Bike at Base of Babia
cycling
Tatras from Babia
Riding and Hiking
Seven lessons, a bike ride to the top of Lipnica, then a hike up Babia – any wonder I’m tired? I am actually well beyond that. I was mentally exhausted before I left for Babia; now I’m just a little numb all over. I’m even having trouble putting the day in order.
Classes went fine today. It was a huge day, but I survived. Around March I will be hating Tuesdays with a totally overwhelming passion. I even managed to make it through IIB. I think they really dislike me by this time. Such is life – I’ve only got to deal with them twice a week.
The trip up Babia was exhausting but well worth the effort. There were about four different terrains on the way up. First, a well-logged and rather sparse pine forest. Then we followed a creek for a while, and it really had an Abbram’s Fall feel. Then it just headed straight up the mountain, like going to Skagg’s Gap. Finally, the forest broke to low shrubs with occasional pine trees no more than twenty feet tall. We didn’t make it to the top, though. We probably had another twenty to thirty minutes to get there. Next time, maybe.
Closing thoughts: From a couple of vantage points I could see the Tatra Mountains in the distance. They jut up from the plains like the Rockies: suddenly and almost unexpectedly. They are not smooth and pristine (like Babia) – they are ragged and haphazard, with sharp peaks. A mist/haze obscured the view a little bit, but Roy said it was about as clear as he’d ever seen it. It was a magnificent site.
Here and There Friday
I rode my bike for a couple of hours today. I went up to Kiczory first–road to the end of the road, to the point where the road became someone’s private drive. Babia loomed in the clear sky; her peak was visible for the first time in weeks: it was covered with snow. After that I rode out toward Lipnica Mała. I thought about going on to see LM, but I decided to save that for another day.
All over this area people are out in the fields today. Either taking up the rotting wealth or the water-logged potatoes, people filled the fields. Some were working with horses, others with tractors of various ages and conditions. At some (rather, many, even most) places whole families were working: grandparents, children, grandchildren. I felt a little strange riding around sight-seeing while everyone else struggled to get the crops in — a matter of survival in some sense, I’m sure.
I talked to Roy for a little bit today: I asked him how one goes about meeting people around here. “You don’t,” he laughed. “Besides, most people our age [ what is “our age” anyway?] are already married with kids.” He has a point — but it does seem possible that I could meet some folks, someone I could spend time with, do something — anything.
As I rode around today I encountered several students — my students. It was a nice experience.
First Bike, First Ride
I was supposed to go to Mike’s in Jabłonka tonight – well, I told him I might. But I was simply too tired, for I rode my bike back from Nowy Targ today: a 40+ kilometer ride that I did in two hours, forty minutes. It was an utterly exhausting experience. Just after you get out of Nowy Targ there is a long stretch of road which is straight with slight hills, most of which are slight inclines than ever really present the welcome downhill slope I was seeking. I must say that I felt a little like Sysyphus, for each time I got to the top of one hill, another loomed in the distance.
I felt such astoundingly intense pain in my legs at some points. My thighs burned for the last hour and a half and my left knee began aching after a while. Yet I knew there was no way I could stop. What choice did I have? Yet the utter necessity of the journey did nothing for my legs.
Of course that was not enough pain for me – I went to Danuta’s about an hour after I got back home. I did not know that the whole six kilometers are a gradual slope . . . upwards. The pain in my legs returned and only intensified as I went along. The advantage is that the return trip was much faster and with a little less pain.
Consummer
Today has been quite a day for me. I bought a bike (even though I told my folks I would wait), bed clothes, and spices (including basil and soy sauce). And I finally got my bank account set up. I do think Danuta was getting tired of worrying with that whole mess. I am glad it’s over, too.
I had a brief talk with Roy this afternoon, rather evening. He told me my lighting problem will not get fixed until I become really upset about it. Such cynicism – it is quite, well, not depressing but a little disheartening. I don’t know what I would expect, but not that.