Important Change

I decided start a new version of my blog and also to change a bit the formula I run it (mainly because of being short of time). The page is located at:

bikekatowice.blogspot.com

Thanks a lot for all the visits to this page and I hope you will enjoy the new one!

Silesian Museum – Construction site pics

Fortunately the (future) Silesian Museum did not have to wait too long for my visit. I got there when riding home. In the process, not without a degree of satisfaction, I passed by several rows of car blocked by the traffic jams. The construction site itself is quite impressive (especially that I also had an chance to see in from the high perspective – the 16th floor of our office). For years, the place was the seat of Kopalnia Katowice (Katowice mine) and consisted of many, often quite nice, industrial buildings (many of them will be used in the new museum complex, while huge part of the new museum will be located underground). After the mine went dysfunctional, there was a risk that eventually all the buildings would be destroyed, so it was a positive piece of news that the new home for the Silesian Museum would use them (the move the old seat is long, long overdue – the current seat is in a nice building but it is by far too small and not modern enough).

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Way home +

There were several cycling plans for today, including new trips with Tom or Zaqu (or with both) but eventually all failed. Nevertheless, after some consideration (it must be honestly admitted) I decided to ride to work anyway and I planned to take a longer way home, starting with having a look at construction site of the new seat of the Silesian Museum. However, after only a few moments of pedalling I met an old friend Peter riding the opposite direction than I, and to my district (he lives very close to us) so I accompanied him home and then took a few additional km of riding to break the magical 10 km daily total 🙂 going to the park and via Jozefowiec. The museum trip will have to wait for its turn. Hopefully not too long:)

Industrial rainbow

My colleague and friend Tom has been dreaming about a bike for quite a while. At the very least since May 2009 when we had our first, and up to today only common bike trip (he rode his brother’s bike back then) to Mikolow – Reta area where he planned to build a home for his family.

The house has been since built (eventually in different location), he had his second child (me the third), and the dream was waiting but was realised very recently when Tom got an used, but very nice bike.

I rode to the office in the morning, but the weather seemed to take us hostage, as it several times threatened with very violent but also short lived rains. But when we finally set off about 4 pm it was very nice and clear. We rode rode along the Rawa boulevardes and then to the wastelands between Bogucice and Siemianowice. One of the goals of our expedition was to explore a road, leading from there to very Siemianowice, about which I had an impression that it had disappeared. In the past I took it many times, but since there were several occasions where I found this area literally impassable, for example during one solo trip about this time last year:

This time we again found much mud there but thanks to Tom’s stubborn and fearless approach (I must admit I was about to reverse) we passed it to get, after some hundred meters, to a more decent road. We continued, stopping once in a while to take pics of the postindustrial landscape and of a great rainbow that occured on the sky (that turned somewhat cloudy).

We got to Siemianowice after passing via a tunnel under railway and took parallel route to Katowice (not to return the same way).

Matejki Street neighbourhood is an area I never stop in when riding there, out of the fear that the locals are capable of taking my bike from under my ass… However when we were passing it today we had to stop to take some pics of an amazing rainbow (possibly Tom was not aware of the danger).

But then we speeded on due to increasing rain (evidently the weather had to rubberstamp today trip). We splitted near the church in Welnowiec district, with Tom returning to his car parked close to the office while I headed home via Rysia street, where a stranger would be forgiven for the feelings I usually have at Matejki…

I recently rediscovered the google earth application and I feel it will be way I will present my trips (at least the longer ones), at least untill I resolve an issue I have with properly embedding google maps with a track.

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Quest for the fall

On Tuesday I had a day off and spent it mostly with kids, often in the open air – despite feeling some after effect of playing football in cold Monday evening. In the morning I took Marianna and Bruno to their respective kindergarten/pre kindergarten activities. Waiting for Marion, Bruno and I walked a bit in a park belonging to the Franciscan monastery, in Panewniki district, looking for the signs of the autumn.

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The search continued in the afternoon, this time already on bike. I made two rides to the park, especially the one with Marion was quite long. Weather was nice for small riding, and there was no problem to find the autumn coming.

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Sunday ride

On Sunday I had an opportunity to have a solo ride and test the small fixes we made to my bike yesterday /mainly around the brakes and the chain/. With time a bit limited, I focused on the ride itself, and I chose to use some path in the wood part of the park, but the style I rode was quite prudent, out of the respect to my lower back and a new inner tube in my rear wheel /and also due to lack of a spare one/. But still I managed to take some pics:)

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1st Saturday of the autumn

The astronomical autumn started this week, and while one could successfully argue that the weather is now much nicer than on many literally summer days, searching for autumn sign was the main theme of the weekend. Already on Saturday morning, when driving a human engineed vehicle other than bike I took some pics of trees or bushes getting ready for the fall. Early afternoon Marion and I set for a small ride to the park. We started by going to a part of it we rarely visit. It is the area roughly along Agnieszki street, that used to host a lot of ‘dzialki’. Dzialka, or Ogrodek /lit. Small garden/ is a part of land where one has recreational garden, often with a small hut /called lauba in Silesian/, where family or friends can come for barbecue and/or alcoholizing. It is also a way to pursue gardening if you live in a block of flats in a city. The Dzialka’s are usually located in large number together. The area we toured used to be of one the nicest of this type, also due to its vicinity to the park. As the place is a bit hilly, it often brought me associations with Asian terraces rice fields. Especially in times of my studies, I was to some fine garden parties there, as some of my friends /or their parents/ had a Dzialka there. However, a few years ago the gardens were abandoned /I guess that it possibly may be due to some legal issues over the ownership of the land/ and the place is quite devastaded, with very few remaining of sometimes very splendid gardens and huts looted and often burnt.

