First from Kenya, 10 millionth from Australia....

August is off to a great start here in Krakow & we've actually managed to run the tour for about ten straight days without getting rained out - a record for this season... Apart from places that we meet quite often on the tour, among those enjoying the clear skies with us were the Isle of Man, Istanbul, Tokyo, Belgrade and our first ever guests from Kenya

Intrepid travellers from Intreprid Travel

Things are going well as we're nearly at the end of what has been a very nice month here in Krakow. Today, we met another group of visitors travelling with Intrepid Travel company from Australia. Four from New South Wales and one each from Boston and Hampshire, England rode along with us in the sun as we took in the sights. Thanks again to them for coming out for the tour and check out www.intrepidtravel.com !!!

Hot & Cold

Alternately baking and quite cool the last few days as we come to the end of July. Among those wearing sunglasses one day and a jacket the next were visitors from Beverly Hills, Manchester, Georgia, Denmark, Lithuania, Finland, Dublin, San Antonio, Calgary, Melbourne, Perth, Wellington, Bath and Lund, Sweden.

The bike blog is back bigger & better after a break

We all need a holiday from time to time & that includes us as well. The blog was quiet for a while but the tours have running all month long. After a wet, rainy June we now have a hot & sunny July and the summertime atmosphere is great. While the blog was down, we met about half of the globe on the tour - Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, Buffalo, Cincinatti, Detroit, Austin, Topeka, Denver, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Tallahassee, Miami, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Seattle, Mexico City, Rio de Janiero, Santiago, San Juan, Dublin, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Kildare, Mayo, Belfast, Omagh, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Stirling, Birmingham, London, London, and more London, Newcastle, Dorset, Portsmouth, Derby, Cardiff, Swansea, Madrid, Lyon, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Aachen, Milan, Bergen, Turku, Pretoria, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Wellington, Christchurch, Hawke's Bay and Colombo, Sri Lanka (!!!). Sorry if we missed you on the list!

Wedding Bells for Muks

We met our fifth stag group of the season so far, with Muks and 13 friends from all over England joining us for a ride around town. We had a great time & we enjoyed talking to everyone - thanks again & good luck to Muks & Mrs. Muks next month!!!

And a REALLY late Happy Canada Day!!!! (sorry!!!)

Happy (day after) July 4th!!!!! (whoops...)

From soaking to sweating

The rain has left us alone at last and we are happy to be back to work on the tour in the sun. We've met Essenden, Stockholm, County Laois, Lubbock, Texas, Washington state, Kuala Lumpur, Liverpool, Maidstone, Portsmouth, Phoenix, Surrey, Melbourne, Perth, half of London and many others over the last few days as we got back to working on our tans...

Better - for a few hours

After weeks of almost non-stop rain, we finally saw the sun again today - until it started raining again. Amazing. Anyway, in the last week we've managed to get a few tours off in between thunderstorms, with London, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Milan, Madrid, Oslo, Vancouver, Toronto, San Francisco, Cleveland, Denver, Antigua (!), Sydney, Tamworth, Brisbane, Adelaide & Wellington among others represented. Don't bother bringing your own umbrella - bring your own boat!

Unbelievable

Just read yesterday's post again....more of the same.

Ok, seriously, enough......

Another four straight days of rain with more coming. This has to be the most disappointing summer weather ever...

Wet, windy & wondering where the sun is

We've been rained out quite a bit recently due to the appalling weather but we did manage to get in a few tours here & there. London, Seattle, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Edinburgh, Oxford, Omagh, Cork, Lisbon, Dallas, Phoenix, Perth and Darwin among others were all tough enough to take a chance on the dark skies. Thanks again to everyone who came out for the tour when it looked like it was better to stay inside!!!

Get inside - now!

This was the scene in the main square at about 1:30 pm today as black stormclouds rolled in ahead of strong winds and then intense rain...

Don't like the weather? Wait 5 minutes...

Another back-and-forth day today between the sun & the rain clouds. The weather is doing us no favors lately but we've still welcomed visitors from Fort William, Chicago, Portsmouth, Hamburg, Puerto Rico, Lyon, London, about seven different places in Australia and our first ever guests from Charlottesville, Virginia.

