour for weeks. I was drenched down to my socks and the bike was filthy. The Hotel was kind of a sad little place, with no heat, unmade beds and another sheet that didn't fit the bed. Oh, and as if to complete the pattern, they acted like they had no trace of my reservation. When I finally pointed to it on their reservation log, they then sort of hemmed and hawed for a few minutes before giving me the room. I made do for the bed using the extra sheets and blankets in the room, had a quick dinner and went straight to bed, absolutely certain that when I woke up it would be raining.

No pictures today -- there was literally nothing worthy of a photo...

Vitals on the ride:
Distance: 24 miles (total: 656 miles!)
Map: http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=21776
Soundtrack: Steeley Dan, Live at the Record Plant, LA (1970s); Lester Young, Live at the Royal Roost in Paris (who knows when)