Into the unknown

After spending the weekend cramped up with nowhere to stretch my legs, I was happy to get back on the bike.

I got up and going for around for around nine and headed for the Polish/Ukraine border. It took about 45 minutes to get there and I was able to get some supplies at the duty free supermarket.

I phoned home to let my mam know that I was off and didn't know when I'd be able to call again, then made my way to the pedestrian border crossing.

It was really straight forward. By which I mean I am so surprised how easy it was. I was expecting interrogations and bribes, at the very least I thought I'd have to empty all my panniers for some stuck up bureaucrat.

Genuinely, I walked through the Polish border, handed the guard my passport. That got scanned. Walked about ¼ mile to the Ukraine checkpoint, handed my passport to the guard, that got scanned and stamped. I walked to the customs checkpoint and in mime was asked what was in the bags. The guard questioning me really made his own assumptions and mimed “clothing" and “food" whilst pointing at the bags.

And that was it. My first real border crossing.

I hope the Russian border is that easy. Fingers crossed.

Now I have to make my way to Lviv.

A weekend of “Training"

So I managed to get on the train just fine and I was really surprised at how modern the polish trains were. Much better than even the trains back home! The carriages had “rooms" of four seats, each with their own charger for mobile phones and a control for air conditioning!

The train took something like 7 hours to get to Krakow. I assumed in had to change train as the ticket from Wroclaw to Krakow had a different train number to the Krakow to Przemysl route. It wasn't until I fell out of the train with the bike and cut my leg open that I realised I was to stay on the train.

I clambered back onto the train and got back into the seat I was in before. My leg grazed badly I had a strange thought, it didn't matter what happened to me or the bike, as long as I had my phone and wallet/cards I could get home. As I thought that I instinctively felt for my phone and wallet. Where was my wallet? No, seriously Martyn, where is your wallet with your cards?

I checked everywhere. At least five times. In the little four seated berth/cabin I was in I emptied my panniers and repacked making sure I hadn't dropped anything else.

My heart sank. Where had I put it? Had it fallen out my pocket when I fell out if the train? Had it been pick pocketed?

Only thing I could do was double check it wasn't back at the hostel. An email explaining my predicament was sent. Fair play to the staff at the hostel I was at, they messaged me back straight away. I didn't want to open the email. Just in case it read out my worst fears. And it kind of did, in a way.

I had left it under my pillow.

Seriously? So far on this trip I never left anything under my pillow. Too obvious. God only knows why I did it this time.

Back onto the internet I tried to suss out the best course of action. Should I get it sent by courier, by post? The woman back at the hostel told me to not even bother with the post, it would only go missing.

There was only one real/safe option. I would have to pick it up myself. Damn, I was already behind and spending more money than I should.. Thank God the railway tickets in Poland are dirt cheap.

Before I arrived at Przemysl station I already had the number/time of the train that I needed to catch. As soon as I was was off the train and packed up again, I went and got some money changed for tickets and accommodation.

I literally put the phone up against the window of the ticket booth and the woman laughed as she jotted down the trains I wanted. It was pretty simple really! I found the hotel soon after that (not before passing a Tesco 24hr supermarket - albeit a Polish equivalent of the one I worked in back home in Holyhead - I shuddered as I rode past, but wondered if my staff discount would still work, ha!)

I was able to stick my bike in the wine cellar of the hotel I stayed at, had a boiling hot shower and asked for a taxi to be booked to take me to the station before I got my head down for a few hours.

It hardly felt like I slept and before I knew it I was on my way to the station with only myself for a change.

0215 the train set off again. This would be a long weekend, and not the good kind.

There's not much to report about the train journey itself, only that I set alarms for when I needed to be awake for the connections.

I got into Wroclaw 1410 (ish) and I pegged it to the hostel. This would be cutting it fine as the train back was at 1455.

1420. I got to the hostel and an elderly lady who spoke no English only understood what I needed when I whipped the old translator app out. She rang someone and told me to wait 5 minutes.

1430. Still no sign of anyone helping me out. I was thinking I wouldn't make it back to the station in time. I showed the lady my train tickets and she freaked! She rang whoever again in a much more animated manner than before.

1432. A young woman (apparently the one I'd been emailing) burst through the main door, quickly ran to a draw, fiddled with a few keys before handing me an envelope with “Griffith" scrawled across it.

