1,000 Cold Kilometers Across Poland for Charity (Video)

Words by Pawel Pulawski, photos by Pawel Rzepecki

On January 11, 2024, our group of four riders set a goal of crossing Poland from its very north, Hel Penisula at the Baltic Sea, to its very south, the High Tatras, which are the highest Carpathian Mountains in Europe.

We followed the road route sections of the two most famous bikepacking races in our country, The North to South Marathon (PL: Maraton Północ Południe) and Race Through Poland. This combination created a distance of 1,030 kilometers, and the limit we set for it was 72 hours. Our main reason for riding it was to raise awareness of lung disease problems in this part of Europe, post Covid, and the massive air pollution issue. Our effort was supposed to collect donations to The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, the biggest non-governmental, non-profit organization in Poland and probably one of the biggest in Europe, which supports Polish hospitals with treatment and diagnosis equipment.

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Joanna, Maciej, Jedrzej, and I started our ride at 6 p.m. from the base of the lighthouse of the Hel Penisula. It was Thursday, and 72 hours to our destination felt like forever. All of us are pretty experienced ultra cyclists with big races behind us. We weren’t worrying about the distance itself. We knew that the only thing that could stop us was the winter, and we weren’t sure what conditions we were going to encounter. Close to the start date, the weather forecast was changing into proper winter, but we were still positive about the whole thing.

Our plan was simple. Ride 500 kilometers into the first 24 hours, then stop for about eight hours. Continue for 350 more kilometers and have another stop for a couple of hours to give ourselves at least 15 hours for the final 180 kilometers, which would already be in the mountains. We had to get to High Tatras on Sunday 6 p.m., and we wanted to do it together as a group, and also keep it as a bikepacking challenge.

To sum up the ride, the first 24 hours were the hardest. Even if 500 flat kilometers seems to be a relatively easy ride, when you add some sections with black ice on the road, snowy bits, non-stop sub-zero temperatures, and super cold and strong side and headwind for 200 kilometers, the perspective changes a lot. As we started our ride straight into the cold and frosty night, with the temperature dipping down to -8°C (17°F), all of us felt the chill depleting our bodies and consuming our energy. The sunrise was our savior.

Before we reached the hotel located somewhere in the middle of Poland, we had a few shorter stops at gas stations. They usually didn’t last longer than 30-45 minutes, but we decided to have them every four to six hours, and the main purpose was to get warmth into our bodies. We could deal with mild frostbites, refill our thermal water bottles, or simply have a short nap on the bench or a cup of warm coffee. We were trying to do all the important things there, so we wouldn’t need to stop anywhere outside, as these unexpected stops in the cold were the worst. Once the body stopped moving, winter started taking over.

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After we managed to do our 500 kilometers within the first 24 hours and had a well-deserved stop, shower, warm food, and sleep, we started our second section at 2 a.m. on Saturday. It was hard at the beginning. Joanna crashed and broke her bib tights (luckily only that), the wind was strong and not helping, and I can clearly say that I was a bit fed up with the flat land, empty fields, and nothing interesting to see around us. That’s why, when another sunrise brought us out of central Poland and into the land of beautiful rolling hills, nice forests, and small roads—most of them were fully covered with snow—it was like a whole new adventure started. Even if it was much harder to keep up the pace, mentally, it became something really exciting and challenging, and I started to feel the joy of the ride once more.

It is important to say that during the whole ride, we had some extra companions. We were carrying a Follow My Challenge tracker with us so random riders could see our progress and even join us for a few kilometers. It was truly amazing to see about 20 riders all together battling cold and frozen land for the greater purpose at one point of our journey. We were touched by that, and it drove us onward, despite the difficulties.

We reached our next hotel late, much later than we planned, but like a well-coordinated group, we agreed that we needed 15 hours of riding for the last 180 kilometers, so after only a few hours of sleep, at about 3 a.m. on Sunday, we started our last section into the Carpathians.

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The whole day was just a beautiful challenge. I knew the area very well, as I grew up nearby. With all the mountains, deep snow on the road, and some hike-a-bike sections, we weren’t sure if we would be able to make it on time to our finish line. But we also weren’t worried anymore. The numbers on our fundraisers went super high, and we felt that our main goal had already been achieved. The rest was only a formality, and we rode on all day nearly without stopping. We somehow managed to reach the final climb just in time and arrive at the edge of High Tatras, the southern border of Poland, four minutes before 6 p.m. on Sunday.

It’s hard to descibe how well this journey went, and I’m proud of it because we managed to find pure joy in doing something super difficult. Plus, it was also really good for other people, not just for ourselves. The feeling of achievement like that is priceless.

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The group ended up raising 38,600 zł ($9,850) for The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. You can find the route they rode below.

The Route

Further Reading

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