Day 5 - Solina - Solina

Tuesday 11/08/2020
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We decided to stay a 2nd night in Solina to do the 'big mountain loop' and to enjoy what are probably the best roads the country has to over. Had a few more beers last night so lost track of things and didn't feel 100% this morning. A good evening chatting though but we couldn't leave first thing as I was over the limit when I did a breath test on Grzegorz's alcometer....

Marian didn't bother putting-up his tent and decided to sleep outside on a blanket. He woke-up covered in slugs but said it was his best night of sleep on the trip so far....

Marian went his own way and got lost. We were meant to meet-up later on but we didn't see him for much of the day as he went to some village film location to meet some reality tv show peasant superstars....

We started today's ride by going to Ustrzyki Dolne and then heading South onto the big loop of the mountains. It was a little disappointing as there was a load of traffic and the roads were bumpy. We followed an old FSO Polonez that was an ex-Militia (Police) car. It was the real deal and still has all the writing and stuff on it. I wanted to film me overtaking it on double-white lines but I was slightly worried that it was being driven by a policeman. 

We turned-off to do a recommended double loop which was really nice and had the best views of the day. Whilst there I suggested that we go up to the road that takes you to the furthest South-Eastern corner of Poland which juts into Ukraine. There was nothing there apart from a car-park and loads of tourists, but the views were good. At one point a big deer jumped-out in front of Mateusz and Tomek, but it crossed the road promptly and nothing happened. Does remind you though that you need to take care.

We headed back down to re-join the loop and stopped in Cisna to have lunch in a famous axe-themed arty restaurant / bar. Had amazing potatoe pancakes with goulash - really tasty. We couldn't find Marian but he eventually called us to say that he had no clue where he was and that he was low on fuel..... so we left him to it and made our way along the remainder of the route and eventually back into Solina. He didn't come back for ages as he had no map and no clue where he was and which way to go! He's a people person though and isn't too proud to ask for directions. He arrived as it was getting dark and told us the tales of who he met and who he had a drink / smoke / snorted snuff with. Very funny night - I think he had a better day than us by the sound of his experiences!

Some of the route was very spectacular and many of the roads excellent, but overall it wasn't really any better than the Wye Valley in the UK...

We got back to the campsite just in time for a thunderstorm which came and went quickly, but we set-up under a shelter , made a fire, cooked some food and drank our beers. As we were about to go to bed, some people turned-up in a big mini-van and got themselves stuck trying to drive up to our camping spot. After much logistic effort and brute force, we managed to push them to safety....

Marian is now sleeping back under the stars - let's hope it stays dry. Tomorrow we head back North to one of my favourite Polish towns (or at least it was 25 years ago).....

Mileage: 1965
Country count: 6 (GB, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland)
Beers: 30 + Whiskey + Moonshine.....
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 4/10
Mechanical issues: 1 (oil leak on Mateusz's bike)
Accidents: 0
Wetness: 0/10
Coldness: 0/10