Dookoła Polski 16 dzień (Gąski-Sasino)

16th day Tuesday 19.07.2011

Distance 191.0 km Time 9.11 h Avg speed 20.8 km/h Max speed 41.4 km/h

In the morning, we set off with Andrzej, he to Dąbki, I to Sasin. While riding in western Poland, I remembered that my coworker Piotrek is spending his vacation by the sea with his family. After a short phone call, I invited myself to stay overnight. Andrzej stops for a moment in Gąski and tells me to ride on, that he will catch up with me soon. He was riding without saddlebags. Just when I thought we had missed each other somewhere, we met in Mielno. We soon said goodbye again, as I remembered that I could see an old acquaintance, Anetta. It worked out, a short break for a chat over coffee. I ride on through the next seaside towns heading towards Ustka. On the way, a pair of young German tourists passes me. I catch their wheel. They have a good pace, I particularly admire the girl's form. After a few, maybe several dozen kilometers, another group of cyclists appears in the distance. It's Asia, Mirek, and Tomek, who joined this pair, as he couldn't ride with them from the start. Now we have a serious cycling peloton of 6 people!!! The Germans take a break after a while. We say goodbye and head to Ustka for lunch. In the pub, there's fish soup, of course, a short break and back on the road because I still have quite a few km ahead of me. For a moment I ride alone and then another passing German tourist suggests that I join him. But he has a pace of 25-30 km/h, and that's on slightly hilly terrain. Another thing is that he rides a road bike with 6 kg of luggage. When I told him that I was dropping back because I couldn't keep up, he slows down. A brief conversation, he turns off to Smołdzino, and I take a break to recover from that sprint. After that, I ride alone (a rarity on this day) to Piotrek's crew. The acquaintance is surprised that I'm already here, he hardly recognized me. It's because of the substantial beard I had been growing since the beginning of the expedition. As a welcome, I received such a large portion of scrambled eggs. The first civilized overnight stay after a long break, along with a shower and a small wash of clothes. A pleasant evening with beer and chatting.