A few months ago I wrote about my impressions of the Masovian part of the Bug River Bike Trail. Now it’s time for the next part, two days by bike in the Lublin region!
I started at the train station in the village of Fronołów. In this way, I avoided the 30 km section running through the Podlaskie Voivodeship, but I saw on the map that it runs on asphalt all the time, mostly along main roads, so there is probably nothing interesting there.
In Fronołów, I immediately drove into the forest and the initial kilometers I rode on a gravel road with a washboard, which soon turns into a comfortable asphalt road.
After only 16 km from the start, in the town of Klepaczew, the first longer break. I didn’t need a rest yet, but it’s a shame not to take this opportunity. Umbrellas and benches a bit ugly, rubbish on the ground, but when you approach the Bug itself, it’s beautiful :)
A few kilometers away, the Bug River Bike Trail connects with the popular Green Velo Cycling Trail. You follow them, on asphalt roads all the time, almost without cars.
You can speed up, but don’t miss the sign pointing to the viewpoint. It’s really worth going there!
Then another 13 km of paved roads with gentle ascents and descents …
and you get to Janów Podlaski. From there, Green Velo continues along the asphalt road, now no longer by a side road, but by the main provincial road, while the Bug River Bike Trail turns towards the horse stud.
After a while, you reach the stud gate, supervised by a security guard. Surprised that the application was leading me this way, I said that it was marked on the map that there was a bicycle trail here, to which he admitted that there was indeed a trail here and he let me in.
Behind the stud you will find several kilometers on not very pleasant concrete pavements.
Soon, however, the trail turns into a beautiful dirt road and along the corn, you will reach the river.
The following kilometers also please the eyes, although they do not lead along the river itself.
In the village of Zaczopki, I missed the turn into a forest path and rode straight. I figured it out after about 300 meters, but I thought that since I was going towards the Bug, I would go further, see, maybe there would be a nice view of the river. It turned out that not only the view, but there is also the path leading along the river, not marked at all in the mapy.cz application.
In some places it is grassy, but the ride was quite good and the surrounding nature is beautiful. I don’t know why the trail doesn’t lead that way.
After approx. 3 km, I returned to the Bug River Bike Trail, and after a while I went back towards the river :) Greenery, cranes, blue water … perfect!
But if you follow the trail, you can also see the Bug River. For a short while, in the Szwajcaria Podlaska Nature Reserve, just before the trail joins Green Velo again.
Together with Green Velo you go along an empty paved road.
After approx. 15 km, Green Velo turns to Terespol, while the Bug River Bike Trail continues straight ahead, avoiding the city. It was fun to ride for another 10 km, then the trail goes off the asphalt road and leads into the bushes.
I like riding a bike on the terrain, but right … riding. Pushing a bike through cobwebs is no longer what I enjoy. I was already considering going back to the asphalt road, because I wanted to get to the accommodation place relatively early, but after a while I left on a nice dirt road.
So I continued along the trail and after a while I was struggling with impassable fragments again, this time on farmland. Half an hour passed before I made my way through the 3 km and hit the asphalt road again.
From there, another 12 km on asphalt, left to the river and soon, after riding a total of 120 km, I was in Kodeń.
The next day, in order to easily catch the train from Chełm at 6:25 pm, I left before sunrise. Usually, the buildings do not impress me, but the illuminated church in Kodeń looked quite nice.
The beginning of the day was not easy. After a short asphalt ride, the trail enters a sandy forest. In addition, the path was run over by a tractor and I was not able to ride a bike in some places.
Only after a few kilometers, a comfortable asphalt surface reappears, which you ride through fields and rural buildings.
The Green Velo trail runs along the main road all the time, while the Bug River Bike Trail runs on one or another side of this road, sometimes on asphalt, and sometimes on more difficult, but more interesting and beautiful terrain.
Only once did I leave my trail to the Green Velo trail, because I saw a lookout tower on the map. However the view was so-so.
