Day 8 – Starawiez to Tarnòw, to Krakòw

The plan today had been to have a fairly comfortable day, with a “mere” 105km to ride between Novy Sacz and Krakòw. However, a contingency plan had to be made because of yesterday’s earlier stop at Stara Wies. Today’s accommodation is in Krakòw, the city where Pope John Paul 11 had been Bishop and Cardinal. So, it was decided that a new route be made to Tarnòw, then all together to Krakòw. It had been hoped that, with this plan, the team would still be in time to visit the infamous “Auschwitz” concentration camp. Thanks to Father Pierre, and a Polish Jesuit priest at Stara Wies, this plan seemed possible. However, history seems to be repeating itself in the HSBC Life Cycle Challenge, all plans being thrown to the wind as they were informed that there were several road works being done between Tarnòw and Krakòw, resulting in an enormous traffic jam, so in no way would it have been possible to arrive at Krakòw in time to visit Auschwitz. Making the best of this turn of events, on arriving at Krakòw, several members of the team went to visit the beautiful city centre, one of the biggest and most beautiful in Europe. Others chose to simply relax and catch up on some sleep, in preparation for tomorrow’s ride into the Tatra mountains, on the Polish/Slovakian border.