After such a title, I can be sure that the Łódź Regional Development Agency will never invite me to those areas to promote the local cycling. Łowicz reminds me of two things: Łódź (known mainly from the famous monologue in the film "Nic Funny") and jams (although I prefer those from Biedronka). In fact, I wanted to find some curiosity about this city as part of the admission, but the internet ended up earlier than anything I could dig out. Fear to think what will happen if this text is well positioned in googles on the phrase "Cycling Lowicz". I feel that I could be tempted here for a joke, after which the whole Kolowicz Klub Łowicz me odfollowujeso I will not say it:

 - What's the best in Łowicz?
 - A train which from Warsaw arrives there for PLN 20 in 50 minutes or a road which I reach from the city center at the same time (according to the regulations).

There are many letters to write about the route, which is why the entry is slightly experimental. It is rare for the entry to be covered by pictures rather than text - this time it can not be otherwise. After all, it is a one-day (and technically even half-day) ride near Warsaw, during which we do not see anything interesting. Is it worth it? Well, for the mere fact that it's done vertically 1024 meters vertically, you can guess that it does. You can treat the offer as an alternative to routes to Warka and around Kampinos.

The introduction is already behind us, now the particulars. A friend from the aforementioned cycling club sent me a loop in his area, which was called Stravie "Crem de la creme" - we checked on the map where the start is and how to get there. An hour's drive is a little more than a bicycle, it takes us to leave the city in some sensible place (Jabłonna, Gassy, ​​Babice, etc.). We had to go by train, because temporarily similar, but 20 PLN times 5 people times two pages = 200 PLN, so the choice is simple. Instead of once again pounding the same loop, we're going to explore the local bakeries, selling unroasted buns and bagels with Parma ham on the pretext of riding a bike.

We are leaving the main!

It's difficult to write something interesting about the route. We start on the market in Lowicz and we leave roads that are not good. Movement on Saturday morning is quite big, probably the pre-Christmas shopping in the nearby bazaar. The beginning is some main access road to the city, then a national road. The roadside is large, the surface is good, generally there is nothing to cling to, but we did not come to drive the countries between the trucks. Throughout the day we are accompanied by very long straights from time to time, seen to the horizon. Like a week earlier in the area Sandomierz. It's expensive in the style of: give up all hope. After 10 kilometers, we exit the main street. After another 10, we go down again, then again and again. That day we left the main road a few dozen times. On each of them I was sure that it would be impossible to go any further along the side road. Even if the route follows the width of one car, somewhere in the middle of the forest, where the man was last seen in 1978, we continue to reach the sign that suggests entering the suburban road. We drive some end of the world.

The man who was making the route (and looking at the trail, it was not easy) should be congratulated. The vast majority of them run on excellent asphalt, with small breaks on the poor, which allows you to appreciate the perfection of these excellent. It also has a disadvantage.

Why am I going?

We do not pay much attention to preparing meals for the road. Even if the route is 160 kilometers. What's more, more than just sticky rice stickers, we are happy to visit shops for wafers, which we have not sold for 15 years and very baked bakery products with additives from Biedronka. As I mentioned before, the route is routed so that it bypasses everything. Between 10 and 140 kilometers we pass one, maybe two places with shops. It's possible that I missed one, but most of the time it would be rather difficult. Unless they hide between trees or in a field. If someone catches a bomb in the middle, I sincerely sympathize with him, even Uber will not save him. At the finish line in Łowicz, we buy a million calories and so much water that it accidentally spilled, would drive the Hoover Dam for a week. By the way, the fields we are going through:

The pigs smell better in the pot

I would not like to offend vegetarians with this headline. I like animals and I do not eat very much meat. Pigs have one major disadvantage: they make a pile. This is a useful buy thanks to which food grows in the fields. In total, as urban, I'm not sure if it's pigs, but by deduction we come to the conclusion that the scents that carry the fields are more intense than those we know. If the pigs also offend, because it's the cows' fault - I'm sorry. In any case, the fertilizer scattered by farmers smells quite intensively ... to put it mildly. I am comforted only by the fact that it is still healthier for my lungs than the smoke whirling from chimneys in farms at EC Siekierki. If someone likes to be obscenely close to nature, he will find himself in these fields perfectly. We pass many farms, but the animals have buried somewhere ... with the exception of:

Dogs. Dogs are the largest source of Polish villages and towns. Rural dogs are divided into those that are kept in a cage 2 × 3 meters (although the field stretches to the horizon) and those with free range. The free range turns into a very fast run, as soon as a cyclist appears somewhere in the area. I do not know if most of them watched films about World War II throughout their youth, but undoubtedly their idols must have been Japanese Kamikaze. There are two ways to cause financial damage: they accelerate at a right angle, and when they are at the right distance from the front wheel, they try to slow down what they are either succeeding or running next to the rider, waiting for the right moment to throw themselves under the rear wheel. As if they tried to scratch the top on the back. Whoever never stopped the wheel in place while driving thanks to this dog, may be called a lucky person. Each skid of a tire left on the asphalt is the case that we hear coins being fired out of our pockets.

Who called you that ?!

The local village was called a man with a vivid imagination. On the way, we visit: Moscow, Siberia, Vodka, Jaroszki, Boginia, Tworzyjanki, Kresy, Koziołki, Kolonia at Szosa, Parma, Szwaba and Kwiatek.

The closer we are to Lodz, the more abstract it is. In fact, if it was not for the map, we would not know that we are near Łódź. Buildings in the Wzniesienia Łódz Landscape Park (and it's not about emotional elevations) are ... different. Alternately, there are cottages that look like from the "build your farm for PLN 100" and the Gates estate. Really, the number of huge, fat houses is very large. I would even say that it is a caricature and we wonder if we have accidentally missed our western border. If someone tells you that abroad is better, because the roads are equal, the traffic is small, in the countryside clean and nice - I invite you there to verify your beliefs about our country.

I would not be myself if I did not break something. Ramps are steep - even the front derailleur must be used. Usually, I only do this when I translate the bike to the simulator. My derailleur was so surprised during the reduction that something went wrong with her, she stuck the chain and twisted on the fastening. Before I discovered that I was not riding an Italian bicycle and should not be knocked when pedaling, it took a while. This crank arm rubbed against the aforementioned derailleur leaving a permanent mark both on itself and on it. Well done eTAP! (or rather bravo who turned the bike;))

It takes us less than 6 hours to cover the whole loop, mainly because we go like grandfathers in the wind. Adding a trip from Warsaw and return - this gives you a total of about 8 hours. A lot, but assuming that an ordinary trip to Warka is a minimum of 5 hours - it's worth adding. If you leave at 8, you should make it home for dinner (or four dinners).