Papa Bazarou

Are they new to the league this year in division 2 ? Where is the track located in Poznan ? is it at the following . . http://www.olimpia.org.pl/ If so that looks an impressive sized stadium, with a big track. Does the speedway club have its own website ? My reason for asking asking is that the Sunday following the Bydgoszcz GP, I understand that PSZ will be racing at home, thus a visit to a new track on the Sunday before flying to Luton on Monday from Poznan ! (that is of course if there is no extraleague play-off action close by)

All . . . Ryanair direct into Bydgoszcz (out Friday, back Sunday) is showing as £99.99 each way plus taxes, so £224 all in - clearly the flight is pretty full already ! Based on cost, take my advice, go to either Poznan or Gdansk via Wizzair (from Luton) or Ryanair (from Stansted). Both operate daily flights to both with Wizz even running an early and late flight into Gdansk. All showing for about £60 return all in. Plus Luton is an hour closer to the Midlands than Stansted. The 2 to 2.5 hour train run is no heartache, at about £8 in first class on an express, its an adventure from either Gdansk or Poznan, even cheaper on the all stoppers. The train from Poznan will get us into Bydgoszcz by about 2.45, so no different than the direct flight to Byd. Personally I'll be on the 0745 Wizzair from Luton on the Friday and back on the 11:15 on Monday, therefore a chance to see league action on the Sunday (is it play-off weekend Mateusz ?) I was originally booked on the Bydgoszcz flight on the Friday, but a swift change of plan to accomodate other travelling companions and avoid the massive cost means its now Poznan for Papa B. See you all at the Brda !

More pictoral flashbacks to '05 . . HenryW at the double . . . Tommy gets in on the act . . . The day after . . The hangover cure - Sphinx style - food and yet more Piwo !

And for the BSF Bydgoszcz virgins, drinking in the mecca looks something like this . . . Kamikaze by the score !

Never heard of him . . . . Looks like I'll need a big Bydgoszcz 2006 BSF tour flag for all to sign this year.

Papa will be back in town again in '06. . . and Wroclaw, and Cardifff and hopefully Latvia.

. . and looks something like this . . . http://community.webshots.com/photo/389048...389051708AXzJRo More on my webshots below including the worlds biggest barbecue

Correct . . .

Yeah, red doesn't turn, tags the guy in blue slightly then carries on straight like an exocet wiping out Sergei and the rest who are minding their own business. Perhaps just trying too hard to get under blue and that advantage ? A first bend incident that we've seen before and will see again, but with 5 men and machines in the turn at once more of chance to get hooked up. Brings it home what a dangerous sport this is.

The heat 2 crash was awful, the pace at which they went in was incredible. You can see Sergei pulling the cut out away in a vain attempt to scrub speed and leaning away knowing it was going to be a hard impact. 5 riders per heat, perhaps a contributing factor ? all pushing hard for that spot . . and the fence, just no give at all in it. Scary stuff. Heres hoping Sergei pulls through in time, very nasty indeed.

. . and Sub, thats 3 riders in the 3rd / 4th place Torun v Chesto match (Crump, Smith and Ulamek) that also appear at Belle Vue Vue on Monday night for the play-off final. Which night is the scheduled date for a re-run if the weather is bad, the Monday ? it happened 2 weeks ago and JC and AS were allowed back, Ulamek having to stay. Re-arrangements aside, flight delays or even injuries could even have an impact on the Monday.

3rd June - hoorah - my birthday ! (and Gregory Hancocks as well I think) You can all buy me a drink