Then we rode to the central part of the park where we went to one of Marion’s most favourite parts of it – so called Japanese garden.

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Place I’ve never been to

As mentioned in yesterday post, today I planned to make up for the unsufficient amount of riding yesterday (though the evening ride with Marion was really lovely). I started with using my bike as a commuting tool, quite early in the morning. For the afternoon I was to go for a party held by a colleague from team who bought a flat recently. Polish tradition calls such event a windowsill party:) We left the office at 16, but as some preparations still needed to take place I chose to take a longer route. I initially was thinking about just riding via 3 ponds area and getting to Brynow through Muchowiec. But I was keeping in mind an idea of something new. I turned out of standard 3 ponds route near the municipal cementery. I wanted to encircle it counterclockwise, starting from the south wall, but I was tempted by a bike mark on the path and I started from the north, entering a more and more thick forest. Soon I realized I had never been there. I knew there is a lake in this wood and I made it my destination. My gps tool led me very well and soon I was standing by the lake.

I wasn’t too willing to return using the same way and the map suggested I could take an alternative path. It was not easy to spot and the accountered fisherman wasn’t able to help. I decided to follow my instinct as well as the azimuth. There something like a narrow path in high grass and I followed it. After a while ( I managed to ride but very slowly and with difficulty) the path was wider and also the map was indicating I was on correct course. Having compled sort of triangle I returned to 3 ponds and speeded to Brynow. Very close to the destination I discovered a puncture. Fortunately I had set of basic bike tools and above all a spare inner tube with me and during the party, and with a little help of a friend I managed to change it.

Having spent some time there (the flat is really nice) and filled up the fluids (no alc – I would lose my driving license if got catched after drinking it, and with all my use of bike, I still need it:)) I set off way home. The rear brake didn’t work, I had no lights (it was dark by the time I returned) but I managed to make home safely:)

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End of silence

I have been quiet on my blog for a while, but it does not mean that I did not ride at all. I had a lot of small rides with kids and I rode to work quite often, however in fact I did not have any big ride. Actually, the focus was shifted to football – basing on a group from my company playing every Thursday (I played with them only several times), we were invited to face a team from the Cracow department. So there we went on sunny Saturday and returned with respectable draw 2-2. Then, an idea popped up to create a team to play in the Red Box amateur league (where I played with FC Tytan for years, up to last December) and I was invited to join (no initiative from my part, really).

In biking terms, the most common area where I rode recently were Chorzów Park (of course), Bike City in Koszutka and so called Black Park in Wełnowiec (which carries a nice association with the German Black Forrest where I hope to ride one day).
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Last Saturday I also made a small ride (some 10km ) by Pogoria IV lake, where we were with Marianna and Bruno (my dad in law has a sort of garden there).

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Today is “a day without car”, which is quite celebrated in our company. I hoped that for me it would be rather “ a week without car” and that possibly once or twice I will not take the straightest way home… even though I may have difficulties with finding a companion, as weather isn’t too friendly and Michal is preparing for important legal exams and Zaqu is staying in NYC for some time… The first chance for this was on Tuesday after work, when I went along the “Boulevards of Rawa”, but then I was recalled home 😀 and quickly returned via Bogucice borough.

Paradoxically, on the very day without car I could not go by bike to the office, as I had to wear a suit, but I plan to make up for it tomorrow. In fact, I started making up this afternoon, with a small ride with Marion:

After work…

Today I used the plan that was initially drafted for Friday – taking advantage of Ania’s taking kids to the fairground. I planned to head from the office to 3 Ponds area via the neighbourhood of the University of Economics but soon after I set off I met my old running coach – Krzysztof with whom I had small chat and I changed my route a bit to accompany him on his way to the church at Graniczna street. He told me a fun story (he’s famous for his storytelling) about how a text from a marathon runner saying  “it was very hot, my rabbit died at 25th km” raised a suspicion of acute animal mistreatment at our common friend whom he refused to name. So I got the 3 Ponds area from slightly different side that I had planned but eventually it proved a good point as it cut the route short by a little and I was at home just in time to tidy up.

I speeded trough the main asphalt alley at nice pace though I needed to mind the blade skaters who frequent this area (because of good surface quality and lighting). Then I rode Gawronow (Rooks’) street to get to Brynów district when I decided to have a look at an object I had been planning to see for a while and which might,  quite shortly, literally cease to exist – the stadium of Gwardia Katowice near the Kosciuszko Park. My friend Maciek told me about it several times and I eventually managed to get there. The stadium is in extremely ruined state, basically if you didn’t know it used to be a stadium you would be forgiven for not guessing it. The pitch (said to be playable not so long ago) is covered with bushes and only parts of the concrete stands remain. It is a perfect spot for local tramps so I moved very cautiously and didn’t get too deep into it.

Afterwards I dug the net a bit to find more about the stadium and discovered that it was initially used by 1 FC Katowice, a football team my granddad refused to join because of its German associations back in the 1930s, preferring to stay in Kolejarz Katowice that played on lower level league. I managed to have a spell at both of them but times had changed a bit… (however, the Kolejarz chapter lasted much longer). And that’s just a small aspect of extremely complicated history of Silesia.

Next I went via Kosciuszko Park and returned via the centre town part of Katowice, taking a stop to take some pictures of St. Peter & Paul church, the first cathedral in Katowice, and then of some building in the old downtown.

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