Practical info on cycling in Poland

When cycling in Poland, you might find the following hints useful:

• No driving permit is required to cycle in public roads in Poland if you are 18 years or older. Children older than 10 years, unless accompanied by adults, are required to wear a pass ("karta rowerowa") issued by the school to certify their knowledge of the Highway Code. If you ride with children younger than 10 years on their own bikes, you may take up sidewalk/pavement and choose to cycle on the LEFT verge of public roads if no pavement is provided (just like pedestrians in such case). Some years ago all cyclist in Poland were required special cycling permit or driving licence - this is no longer the case.
  
  
• Bicycle must be fitted with red reflector visible from behind and position lights in front (white or selective yellow, whatever that means) and at the rear (red; rear light may be flashing - although some policemen may not be aware of such legal intricacies). All lights must be fitted to the bike 35 cm above street level and no higher than 95 cm (do not worry, nobody cares if you have it higher). All lights must be visible at night from at least 150 meters. A bell or other similar warning device is a must. (Perhaps 95 per cent of bicycles in Poland have no bell nor any similar warning device, and majority has no lights either).
  
  
• Drinking and cycling is a crime in this country. Believe or not, you may be sentenced up to one year in jail just for cycling intoxicated. It is almost the same if you drink and drive heavy truck (two years in prison). Permissible level is 0.2 ml alcohol in 1 litre blood (0.2 promille). Although nobody seems to care and in the countryside you may see (surprise!) a lot of freely moving heavily intoxicated riders, sometimes police do stop cyclists and invites them for a breathalyzer test. Rule of thumb: if you have to talk to police, do not approach them drunk and on the bicycle.
  
  
• Bike theft: bicycles do get stolen in Poland. Use good quality U-lock and trust no one. Most of bikes in Poland get stolen from inside buildings, where people keep them day or night, but theft and even robbery happens in streets, too. The problem eases as you leave big cities, however stay alert and do not leave your bicycle unlocked and unaccompanied. Bikes left with good locks in the street sometimes get vandalized.
  
  
• Police: do not expect the police to understand (or speak) any foreign language. Reporting a bicycle theft (or any theft, mishap, crime etc.) may well take up to six hours. Or more. Your possible perfect knowledge of Polish or aid of an interpreter will NOT help. This is not a language problem. This is an organization and civilization problem. Or corporate culture problem, if you like.
  

• Poland is notorious for narrow, bumpy roads full of heavy trucks and speeding freaks. Avoid national roads and all thoroughfares if possible. Leaving a huge city in traffic might be a daunting task, especially in peak hours. Sometimes it is a good idea to evacuate from a city along rivers, even if there are no towpaths but just green fields. There are few cycling facilities in cities in Poland (see below) and if you spot a cycleway sign, beware: often riding a loaded touring bicycle on such facility may pose serious threat. No kidding. On the other hand, in the countryside almost all marked cycle trails are just for avid mountain bike freaks on fat knobby tyres, not long-distance tourers.
  
  Drivers: well, drivers are drivers. If you survived UK, Turkey etc. you'll probably do fine in Poland. Expect bizzarre overataking manouvers, with three cars at a time suddenly driving side by side and passing each other just inches away. If you see speed limit sign, expect drivers to speed double the sign figure. Have fun.
  
  
• Cycling on segregated facilities may be dangerous: be very cautious at junctions! If you see green light ahead, a car driving in the parallel lane to your left sees green, too - and may well want to turn right without braking, straight into you. Drivers tend not to care. In case of all junctions where cycle road crosses a subordinate street, the situation is very complicated: from the legal point of view, cyclists going staight ahead in the cycle road (along the road with priority) do not have priority over cars turning right (turning off the main road). Cyclists should in fact stop at every junction and yield to the traffic. In practice, some drivers do yield to cyclists and some do not. Look straight into driver's eyes and make sure he/she sees you before you go.
  
  If there is no segregated facility, surface is bumpy and traffic is very heavy, many cyclists just ride on pavement. (This is legal if speed limit in the street is above 60 km/h, and pavement is wider than 2 m, you must yield to pedestrians). Cycling on zebra crossing is an offence - but nobody cares as long as it does not impede pedestrians, as this is often the quickest and most safe way for cyclists. Do not do it in front of a police car.
  
