OK, the ride through Germany was very nice, we had mainly nice weather and a lot of cycling lanes. The germans are not very accurate with distances though. It happened many times that it was indicated a number of kilometres to reach one point and later on the same road this number was greater !! Mmmhmhmhmm...... We spent a day and a half in Dresden which is a very nice city and then headed to Poland via Gorlitz.
Poland was flat, quite cheap and people there were very very nice and helpful. We had a very good impression of Poland and a lot of people spoke english. We spent one night at my friend Kuba and his wife and their children's place. We were very well hosted and we have been given some polish chicken with polish couscous for our lunch on the road the day after !! Also, on our way to Kazimierz Dolny (that we couldn't reach because it was not possible to cross the river ; no bridge and the ferry was not working) we met Maria in Janowiec. Maria is an archeologist and she made us visit the Castle in Janowiec where we slept. Also, the day after we rode to Lublin where we met her again and she showed us the old city that she knows very well for having grown up there. From Lublin which is a very nice city we rode in the night and rain to Chelm. It was quite horrible and stressful...... And from Chelm we went to Ukraine !!
Ukraine is very poor. Poland looks like America next to it. People do not speak much english here and a lot of them do not smile..... The road from Poland to Kiev was heaven though ; straight, flat, in a good state and with a wide hard shoulder just for us. We cycled through a lot of forest and I didn't have to fight any bears. It became a bit boring though because quite monotonous....... Before entering Kiev, the traffic went a lot more dense, the hard shoulder kind of disappeared and the ride became a lot less pleasant. Before Kiev (30 km before) we went through a city that was built in the forest !! Basically, it was a city but they didn't cut the threes so it was very weird. Then we enterd Kiev....... Chaotic. Very dangerous. I saw a cyclist been ran over (at very low speed) by a car. He just went back up on his feet, picked up his bike and carried on his journey !! As if nothing happened. And all that 20m from the police !!!!! I don't know if they saw it or not but they didn't move. According to Julia, Kiev is a bit similar to Beijing.....
In kiev, we met Nastia (Julia's friend) who showed us a bit of the city and we all together walked through a road under construction/renovation with buldozers, holes in the ground and workers that didn't bat an eyelid when people walked through the building site.
Well, so far I am very happy with my recumbent bicycle. It is a Optima Orca => http://www.optimabikes.com/
I have absolutely no pain in my hands, no pain in my back and no pain in my bum. The only pain I have, after riding for a long time, is in my shoulders because of the position on the bicycle and that wasn't expected. The pain is decreasing though because I am getting used to the position. Otherwise it is MUCH better to ride such a bike for a long ride than a normal upright bicycle. The control and maneuverability of the bike is much more of a pain in a city though, especially at low speed. For that, normal bikes are better. But for long rides there is no comparaison possible. Also I can load the bike with a lot of luggages and my loaded bike is extremely heavy. I have to say that I have put a cheap suspended front fork and it weighs a lot more than a normal one. But I do not regret it because the ride is very comfortable and the forks swallows more or less everything.
Also I am using SPD pedals (my feet are attached to the pedals) and it is a lot better than normal pedals ; with this kind of pedals you can not only push on them but you can also pull and move the pedals in a circle way which makes the ride a lot more efficient and much easier in up hills. We you are tired of pushing, you start pulling !!
Unfortunately I am having troubles with my german Schwalbe front tyre. It is brand new but it seems to be faulty. There is a kind of lump in it and I can feel it when I ride. Very annoying......
Poland was flat, quite cheap and people there were very very nice and helpful. We had a very good impression of Poland and a lot of people spoke english. We spent one night at my friend Kuba and his wife and their children's place. We were very well hosted and we have been given some polish chicken with polish couscous for our lunch on the road the day after !! Also, on our way to Kazimierz Dolny (that we couldn't reach because it was not possible to cross the river ; no bridge and the ferry was not working) we met Maria in Janowiec. Maria is an archeologist and she made us visit the Castle in Janowiec where we slept. Also, the day after we rode to Lublin where we met her again and she showed us the old city that she knows very well for having grown up there. From Lublin which is a very nice city we rode in the night and rain to Chelm. It was quite horrible and stressful...... And from Chelm we went to Ukraine !!
Ukraine is very poor. Poland looks like America next to it. People do not speak much english here and a lot of them do not smile..... The road from Poland to Kiev was heaven though ; straight, flat, in a good state and with a wide hard shoulder just for us. We cycled through a lot of forest and I didn't have to fight any bears. It became a bit boring though because quite monotonous....... Before entering Kiev, the traffic went a lot more dense, the hard shoulder kind of disappeared and the ride became a lot less pleasant. Before Kiev (30 km before) we went through a city that was built in the forest !! Basically, it was a city but they didn't cut the threes so it was very weird. Then we enterd Kiev....... Chaotic. Very dangerous. I saw a cyclist been ran over (at very low speed) by a car. He just went back up on his feet, picked up his bike and carried on his journey !! As if nothing happened. And all that 20m from the police !!!!! I don't know if they saw it or not but they didn't move. According to Julia, Kiev is a bit similar to Beijing.....
In kiev, we met Nastia (Julia's friend) who showed us a bit of the city and we all together walked through a road under construction/renovation with buldozers, holes in the ground and workers that didn't bat an eyelid when people walked through the building site.
Well, so far I am very happy with my recumbent bicycle. It is a Optima Orca => http://www.optimabikes.com/
I have absolutely no pain in my hands, no pain in my back and no pain in my bum. The only pain I have, after riding for a long time, is in my shoulders because of the position on the bicycle and that wasn't expected. The pain is decreasing though because I am getting used to the position. Otherwise it is MUCH better to ride such a bike for a long ride than a normal upright bicycle. The control and maneuverability of the bike is much more of a pain in a city though, especially at low speed. For that, normal bikes are better. But for long rides there is no comparaison possible. Also I can load the bike with a lot of luggages and my loaded bike is extremely heavy. I have to say that I have put a cheap suspended front fork and it weighs a lot more than a normal one. But I do not regret it because the ride is very comfortable and the forks swallows more or less everything.
Also I am using SPD pedals (my feet are attached to the pedals) and it is a lot better than normal pedals ; with this kind of pedals you can not only push on them but you can also pull and move the pedals in a circle way which makes the ride a lot more efficient and much easier in up hills. We you are tired of pushing, you start pulling !!
Unfortunately I am having troubles with my german Schwalbe front tyre. It is brand new but it seems to be faulty. There is a kind of lump in it and I can feel it when I ride. Very annoying......
