E-bike touring in the Czech Republic 8/2024

Day 6. The last day of the ride. Tereza's sister and husband joined us for this last leg . s We had clear skies and a flat route along the Vltava River all the way to Prague. Then it was time for goodbys and of course talking about a "next ride".  Many great memories of diverse riding with interesting places to see every day. A bit warmer than I like but definitely preferable to rain or dull cloudy skies. (Tomorrow it will be rain in Prague.) It’s interesting to compare what is possible with today's technology compared to my first ride in europe 35 years ago. With ebikes you don't have to worry about luggage transfers and can easily cover 70 km a day. Use a gravel or mountain bike and you can ride virtually anywhere. With a smart phone and a data plan you don't have to worry about your language skills. Want to call family or friends? WhatsApp was my favorite as you could call, text, and send pictures. FaceTime and Skype are other options. In person? Google Tra...

The pace of the trip is about to change. We are only an hour and a half by car from Prague and as it’s a weekend, some of the Prague Rafoth’s joined the ride. Although we covered fewer kilometers, we had the same variety of riding. Along rivers. Cross country and through the woods. With a few challenging uphills thrown in to keep it interesting. The weather remained warmer than I like (tomorrow is suppose to be 90 in Prague) but there was always water available. And of course the inevitable Challenge. Elevated road. Deep, wide trench. No easy way to get a 50 pound e-bike with 20 pounds of gear across or around this one. Glad we had plenty of hands to make it happen. We are staying at a Chateau tonight. The main building is public space so we are in a refurbished outbuilding. The layout reminds me of Mt Vernon with The Big House and then numerous servant (slave) quarters around it. It was another nice day of riding, And before bed we walked to town for our due rewards. Signing off for t...

No breakfast with our room today :-( and only sweets at the bakery, so we bought a few things at a corner store and had breakfast in the room . Only thing missing was the fresh flowers. Then off. It was great morning riding. Cool. Blue skies. No wind. But only small villages and no cafes . So Hanka and Mirek got to practice their guiding skills. Stopped at a small store, bought some rolls and cheese, and had lunch in the garden of the town’s Chateau. Our cultural stop was the Doksany Monastery Church. Built in 1144, Mirek said it has some of the best frescos in the Czech Republic. Only 2 minor route finding snafus today. First was a missed turn (foliage covering the route marker) which gave us some practice on downhill gravel. The second a short section of road repair - easily bypassed. Tomorrow we will connect with Eric and family and finish the ride back to Prague together. For now it is time for a shower and a beer. Signing off for today.

Our first stop today was the spa town of Karlovy Vary. A site of numerous hot springs the city grew into a popular European spa resort in the 19th century. Today it is the most visited spa town in the Czech Republic and the largest spa complex in Europe. The sun is out and the forecast is for dry sunny days into next week. Definitely not the moist conditions Mirek and Hanka got yesterday. . We cycled around the spa town and by the Hotel used in filming Casino Royale. Had a coffee. This townh definitely had a feeling of prosperity. The ride ended up being a total 72 kilometers - 10k longer than planned due to Tour Challenge #4 - an unexpected bridge repair. We rode all types of terrain. Asphalt. Gravel. Along rivers and up on hillsides. Highways and what we would call forest service roads in the Pacific NW. Here are a few pictures from the day. An unexpected surprise is how inexpensive it is to travel here. Kathy and I often talk about how much rooms have gone up in the last 2 or 3 ...

My son Eric would drive us to the start of the ride in Sokolov, about 2 hours. So we loaded up the bikes and set off at 8 AM. An uneventful drive … but the first Challenge of the day. NO BATTERY. The batteries for Mirek and Hanka’s bikes were inadvertently left in Prague! Sadness for sure. Two hours each way to get them. How could we salvage the day? Ideas were thrown out (in Czech and English with Eric in the middle), a few calls made, and we had a plan! the batteries would be ferried by a bus driver (I suspect a few favors were called in for that) from Prague to a town near our penzion. Eric would take the two batteryless bikes to the bus station where they hopefully would arrive. And using Mapy.cz I would find my way to our lodgings. I had a great ride and even managed to meet E, M, and H part way in the small village of Loket - it means elbow - and describes the village location because of how the river flows around it. (Some of the Bond movie Casino Royale was filmed there.)  ...

Last night we took a stroll around Kaden after dinner. Found an art installation dedicated to the maker of the astronomical clock in Prague. He was from Kaden. And I learned a new scrabble word. Barbican - a fortified outpost or gateway into a city or castle. Cultural observation coming. Two things I’ve never seen in the US. 1) Community drinking cups at a roadside spring. Mirek tells me this is common on walking trails. (I wonder who tests the water?) 2) An unlocked liquor cabinet in the hall outside my room last night and a sign asking you “to have just one drink if you are over 18”. My take was of a little more faith in your fellow man than we see in the US at the moment. I was again impressed with the signage for bike/hiking routes. We’ve been on #6 most of the ride and turns are always clearly marked. The high point of the day was a visit to a Hops museum in Zatec. Žatec is famous for growing Saaz hops which are used by many Czech and German breweries. Our guide said growing hops...