2008 Season Video

2008 Season - Over & Out

We are bit late getting this up here on the blog, but we are now officially done with our 2008 season. Snow on the ground & a serious chill in the air mean that it's time for our winter break. Thanks again to everyone for riding with us this year & we look forward to doing it all again starting in March, 2009.

Soggy, saturated, slippery September

It's been quite some time since our last post because it's been quite some time since our last tour. September's weather has been absolutely shocking, with cold temperatures and rain just about every day for more than two weeks. It was so bad, in fact, that for the first time ever we decided to shut down until things improved since we were getting rained out every day anyway. We're getting started again now that the sun has (sort of) returned, so let's hope that we can ride without getting wet for a while...

Back from a short holiday from the blog here. While we were out the tour kept running, with Spain, Holland, Italy and lots of different cities in England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand joining us for the ride. Today, we met groups from London and from Australia under cloudy skies as we go into the weekend.

We somehow escaped the rain that was forecast for today. Turned out to be a nice day with 2 from Birmingham, 4 from the US, 2 from Australia & two from Ireland joining us for the tour today. Hopefully, we will be lucky tomorrow as well...

Mexicanos en bicicletas

Four from Mexico on our tour through sunny Krakow today. We also met three from Scotland, two each from Australia and New Zealand and others from San Diego and Toronto.

Last few days have seen lots of English & Germans here on the tour, with Essex, Brighton, Birmingham, Sunderland, Munich, Koln & Dusseldorf all represented. We also met Seattle, Cork, Brisbane, Perth & Wellington as well.

Indian Summer, Wagga Wagga back...

Someone from Delhi on the tour today, making six Indians this summer - not a lot of people, maybe, but more than we've ever met in one season before. Also along for the ride in the heat today were two from Leipzig, two from London, a family from Essex, and others from Oxford, Armagh, Brisbane and our favorite Australian city, Wagga Wagga.

Channel Islands & Japan - Geography lesson

Fantastic day on the tour with a family of four from Kent, two from Vienna (that's four in three days), two from London, two from Waiouru, New Zealand, two from Windsor, and others from Surrey, Canberra, and one each from Manitoba and Alberta, Canada. We also met two others from places that we rarely see on the tour - Nagoya, Japan and the Channel Islands. Eighteen people from four continents.

Australia returns

More England today with six from Manchester and Norwich. Australia was also back to the tour after a long absence with four from Sydney & Adelaide. We also met five from Ireland - Cork, Waterford & Dublin - and two Germans from a small town outside of Munich ( sorry - forgot the name....)

Big City Day

After getting cancelled due to heat yesterday, we got rained on today, after a spectacular hail storm last night. Lots of big cities represented on the (wet) tour today, with 4 from London, 2 from Vienna and others from Paris, New York City, Los Angeles and Boston. We also met a few from not-quite-so-big-cities like Sheffield, Hamburg and two from San Antonio, Texas. The picture from today's tour looks like it was taken in October or November weather, not in August...

Too hot to ride...

In the past we've had tours cancelled because of cold, snow, ice and storms, but today we were cancelled because of ..... the heat. Seriously. It's 'only' about 32 degrees outside, but it's extremely humid and just standing still is enough to make you sweat. In conditions like these, it's better to just stay indoors & have a drink or jump in the fountain.....

54 wheels on the road

27 people on the tour today. Six from Ireland, four from Holland, thirteen from all over England (Newcastle, Wimbledon, London, Bristol, Bournemouth & Norwich) and others from Edinburgh, Kuala Limpur, Banglore, & Adelaide made their way over the streets together today.

UK Day

Lots of British on the tour lately, and more today with Aberdeen, London, Wigan, Birmingham and two from Swindon as well as four from San Diego, California.

Bring your suntan lotion

Very hot & sunny today but still rather quiet in town. It was so hot, in fact, that we actually had several people decide to go with us tomorrow instead of today in the hope that it will cool down a bit. Braving the heat today were 2 from Belgium, 2 from Perth, and one each from Philadelphia, Manchester, Vancouver, Barcelona and Swansea, Wales.

