The investment of the year

I'd like to nominate my mountain bike as the best investment of the year. True, 2010 is not over yet and the purchase officially belongs to 2009, but it was this late spring when I started out riding my two-wheeler and it really clicked in the way I had hardly expected. How in the world could I even cope without a bike for long eight years that I've been living in Poznań. My student days, when everything seemed so distant and inaccessible, both financially and geographically, with no car, no bike, tragic public transportation, could have looked so much better if only I hadn't been such a penny pincher. Two wheels are just a phenomenal value for money anyway you look at it.

Luckily, the cycling season still has another month to roll on before the winter reestablishes its cold grip. It means four more weeks of staying away from trams and buses, kilometres of fantastic workout, tonnes of sweat and, most importantly, two or three trips out of town. One is a must and we've started the preparations with my girlfriend and her girlfriend. After seeing the miniature park in Kowary, showcasing architecture gems of Lower Silesia, we have to give its local equivalent in Pobiedziska a try. They go by car, I cycle. Another priority is to pedal to Rogalin Palace through Puszczykowo, stopping by at Arkady Fiedler's museum to rediscover the adventures of this globetrotter and author. If early autumn weather permits, I might go explore the dense trails of Puszcza Zielonka Landscape Park. Incidentially, I recently read somewhere that Murowana Goślina, a tiny town that borders on the protected forest, got certified as a slow city and joined the international network, along with a handful of other Polish slow towns, mostly in the lake region of Mazury.