... And , it was raining all night too, only I did not care much in my warm bed. I was waking up in the valley of the sun, surrounded by clouds that peered over the mountains from all sides. So eagerly I got on my bike and took of. After 5km I made a u-turn got back to the hostel, picked up stuff I left and tried again heading towards the first pass of the day close to Raba Wyna. And indeed, there was snow falling last night, which lay beside the road as I gained altitude. Climbing the last few meters, the road headed exactly south, the mountains of the Tatra appeared at the horizont. It was a very emotional moment, my eyes filled with tears of joy and release. The sky was black and the mountains white, it looked like heaven there.
But seeing the snow there I then was absolutely sure, that I won't venture through the heart of the Tatra. Yesterday I looked at a map and it's even hard to find hiking trails that cross the border from Poland to Slovakia and none of the trails crossing the Tatra north south was designated as bike trail. And my fathers comment about this areas wildness echoing in my mind, I don't want to go and try which of the hiking trails would be manageable with a touring bike. But it looks very tempting to return with a mtb.
Heading further to Chocholow and thus closing up one the border, the wind was in my face, and with the cold it was a bit of a fight. But when I arriveed there I made a break in front of the church, where a couple of minutes later a wedding took place. The people where showing up in the traditional cloths, a little chapel was playing, really beautiful.
Right after crossing the border, in Vitanova, I realized that the lunch, which was more a snack, that I bought with my zloty was really not enough. The cold plus the more demanding terrain asked for a warm meal. So I did a second lunch break.
The road towards Zuberec lead through a small vally. Nice street, low traffic and sheltered from the wind those was a really nice ride. There was a little rain, which I bearly noticed, since I got more wet from sweating, so no diving suit needed.
In Zuberec after crossing another pass, I was wondering weather to head for the next towards Liptovsky Mikolas. But it was past four, and at six is sunset (more than and hour earlier then when I left from Dresden), furthermore black clouds where bulging over the mountains further south, so I called it a day.
But seeing the snow there I then was absolutely sure, that I won't venture through the heart of the Tatra. Yesterday I looked at a map and it's even hard to find hiking trails that cross the border from Poland to Slovakia and none of the trails crossing the Tatra north south was designated as bike trail. And my fathers comment about this areas wildness echoing in my mind, I don't want to go and try which of the hiking trails would be manageable with a touring bike. But it looks very tempting to return with a mtb.
Heading further to Chocholow and thus closing up one the border, the wind was in my face, and with the cold it was a bit of a fight. But when I arriveed there I made a break in front of the church, where a couple of minutes later a wedding took place. The people where showing up in the traditional cloths, a little chapel was playing, really beautiful.
Right after crossing the border, in Vitanova, I realized that the lunch, which was more a snack, that I bought with my zloty was really not enough. The cold plus the more demanding terrain asked for a warm meal. So I did a second lunch break.
The road towards Zuberec lead through a small vally. Nice street, low traffic and sheltered from the wind those was a really nice ride. There was a little rain, which I bearly noticed, since I got more wet from sweating, so no diving suit needed.
In Zuberec after crossing another pass, I was wondering weather to head for the next towards Liptovsky Mikolas. But it was past four, and at six is sunset (more than and hour earlier then when I left from Dresden), furthermore black clouds where bulging over the mountains further south, so I called it a day.
