Krakow Bike Tours - 2009 Season

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

2009-08-07T14:29:00.003+02:00

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

2009-07-28T20:45:00.003+02:00

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

2009-07-27T15:56:00.002+02:00

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

2009-07-22T19:40:00.003+02:00

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

2009-07-06T18:44:00.005+02:00

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!!!)

2009-07-05T22:04:00.000+02:00

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

2009-07-05T22:01:00.002+02:00

From soaking to sweating

2009-07-05T21:47:00.006+02:00

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

2009-06-30T23:36:00.003+02:00

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

2009-06-23T18:31:00.001+02:00

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

Ok, seriously, enough......

2009-06-22T19:05:00.001+02:00

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

2009-06-16T11:40:00.002+02:00

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!

2009-06-10T14:38:00.001+02:00

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...

2009-06-09T17:51:00.002+02:00

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

2009-06-05T17:57:00.004+02:00

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.....

2009-05-30T18:38:00.001+02:00

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

2009-05-28T20:10:00.002+02:00

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...

2009-05-26T18:43:00.003+02:00

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

2009-05-25T15:28:00.003+02:00

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

2009-05-24T18:37:00.002+02:00

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

2009-05-23T14:06:00.004+02:00

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.

2009-05-21T18:24:00.002+02:00

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

2009-05-20T15:53:00.005+02:00

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

2009-05-18T16:45:00.002+02:00

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

2009-05-17T17:51:00.003+02:00

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

2009-05-16T16:31:00.003+02:00

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

2009-05-15T16:57:00.004+02:00

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

2009-05-13T15:00:00.003+02:00

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...

2009-05-09T16:52:00.003+02:00

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

2009-05-08T19:37:00.003+02:00

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...

2009-05-07T17:51:00.004+02:00

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?

2009-05-06T15:36:00.003+02:00

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!!!

2009-05-02T14:23:00.003+02:00

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

2009-05-02T14:12:00.002+02:00

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

2009-04-29T17:50:00.003+02:00

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

2009-04-26T17:54:00.003+02:00

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...

2009-04-25T17:18:00.003+02:00

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

2009-04-25T00:05:00.001+02:00

Up, up & away

2009-04-22T23:27:00.004+02:00

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???

2009-04-22T11:26:00.003+02:00

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

2009-04-21T00:14:00.004+02:00

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

2009-04-20T12:50:00.004+02:00

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...

2009-04-17T15:22:00.002+02:00

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

2009-04-14T19:16:00.003+02:00

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

2009-04-12T17:39:00.004+02:00

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

2009-04-11T19:01:00.003+02:00

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

2009-04-10T21:16:00.003+02:00

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

2009-04-08T18:14:00.003+02:00

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

2009-04-07T17:36:00.003+02:00

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

2009-04-05T18:26:00.004+02:00

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

2009-04-04T18:03:00.006+02:00

'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...

2009-04-02T19:15:00.004+02:00

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!!!

Half of Holland on Dutch Day

2009-03-31T18:01:00.006+02:00

Ok, so maybe it was a bit less than 'half', but today we organized two special tours for a group of sixty-one students and teachers from a school in Culemborg in the Netherlands. This was the school's second visit to the bike tour after joining us for the first time last year. A special thanks to Mike, Marco & all the teachers for helping us to make sure no one got lost along the way. Thanks again & see you next year!

First Kiwi of the year, first Russians ever...

2009-03-29T18:45:00.003+02:00

Split personality weekend, with a beautiful sunny Saturday and a rainy & cold Sunday. One day we needed sunglasses, the next we needed umbrellas. Over the two tours, we met Seattle (lots of Seattle so far this year), two from Wales (lots of Wales, too...), and four from different places in New South Wales, Australia. We also met our first Kiwi of the season, from Aukland, and our first ever Russians on the tour, from Moscow. Thanks again to Sunday's group for being tough in the rain - hope it didn't take too long to dry out & warm up....

Back on track

2009-03-27T16:44:00.003+01:00

A surprisingly nice day today for a tour & a great group of people to ride with, with two each from Belfast, a small town in California and Norfolk, England. It was nice to be back on the trail after four days of getting rained & snowed out...

Spring apparently cancelled....

2009-03-26T14:35:00.004+01:00

Two more days lost to the weather - this time because of snow and a very cold wind. Things are going the wrong way here... We're thinking about adding Krakow Sled Tours - bring your parka!

