After the late-night arrival of many of the participants, Cycle Poland 2012 got underway, despite a certain person falling off his bike before we even left the hotel, who shall not be named for the sake of preserving his remaining dignity. However, I can reveal that his name begins with P- and ends with -rasan. After a rather late start due to some people (DAVE) thinking that an 8.40 am start meant a 10.30 am lie-in, we were underway.
After a few mishaps assembling the bikes, we cycled to the first hospice in Bielsko, via a cobbled hill (great fun in the morning), and to a lavish breakfast. We met the volunteers from St. Camil’s Hospice, where it all started, and walked to the building site of a new residential hospice. Though not yet finished, it has noticeably progressed from last year, and is hopefully due to open in 2014, when it will be a real benefit to the community of Bielsko-Biala. Following our hospice visits, we cycled to Gemini Park, a local shopping centre, where we were greeted by a fantastic crowd of enthusiastic cyclists, hospice supporters, friends and family. Highlights of the opening ceremony at Gemini Park included a singing children’s choir, interesting face paint choices, and traditional Polish dances supported by a particularly enthusiastic teacher. We all ended up onstage ourselves (clearly our natural home, due the gracefulness with which we ascended it) to present equipment and funds to the Bielsko hospices. All of us, that is, apart from Jez, who bought some very last-minute cycling gear including some rather brilliant red shorts in team colours.
After the ribbon was cut, we left for the first stretch of CP2012, joined by dozens of locals, which was a brilliant sight to see, even some tiny, tiny children. Despite an incident in which we all got lost, despite the (fairly) clear ribbons displayed by someone who had cycled the route the day before, we all made it to the 5km point, where many of the local cyclists left us. We continued to the Bialy Krzyz pass, with more people leaving us as we got higher, with only the dedicated, die-hard cyclists (and me), making it to the MASSIVE HILL that led to the 900+m high pass. We recovered on a beautiful 7km long descent, and made our way to Cieszyn, our stop-over for the night, with only one puncture along the way (surprisingly not Janusz, for once). There, we met up with some hospice volunteers in the town square, and visited a girl under the care of the hospice: Dominika, aged 12. Along with seeing the hospices in Bielsko, this really helped to emphasise just how important the money raised is.
We finally limped towards the hotel, where we had a lovely dinner (food, yay!) with the hospice volunteers, who had made us some beautiful guardian angels. We all went to bed ridiculously early, although this didn’t necessarily help some people getting up the next day, who missed breakfast and had to run out of the door hurriedly eating a slice of bread... again, Dave. And Jez. Hopefully their punctuality may improve over time... hopefully.
After a few mishaps assembling the bikes, we cycled to the first hospice in Bielsko, via a cobbled hill (great fun in the morning), and to a lavish breakfast. We met the volunteers from St. Camil’s Hospice, where it all started, and walked to the building site of a new residential hospice. Though not yet finished, it has noticeably progressed from last year, and is hopefully due to open in 2014, when it will be a real benefit to the community of Bielsko-Biala. Following our hospice visits, we cycled to Gemini Park, a local shopping centre, where we were greeted by a fantastic crowd of enthusiastic cyclists, hospice supporters, friends and family. Highlights of the opening ceremony at Gemini Park included a singing children’s choir, interesting face paint choices, and traditional Polish dances supported by a particularly enthusiastic teacher. We all ended up onstage ourselves (clearly our natural home, due the gracefulness with which we ascended it) to present equipment and funds to the Bielsko hospices. All of us, that is, apart from Jez, who bought some very last-minute cycling gear including some rather brilliant red shorts in team colours.
After the ribbon was cut, we left for the first stretch of CP2012, joined by dozens of locals, which was a brilliant sight to see, even some tiny, tiny children. Despite an incident in which we all got lost, despite the (fairly) clear ribbons displayed by someone who had cycled the route the day before, we all made it to the 5km point, where many of the local cyclists left us. We continued to the Bialy Krzyz pass, with more people leaving us as we got higher, with only the dedicated, die-hard cyclists (and me), making it to the MASSIVE HILL that led to the 900+m high pass. We recovered on a beautiful 7km long descent, and made our way to Cieszyn, our stop-over for the night, with only one puncture along the way (surprisingly not Janusz, for once). There, we met up with some hospice volunteers in the town square, and visited a girl under the care of the hospice: Dominika, aged 12. Along with seeing the hospices in Bielsko, this really helped to emphasise just how important the money raised is.
We finally limped towards the hotel, where we had a lovely dinner (food, yay!) with the hospice volunteers, who had made us some beautiful guardian angels. We all went to bed ridiculously early, although this didn’t necessarily help some people getting up the next day, who missed breakfast and had to run out of the door hurriedly eating a slice of bread... again, Dave. And Jez. Hopefully their punctuality may improve over time... hopefully.
RSS Feed