After a while, I returned to the Bug River Bike Trail and a nice forest path.
Soon after, in Różanka, after 65 km that day and 160 km from the entrance to the Lublin Province, I saw a board that assured me that the Bug River Bike Trail (Nadbużański Szlak Rowerowy) really exists, not only in the mapy.cz application.
Reportedly marked with red marks. I’d seen them the day before, but at some point they turned in a different direction than in the app, which made me understand that it must have been a different route. It was the same that day. From the morning I was accompanied by markings of the red bicycle trail, but it was in Różanka, a bit behind this board, that the trail started to lead in a different direction, so again, it was probably a different trail. Or it is incorrectly marked in the application … I don’t know, because I haven’t found an official map with the route of this trail anywhere.
I rode down, sat for a while by the river, stroked the cat, which clearly lacked contact with people, and continued according to the trail marked in the application.
After about 10 km I reached Włodawa, where the trail crosses the small Włodawka river and continues along a short section with a view of the Bug.
Then the trail leads a few kilometers through a nice but in places sandy forest …
… and I got to Lake Białe. I imagined that I would find an inexpensive restaurant with a lake view, maybe I would swim for a while, sit in the bosom of nature … But I saw a funfair, lots of pubs and shops, ugly music was playing from several places at the same time and there was a ban on cycling by the water.
There were no crowds of people, but I still felt like I was in some tourist seaside town.
These are not my vibes, so I ate in the first place I found and rode on. Back to the forest, to the Sobibór Landscape Park.
The terrain was better in some places, in some places worse. Just where I could get more speed, at one point I almost ran over a green creature that looked like a praying mantis at first glance. I stopped, came back and in fact – this rare insect, entered in the Polish Red Book of Animals, was still standing motionless in the same place, as if waiting for me to take pictures. Head like an alien, big spikes in front. I didn’t dare to go into macro mode. I took photos with the zoom, hidden behind the bike ;)
A few kilometers further I reached a short asphalt section, then the trail turns again into the forest. The terrain wasn’t comfortable here anymore. Ankle-length sand and mud alternately. In some places I wasn’t able to ride, in other places I didn’t want to risk landing in a puddle, and again it took me half an hour to cover 3 km.
After leaving the forest, in the village of Kosyń, with the meter reading 105 km, I decided that I would not continue along the trail, but would follow the asphalt roads towards Chełm. It is a pity, because I was planning to go along the Bug River Bike Trail at least to Wola Uhruska, Ruda-Huta or even further, but I didn’t want to risk getting into sand or mud again and as a result I would not be able to catch the train. Overall, the second day felt more difficult than the first. Relatively less paved and more rough terrain where it is difficult to pace fast.
The further road to Chełm was very pleasant. I was riding on little busy side roads.
At one point, a few kilometers from Kosyń, I noticed … that I do not have a front fender on my bicycle. It must have fallen off somewhere on the bumpy road, because it happened to me that it loosened in such terrain before, but I can’t remember the last time I saw it. If you accidentally find it, you can take it, but let me know where it was, because I’m curious how long it took me to notice that it was not there ;)
Before Chełm I got to the little river Uherka.
I was in the town long before the departure of the train, so I made a small circle around Chełm to see what the “High Hill” that I saw on the map is. It turned out that it was nothing interesting, but at least I reached 150 km :)
I have mentioned several times about the Green Velo trail, which in some places runs together or near the Bug River Bike Trail. I was riding parts of this trail in Podlasie and even then I had the impression that it was overrated. Now I have strengthened myself in this belief. It’s very well marked and stands out in that respect, but otherwise nothing special. If you like cycling close to nature and you don’t need asphalt all the time, the Bug River Bike Trail in the Lublin region may be an interesting alternative to Green Velo.
Thank you :)
Florian Dirnberger
Congratulations, I’ve never seen a Mantis in my life :-D