Sorry for the delay folks . . Day1 Its an 0810 flight to Gdansk on WizzAir.Com from Luton so a 5am set off from Coventry (with my old school buddy and fellow Bees fan Scotty) was in order to meet the 2 hours before departure check-in slot, this adter having about 3 hours kip on the sofa (every year I never learn to get things sorted earlier). This would be Scottys first Poland trip. Its been some years sice I last flew from Luton (19 to be exact !) as Stansted or East Midlands has been the normal outbound airport for many a GP trip over the last 4years. I'm glad we set off early as the M1 was pretty busy. Luton's certainly changed and all I can say is that the onsite parking is not cheap, even long stay, and from the pink long stay car park give yourself plenty of time as the shuttle buses are only every 15mins or so. All checked in, re-fuelled with the obligatory fry-up at the airport, security went without a hitch and we were 'airside' ready for calling to the gate. Lutons new airport is OK, but pretty much like most now UK airports now with the sole aim of you departing with your hard earned GBP or Euros as much as possible. The lack of organisation at the gates and lack of seats also clearly evident. Being an LCC (Low Cast carrier) Wizzair, Like Ryanair do not have seat allocation but try to adopt a boarding sequence process with a number being pre-printed on the baording card - net result everyone ignores this at the gate and its a free for all ! even to the extent that people race across the tarmac to the aircraft - safety first eh ! Rest assured there will be a seat for you, but if you are unlucky to be at the back of the scrum on a full flight then your may not be able to seat with your cherished / loved ones. Moral of the story travel with a child or elderly person and you can pre-board ! Thats my rany over with about LCC's, they're all the same. But if you are lucky get someone primed for bit of seat grabbing, to the extent of laying across a block of 3 if they board quickly. Onboard the pink-bus (Wizz have a fleet of spanking new Airbus A320's complete with purple leather seats, very swish) I was expecting to see more Speedway fans, quite often (Wroclaw being an example this year) the planes are almost be-seiged by a who's who of British speedway and travelling fans. Not today, but at least todays flight would have both Scott Nicholls and Pepe onboard, their travel being dictated by the previous nights Ipswich-Coventry encounter which was unfortunately rained off. Full marks to both though for making the arrangements, clearly Bydgoszcz is reachable post Thursday nights racing in the UK - Hans Andersen please take note and advise the DMU accordingly. The flight was uneventful, a couple of potholes in the sky on approach to Gdansk but nothing for the hardened frequent-flyer. It would be my first routing via the Baltic coast city, previous routes to Bydgoszcz having been via Berlin or Poznan. Transfer from the airport to Gdansk Glowny station was taxi, and at 42zln (about £7.50) which is OK as it must be about 12km out of the city. It takes you less than 30seconds to be reminded that you are in Poland as the driving standards are well . . .unique. A note for anyone going via taxi, quite a lot of cars run on LPG, so do not be alarmed by the huge device that looks like a bomb in the boot ! its also a pain as well if you have big bags as the tank takes up most of the boot. What amazes me in the 4 short years that I've been going to Poland, is how much western-europe/american influences are evident. Case in point the TGI Fridays directly opposite the station - mmmmmmm baby back ribs with JD sauce please (well OK not just now) We decided to transfer straight away to Bydgoszcz, done via the almost hourly PKP train service. At 30,03zln (juts under £6 for a 160km or 100mile journey) then thats fine in my books. We'd chosen to go 2nd class, not realising that the train would orignate from Gdynia just up the line, being a very touristy area on the coast, the train was absolutely wedged. PKP trains are like British Rail of the late '70's - all corridor stock with compartments. We managed to locate small flip down seats in the corridor - no problem for us, roughing it a bit adds to the whole experience. However if you pay the extra 15zl (£2.50) and go first class - getting a seat is less of a problem, we adopted this on the return journey well it would be an early train so why not ! 2 hours later we trundle into the familiar haunts of Peron 3 at Bydgsoszcz Glowny. A swift taxi transfer followed and we arrrived ready for 3 nights at the City Hotel. My 3 previous visits had all been spent at the Brda, this year we fancied a change. Its certainly a bit more expensive and I believe is a star rating higher than the Brda, but both have showers, TV in the room, beds and continental style breakfast so not much in it really. For info the City Hotel was 480zln per night for a twin room - so it came to £250 for 3 nights, or £125 per person or £41 per person per night b&b so I guess not too bad in the scheme of things, however the Brda and the Pod Orlem (Rico's haunt) are cheaper I believe. Location wise the Brda is closer to the station but farthest to the stadium, the city is the reverse of that and the Pod lies between the 2. I've never been one for practice sessions, so we decided to opt out and have a jaunt around the square. Bydgoszcz is no Wroclaw, but has its own square and bars to sample. Chicken and chips (Polish style) was had in a super little eatery, which was a combination of reataurant, bar and cake/sweet shop, and very cheap too, and the constant eye candy is well . . . . constant, and of the highest order. Next we'd pop back to the hotel for the 3 S's and ready for the Brda meet-up at 8pm, but on the way back found a super little spot with the locals whiling away the time playing chess. Just to the rear of the McDonalds for those familair with Bydgsoszcz, is a small park containing a few waterfalls (on my webshots) and purpose built granite chess tables for the locals to use as meeting place. There must have 20-30 people spanning all age generations playing either chess or cards or even draughts using bottle tops as counters. Anyway, onto the Brda for 8pm and it was very quiet, no sign of anyone at the bar. Chris Morton and his Belle Vue entourage were just leaving (had I remembered to de-odorise . . ? yes of course I had !) After about 45 minutes a few familiar and not so familair faces started to appear. TST and her Poole friend (the lovely Steph) both appeared suitably adorned in readiness for a bit of cake eating at midnight. How that cake had made the journey is anyones guess. A quick inspection of said cake revealed that a suitable speedway theme had been adopted and a picture from yesteryear depicting Per Jonsson, Armando Castagna, Gary Allan and Tony Langdon in action - the Papa anorak comes in useful from time to time ! It must be said though that in the 45 mins prior to anyone turning up, a rather odd intoxicated Polish lady was trying to make contact with us - the language barrier was a problem no doubt, but the constant crazy gestures (finger gyrating to her temple) was a sign that told us all we needed to know ! In the blink of an eye she'd gone thankfully. By now Rico, HenryW, Mateusz and the Bygdoszcz a.net fans had arrived. The usual chitter chatter and greetings ensued, along with a few Pivo's ! Come midnight and it was cake time, Papa turning into cake-waitress. Glad to say that a few of the Poles sampled the delights of victoria sponge with sugared icing in order to celebrate TST's birthday. Also present at the Brda were forum listee 'Tone Deaf' from Ipswich and family including 7year daughter also I believe on their first visit to Bydgoszcz. Well past midnight now and something was missing, and it was the stomach that was calling - a Kebap was needed ! A quick jaunt down to the Istanbul II and for 4,60zl (75p) you could have a kebap that literally walks all over UK kebabs. Orders were taken and a foil wrapped one for TST was also procured, but I was later to learn that it journeyed around Bydgsoszcz at the bottom of her bag for the next 24hours - delightful ! (bet she ate it as well ) Its half one and I've hit my natural wall - and enoughs enough. Suitable berating by Rico about my shocking performance, even more so when you consider I'd been outdone by a 7yr old from Ipswich ! the weekend was young still and I'd promised that I would make it to Chesterfields on the Saturday. Back to the hotel, lights out and zzz, zzz, snore, zzz, you get the pciture. Day 2 to follow.

