Katowice - Rybnik

The route connects the centers of two Silesian agglomerations - the Upper Silesian Industrial District and the Rybnik Coal Basin. It leads along roads excluded from motor vehicle traffic or with low intensity. Most of these are paved roads, occasionally gravel sections appear (mainly in forested sections). 1. KATOWICE: From the PKP station, we head towards Altus - first along 3 Maja Street, through the Market Square along Teatralna Street and, after crossing the Rawa, along Uniwersytecka Street - to get onto the bike path leading to os. Gwiazdy. There, we head for Bogucicka Street, cross Rawa again, and following its 'current', we follow Murckowska Avenue, where we travel along the red bicycle route through the Valley of Three Ponds, through the areas of the Staszic mine, until reaching the intersection with the blue trail (to the left), which will take us to Ochojec. Riding on one of the few sections of the segregated bike path on the road, we reach the underpass under the DK81 - from there we continue on the blue route until we reach the Zadole Park in Ligota. Here we switch to the yellow route and ride it until we get to the fork in the forest, where the trail bends right, and we go straight - until we reach the railway crossing on Owsiana Street. 2. MIKOŁÓW: On the other side of the road, we will be greeted by the black trail. We part ways with it only at Reta Śmiłowicka Street, where we turn left, and after a few additional changes of direction, we find ourselves on the viaduct over the DK81, which is the popular Wiślanka. We descend to Jana Pawła II Street, which leads us directly to the Mikołów Market. From there, we head towards the parking lot and the pedestrian crossing leading to Planty Park. We will need to use the stairs. We ride along the main route, cross Karola Miarki Street and head towards the second part of the park, which we leave at any point heading left towards the quite busy 3 Maja Street, which we leave at the next intersection by turning right. 3. ŁAZISKA GÓRNE: At the point where Nowy Świat Street bends to the right, we go straight and reach the top along a gravel road, where the historic water tower is located. From there, Górnicza Street will lead us to the underground crossing under the DK81. On the other side, we head towards the Plus supermarket, cross the railway passage and descend to the car dealership, where we turn left and go until we reach the forest boundary - there, we choose the middle road that will lead us straight to Orzesz. 4. ORZESZE: After about 5 km, we exit the forest near the Orzesze Glassworks, turn left onto the busy Gliwicka Street, and after about 100 m, turn left again. Before the first railway crossing, we turn right and head towards the station. After passing the station, we cross Gliwicka Street again and ride calmly until we reach Jaśkowice, admiring (in good weather) the panorama of the Beskids. At the end of Fabryczna Street, the first signs of the bike trail will appear - which will lead us, unfortunately not without obstacles, all the way to Rybnik. 5. CZERWIONKA - LESZCZYNY: The first hitch is the construction of the A1 motorway - the designers clearly forgot about the existence of the trail and covered a very good route with a mound several meters high. Two options remain - either descend onto the public road (as shown), or look for a culvert under the highway (about 50 m to the right of the road that follows the trail) - the only downside is the relatively small clearance (diameter 2 m) and the sludge that accumulates after rains. After dealing with the highway, we face a crossing through Czerwionka - Dębieńsko. Returning to the trail, we pass buildings related to the mine - on the left a workers' estate with traditional tenements, and on the right the mine itself. We reach the viaduct. The trail leads below it, down the stairs... Then we reach Leszczyny through a well-marked section. We emerge on a hill by the viaduct above the tracks and go 50 m along the main road before turning left into a narrow residential lane (Gen. Sikorski). 6. RYBNIK: The trail will lead us to a recreation center in the Kamień district of Rybnik. The trail gets lost for a moment in the woods, but we go straight to find it again shortly. We ride it to the roundabout on Gliwicka Street, where we need to merge into traffic for a moment. After exiting the roundabout, we look for the black bicycle route - it will lead us along urban bike paths of fair quality (in minority) and good (in majority) until we reach the PKP station.