June 2: Poprad to Krakow, Poland - 166 km

Was first in breakfast room at 6:30 and pulling away from hotel at 8 am after more repairs to trailer. Mother Nature had departed from here usual schedule and had started the day with rain and fog. Undeterred I set off to cross the High Tatras and enter Poland.

I have been told by all who have visited the region that the scenery is spectauclar - 2500m peaks towering over Apline-esque villages. I did all the work but gone none of the visual rewards. The mountains must still have been there - they could not have been moved overnight. However, I saw nothing except the stretch of road in front of me - the entire area was enveloped in rain clouds and fog. The villages looked cold, wet and miserable - a mirror image of how I felt. Still, at least the uphills were generating body heat and I was not yet suffereing too badly.

The rain worsened as I reached the Polish border. For some reason I thought things would get easier gradient-wise upon reaching Poland. Oh no - more towering climbs for several kilometeres. Not 12% but L-O-N-G. Finally I seemed to reach my high altitude of the day and the road into Nowy Targ was fast. I had reached my goal of 80 km by lunch.

It was still raining as I left the pizzeria. Once again I had put wet clothes back on after changing into dry ones to eat. The pain in my knees this morning had taken about 25 km (1.5 hours) to dissipate and now they needed to be warmed up again. The road to Krakow was essentially downhill from here. With the weight of the trailer I was tearing up the tarmac and making great time and anticpated arriving in Krakow at about 6:30. To good to be true? You bet.

The all too familiar 'phsssssssst' sound bellowed and I prayed it was the trailer tire that had punctured and not my rear bike tire. Of course, it was the rear bike inner tube and the problem could not be fixed - the valvestem was the problem. Nothing to do but throw inner tube away. Problem - I had no spare! It had been used in Budapest and I planned to buy two more in Krakow. What to do? - I was stuck on an overpass of national road number 7.

The local fire department were setting up for their annual 'field day' tomorrow and there were about 30 youth and adults on the wet field (was still raining) as I walked over. I asked if anyone spoke English. One of the youths did. There was no bike store nearby, but a bus could take me to Krakow. While digesting this there was some more side talk. Then the offer that some of the youths would help me carry bike and trailer back to field house and store it while one of the men took me to try to fix the 'tube'. Deal. Four lads moved my gear. The 'fix' for my tube was that I took the tube from the man's bike after driving to his home! Then my pump stopped working - another person was dispatched to go and get a pump. We managed to get about 15 psi in the tire (it should have 70-80) but no more despite our team effort.

Two hours later I was back on the road and in a race a) to get to a petrol garage and get more air in the tire, and b) get to Krakow before darkness fell. I won both contests. Just. I arrived in Krakow at 8:30 and then took another 20 minutes to find the apartment that Lene and I had rented.

It had been a truly memorable day and a big thank you to the Pcim Fire Department for bailing me out and helping get me back on the road.