Matt . . some really good shots in there. Keep it going buddy !

All - I've just met Mr Clemens at Brandon tonight - what a character ! complete with woolly Halifax Dukes jumper circa late 70's. To translate his posts (hats off to him for typing them) simpley recite them with a yorkshire accent - it works !

I'll got was 5 pictures of her hand ! Lightning re-actions when the camera was in range. I am back online now - totally screwed up my Netgear router, tried updating the firmware, couldn't remember the password I'd set on the router etc. then couldn't get my ISP to work now. All sorted now though will finish the webshots and write up a little resume of the weekend. Don't worry TST no dodgy pics.

What, you mean the drinks shown on the one at the end of the webshot collection ? Plenty more where that came from.

Glad you had a super time ! Seriously you looked in awe at the end of the meeting, the passion exuded by the fans has to be experienced 1st hand, I'm sure you'll be back for more. And to think I was out drunk and outstayed on the Friday night in the Brda by a 7 year old ! tut tut Papa.

Jeez - it actually takes pictures ! I thought it squirted water ! Good to meet up again looiking forward to next year already.

All - just got back from Luton airport, I will provide a full update of the weekend, but for now please feel free to browse my webshots which give a flavour of the weekend. More to come but for now . .

Pugwash - when are you going out this week, which route ?

Thursday it is - bit of sneaky editing there ! Tomek's not been out for a while now has he ? Last time I saw him in Poland was in 01 at the Brda when he got a touch ambitious (as usual by all accounts) only to be reminded that his targets other half was standing behind him ! He was at Cov earlier in the season, suitably quieter in the same presence of people.

You mean the Thursday stopping in Gdansk then down to Byd on the Friday ? Jo and Jonty are not coming this year which is a shame, but they'll be up for it again next year plus a Wroclaw, southern Poland touristy trip as well heopefully to catch the GP down there. There are a few others of the Cov brigade going (Ballinger, JayEmm etc, albeit a differnt route, Easyjet into Warsaw late Friday, across to Byd on the Saturday then back home again on the Sunday. I don't expect too much partying form that part of the gang, youngsters in tow etc. but you never know ! My good pal Scotty Woz is coming over with myself via Gdansk, his 1st Polish trip, I'm sure he'll enjoy it. Just yourself and Rico this time ?

They're every hour or so from Gdansk 30.03 zl, so whats that about £5.50ish for 160km or 100miles - you can't get that over here ! Probably leave about 3ish, tea time into Byd, time for a triple S, then off to the Brda. There are trains at 15:17 and 16:13 both taking 1:45, so plenty of options. I have a feeling that the Friday flight will be a bit of a speedway-fest again. Image what it will be like on Ryanair next year when they start the Bydgoszcz route ? Home meetings in the extraliga would be do-able - BKS Polonia vs Apator Torun, local derby, now that would be a bit special, or against Unia Tarnow - the Gollobs back at the mecca.

I'm sure that Rico will put us straight (think is using the same route but the Thursday outbound), I too am going Luton - Gdansk on the Friday (8:10 ish flight in the morning Wizzair I think) then train down to Bydgoszcz. Its a new route for myslef having done Berlin then train previously (twice) and Poznan then train last year. Gdansk Glowny (I think means central) looks to be the best bet. Hoping to spend a few hours checking the place out before going down to Bydgoszcz, I'm never one for the practice days. What flight are you returning on ? I'm on the Monday am return. Rico - please pass on your pearls of wisdom kind sir ! correct station, rough taxi fare from airport to town, places of interest etc. Also, what is the consensus for the Sunday everyone ? Looks like we are scuppered a bit for league racing, Leighs testimonial is do-able in Leszno but the return back to Byd could be a tad late. A shame that Grudsiadz did not make it through the play-off quarters, that could have been handy only 70kms away from Byd, and a very picturesque looking place too. Never mind perhaps a bit of sight seeing then in Torun, and certainly a Super Sphinx !