1434. I said my goodbyes and thanks as I was running down the stairs. As I got out, the traffic lights which on the way to the hostel went in my favour decided to go against me this time for that privilege.

1440. Wroclaw train station. I couldn't find my train on the board. Now I was panicking! I was looking for the number/time/destination, nothing.

1443. I was looking at the arrivals board. Idiot. I found the Departures board. My train was on the top, flashing. Platform 2.

* I would like to add here that in Poland, when they say platform, they mean platform. Unlike Britain, the platform number displayed generally means indicates track you will be using. In Poland a platform has two tracks and its down to you to make the wrong decision.

1448. Thank God, only one train on the platform. On I got, found my seat 5 carriages down and settled down as the train slowly made its way out of Wroclaw with a Welshman whose embarkation was such a close shave, father time himself wouldn't need to use a razor again for at least a millennia. It was so close, I expected the carriage to break out into spontaneous Mexican waves!

The rest of the journey doesn't even justify having anything written about it part from that it was an arduous 12hr journey back to the hotel.

I checked my pockets for my wallet and phone. This time round, I had both!

Wroclaw and the sobbing gog!

So, when I got to Wroclaw, it was already dark. But luckily the hostel I had booked was literally across the road from the station.

The hostel was in a really weird place, three floors up in a residential building. They were kind enough to let me bring my bike up (I even got it into my dorm and hid it, yes hid it, between two bunk beds). It was here that I met my first fellow tourer, who also had his bike in the room. I imagined we would be up all night talking about our adventures and what things we found hard etc. But I didn't even get a hello from him. He was a right miserable bastard. Maybe its because I'm from Britain, but if you say hello (which is universal in any language I've found out) you expect to have a hello back..

Anyway, I had something to eat and then tried to get some sleep.

But I couldn't.

I think in the end I had about 4hrs sleep. Between my nerves/excitement of going into territories unknown and the old man in the room snoring I just really struggled to even nod off.

The next day I figured I wouldn't be able to cycle after such little sleep, I cod barely think straight let alone cycle straight. I booked myself in for another night and decided to get some bits and bobs.

I managed to get some food, ibuprofen gel and a new jacket. I needed a new coat that would also be warm. The cycle jackets are good but I don't think they are suited for colder climes.

The jacket I got had a detachable fleece and is extremely warm!

Walking around Wroclaw I realised that j was getting a little depressed but came to the conclusion that the lack of sleep didn't help. It was round about now that I really started missing home, with Nanna's anniversary already been and gone too I was missing her too. Coincidentally I happened across a catholic cathedral which was open and went and lit a candle for her. I even said a little prayer asking for some help and guidance. She would have liked that.

The straw that broke my emotional camel's back was when I went into a pet store to look at the animals (hoping to cheer myself up), there were a bunch of rabbits that looked like my two (Toffi and Tiffin). I'm not ashamed to say that I started sobbing. (I dread to think what the pet store owner thought of a 6ft2 bearded man coming into their store and crying over the fluffiest things in the shop. It must have looked hilarious. Or scary as hell)

Anyway, after that I just kept breaking into tears all day. I finally got a hold of myself enough to book a train ticket to the other side of Poland (as close to the Ukraine border as possible).

I had real difficulty trying to get a ticket because they wouldn't let me have my bike crossing the border. I explained (countless times) that I didn't want to actually cross the border just next to it, but they weren't having any of it. Luckily, some guy who spoke English came up to me and asked did I want to go to Przemysl?

Showing me a map, it was the town before the stop I thought I wanted to take. He turned to the ticket officers and after 5 seconds (if that). I had tickets for the bike and I to Przemysl via Krakow. I don't know what he said, but I'm glad he did!

I got back to the hostel, had food, and got my head down to finally sleep. Alarms were set beforehand though - the train was at 0700.

Görlitz then Wroclaw!

So I headed off from Dresden following the B6 pretty much all the way to Görlitz. This time, however, instead of following what Google maps had directed, I actually just stayed on the major trunk (I never saw any signs prohibiting cyclists and plenty of police where around and not one of them said a thing)

The weather was cool but sunny. I find once I get going that I start to heat up pretty quickly, in no small part to the Helly Henson thermals I've got from my Dad!

