Delivering Hope to Ukraine - End of day five
Delivering Hope to Ukraine 
End of Day 5
England - Tick
Netherlands - Tick
Germany - Tick
Today Hope and I ticked-off yet another county from the list and entered Poland, the fourth and final country, home of our final destination, Lublin.
Polish border crossed at 13.17, precisely 4 days, 0 hours & 17 minutes after leaving Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England.
It was on the final half hours ride to Leknica when things nearly went very Pete Tong. We were on the 156 and, if I’m honest my eye was on the clock. “How amazing would it be to arrive at the border in three days, fifty something minutes?” (Said the ever competitive motocross rider within me). Basically without even realising it I was ringing poor old Hopes neck with my eye firmly on the time, not on the bigger and far more important prize. That of actually getting to Lublin and handing over our valuable cargo. I guess the good part here was, a, my knowledge of engines and b, the special bond I’ve made with this wee bike over the past week. Anyway, I felt the engine tighten up ever so slightly and immediately pulled over and switched her off. I unscrewed the dipstick and was greeted with hot oil vapour. Clearly she had got too hot. I placed her on the centre stand and let her cool off for a while. Then checked the oil level, which was a wee bit lower than spot-on, but it was correct when I did my routine checks earlier this morning, so I can only assume me riding her too hard had burned a little more than the usual minimal amount. Anyway topped-up and cooled down and we were good to go again. I even got off the larger 156 road and made it to Leknica via the smaller side roads, just to ensure she was fine and ready to continue.
Effectively what had happened was her saying “rein it in” jockey, you’re not on your motocross bike now! Luckily for me I was savvy enough to recognise the potential catastrophe - just in time it would appear.
So she’s given me another chance, which I trust she will appreciate I will not squander. The eye is firmly back on the real price, us both getting to Lublin in a sensible time, but most importantly actually getting there in one piece, not on the back of a recovery truck.
JustGiving update - £1,500+
Today’s images -
1) Sign with tank on that noticed in Bad Liebenwerda, where I stayed last night, it translates to -
“For Homeless Journeymen To War”
“Not With Us”
“People’s And Peace Party”.
2) Cobbled street, this is a fairly standard “B” road in Poland from what I’ve ridden on so far today.
3) Crossing into Poland at lunchtime.
Since crossing from Germany to Poland I’ve noted significantly more positive reactions to my bike, it’s flags and my jacket. Lots of cars going by tooting, with thumbs up, hands out of windows etc. In Germany there was virtually no one reacting in that way. Thinking about it . . . imagine France is at war and you live in Scotland, you’re protected with England as the buffer. Yet say England were at war the Scots would feel far more exposed and at greater risk. Precisely why Poland feels the greater connection with Ukraine I guess, coz their two soils meet. 
TIme to grab a shower, sort the route plan for tomorrow and get a bite to eat.
Tonight, Hope and I find ourselves in Legnica (not to be confused with Leknica on the border.) Circa 500km from Lublin. Early stat tomorrow, breakfast starts at 06.30 and I plan to be first in. 