  
• Bikes are allowed on most trains in Poland. You need an extra ticket (up to 11 PLN one way for longest possible travel across Poland and usually cheaper; you will receive two tickets - one with price 0 PLN is control coupon) and will have to place your bike in a luggage car. You must take off all the bags and extra equipment from the bicycle. Keep the control coupon to return it to the carriage crew when retrieving the bike at your destination. Make sure the train crew understand you need to pick the bike from the luggage car at the station, otherwise they may let the train leave before you get hold of your vehicle. Choose a carriage and seat near the luggage car and be aware that train crews change on long trips.
  
  Luggage cars are rare, anyway. Trains with luggage cars are marked in timetables. In case there is no luggage car (or it is there but is out of order, closed or not available to the general public - this apparently tends to happen), you may put the bike in the last (or first) carriage at the very end or front of the train next to the entrance. If there are more cyclists on the train, it may definitely not be a viable option. Train crew may ask some of you to leave the train in such case and take the next one (although usually they are cooperative). Locking the bike to the door knobs is a good idea, much like dismounting all precious luggage and equipment. This also makes evacuation quicker. At many destinations platforms are very low and you will not be able to pull the loaded bike out of the carriage. On some long distance trains there are new carriages with extra room for bicycles. As of late 2003, they are very rare. Beware: you are responsible for your bike and luggage. CAUTION: on night trains (hotel trains, or InterCity Night etc.) with no other carriages than sleeping cars and couchettes, bicycles are not allowed. The night train company oddly named WARS is not PKP (the state railways) and has own policies on bikes and passengers. Technically, there is less place in WARS carriages for squeezing bikes in than in normal ones. However, small talk with the train crew at the platform may help.
  
  Local trains usually have special compartments for people with bigger luggage or just bicycles - look for them at either end of the trainset. Intercity train (IC Wawel) from Hamburg and Berlin to Wroclaw, Katowice and Krakow has nice bicycle racks sufficient for at least ten bicycles in one of its carriages. There used to be a similar season InterRegio train from Germany to Gdańsk and Olsztyn in northern Poland. Bicycles are usually not allowed on any buses or coaches, but free market can procure miracles. Just talk to the driver.
  
  
• Weather: it may be a detriment, as heavy and long rains may be expected in Poland in summer. Sometimes it is raining heavily for several days with no stop. However, you may equally well expect long weeks of really hot weather, with no rain at all. It's a guesswork. Bring the raingear with you. Winters are pretty heavy, with lots of snow - but most likely you will not be touring Poland in February. See the Living in Poland part at the very end of this page.
  
  
• Bicycle shops are usually well equipped, with most rudimentary Shimano, Sram and other global brand parts at least. Do not expect very big choice. If you need some sophisticated last-minute purchases before your trip, you better do the shopping in Germany on the way or at your local bicycle shop. Most of cycling merchandise is low-end mountain bike oriented and if you happen to use 700cc wheels, a quality replacement rim or similar niche part may be a problem, shops will have to order the part and delivery may take weeks. Hovewer, if you need just an instant fix for your problem, you will most likely have it no matter what wheel, fork, stem or frame size. Bike shops and repair shops are closed on Sundays, and on Saturdays close earlier, usually at 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. On weekdays, closing time varies from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. In some cities bicycle rental is possible but the quality of bikes often is nil.
  
  
• Bicycle community and culture: most bikes used in Poland are cheap mountain bike clones and the likes. In the countryside, rusty roadsters and old weird folding bikes are commonplace. None have reflectors or lights and the bicycle is poor man's transport there. In larger cities, apart from flashy and sometimes really expensive top-end mountain bikes, you will spot a growing number of commuter cycles, often old ones imported from Germany or the Netherlands. In some cities, notably Warsaw, the bicycle messenger communities sprung up, and alleycat rides are organized from time to time. Warsaw has its legendary Criticas Mass rides, attracting often more than one thousand cyclists, the largest event of this kind in Central Europe and probably one of the biggest in the world. It has its own martyrology, as heavy battle with the police was fought during one CM in 2002 and several riders were arrested. It has become much more civilized (and bigger) since then. The Warsaw CM is each last Friday of the month, at 6:00 p.m., Plac Zamkowy (Zamkowy square) in Old Town. Winter brings the numbers of participants down, but spring and early summer rides are really worth seeing (and taking part). See CM contacts here.
  
