The
long-awaited four days of all-out logout. Corpo-world left behind, not a
thought about what lies ahead on Monday, weather fine. A sin not to make the
most of it.
Thursday,
Corpus Christi.
Morning
starts off with mundane stuff, overdue house-cleaning and ironing. Then drove
my mother to the nearby cemetery where my maternal grandparents are buried.
Before 10 a.m. duties are marked off, the bike beckons to set off for a ride.
Cycling through Las Kabacki I head towards Park Kultury w Powsinie. No droves
of people, rather few visitors hang around. I need to bear in mind many people
participate in Church processions, many are away from Warsaw, while many sleep
off and miss out on the excellent weather. It’s sunny, yet only around +20C,
pleasantly warm, yet not hot. I sit back for a while then make my way home
along southern edges of the forest. I spend the afternoon in the garden where
lots of work needs to be caught up with.
Friday, the
day in-between
Business
before pleasure as they say. I briskly walk to the swimming pool in Piaseczno,
return home, switch on the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner. Two hours
later I can go outside, clean the car inside and spend the rest of the day
working in the garden, sunbathing, then washing the car. I feel my shoulders
are slightly sunburnt. A soothing ointment applied in the evening and tomorrow
the pink skin and searing will be gone.
Saturday,
it’s downhill now
Feel my
spine and muscles have had a decent workout. After another visit to the swimming pool reinvigorates
me. Just like yesterday few swimmers in the facility. After a round of
household chores… The bike beckons again. It’s already hot, +25C and the
sunrays not necessarily treat human skin with care. I ride to Zalesie Dolne,
nearby former summer resort, currently still a hangout for scores of locals.
It’s late morning, yet the area is far from being densely occupied. Some fishy
men stick around. I jump off the bike to take a snap with my mobile and post in
on facebook. I realise I have just run out of my data packet for this month so
I need to fall back on my company phone to turn on the Wi-fi router and make
use of the other phone if I am to show off where I am. The whole operations
lasts some two minutes, I turn around to get on my bike… Where’s the bike. No
one in sight, not a bike in sight. This came to me as a surprise. Who’d want
it? The value of my 12-year-old cheapo bike was close to scrap value… Actually
the bigger nuisance than loss of the bike is having to walk back home some
seven kilometres in full sunshine, without head covering. Once I get to
Piaseczno I consider taking a 709 or 727 bus home, yet knowing I am half-way
home and I would need to wait on the terminus till the bus departs, then ride
its regular route, I decide to continue on foot. Slightly worn-down, I get home
before 1 p.m. Spend the rest of the day loafing about and searching for a new
bike.
Sunday,
today
What a
lovely weather. Wind takes the edge off heat. At 9 a.m. I venture to local
Decathlon store. I’m looking for a no-frill, basic, yet up-to-the-mark in terms
of quality bike for weekend trips (I estimate I cover between 1,000 and 1,500
kilometres per year). I planned to delay purchase of the new bike until late
summer when end-of-season sell-offs begin, but the theft has unexpectedly brought
forward my plans. I settle for B’twin Rockrider 340 and buy additional
accessories: mud flaps, saddle cover and a prop. The bill is reasonable:
slightly below 900 PLN with preparatory works included. I ride off the shop and
the impression is comparable to moving from a 12-year-old rickety car to a
brand-new car. I took a short ride to Ursynów and back to try out the newly
purchased vehicle. It’s a no-frill bike, one cannot deny it, yet everything
works smoothly and gently and cycling is less tiresome. The change reminds me
one can draw lots of pleasure from riding. I promise to have the bike serviced
annually and protect it from the elements of weather and thieves, therefore it
will be kept in the garage (and then probably in a storage box).
Hope you
also had an enjoyable weekend. Exercise done, but has the test been passed?
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