People used to say that such books still smelled of the printing ink, and it’s exactly the case with this publication. Leszek Migrała's biking guide, "Z Nowego Sącza na rowerze w towarzystwie Klio” (eng. on a bike from Nowy Sącz with Klio, so far available only in Polish) has just hit the shelves. Why such unusual companionship? Because the guide combines passion for cycling with love for history.

Its author planned his 10 excursions in such a way, that they combine the joy of riding a bike with curiosity towards everything we pass on the way. The cycling excursions marked out by Migrała are not excessively strenuous (from 20 to 60 km) and they do not require an unusually high fitness level in order to traverse uphill routes (although it is hard to imagine entirely flat roads in Nowy Sącz County). All you need is a bit of free time, good will and curiosity. Especially the last is sure to be satisfied by Leszek Migrała's guide.

The titles of specific stages are intriguing in their own right. These are: lazy trip, hiking trip, medieval trip, follow-up trip, half-legendary trip, legionary trip, multithreaded trip, railway and connoisseur trip, long-distance trip, travelling and Eastern Orthodox church trip. Thus, the author initially intrigues the cyclist, and after the latter heads off for a trip, he showers them with dates, information and stories, but mostly with anecdotes – provided in a tasteful, humorous and elegant manner. After all – as the title says – we travel in the company of Klio, who is comfortably sat in the back seat, in our bag or a rucksack. We only hope that no one who sets out on their way equipped with Leszek Migrała's guidebook becomes too much engrossed in its lecture during the ride, as they may end up in the nearest ditch.

Want a sample of what you will find in the book? Here it is! A tiny excerpt from trip no.10, "travelling and Eastern Orthodox church": [...] It was almost midnight and the officers were already half-seas-over, when one lieut. Hwilla stood up, walked toward a portrait of His Majesty Franz Joseph I of Austria, and raised a toast, expressed in a few words, as was expected from a soldier: ‘Cheers, you old fart!’ Now, this would not have made it to the pages of this book if it had not been for a a major who reported the event later on, which resulted in a court-martial trial in Lviv. The tribunal demonstrated a significantly better tact than the officer-martinet, who had taken the case to court. As a result, not only did it fail to discern lese-majesty in the words: "cheers, you old fart," but also claimed that in some parts of Poland the word "cheers" was used to express wishes of good health and happiness, while the epithet "old fart" simply meant: "beloved and kind elder".

Get on your bikes, then, not only you old farts!