Is it Summer yet?
Soon Summer will be upon us. It seems silly saying that this year, since Spring just started about a week ago. Here in Warsaw we had snow as late as April 10 and the trees still have yet to set their leaves. Combine that with an early start to Winter, we had snow in October, and you can imagine the anxious anticipation for warm weather we have around these parts.
Summer time cycling along the Wisła in Warsaw
Anyway, now that the weather is changing we’re making plans for Summer and turning the page to a new chapter.
The new chapter.
After 3 years in Warsaw, Carolyn is not renewing the contract at her job. So, we both have agreed it is time to move on.
Carolyn: Out of the office. Cycling the dirt roads in Pag Croatia
“What?”, you say…”You don’t make a living from blogging and bike touring?” Well, no not yet…but more on that in a minute. This means we will be leaving Warsaw behind for the next chapter in our lives. Between now and June we will be selling various household appliances, electronics (MacBook anyone?) and sundry items; giving away what we can’t sell (not the MacBook, sorry) and whittling our load down to a manageable amount, packing it all on our bikes and heading south.
Our plan is to begin our next chapter: working fulltime as “bicycle travel journalists”. It is, in part, one of Carolyn’s childhood dreams of being a foreign news correspondent and, in part, both of our dreams to follow our passion where ever it may lead. We are going to mine the best nuggets of bicycle travel, the people and places that surround them and begin recording it all right here. You will see some changes to the look and feel of this blog over the next few weeks as we shift gears, there may be some bumps along the way, but rest assured you will enjoy the ride as much as the result.
The book.
Rather, it is two books.
First, we are in the process of revising and extending our book iBike WAWA: A bicyclist’s guide to Warsaw Poland to include Part II – Warsaw and the surrounding area. The second edition will include 12 long distance rides, between 30-100km, for a total of 24 in all. These new rides are designed to get you out of the city and put a few more kilometers under your belt. A couple even have overnight options.
iBike WAWA: A bicyclist’s guide to Warsaw Poland
The old version will stay on the site until May 15 May 2, then it will come down as we prepare for the new book. In addition to more rides, the second version of iBike WAWA will feature full color maps along with downloadable GPX tracks, further revised cue sheets and more great photography (aww, you’re too kind). All this progress does come with a cost. After May 15, May 2 iBike WAWA will no longer be a free download. The new design along with hiring cartographers all costs money, upon release of the completed second edition we will be selling iBook and Kindle versions of iBike WAWA right here for your cycling pleasure. Release date: TBA. Price yet to be determined, but don’t worry you can afford it.
…and another book
Second, our new chapter is taking us to Slovenia and to another book. We will spend the first part of summer researching a Slovenia bicycle travel guide. Last year we cycled through Slovenia and fell in love with the stunning landscape, warm sun and friendly people, plus there’s some pretty good cycling there too. We can’t wait to return. One thing that is missing is a comprehensive guide to the best cycling routes, culture, food and wine of Slovenia. That’s where we come in. We will collect the best 1-3 day tours (and ways to connect them for longer trips) most delectable food and wine and all the vibrant culture that Slovenia has to share, along with bicycle friendly lodging and businesses, all in one book.
Ahh, beautiful Slovenia. Carolyn pedalling through Slovenian wine country. Summer 2012
We hope to have it completed and for sale by the end of the year. Steadily, we have been making contact with bicycle advocates and enthusiasts in all corners of Slovenia over the past couple of weeks in preparation for our trip. We want to help Slovenia promote bicycle travel as a sustainable tourism industry and a way to grow small and local economies. Part of our time will be spent meeting with community leaders and tourism officials to help discover how best to represent bicycle travel as an economic growth mechanism in Slovenia.
If you’re in Slovenia, or you work in the Slovenia tourism industry and you’re interested in contributing to our research: we have posted a Slovenia Bicycle Travel Survey online. Please download it and submit to us so that we can find all the local Slovenian treasures to share with the world.
That’s all for now, but stay tuned we’ll be posting updates as they happen. And if you want to meet up in Slovenia or you’re interested in the MacBook, drop us a line.
Two Wheel Travel 
Any plans for a return to SE 65th? Good luck in your new venture! Sounds great!
Hi Ben! yeah, we’ll be back… but this summer is the start of something new, and we need to see where that takes us. Miss you guys. I hope all is well.
~ tyler
I’ll be in Poland this June for 5 weeks sans bike. I was there in 2010 with bike but did not bike. It did not look good for biking.( I had biked the Danube). How do I get good routes for all of Poland besides your book which from what I read is only for the Warsaw area? Have a great adventure heading south.
Hi Linda,
Thanks for your comment. Good question. How does one get info on good routes for all of Poland? Well, we’re not really sure either, at least English language info is pretty hard to come by. We normally use Compass Maps. They list bike routes on each map. One problem is that they may or may not be marked on the ground. You might also check PTTK the Polish outdoors association (http://english.pttk.pl/) as well as http://www.narowerze.pttk.pl/node/28 When we first got here there was a nice user generated database of routes that we used to find some good rides, but it has since gone offline. We have also meant to upload our routes around Poland to our blog, but it keeps slipping down the list.
If you want, we can send you some more links via email.