Cold, windy & rainy - must be June

A very wet, windy and generally terrible week of weather is hopefully done and gone with the sun finally making an appearance today. We've been rained out three times since our last post six days ago but we did manage to get in a few tours with lots of people from London and others from New Jersey, Chicago, Oxford, Buckinghamshire, Oregon, Windsor, Missouri, Wokingham, Toronto, Bethesda, Edinburgh, California, Liverpool and Bahrain (!) all being brave enough to take on the elements. Thanks to all of them again & let's hope the worst is past......

Cool & quiet.....

Suddenly very windy, rainy and quiet since Thursday afternoon. Almost no one in the center of town today for some reason. Riding with plenty of space on empty streets with us yesterday and today were five from Berlin and others from Galway, Massachusetts, Taiwan, Dublin, Cannock, Northumberland and Jarrow, England.

Escaping the rain

After getting rainded out yesterday, it was nice & sunny today until just after we finished the tour when heavy rains came in. Barely escaping the rain with us today were London, Chicago, Belfast, Washington, Stirling, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Bentleigh, Victoria, Australia.

England, continued...

Summertime hot today with summertime storms apparently on the way from tomorrow. Eight straight days with England on the tour, with six from Bromborough, Kent & Hereford today. Surprisingly, we still meet people who are not from England like the people from Dundee & New Zealand we met today...

Full House

Very busy today for a Monday -we reached the limit for the number of people we can take on the tour again today, so please remember to book in advance!!! More English today to go with the recent trend - from London and Leeds - as well as others from Ireland, India and the United Arab Emirates (!). We also met lots of Americans today, with North Dakota, Virginia, New York, Maryland, Nevada, Texas and Washington, DC all represented.

The English Invasion - part 2

Another beautiful day for a ride today, with twelve English from London, Leeds, Bristol & York. Also enjoying the sunshine were two from California and our first four guests from China this season.

The English Invasion

Sunny & very breezy for the last two days in Krakow. It must be rather quiet in England at the moment since everyone seems to be here with us on the bike tour. On top of all the other places in the last couple of weeks, since yesterday we've met Chesire, Cumbria, Kent, Swindon, Thorpe Abbotts, Hertfordshire, Cheltenham and someplace called 'London' (inside joke...). Apart from the English, we've also met Glasgow, 4 from Norway, & Maastricht.

Absolutely perfect day outside today. Warm, but not too hot. Enjoying the sun with us today were seven from different places in England - Chelmsford, Durham, Gilesgate & Gerrards Cross - as well as others from Costa Rica, Edinburgh, 2 from Chicago, 2 from New Zealand, and 2 from Australia. Fingers crossed for more days like today...

On the road again

After getting rained out yesterday by a MAJOR storm, we were back on the road again today with visitors from five continents. Four from Australia, six from England, two from Singapore, two from Quebec, two from Ontario and one from Sao Paolo, Brazil rode along with us.

Ugly again

For the second time in three days, it was extremely dark & cloudy. Unlike two days ago, however, this time we did get quite a bit of rain. The rain came toward the end of the tour, so getting wet with us today were 2 from Warrington, England, 2 from Nyon, Switzerland, two from Lymm, England and another from San Diego, California.

Sunday Sun

The sunshine made a welcome return today after yesterday's gloom. Guests from Germany, Kilkenny, Dublin, 2 from Sweden, 2 from Connecticut and one from Northridge, California needed sunglasses today as we rode through lots of people in the center of town out for a Sunday stroll...

Bring your umbrella

Very dark & ugly all day today in Krakow although it only actually rained for a few minutes at the beginning of the tour. Altogether, 16 people were brave enough to take on the threatening skies - from Illinois, California, 4 from Belgium, 2 from Norway, Ontaria and Luton, England.

Killer B's

More fabulous sunshine as the people traffic starts to increase with the beginning of the summer season. Lots of 'B' cities on the tour yesterday & today - Bristol, Birmingham, Bradwell, Belfast, Boston - as well as others from Stonehaven, three from Paris, Dublin, and two each from Koln & Galway.