The roads were perfect. I think if I were to go back and do this again I would stay on major roads. The bike, and more specifically the pannier racks, wasn't designed for cobbles, potholes and dirt tracks. Annoyingly, I seemed to have lost a piece off the new front pannier rack. Its like a spacer/washer, but its screwed back in and I've secured both front and back racks with cable ties. God I love cable ties! Most of the bike is covered in them! From the GPS mount to the bike computer to extra storage, cable ties hold the lot on! (That reminds, I need to buy some more! And maybe some duct tape)

Later on in the day there were a few showers and the wind picked up.

I got to Görlitz in good time and I caught a train to Wroclaw!

Dresden.

With that scary Chinese guy keeping me up most of the night I decided to get an early ride. Got up at six, had breakfast and was out by and on the road by eight.

It was a beautiful day but by the time I got out of the city (and away from cobbles and potholes) I noticed my front wheel was slightly buckled. It wasn't too bad to be honest so I  it would be good enough to get me to Dresden where I'd get it fixed.

It was actually a really good day of cycling. It was warm, the wind was behind me and besides the wobbly wheel the roads were immaculate.

Got to Dresden around three and found the hostel I booked. They were kind enough to let me put my bike in a WC they never used (although the “locked" it every time by using a scalpel to twist the catch from the outside, I could see the plastic deteriorate every time and I worried that the bike would be locked in there forever)

Found a bike shop online that promised that they were the fastest in Dresden, the only problem was they closed early on a Saturday so I'd have to wait until Monday for it to be fixed!

I tried to find something to do for the evening and happened across a venue that was hosting an old school american hardcore punk band called Bad Brains. But despite trying my hardest to find the venue I gave up, it was in some industrial complex that I just wasn't happy being near so I got a Subway and ate it on the way back to the hostel.

Sunday I went and did a little exploring. I am currently trying to upload pictures on to a flickr account so once that's up to date I'll post a link.

I went to a German market (I call it that because whilst I lived in Manchester, every December they would have a “German market") and all the smells left me starving. In the end I ended up having a joint of roast hog with sauerkraut and pan fried potatoes. With a beer of course.

Dresden was an awesome city. Remnants of its communist past, pre WW1 buildings and modern architecture made the city ooze with culture and diversity. Like I said, once I upload pictures I'll pit up a link.

For food that night I got a massive Hawaiian pizza for about €7. It was amazing.

Monday morning I was up and taking my bike to be repaired. I asked the guy to true the wheel, replace brakes and clean the chain set. He told me its be ready by Wednesday. The desperation in my face made him change his mind to Tuesday. Thankfully.

I can't remember what I did for the rest if the day apart from food shopping and laying in bed reading Carl Sagan's Cosmos! Wow, despite its age its incredible read!

Tuesday, I picked up the bike, and was on my way to Görlitz, a half German/half Polish town divided by a river.

Leipzig. And one seriously scary Chinese guy.

One thing I noticed about Europe is that whilst supermarkets may open at 0700, shops don't open until 1000. Which many I'd have to wait till then to go and get new inner tubes! Just to be on the safe side I got four, one to replace the dead one and three more to be safe.

Unfortunately my D-Lock that I had been lugging around had seized up and no amount of WD40 was going to help. So whilst at the bike shop I got a new lock, a cable one this time. Hopefully I won't have any problems with that one!

I decided to stay another night at the hostel and when I went back to the room there was a half naked Chinese guy fixing his hold all.

I said hello, nothing. So I went and replaced the tyre and when I went back to the room he was talking to someone on the phone. Well I say the phone, he had his headphones plugged into his laptop so I assumed he was on Skype or something.

The previous night I was rather restless so wanted to catch up on my sleep, but I couldn't with that guy talking. What I found weird was that he was talking in English, so why he never said anything to me is beyond me.

Anyway, with not being able to sleep I decided to go look around Leipzig. A really nice city but without anyone with me I got bored did some shopping and went back again to the hostel. This time going into the communal room. I watched about 5 episodes of ‘How I Met Your Mother' (in German) and ate a lot of junk food!

Getting late, I had dinner and went back to my room. The Chinese guy wasn't there but the guy who was there the previous night and a new guy were.

