August 27th 1994 marked the 20th day of my travel. By days and a total of 1,130 mi had been pedaled from Paris, France. That was 511 in the first 10 days, add 619 in the second 10 days. These past 10 days have taken me through West Germany, through the Czech Republic and into Poland. The terrain ranged from flat to rolling to hilly to mountainous. It had been an introduction to the substandard living conditions of Eastern Europe, frightful contrasts between the west and the east, between the Free world and communism's appalling legacy. Young women prostituted themselves on the roads. From the roadway it appeared that most of their world was a farm. There had been warnings against bicycling into the former Soviet republics, particularly Ukraine. Roadside stands and bistros would become regular features for the remaining Eastern European part of the journey. There had been steeper climbs on other tours, and much longer climbs too, however for a combination of length and steepness on the same climb, the most difficult was the mountain range at the Czech and Polish border. High mountain elevations gave beautiful panoramic views of the countryside. In check the traffic was frenzied, and in Poland it was maniacally insane. Poverty wore many faces to the world, and that was most obvious in the neglect and deterioration of the people of Eastern Europe and in their civilization. Air on the roads was egregiously heavily polluted. I had gone without a shower and shave for 10 days, and had camped every night. The women of the West were much more beautiful and healthy looking than the women of Eastern Europe. I often wondered about what experiences lay behind the worn, severe, hard faces of the elderly men and women who stared as I rolled slowly past their houses and farms their fields and through their cities. I had jokingly told myself that I had become a millionaire, in Polish currency that is. The health was good. Being bullied off the road by insane motorists had angered me, and I had taken to showing the offenders my index finger. Still, for some mysterious reasons, the former Soviet republics held their exotic allure. How wrong could a man be?