May Days

Back on the blog after a few days off & we are cruising along into the middle of May with visitors from Dallas, Houston, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Liverpool, Kent, Alberta, Scotland, Melbourne, London, Lisbon, Helsinki and Rio de Janiero...

Miami-Scotland-Milan-Dublin-London-Ontario-Salisbury-Costa Rica & 5 places in Australia...

We've been wondering when the Australians were going to arrive in force and we got our answer today, with six of them joining us. Quite a mixed group on the tour today on a strangely quiet Saturday in town. In addition to ending a very unusual Australian-free period, we also met our first guest of the season from Central America.

Student Invasion

Beautiful day today on Juvenalia, a student holiday when they dress up & symbolically 'take over' the city. We passed the Polish version of Kiss while enjoying the sunshine. Visitors from Hampshire, Toronto, Malmo, two from Sutton, two from San Diego, and three from Paris were among the witnesses to the 'invasion'.

Not so cold anymore...

Warmer today as we made our way over sunny streets. We were joined by Kansas, Virgina, Amsterdam, Hartfordshire, and five others. Still wondering where are the Australians are....

What happened to the sun?

It's been a cool, windy & sometimes rainy last few days in town. That didn't stop a few brave souls from Atlanta, Newcastle, Norwich, Munich, Calgary, Brisbane, Darwin, and Philadelphia from joining us. Let's hope things get better going into the weekend.

The Latvians are coming!!!

We haven't met many Latvians on the tour, and by that we mean "one in the last seven years" but today that number was tripled when two from Riga joined us. Six Dutch, five from England, three from the US, three from Ireland and others from Scotland and Canada joined us on a very busy day as we continue to enjoy perfect weather during the long weekend....

Sunshine, ferris wheels & cotton candy

Fantastic day for a tour yesterday on the May 1st holiday. Four from Scotland, and others from Liverpool, Sweden, California, Berlin and four Italians joined us as we made our way through the huge crowds of people out to enjoy the carnival atmosphere.

Long Holiday Weekend

We're not quite there yet, but we do have what amounts to a three day weekend coming up ( four days for some people... ). Friday is May 1st, Labour Day and Sunday the 3rd is Constitution Day, another national holiday. Most people don't know that Poland has Europe's first and the world's second (after the U.S.) national constitution. The weather should be fantastic and we expect to be busy.

Wedding Season on the Bike Tour

Back-to-back days with groups from England here on a stag weekend. This time, it was Damian from Bristol (picture) and ten friends. Congratulations and good luck to him & the future Mrs. Damian - maybe we should start to offer Bike Tour Wedding packages... Fantastic day outside today, with proper summertime heat and lots of people outside along the river.

Congratulations & Good Luck to Paul and the Future Mrs. Paul...

Two groups on the tour today. We met Paul from Manchester (third from left standing) and eight of his friends who were here on a stag weekend three weeks before he ties the knot. Congratulations & all the best! We also met an Australian group from Intrepid Travel as well, including someone from Wodonga, which is right up there with Wagga Wagga for "Best Australian City Name".

We Salute ANZAC Day

Up, up & away

We passed a new and somewhat unusual addition to the Krakow riverfront area today. The city is trying to promote the area as a tourism and leisure destination by adding a balloon that takes people about 150 meters into the sky to enjoy the view. It's just started making the up-down-up-down trip this week and today was the first time we passed it while on the tour when it was up in the air. Maybe we could get a good picture of our tour for the blog from up there...

Where are the Australians???

An interesting but slightly strange aspect of our season so far is the fact that we have met so few Australians. In each of the last five years, we have met more people from Down Under than any other country, but almost two months into our season, we've met just a handful. The British are far and away in the lead, so to speak, when it comes to the people we've met this year and it looks like they could take the title away from the Aussies for the first time. Then again, things can change quickly - we had lots of tours last year which were about 90% Australian, so let's wait and see how it goes...

Boston on 44 wheels

We met a group of 22 students and teachers from TechBoston Academy today. This was the school's third trip with us since 2007. The school organizes a yearly European trip for history students so they can see up close what they study back at home in the classroom. It's always a lot of fun meeting and talking to them and we had a perfect day for taking lots of pictures, even if the dragon made us wait to get a good shot of the fire coming out of his mouth (picture)... Thanks again to them for visiting us this year and we look forward to doing it again next April!

