The overnight road noise from Highway 77 was incessant and soothing, because tents don't stop much except a few drops of moisture. My self-inflating air mattress has now proven to be self-deflating, something to do with that large rip in the lower seam. Other than that, the night was a success.
I have a towel somewhere in the pack, but stopped looking for it some time ago when I realised that it would never dry on a tour cyclist's schedule - the best method is to take a shower, body wipe with the hands, put on a swim suit, and just wait for air drying to complete the job - low humidity helps.
Porridge with mangoes for breakfast, pack a couple of peanut butter & jam sandwiches for an emergency lunch, fill up my Camelback in anticipation of another hot day on the road, and we're off.
Gergo has us heading cross-country for about 10km along dikes bordering the Vistula River, before settling down into the more familiar secondary- and tertiary-road network. Peter hops out of the van and joins me at 19km which is strange because I'm the 3rd rider and he's supposed to be "sweep", viz. after the 23rd rider. He proves his worth by quickly yelling at me when I miss a couple of easy flags, and seems to enjoy cruising along with me at 26-28kph.
There's a lovely wood church at 55km near a small community in the middle of a region of pine tree plantations.
When we arrive at the lunch van at 67km, Gergo reminds Peter that he has to wait for ALL the riders before leaving, which could be a couple of hours or so. Although this group isn't too spread out after the first 67km, with "Coke stops" and "pastry stops" and "ice cream stops", the last half of a day's ride can become very stretchhhhhhhhed out. Normally I arrive before 1pm, however, the last riders usually don't arrive until after 4pm. (Peter recounts a sectional rider from TransEuropa2014 whose normal speed was 10kph and she didn't normally arrive at the destination until after the Rider's Meeting and the start of supper at 6pm. Every day!)
Gergo has a logistical problem at 85km because of some road construction at a bridge underpass, so I catch up to the flagging van and give them an impetus for the next several minutes. After that, they're gone and I'm on my own again.
Getting hotter now, temperature probably close to 30C, and the route follows no definable direction or pattern. First we're climbing, then we're descending, first we turning southeast, then we're heading southwest, an interesting way to appreciate the countryside but the map also confirms that it IS the shortest route from point A to point B. Finally see a fallow deer alongside the highway, feeding on a crop of alfalfa, but looking very scrawny and undernourished.
The final turn on our itinerary is right and then up a little gulch, and 1.8km further our trail enters the property of Team Uchwat and the "Hotel Dwor Maria". Team Uchwat is a "horsie training facility" and the Hotel is the newly-constructed accommodation for the "horsie set" who come to train and compete at this facility.
This place is very active and 15 teenage girls are in residence and going through their paces. Our group of 26 cyclists and staff should be merely a blip on their young impressionable conscious remembrances of the week.
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