Quebecois night

Quiet Monday here in Krakow but a nice sunny day. We met 2 from County Monaghan, Ireland, two from London, and one from Holland during the day. At night, we met a group from Montreal.

Back on the road

Back on the trail today after lots of rain the last two days. We met five from Dublin, two from Melbourne and one from New Jersey on our first day back.

Rained out

It has been raining for about eight straight hours now with no end in sight. We will try again tomorrow....

Dark clouds & orange skies

Very quiet the last couple of days in town with small crowds in what is usually a busy center. The weather hasn't helped, with lots of rain. On today's night tour, the weather went from clear to extremely dark & cloudy in about 5 minutes before an intense storm started. After the storm, there was an amazingly bright, brilliant orange sky for the rest of the tour (the picture doesn't do it justice, believe me...). In addition to six from Dublin and London on the tour tonight, we have met others from Cincinatti, Cork, Oslo, a small town in Sasaktchewan, Canada called Biggar (motto "New York is big, but this is Biggar") and someone from the Free State in South Africa - nice talking to you, Lou, and good luck to you

Female perspective

About 2/3 of the people that we meet each season are women, but it's unusual to have an all-girl tour as we did today. Five from Dublin, two from Western Australia & one each from London and Athens, Georgia joined us on a perfect day for a ride around town.

When bikes & horses collide (not literally...)

Gorgeous day for a bike ride today. Bright sunshine and a breeze for the whole tour today. Along the way, we ran into a military parade & had to wait for about 30 or so horses to pass us before we could continue (picture). Watching the horses pass by were 2 from Leeds, 2 from Adelaide, 2 from Auckland, 2 from the Hague and one from London.

Summer Storm & more Scotland...

Another sunny day at the beginning of the tour, another rainy day at the end. Luckily, this time we didn't really get rained on because we had good timing - passing under a bridge as the rain started. We met Scotland for the 4th straight day, this time from Greenock, as well as Baltimore, Kent, Cape Town, two from Edmonton, Canada, and four girls from Ireland (they always travel in fours...). I took this picture as we were hiding under the bridge.

Scotland Forever (at least 3 days, anyway...)

Another day with Scots on the tour today - the third day in a row - this time three girls from Glasgow. We also met two from Quebec, Canada and two from Lund, Sweden.

First from Bolivia

Another 'first' today, this time from La Paz, Bolivia. Nice & sunny when we started but we got caught in a storm at about 4:30 and had to hide under a bridge for a bit. Also getting wet today (picture taken just after the storm) were Copenhagen, Michigan, 2 from Brisbane, a small town in Western Australia (can't remember the name - sorry!), Brighton, Aberdeen, Melbourne, Wellington and County Sligo, Ireland.

Belgians on bikes

Great start to August today with a group of eleven members of a Belgian youth group here on holiday. We were also joined by New York, 2 from Miami, Glasgow, Manchester, Cambridge, and 3 from Tempe, Arizona.

Another hot & sunny day today here in Krakow - the kind we missed for more than two rainy weeks this month. Today we were joined by California, Seattle, 2 from Savannah, Georgia and two from Coventry, England.

Australia days

Three tours today, including a special morning trip for a group from Intrepid Tours of Australia. Speaking of Australians, we've met 13 of them over the last two days.

Just today, we met 4 from Sydney, 2 from Canberra & one each from Perth and Melbourne (thanks for the picture, Leigh...). Also along for the ride today were two from Austin, Texas, 2 from New Jersey, 2 from Holland, 3 from Essex, 3 from Ireland, and others from London, Toronto, Ottawa, Minnesota, West Palm Beach in Florida and Napier, New Zealand.

Aloha from Hawaii

We've only met a few people from Hawaii over the years, but there were three on the tour today. We also met two from County Down, Northern Ireland and five from Australia - 3 from Sydney and one each from Tamworth and a small town in Victoria named Murtoa. At night we met New York City & Orange County, California.

