This morning we were joined by the much-awaited celebrity: Joanna Jablczynska. She cycled with us for the whole day, keeping up with the team and impressing us all with her cycling ability. We retraced the last part of yesterday's route through the hills into Elblag, where we were greeted by a surprise: a car park full of Lycra. It seems that Polish cyclists have no limit, with a huge variety on offer, though some should never ever be repeated. Ever.
Joined by 'somewhere between fifty and one hundred' cyclists from local cycling clubs, we set off from Elblag and pushed on to Gdansk. As a 'rolling roadblock' we seemed to annoy many passing cars, though of course their vigorous beeping of car horns could have just been their way of saying 'hello, you amazing cyclists.' At the 80km mark we left most of these cyclists behind so that they could take their swimming trunk/Lycra combinations to the nearby beach, but of course we didn't leave before being presented with some very fetching 'Elblag cycling club' badges.
The stretch into Gdansk involved many a river crossing, including one ferry crossing, which was a novelty. Shortly after we were met by volunteers from the Gdansk hospice who escorted us into town. By now most of us were used to the fame and glory of cycling quite a long way, but random photographers holding up motorway traffic just to snap a few photos of us was quite new. Aside from a short stretch pushing the bikes over the unavoidable stretch of cobbles, we finished the 1000 (and a bit, the bike computers dispute how far) in style, with a sprint finish up the sadly uncobbled hill to the hospice. Killer and Stu led the charge, followed by the 'Fujitsu Boys' and even Anita overtook some people. Though a few people were left at the lights before the finish, we all made it safe and sound and extremely proud of ourselves.
We received a fantastic welcome at the Gdansk hospice, complete with finishing line and masses of Polish sausages.
Joined by 'somewhere between fifty and one hundred' cyclists from local cycling clubs, we set off from Elblag and pushed on to Gdansk. As a 'rolling roadblock' we seemed to annoy many passing cars, though of course their vigorous beeping of car horns could have just been their way of saying 'hello, you amazing cyclists.' At the 80km mark we left most of these cyclists behind so that they could take their swimming trunk/Lycra combinations to the nearby beach, but of course we didn't leave before being presented with some very fetching 'Elblag cycling club' badges.
The stretch into Gdansk involved many a river crossing, including one ferry crossing, which was a novelty. Shortly after we were met by volunteers from the Gdansk hospice who escorted us into town. By now most of us were used to the fame and glory of cycling quite a long way, but random photographers holding up motorway traffic just to snap a few photos of us was quite new. Aside from a short stretch pushing the bikes over the unavoidable stretch of cobbles, we finished the 1000 (and a bit, the bike computers dispute how far) in style, with a sprint finish up the sadly uncobbled hill to the hospice. Killer and Stu led the charge, followed by the 'Fujitsu Boys' and even Anita overtook some people. Though a few people were left at the lights before the finish, we all made it safe and sound and extremely proud of ourselves.
We received a fantastic welcome at the Gdansk hospice, complete with finishing line and masses of Polish sausages.