The new guy asked me if the Chinese guy was still talking to himself. I was gob smacked, I genuinely thought he was on the phone and as if on cue he burst through the door jumped into his top bunk bed and went on his laptop. Talking. To himself.

I'm not going deny by this point I was a little scared. Even more so now that I started to listen into what he was saying. He kept cycling through various subjects: How he beat up a guy in Aberdeen thinking he was a “spy"; how he got into a fight in Cardiff after two “spies" jumped him; that he linked to religious radicals back in Beijing, but how could he be a religiously radical if he was gay; how no one speaks Chinese but expect him to speak English, or German; how he had a degree in Britain revoked due to plagiarism; how he hated Canada because he got into a fight with someone and “almost squeezed his eye out" until Canadian cops turned up.

I can't remember everything he went on about but needless to say, I slept with one eye open.

It's getting tougher!

This blog is for my Taid (grandfather) who asked my Mam when I'd be writing my next blog!

So. This trip is getting tougher and tougher. I was almost on the verge of giving up yesterday. The reason? I hate German roads/cycle paths.

They have been a literal pain in the arse (and wrists, neck and shoulders) for my entire time in Germany. I know I've ranted already about how or they are but yesterday was the last straw.

Let me go back two days ago. I'd spent the morning on a guided tour around the Jägermeister factory (well worth a visit if you're in the area) and I was in a great mood. Not even the rain was putting me off my trip south towards Leipzig.

I'm not going to go into too much repetitive detail, in part because im trying to block it out already, but the cycle route took me across 10 miles of a tractor track that was just slabs of concrete that made your bones rattle every metre; 8 miles of a major road between two villages that was barely even a dirt track (despite the fact I was cycling through porridge I still managed to get around 13mph); and to top it all off, every single town/city I rode through was cobbled. Why? What benefit could cobbling major roads through towns bring to the table? It's not as if it slowed down traffic. Just cyclists..

I got as far as a place called Quendlinburg. A UNESCO protected historical town. I'll you one guess as to why it's protected? That's right, for its cobbles!! By this point I was frothing at the mouth and just wanted somewhere to stay so ended up in a little hotel just west of the town.

Much of the same yesterday. Although I did manage to get onto the B6 for large chunks of the day! This meant that I was able to enjoy some of the best roads I've ridden on so far. Until I got into the towns that is! I made some good progress to a place called Halle before disaster struck again!

About 5 miles south of Halle I was doing really well. I bad about 20 miles left of the day and was zooming along quite nicely before some arrogant driver made it quite clear that HE didn't want me on the road (Despite the fact I had no problems before hand with any other drivers.) and he forced me onto the cycle path. after about 15 seconds of being on the pothole ridden death trap I hit a pothole so hard my tire popped.

I was so angry I almost punched the floor. I tried to repair the puncture but it was so big I just couldn't fix it. The oy option I hadeft was to walk it 5 miles back to Halle and catch a train to Leipzig. What a fiasco that turned out to be.

I managed to get a ticket just fine and even managed to get the bike down a flight of stairs (no sign of lifts for disabled) then back up onto the platform to await for my train.

The train arrived later than planned and I never knew I had to go to the back of the train to put my bike on. When I got there the conductor looked at me, shouted “No" and now the whistle in my face before getting on the train looking smug. I was so angry I wanted to cry (I also wanted to run after the train and punch his face as it hung out the carriage window but thought better off it).

I managed to find another train which was already waiting on the platform.  Got on it no problem and dreamt of a good night sleep in a bed.

Finding the hostel was a bit difficult in that it was in one of countless back alley plazas that dot Leipzig but once I found it, I was already beginning to feel better. A pretty punk girl at the reception and a nice hot shower was just what I needed to forget the crap I've had throughout Germany.

It's weird, I never in a million years have wanted to get out of a country so fast as I do now. I'm sick of Germany. Its sour faced citizens, it's over priced cuisine and despicable treatment of cyclists has left such a bitter taste in my mouth that I just want out.

Not long now though. I'm having a rest today. Then it shouldn't take me long to get into Poland (maybe a couple of days via Dresden)

It's a shame though, because I bet under different circumstances I would have loved it here.. Ah well.

Edit: My front wheel is slightly buckled and I've almost got a bald rear wheel tyre. Joy!!

Me - being wet and miserable