Girlguiding Scouts

It's back to work since yesterday after being rained out for two days before that. Summer sun & heat are suddenly back again. We've met Melbourne, Buckinghamshire, Calgary, Vancouver, 2 from Arizona and two from Sweden since we've started again. Today we met a group of Girlguiding scouts from London, here on holiday with Fred the Bear (front row, second from right ), who apparently is quite the world traveller. We had a great time on a really beautiful day today...

Wet

Of the 1,500 or so tours that we have done over the last seven years, today's tour was probably the wettest ever. The same dark clouds we have had for a week were hanging overhead when we started and we got a bit of rain around 2pm, which we thought would stop after a few minutes. We were wrong. Almost three hours of non-stop rain later, we returned to the bike shop totally soaked. One each from Colombia and Argentina and three from Cumbria, England were brave enough to stand up to weather today. Thanks again to everyone who came out for the tour today & it was nice talking to you...

Wicklow Scouts

Another dark day of clouds... We did a special tour today for a group of Venture Scouts from County Wicklow, Ireland, who are here in Poland for a week. Nice talking them & we hope they enjoy the rest of their stay. During the day tour, we also met Koln, Leicester, 3 from Lisbon, Boston, Cork and Hamilton, Ontario.

More rain, California days...

We got a break from the rain yesterday, but it was back today on the tour. Over the last two days we have met 2 from New Zealand, two from Grimsby, England and two from Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania (that's them in the picture...). There have also been a lot of Californians on the tour lately, with Los Angeles, San Diego and four from Long Beach joining us as well.

First from Faroe Islands & Tasmania day

Another rainy-sunny-then rainy again day today. Four times between sun & rain, actually. Three from Tasmania, two from Oklahoma, two from Ireland and one from Melbourne all got rained on together on the day tour. It was nice talking to the girls from Tasmania - hope that mud came off your jeans! At night, we met another group from Intrepid tours. There were two from Brisbane and two from Rockhampton, Queensland, one from Washington, DC and one from the Faroe Islands, which was a first for us.

Back to back India

With more clouds & misty rain today, it looked more like the middle of November than the middle of July. Over the last two days, we've met London, Sydney, Madrid, York, Dublin, Phoenix, Vancouver & Hamburg. We've also met three people from India since yesterday - 1 from Mumbai and 2 from Bangalore - which is unusual since in previous seasons we've never met more than 1 or 2 all year.

Rained out & rained on

It's been a wet past few days here. We were rained out on Monday & rained on a lot yesterday & today. Thanks again to those who did come out for the tour in the rain - Edmonton, Chicago, 4 from Holland, 3 from Orange County, 4 from Belfast & 2 from County Wicklow, Ireland.

Luxembourg at last / hailstorm...

We finally met someone from Luxembourg on the tour today. That basically completes the European puzzle for us since we don't really expect to meet anyone from places like Andorra, San Marino, Leichtenstein, etc... You never know, though...we have met people from other surprising places like Gibraltar and Monaco. Another amazingly hot day today that turned into a massive thunderstorm with hail just as we returned to the bikeshop. Also along for the ride today were 2 from Sydney and others from Georgia, Boston & London.

Heat wave

Just as hot as today as it was yesterday. We are taking extra breaks lately to stop more often to get something to drink & get out of the heat. Very quiet everywhere today for a Saturday. Five Australians and one from Sweden were tough enough to stand the heat today.

Hot. Really hot.

35 / 95 degrees outside today & more of the same expected through the weekend. 5 from California, 2 from Dublin, 2 from Perth, 2 from Zurich (that's 2 straight days with Zurich on the tour - unusual...) and 1 from Cardiff were tough enough to join us on the day tour & 4 from Norway and 3 from London rode with us on the night tour today.

The Kiwi girl & Curious George

Back to sunny skies but still a bit cool outside today. We met 3 from Belfast, a family from Melbourne (a new Melbourne streak starts...) and one from Lisbon, Portugal. We also met Alannah, from Dunedin, New Zealand. She is biking across Europe and taking pictures along the way with Curious George to help a class of schoolchildren back home to learn about different places in the world. Fantastic idea & we had to get a picture of her & George for ourselves. On the night tour, we met 5 from Washington, DC, and one each from Chicago, Zurich and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

In the rain again....