Quiet

Just coming out of a very quiet weekend although the weather wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. Riding through mostly empty streets with us were Nottingham, Brighton, Oslo, Donegal, Belfast, Cleveland, San Diego, Montreal and Denver.

All good things must come to an end...

We've enjoyed about two weeks of warmth and sunshine but that has come to an end now, at least for a couple of days. It's dark, windy and the rain clouds are racing in right now. Busy streets are now empty and it looks like it's going to be a cold, rainy and quiet weekend.

Ye Olde Krakowshire Bike Tour

Lots of English "shires" on the tour lately - Shropshire, Gloucestershire, West Yorkshire (a lovely little town called Holmfirth), Oxfordshire & Lancanshire. The Merry Old England theme continued today when we ran into a Medieval festival (click on the picture) with archers, blacksmiths, brave knights, etc. Today on the tour we met six fair maidens - three from Oxford and three from a small town outside of Glasgow (sorry - forgot the name!).

Kiwi Easter, first of the year from India

Great tour today on Easter Sunday. After meeting just our second Kiwi of the year yesterday, we met four today - two each from Auckland and Wellington. Three English also made the trip with us - two from Sheffield (second time in three days) and one from Cheltenham. We also met one from Frankfurt and our first Indian of the year, from Mumbai.

Auckland, not Oakland

A lovely group of people on the tour today on a sunny & breezy day. Lots of people out in town because of the Easter holiday tomorrow. Along for the ride today were four from England (Shrewsbury & Southend-on-Sea), two from County Sligo, Ireland and one from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We also met a woman who we thought was from a city in California until her accent made it clear that she was in fact from the biggest city in New Zealand...

Romania-Ukraine-England-Holland-Taiwan-Australia

Very interesting group today. After meeting our first Romanian ever on the tour last year, we met a group of five today from the city of Cluj, as well as someone from another place that we don't meet too often - Kiev, Ukraine. Also joining us were six from England (Manchester, Sheffield & Luton), two from Amsterdam, two from Melbourne and our second guest from Taiwan in the last week.

Getting a tan 11 days after we were freezing

We had a mid-summer's day at the beginning of April today, with bright sun and 27c/81f degrees. It's a great sign heading into the Easter weekend. Today we met five people from different places in Texas, two from California and one each from Ottawa, Liverpool and Manchester. Here's a picture of everyone listening to the trumpet player at 2 o'clock.

Another new record - 80 years young

It's not often that we meet someone who has biked more miles than we have. It's also unusual to meet an 80-year old on the tour but we met both in Carl, who was visiting from Washington, DC with his wife Joan and their grandaughter. Carl and Joan have logged almost 30,000 miles together on a tandem bike and Carl has ridden almost 60,000 miles in total, so our 9 mile tour was absolutely no challenge at all for him... Amazing and great example for us all. It was a pleasure talking to them as well as the others we met today and yesterday - Liverpool & Manchester, England, Arizona, Idaho, Stockholm and Newcastle, Australia.

Deja Vu

Yesterday, 11 of the 14 people on the tour were from the UK. Today, 11 of the 14 people on the tour were from the UK. This time, we met London, Birmingham, Cardiff, and a small town near Glasgow. Two from Chicago and one from Melbourne came along for the ride as well. Since tomorrow is a Monday (usually our slowest day of the week), it's unlikely that we will have THREE straight days of 11-out-of-14 from the UK, but you never know...

Little Britain on a Perfect Day

'Perfect' was the only way to describe the weather today. Twenty-two degrees, sunny and a light breeze - an absolutely wonderful day to ride. The weather & the weekend brought the whole city out for walk in the center of town and the crowds were huge. We added fourteen people to those crowds, with 11 of them coming from different places in England. We also met someone from Taipei, Taiwan - our first guest from Asia this season - as well as a couple from from Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.

The U.S. and us...

Lots of Americans over the last two days, with two from Orlando, two from Boston, San Francisco and a group from Phoenix all joining us on the tour. We also met Vancouver, Malmo, and Sunderland, England as well. It's finally sunny and (kind of) warm!!!