Here comes the rain again

2009-03-24T10:11:00.002+01:00

Rained out for the second straight day today. Technically this is Spring time now but it doesn't feel like it at all... This coming weekend is when we set our clocks forward an hour, so that will help a bit to give us some more daylight. The forecast for next week says temperatures should finally be above ten degrees (wow....), so maybe THEN it will FINALLY feel like Spring.

A hint of blue sky...

2009-03-22T10:24:00.005+01:00

The last week has been a tough one on the tour. We've been snowed on three times & had to stop the tour early once because everyone's hands were frozen blue... Yesterday, however, things looked like they were changing for the better at last ( I know we've said that before....). We even had bits of BLUE SKY for the first time in more than a week. Since our last post, County Mayo, Ireland, Montrose, Scotland, Belfast, Dublin, Paris, Toronto, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Vancouver, Seattle, Boston, a small town in Kentucky (don't think we got the name...) and Verona, Italy have all been tough enough to brave the weather. Thanks again to all of you & we hope you enjoyed your stay here in Krakow.

Warming up.....slowly

2009-03-14T17:28:00.004+01:00

The last signs of winter are (maybe) disappearing and we are ready for the Spring. Let's hope the worst is behind us. The tour is still making its way through the early stages of the 2009 Season & we've met Galway, Zurich, Santiago, York, Ottawa, Perth, Seattle, Cardiff (twice in three days!), Minneapolis and Sao Paolo since our last blog entry.

Starting slowly in the snow...

2009-03-04T00:10:00.004+01:00

Our 2009 Season is underway earlier than any season before, with our first tours ever in the month of February. Birmingham, Cork, Sydney, Milan, Leeds, Belfast, Oregon, Houston, Cardiff, Berlin and Eindhoven were all represented among our early visitors. The snow makes it a bit difficult to get around in some places, but on the other hand we have the bike paths all to ourselves....

Why We Take a Winter Break....

2009-01-18T15:20:00.003+01:00

People often ask us why we don't run our tours all year round. We wish we could because it would be great to show people around town at different times of the year. Unfortunately, in the ice and snow, it simply isn't safe to ride. That's why we have to wait until things warm up a bit. Well, actually, more than a bit...

2008 Season Video

2008-12-16T11:58:00.001+01:00

2008 Season - Over & Out

2008-11-24T12:11:00.002+01:00

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

2008-09-30T00:06:00.003+02:00

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...

2008-08-29T15:57:00.003+02:00

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.

2008-08-25T13:58:00.002+02:00

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

2008-08-24T16:13:00.002+02:00

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.

2008-08-23T19:40:00.002+02:00

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...

2008-08-19T20:38:00.002+02:00

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

2008-08-18T21:38:00.003+02:00

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

2008-08-17T23:11:00.002+02:00

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

2008-08-16T20:00:00.003+02:00

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...

2008-08-15T13:11:00.004+02:00

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

2008-08-14T21:02:00.004+02:00

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

2008-08-13T20:19:00.004+02:00

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

2008-08-12T17:56:00.002+02:00

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

2008-08-11T20:38:00.003+02:00

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

2008-08-10T19:47:00.003+02:00

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

2008-08-09T16:30:00.001+02:00

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

Dark clouds & orange skies

2008-08-08T21:00:00.003+02:00

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

2008-08-06T17:37:00.002+02:00

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...)

2008-08-05T17:35:00.003+02:00

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...

2008-08-04T18:18:00.003+02:00

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...)

2008-08-04T00:39:00.004+02:00

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

2008-08-02T18:32:00.003+02:00

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

2008-08-01T18:59:00.003+02:00

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.

2008-07-30T17:35:00.002+02:00

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

2008-07-29T20:40:00.003+02:00

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

2008-07-28T22:06:00.003+02:00

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

2008-07-27T16:59:00.003+02:00

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

2008-07-23T17:34:00.003+02:00

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

2008-07-23T10:24:00.003+02:00

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...

2008-07-21T20:05:00.003+02:00

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

2008-07-19T20:57:00.004+02:00

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

2008-07-18T21:34:00.003+02:00

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

2008-07-16T20:43:00.003+02:00

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...

2008-07-13T21:31:00.004+02:00

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

2008-07-12T19:01:00.003+02:00

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.

2008-07-12T02:01:00.003+02:00

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

2008-07-10T21:15:00.004+02:00

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.