Start: Rzeszów, Poland
End: Przemyśl, Poland
Distance: 78.8km
Elevation Gain: 2906ft
Elevation Loss: 2957ft
Time: 6h45m
Reading Material: Red Cavalry and Other Stories – Isaac Babel
Audio Material: Stuff You Should Know podcast; Paul Simon: 1964-1993 – Paul Simon
Description
Another day of constant rain. It’s not so bad when riding and generating heat, but quite cold and clammy when stopped. I stay mostly dry in rain gear except the footsies which have to spend the entire day in wet wool.
The terrain is getting hilly and approaching Przemyśl I had to negotiate the steep incline and then rapid, windy descent which marks this border town’s natural defenses. I spent most of the day on beautiful Route 881 (a mostly empty two-lane road with descent pavement) until cutting across a 2km unpaved path towards the town. Unpaved road + rain = mud. I was joined by two roaming dogs on the mud path. They moved faster than me and also seemed to be conducting important daily rounds while I was just transiting.
Przemyśl is the second oldest town in this region to Krakow. It is only 15km from the Ukraine border and you will notice from the map that it is slightly south from the direct path between Krakow and L’viv. However, my intel indicates that this border crossing is the only one where non-motorized pedestrians are allowed to pass. We’ll see how that works tomorrow morning. As befits a border town, Przemyśl was split in half by invading Germans and Russians during WWII. I quickly checked out the main square, ate a full pizza and then promptly took a three hour nap.
