The optimal means of commuting?

On Tuesday, I cycled into work, and riding home, I narrowly avoided a drenching. Right: On the south side of Dolinka Służewiecka, at the turn-off for Al. KEN, Ursynów's main drag. A pedestrian underpass links one cyclepath with (eventually) the one running down KEN (a housing estate intervenes). Still ten kilometres from home, I looked at the sky and shuddered. I was fortunate, outrunning the clouds and getting home before the heavens opened. Cycling in the pouring rain is miserable. And bear in mind that July is Poland's wettest month.

A day earlier, the morning was wet and gloomy at the outset, so I decided to drive to work. Come the evening, the sky was cloudless and I found myself stuck in the car in a jam (above) rather than shooting past all the stationary traffic along the cyclepath at 20kmph. I'd have to crawl another six kilometres before finally turning off ul. Puławska. The best weather forecast in Poland (click here) shows, for example, that tomorrow, Friday 11 July will be dry, while Saturday 12 July will be wet. WE SHALL SEE. Once upon a time, Warsaw had a president who opined that the bicycle is a rural form of transport, not befitting a metropolis like Warsaw. Fortunately, Lech Kaczyński has moved onwards and upwards, leaving more enlightened transport planners in charge of Poland's capital. Left: the new cyclepath linking ul. Agricola and the Park Łazienkowski with ul. Myśliwiecka and Powiśle. Click to enlarge, you'll see seven cyclists using this facility - and I'm number eight.

If Warsaw can grow more cyclepaths like this, I'm sure the inconvenience of a summer rain storm will prove less of a disincentive to two-wheeled human-powered commuting.