Project 100KRK

Not by code and marketing alone does one live. Although software development and product promotion offer plenty of room for interesting projects, in practice they are fairly static and—let’s be honest—often schematic.

My life is a peculiar blend of technology, marketing, and motorcycling. The latter has usually served as an escape from professional matters, but the time has come to bring all these worlds together. Writing this, I realize a certain paradox: instead of separating hobby from work, I have chosen to bind them even more tightly. On the other hand, programming, design, and technology have always been my passions, so it is hard to call this a mistake—it is rather a natural evolution.

Alongside these “boring” pursuits—such as traveling and staring at a monitor—my interests extend into areas many perceive as even less exciting: history, regional studies, archaeology, and geology. A true mixed bag that turns every route—whether on foot, by bicycle, or by motorcycle—into a challenge. It is difficult for me to focus solely on riding, because something constantly catches my eye and forces me to stop.

Living in Kraków, I cannot complain about a lack of stimuli in these fields. Quite the opposite—there is an overabundance. All it takes is stepping outside the door. And this is no exaggeration: in this city, simply looking down at your feet can take you back 100, 500, or 5,000 years. Often, however, these timeframes are far broader and easier to place on a stratigraphic table than to spell out with zeros.

I am even writing this text while sitting in an area under strict conservation protection—one that would merit its own, separate geological map. Here, the archaeological and geological worlds intertwine in an inseparable way.

Unfortunately, urban development measured in thousands of cubic meters of poured concrete systematically erases what sets Kraków apart from other regions. Concrete floods the foundations of the past, pulling our thoughts away from matters that once constituted everyday life for former inhabitants.

I decided to enrich the time between longer trips and try to capture fragments of a vanishing world—remnants of the past still present on and just beneath the surface—and to showcase the region’s qualities that, lying slightly off the main routes, often go unnoticed.

The truth is that this project also serves as an additional motivation for me to step away from the screen more often and spend time out in the field that naturally draws me in. After all, these two aspects—technology and a passion for discovery—can be combined with ease.

100KRK

The question of scope inevitably arises. Małopolska as a historical region is simply too vast to tackle alone, and within a rather limited amount of time. Kraków itself, on the other hand, feels too confined—especially when explored on a combustion-powered single-track machine that practically begs for longer routes.

I therefore adopted a geometric solution: the central point of the project is Kraków—more precisely, its very center—while the radius of interest is set at 100 kilometers. Since the focus is the city and its wider surroundings within that range, the project’s name could only be one: 100KRK.

That said, I have no intention of clinging rigidly to this defined radius. Drawing a perfect circle around the city would include regions that are only loosely connected to Kraków historically and culturally—most notably the former Duchy of Oświęcim or today’s Zagłębie area. On the other hand, since the project largely revolves around motorcycling, I want to show Kraków-based riders (and not only them) where it is worth heading if Kraków is treated as a base.

The heart of the project

Whenever I occasionally share photos from my trips, I usually receive questions about the route. For this reason, the entire project will revolve around a map. For technical, licensing, and cost reasons, the foundation will be OpenStreetMap. While Google Maps may be more convenient for navigation, the open-source alternative wins in terms of terrain detail.

The map will feature both the region’s main attractions and those that are entirely niche. Each route—described in more or less detail—will have its counterpart in the form of a blog post or article.

Will the project eventually become an app with a route planner? Technically, this is possible, primarily requiring the implementation of OSRM (Open Source Routing Machine). I am not entirely convinced, however, that the effort would be worth it. The more features, the more potential bugs and maintenance time—and my priority remains content and exploration itself.

At the same time, being a developer, it is hard not to approach the technical side of the project properly. It is easy to criticize shortcomings in others while doing nothing to improve things oneself.

At a crossroads

Being both a developer and a marketer, I sometimes feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. On one hand, online exhibitionism does not align with my worldview; on the other, today’s reality requires that a project exist on social media, even in a limited form. This is only natural—why work on something like this only to hide it from the world?

A separate matter is the opportunity to dust off tools long pushed from corner to corner: drones, cameras, and photo gear. It is a great chance to refine skills that today—at least for generations born with a smartphone in hand—seem almost innate. How it will turn out, I do not know. Time will tell.

No turning back

The domain 100krk.pl has been purchased. PLN 15.53 spent—so there is no turning back. Time to write code, service motorcycles, dust off the bicycles, and get moving. There are, admittedly, concerns at the back of my mind about losing the most important asset—momentum. Yet I have the sense that at this stage of life, the energy to act comes from entirely different sources, so I do not intend to dwell on such pessimism.

In short: see you soon. On the road—and online.