Alright, this took me some more time than I thought it would. After I finished my first SS1000 “Runt Vättern” last year I was pretty decided to go ahead with LD riding. And I thought – living in Kiel – heading east for Gdansk in Poland would be a nice idea. It is perfectly around 500 mls in distance and the freeway on the German part of the tour (A20) has always been more or less empty whenever I used it – should remind me of the depopulated country of Sweden in Midsommar night. That said, I have never been to Poland, it is high time to get to see the country neighboring to the east.
Although doing a SS1000 on the XBR has been proved to be a viable option many times, I decided to get me another bike that would also work for longer holiday traveling and could carry a bit of luggage. I decided for another classic, a BMW K100 RS, the”Flying Brick”. Here she is:
She cannot be compared to any of the modern superbikes, but to me it is a big jump in terms of power, speed and road stability. It took me about six weeks and a lot of help by the mates and experts at www.flyingbrick.de to get her to shape. She is not perfect now but already has proven that she can take me long distances comfortably and fast.
Now in the eastern part of the Gdansk area the is a small peninsular called “Westerplatte” that played a quite important role in the history of the 20th century. After WWI is was a part of the Free City of Danzig until the League of Nations, predecessor to the UN, decided to let the Polish Navy have a harbour there. The then German dominated political class in Danzig was not specifically happy about that. So Westerplatte was one of the major targets when German troops assaulted Poland in 1939 – marking the onset of WWII in Europe. Although the polish army eventually had to give up Westerplatte, the operation must be regarded a militarily disaster on the side of the attacking German army. Read here. Ever since Westerplatte is an national icon for Poland, and I like to see the place myself.
This is my planned route to Gdansk:
And this will be the route back to Kiel:
As I am writing this, I will set sails in about two hours, approximately at 02:00, Saturday May 16. Got my start witness at the Flying Brick regulars’ table tonight, nice coincidence.
You may watch the tour at Spotwalla, try to get my data plan working this time: SS1000 Westerplatte