Darker, cloudier and wetter than yesterday but we still had a tour in spite of the weather conditions today. We met Calgary, Alberta and 2 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as well as Ipswich and Durham, England. There were also five Dutch with us today from Eindhoven and Utrecht.

Toronto streak broken, Melbourne continues...

Quiet day around Krakow & a small group with just six of us on the tour today under dark & cloudy skies. Melbourne once again for the 4th straight day along with two from Brisbane and a mother & daughter from Portland, Oregon.

Anyone left in Toronto or Melbourne?

Dark, cloudy skies today but no rain. We met Toronto for the 4th straight day and Melbourne for the 3rd in a row. Someone from Melbourne has been on the tour on 5 of the last 7 days. Today we also met 2 from Dublin and 4 from Country Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Jazz day in Krakow

We rode through the streets today to the sounds of jazz on the annual New Orleans Day jazz festival. We were joined by 6 from England, 2 from Phoenix, 2 from Belgium, 2 from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and others from Melbourne, Munich and Toronto. On our night tour, we met 4 girls from Cork, Ireland (in the picture) and two from Budapest.

First from Serbia

Another 'first' for us - this time from Serbia. There are only a couple of European countries left on the list now that have not been represented on the bike tour - mostly places like Andorra, San Marino, etc. Today we also met Toronto, Melbourne, Quebec, Portugal, Essex, Boston & Philadelphia & Los Angeles. More rain in the afternoon today - we will see how it goes tomorrow...

Rained out

Storms all last night, this morning and into this afternoon today.I guess it had to come after so many nice, hot days. For what it's worth, the forecast says we should be ok tomorrow....

Irish Day

Another fantastic day today. Nine of the 22 people on the tour today were from Ireland. We also met Cairns & Wodonga, Australia as well as Leeds, Los Angeles, Boston, Toronto, New Jersey, and Stirling, Scotland. Very hot day - it was still 35 degrees when we finished the tour at 5:30pm.

First from Romania

It took seven years, but we finally met someone from Romania on the tour today (that's her in the photo). We also met Paul from Scotland, who was back on the tour for the second time along with friends from Aberdeen. Stratford-upon-Avon, Long Beach, California, Dusseldorf, Sydney, 2 sisters from Newcastle and 2 brothers from Hobart, Australia came along as well.

We love Melbourne

We have written before here about how we meet more people from Melbourne than from any other city in the world & in the past week alone we have met around 10 or 12. Today we had two tours, day and night, and between them there were 4 from Melbourne, 2 from Adelaide, 2 from Perth, 4 from San Fransisco, 4 from Herefordshire, 2 from Coventry and one from Chicago. This is a picture I took at the bike shop of Belinda from Melbourne, who asked me to pose for a picture for her, so I did it on the condition that she do the same for me. Thanks to her and everyone else for coming out for the tour on what was a really beautiful day for a bike ride.

Back to work

Back on tour since yesterday after getting rained out all weekend by amazing storms. Got rained on a bit today as well. Since starting up again, we have met Norwich, Cork, Utrecht, Seattle, Sydney, a group from Essex, Houston, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Wales and Cambridge.

6 Australian states

Australia Day on the tour today, with 6 states represented - Sydney, Melbourne, Townsville, Perth, Darwin and Hobart. We also met Leipzig, Cork and Helsinki. Rain in the forecast for the next few days, so we will see how it goes...

Working on our tans...

More sun today & 32 degrees. We met a group from Intrepid Tours from Australia along with others from Nottingham, 2 from Glasgow, London, Galway, Paris & Strasbourg.

Sun-storm-sun

Hot & sunny today until around 4:30 when a short but intense thunderstorm came out of nowhere. Afterwards, it was back to sunny skies. We met 7 from England today - London, Preston, Ipswich, Burnley, Liverpool and two from Kendal. We also met two from Perth, two from Sydney and one each from Berlin and Toronto. The picture from today was taken just before the storm...