Leaving Stryj early morning I head straight for the train station to catch the elektrichka, tickets are cheap and I’d rather go straight for the mountains past Volovec than slog my way through busy traffic on main roads. Paid for me and my bike, left it in the passage between train cars. I sit […]
Tag: Surly Pugsley
Red and Black on Borzawa: Cisna to Volovec to Stryj
https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/Un7JkfIPvy4&source=uds Always remember, nature can last without mankind, but mankind without nature is lost Entering Poloniny National Park on the other side of the border it’s all green and all downhill. Slovakia welcomes me with tarmac roads turned gravel. Only a faint, thin grey line bears the memory of more civilized times. The only signs […]
Dirt road to company: Krynica Zdroj to Zyndranowa
http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=225596113/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e99708/minimal=true/transparent=true/ Woken up by the first bits of sun dissolving in the air above my tent I step onto cold grass. With the stove set up for coffee I go for a walk on the meadow and enjoy the first glimpses of a day to come. Checking in with my map I see one particular […]
Goodbyes, Hellos: Szczawnica to Krynica Zdroj
http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2328867230/size=small/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e99708/t=7/transparent=true/ A coke, a bottle of water and a tiny portion of chicken soup is all I had to eat other day. Waking up and feeling actual appetite was a great relief. Checking in with Nick and Lael reveals we’re all fine and fit for the road ahead. Breaking camp is much more pleasant […]
Born on the trail: Chabowka to Szczawnica
Back there it’s still August. I sit at my house and think about days better than others. To get back there as soon as possible is my main goal. Yet the long way ahead calls for a critical look at my gear choices. So there I am… sitting and waiting for parts to arrive. Fat […]
Crimea: One Kemal too sho(r)t
My friend Wital, who was our host, guide and overall guru while we stayed on the Crimean Peninsula, has just delivered one of the coolest bikepacking videos.Getting to and riding down Kemal was steep, fun, sunny, rainy, silly, scary… but most of all I enjoyed riding with a bunch I could follow right to the […]
Surly Pugsley – about being fat and ugly
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference. Robert Forst http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/folETlLz3FM&source=uds Moving places brought a welcome change in surroundings, climate, landscapes… basically everything. Gone are the hilly tarmac roads, moist seaside air and vast, barren moorlands. All replaced by flat as a table […]
Don’t leave well alone, the thing about fat tubes
Riding the Pugs is cool and there’s more coming about that, what’s not cool is the silent hiss of a tyre going flat, even more annoying is the second – of a peeled off patch… The original Surly Toobs fitting Pugsley’s 26×3.7 tyres are hard to get and on the expensive side. Going flat happens […]
A glimpse of spring
http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/D-e18snsF3U&source=uds Back at home winter struck back full throttle, meanwhile in Wales first signs of spring can be seen. Rainy months gave to windy weeks and when those blew away all of the cloudy days, sun rays fell to the ground.After a recent injury I was stuck at home for a longer period, but the […]
Snaps: Preseli Hills
“mur fy mebyd Foel Drigarn, Carn Gyfrwy, Tal Mynydd, wrth fy nghefnym mhob annibyniaeth barn” “the bare dwellings of my youth, Foel Drigarn, Carn Gyfrwy, Tal Mynydd, are at my back in all independent judgement“ Waldo Williams
In Between Spokes 