Cycling from Leżajsk to Marysin. At Least That Was the Plan.

Today’s plan seemed simple enough. I wanted to leave the car in Leżajsk, get on my bike, cycle to the amateur radio gathering in Marysin and find a few geocaches along the way. In practice, I made it six kilometres, turned back in heavy rain, tried to dry myself with the car’s heater and fan, and the bike eventually reached Marysin on the rack. So the plan was completed with roughly the same accuracy as a recipe after half the ingredients have been thrown away.

It was supposed to be cycling, geocaching and amateur radio.

The amateur radio gathering was not the only reason for the trip. I wanted to combine several things: cycle around the Leżajsk area, find a few geocaches and finish the ride in Marysin. Three attractions packed into one trip.

There are barely any geocaches in Leżajsk, but since I was going to leave the car there anyway, it seemed worth trying to find at least a few. The gathering was supposed to be a good destination for the whole route. The car stays in the car park, I get on the bike, explore the area, find some caches and meet up with friends. On the map, everything looked perfectly reasonable.

Apparently, the weather had not seen the map.

The thermal base layer was supposed to save the day.

I set off in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. I was not completely unprepared, though. I had brought a thermal base layer just in case, because the weather did not look ideal.

When I arrived in Leżajsk, rain was clearly hanging in the air. It was not raining yet, but the clouds looked as if they were holding their final consultations before starting the main performance. I decided it was still safe to set off.

The problem was that I had brought something for the cold, but I did not have a complete set of dry clothes. The thermal base layer was therefore a bit like taking a fire extinguisher on a trip during which a water pipe eventually bursts. A useful thing, just not necessarily for this particular problem.

After six kilometres, it started pouring.

The first few kilometres passed without any major problems. The sky was still threatening me, but riding was possible. It was only after about six kilometres, in the middle of the forest, that it simply started pouring.

This was not a situation where a few drops fell and I could hope it would pass in a moment. The rain immediately got down to business, as if it had spent the entire morning waiting for me to get sufficiently far away from the car.

I rode another few dozen metres. Probably more so I could honestly say that I had tried than because I saw any point in continuing. After a brief meeting with myself, I concluded that it was time to turn back.

Continuing would have meant arriving in Marysin completely soaked, without dry clothes and with little chance of the situation improving. Retreating was not a particularly ambitious conclusion to the cycling part of the trip, but at least it led in the general direction of heating.

The car became a tumble dryer without the drum.

When I returned to the car park, I had nothing to change into. That left me with the most advanced technology available in the car: the fan and the heater.

I turned on both and hoped I would dry off at least a little. The car became a temporary tumble dryer, except that instead of a rotating drum, it contained a seat, wet clothes and a man wondering why he had not brought one more shirt.

I obviously did not manage to dry everything completely. Still, it was slightly better than immediately after returning from the forest. By that point, the cycling trip was over and geocaching had also been crossed off the schedule. The rain successfully prevented me from looking for the few caches available in Leżajsk.

It was a bit like going to a shop for the last three doughnuts, only to find a notice on the door saying that the bakery had also been closed because of the rain.

The bike reached Marysin by car.

I could have gone home at that point. Since I was already close to Marysin, however, I decided to drive to the gathering. I also knew that some ham radio friends I knew would be there, so it seemed a shame to abandon everything.

The bike went onto the rack and covered the remaining distance that way. It had a fairly comfortable journey. It did not have to pedal, worry about the weather or complain about the sudden change of transport. It was probably the only participant in the trip entirely satisfied with the new arrangement.

I stayed at the gathering for about an hour. I arrived soaked, and after the whole business with the rain, the retreat and trying to dry myself in the car, I was no longer particularly interested in staying for long. If it had not been for my friends and the fact that I was already so close, I probably would not have gone there at all.

Did this trip still make any sense?

If I had planned only a car journey to the amateur radio gathering in Marysin, I would probably have stayed at home. What convinced me to go was the possibility of combining the meeting with cycling and geocaching.

In the end, those were precisely the two parts of the plan that failed. I covered about twelve kilometres, counting the ride in both directions, did not find a single geocache and spent roughly an hour at the gathering. It is difficult to call that a major success.

On the other hand, I met up with friends and at least did not return home immediately after getting off the bike. The trip was not completely wasted. It was simply one of those days when you prepare a plan, the weather picks it up, reads the first sentence and throws the rest into a puddle.

Next time, I will bring a complete set of dry clothes. The thermal base layer can still come along, but it will have some company. The car’s fan did a brave job, but I do not intend to make it a permanent part of my cycling laundry setup.