Day 17

 Day 17.  Thursday August 28.

Ostroleka to Warsaw (Poland)

132km.

Weather: Pleasant all day. No rain. Calm in early morning, a bit breezy towatds the end. Also very hot (30 deg) as I entered Warsaw.

Road conditions: 8km of gravel and also an unexpected bit. Road surfaces deteriorated as I neared Warsaw.

Up early catching the Polish sunrise and I hit the road early at 6am as I had the longest day ahead of me. It was the inverse of yesterday for the first 2 hours....less sunshine but less chilly.

Plenty of agricultural again today early on. One crop I had noticed over the last number of days (not as common as the maize) was red expanses of buckwheat, more common in Asia than in Europe.

And the one and only windmill that I encountered over the total trip (1342km)

But there were, of course, plenty of roadside shrines.

One 6km section of today's route had been described as 'paved' but in the meantime the Council have graded/planed the surface leaving a sandy mess. However I managed to cycle along the untouched right hand side margin.

I had 4 major breaks today at 36km, 63km, 90km and 110km. The varied between bus shelters, petrol stations and river banks. Each one was badly needed.

At 90km I crossed over the Narew river, a 500km river the joins the Vistula just downsteam from Warsaw. It's a braided river, seperating and joining many times, and also very shallow.

As I crossed the Vistula on a pedestrian/cyclist bridge, central Warsaw presented an impressive skyline.

The last 20km today was draining because of heat, much street cycling, street crossings and traffic lights.

Still, at 3:15 I pulled up at my final destination and just had the energy left to take a selfie in the window.

I'm very much in the centre of town which is showing a widespread police presence.  There is a European Conference soccer match here tonight between local Leiga Warsaw and Hibernians (of Scotland). I saw lots of Hibs fans down the street at the Shamrock bar and Best British Bulldog bar with many police units in that vicinity. Hope there's no trouble.

Just now to secure a box to transport the bike home. I walked to a nearby location of a bike-shop (from my previous research) but found that the area is being re-developed now. No luck.

Procuring a box is my primary task for tomorrow morning.

So  that's it as regards cycling, folks. Another adventure comes to a conclusion.

Thank you all.

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.