  
• Best cycling trips: northern and eastern Poland, with Gdańsk, Bialystok, Lublin and Przemysl as the good start or arrival points, as they have well-connected train stations. Cycling to Białowieża Primeval Forest on the Belarussia border is a good idea. Other nice destinations are Mazury Lakes and the long ride along eastern border of Poland (EU's eastern frontier of May 1st, 2004 - come and see where the EuroEmpire ends ;-). Western and north-western Poland is interesting place, hovewer the cobblestone roads dating back to the first half of 20th century can be really annoying. Hilly southern Poland may be a problem - despite gorgeous views, monuments and nature sites. Dunajec Cycle Route (unmarked, what a shame - and the page is in German only) is definitely worth a ride, much like the Tatra mountains and Spisz - however, passing the Beskid mounatins with busy roads can be difficult. No EuroVelo or other long-distance cycling routes have been marked in Poland yet. There are some short routes accessible to cyclist in some parts of Poland. You can follow the proposed EuroVelo.org itineraries (see our EuroVelo Poland page here) with a good map. We are working on some good quality cycling routes, and hope to keep you informed about the progress.
  
  
• Central European extras and bonuses: we heard interesting stories from Polish - Russian (Kaliningrad region on the Baltic Sea coast) and Polish - Ukrainian borders. At some checkpoints there cyclist are not allowed, even though these are open to cars and pedestrians. You have to hitch-hike with your bicycle or use train. It seems to be sick joke of Russian or Ukrainian border guards, or just plain bureaucracy. Please, let me know if such things happened to you. Similar problems may arise when you are travelling with your bicycles on trains from Poland to Czech Republic or Slovakia (unless you sent them as luggage or parcel). In these countries, bikes apparently are not allowed on international or InterCity trains and you may be asked to leave the train. The problem does not exist on trains running between Poland and Germany.
  
  
• Living in Poland with your bicycle: if you are planning to live in Poland for some time (work, studies etc.) and want to commute by bicycle, be careful about the location of the flat you want to rent. In a number of cities there are whole districts that are inaccessible by bicycle due to the lack of alternative routes combined with very bad road surface and extremely heavy traffic in bottleneck parts of the only route. On the other hand, in most cities downtown areas are pretty cyclable, with a number of traffic - calmed streets and even a few cycling facilities. Do a reconaissance first. You might use the Polish newsgroup pl.rec.rowery to inquire about specific issues (Polish is the language of pretzel, or pl.rec.rowery, but you may get some positive feedback directly to your e-mail address). Good idea is to bring a commuter bike with you - from Germany, Netherlands or elsewhere. And a good U-lock, too. Oups, one more point: make sure the bike fits the lift you are going to use when renting flat at 10th floor. Otherwise you will have to carry it upstairs. Some lifts in high-rise blocks of flats are pretty small. Do not leave the bicycle in the cellar or any other public/shared compartment. Keep it just at home, unless the bike is really cheap.
  
  Winters can be pretty harsh in Poland, with lots of snow, ice and temperatures falling almost to -20 degrees Celsius (or below, that is below zero Fahrenheit) for some weeks or days at least. If you come from Canada, Sweden, Finland or northern parts of the United States, then you most likely know how to cope with snow on your bicycle. The Dutch can cope with anything on their bicycles, much like the Danes. Everyone else should see the Icebike pages for instructions, or learn Polish here. One thing worth attention: in many streets in Poland snow is not cleared, so do not hesitate to cycle on pavement in such case. Often, there is uneven ice bulid-up under snow and the potholes in streets became icy, slippery and can be really dangerous. But do not be scared: I somehow survived all winters cycling daily since 1992 without studded tyres so I guess anyone can do it, including you.
  
  When in need of spare parts and your local bicycle shop cannot help, try to browse Cyklotur internet bicycle shop pages (in Polish). Prices for many parts are usually lower than elsewhere in the world and there is plenty of choice. Delivery takes up to a week, sometimes longer if an item is out of stock. Have no idea if they speak English, the owner is an avid bicycle tourist so most likely speaks languages. However, you might need Polish help as their webpages are in Polish only. Obviously, you can buy parts online in your own language from many other shops in other countries including yours, and have them shipped to Poland.
  

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