As part of our 2nd cycling segment, we appreciated the well developed road network in Poland. Although we encountered a few stretches of dirt road, we easily managed to cycle most of the time on quiet paved roads. Our route continued to be mostly flat. We were also quite pleased with our accommodation selections. In towns, we kept on being amazed on how courteous the drivers were whenever we approached any intersections.

2025.05.20 – [PL] Serock ==> Wyszków (40 kms | Total: 108 kms)

As we anticipated a shorter cycling day, we stayed in bed until 9am. We ate breakfast in our room and check-out of our small, but comfortable apartment by 10am. We opted to buy some water before leaving town as the sunny temperature was to hit 20C. We started our day on another cycling path but after a few kms, we were left to ride along a narrow shoulder with lots of transport trucks. Thankfully, the drivers continued to be courteous. After 16kms, we moved to a country side road with little traffic. It was a welcomed change. Along the farmland roads, Jenny got to yell a few times at small dogs as they were trying to chase us. As we arrived at our destination town early, we stopped at McDonald’s for a rest and snacks. We were more curious as to whether this restaurant was as clean as the one we stopped at yesterday. To our delight, it was. We checked into a nice modern apartment with a well-equipped shared kitchenette. We bought groceries for both of our dinner and next morning’s breakfast. Jenny cooked a great dinner of beef/egg noodle soup.

2025.05.21 – [PL] Wyszków ==> Ostrołęka (62 kms | Total: 170 kms)

Jenny prepared some well garnished omelets for us in order to support our longer cycling day. We enjoyed our stay at this modern apartment. Shortly after leaving town, our GPS route brought us on a dirt road but the surface condition was quite good. Some 10kms later, we rejoined a paved road with a good cycling shoulder for the rest of our day’s journey. We covered our cycling distance in less time than we expected as the route was mostly flat. We checked into another modern apartment by 2:00pm. We repeated our routine of yesterday by buying food at the grocery store for both of our dinner and breakfast. We took advantage of the apartment’s washing machine to do our first large clothes wash of the trip. We cooked pizza (frozen) and salmon/veggies for our dinner.

2025.05.22 – [PL] Ostrołęka ==> Łomża (45 kms | Total: 215 kms)

Upon waking up before our alarm, I had a coffee and promptly replaced our tandem’s carbon sync belt. We had noticed yesterday, an increasing creaking noise when pedaling. Since we had replaced the two chain rings before leaving home, we hoped that replacing the carbon belt would alleviate the creaking noise. Jenny cooked a nice and filling breakfast before we left our accommodation at 10am. We purchased some water before leaving town. We rode through, mostly flat, countryside roads along farmlands. We encountered a dirt road for 5-7kms. Except for the light headwind, the cloud cover provided for some very comfortable cycling conditions. The tandem’s drivetrain was much quieter with the new carbon belt. Along the way, we were captivated by the large nests build up by the white stork birds. It seem like every other electrical poles in villages have a metal platform atop the poles to help the bird build their nest. Upon arriving in our target destination town, we stopped at McDonald’s for some lattes as we had arrived before our accommodation check-in time. Shortly after 2:00pm, we checked into our hotel accommodation. We struggled a bit to find a restaurant for dinner near our hotel while ensuring to avoid the forecast evening rain. After our two previous night’s home-cooked dinner, we had dinner at a restaurant 15mins walk away. We returned to our hotel under a light rain mist.

2025.05.23 – [PL] Łomża ==> Osowiec-Twierdza (64 kms | Total: 279 kms)

It seemed like it rained a good part of the night but in the morning the roads had dried up. We had a surprisingly nice and plentiful buffet breakfast at our older hotel geared towards wedding events. Shortly after leaving the town, we had to walk uphill over 1 km with our tandem along a muddy dirt road. Later we rejoined a paved secondary road with no shoulder but a low volume of traffic. We cycled on the same secondary road for most of the day. Along the way, we stopped regularly for a short rest. We also bought water and snacks en route. We had been concerned about our end of day remote accommodation. Once we arrived at the accommodation building, we had to sms the owner for the lock box code in order to access the key to our apartment. We were extremely relieved to learn that the restaurant beside our accommodation was open until 5pm. As it was the only food supply option within 10kms, we showed up at 3:30pm for dinner. The meals were very good and the prices much lower than in the cities. The pictures of our accommodation on Booking.com were not very inviting but in the end we were quite pleased with the apartment’s amenities.

2025.05.24 – [PL] Osowiec-Twierdza ==> Augustów (61 kms | Total: 341 kms)

We had a light breakfast in our apartment before packing up. As we were loading the tandem, we discovered that our front pannier rack had lost a screw. We mended the rack with a screw, zip-tie and some electrical tape. We cycled through out the day in remote areas often following a designated Poland cycling route. We both felt like each kilometer was taking us longer today. Once we arrived in town, we took a well deserved rest at our usual restaurant. We checked into our river front hotel at 2:30pm for a two night stay. We had a good relaxing dinner at a nearby bistro.

2025.05.25 – [PL] Augustów ==> Augustów (10 kms | Total: 351 kms)

After an excellent breakfast at our hotel, I did some maintenance on the tandem while Jenny researched some sightseeing options available in town. Later, we booked accommodations for our next cycling segment. At the moment, we are finding it easier to secure accommodations on this trip than our last year’s Japan visit. In the afternoon, we cycled out on our sightseeing tour. We truly enjoyed the views along the river front, the market square (fountain) and a dozen of murals spread across the town. In the evening, we opted to walk back along the river front in search of a restaurant for our dinner. Due to limited dinning option on Sunday evening, we ate once again at a pizzeria.