When I woke up this morning, I realized it was time to take a day off!
So, while I was having my 2nd cup of coffee, I booked an apartment in Prague for a couple nights. My only problem was I had to get to Prague, and the day seemed pretty daunting with 48 miles to ride and an estimated 4,000 feet of elevation gain.
Another complicating factor is that the EV7 in Czech Republic is not terribly well signed. They seem to use their own route numbers and I have no idea what they mean or where they go, and more than once, I’ve had to change routes because the way it was indicated didn’t make sense.
I definitely had some of that today! The first time was when I was following the GPX track and then got stopped by two German Shepherd/Alsation dogs barking and coming towards me in front of a house. It’s unusual have loose guard dogs, and soon a rail thin meth-cooker chick came out, mumbling something, and then her boyfriend telling me to leave since it was private property. Oh well, a bit of a detour to make my way around that track. It didn’t look very appealing in any case.
Then later, as I followed a dirt track that I had examined with some suspicion using Google Earth, there were still some unknowns since the tree cover made it difficult to really see what the track looked like. Indeed!
This track made me grateful that I am on a mountain bike type frame with a reasonably wide tires, and not carrying a huge amount of stuff. I hoped my French friends with their fully laden touring bikes with skinny tires, carrying jam and butter in glass jars, and espresso pots, would have the wisdom to avoid this section. I had to manhandle my bike up and across the steep banks of muddy creeks, follow some narrow single track, cross a good stretch of some farmers fields with no discernible track, and pick my way down some rutted, rocky roads. It all worked out OK in the end, but my faith in the team for the EV7 in Czech Republic was shaken. The GPX track I was following ended up being correct, and so I was never lost, but I wondered what the hell they were doing routing touring riders through this mess.
However, after I got out of the woods, the route brought me to a lovely overlook of the Vltava River reservoir, where there was a snack bar staffed by a lovely young lady who spoke perfect English where I could have some lunch.
That was great, because I didn’t really have a lot of food with me. I knew there were some snack bars and restaurants along the way, but at some point, you have to have faith that they will actually be there and open.
After lunch, I changed my route to travel roads closely following the river into Prague, which ended up being absolutely fantastic. One of the things that made it great was that there was road construction along the way closing the route to cars, but not to bicycles. And so the traffic was light for a good deal of the way. The road surface was smooth, and there was even a shoulder of some sort. 
Getting closer to Prague, I crossed a bridge and joined a dedicated bike path that took me about 10 miles almost right to the heart of Prague.
Yes, almost. The thing about large cities is getting to that final destination sometimes is more like guérilla warfare than riding a bicycle. It seems no matter where you go, something much larger than you is competing with you to take the bike lane, or there’s construction on the side of the road, or bike path is abruptly closed, or the sidewalk that you are rerouted to has big signs on it blocking your way (warning you about construction), or buses/vans pull right in front of you blocking your way. It’s not any different than any other major city, and I think Prague has done an excellent job of making bike lanes, but it took me a bit longer to get to my apartment then I would have expected given the modest mileage. Oh, and the big cobblestones are not that much fun to ride on!
In the end, the whole day was about 50 miles and just under 3000 feet of climbing. So, 1000 feet less climbing than I thought when I woke up. 😅
Once I got to the apartment, I put my bike in the elevator after a few tries and got it up to the second floor.
Then I toddled out to the Tesco Express to get a couple beers and when suitably lubricated, ah…hydrated, I took a shower. There are plenty of restaurants right in the neighborhood, so I should have no trouble getting myself fed this evening.
Oh yes, and I should mention that arriving in Prague was amazing. And riding in was fun. I was here with Chris and our nephew Andrew and his girlfriend Bella a couple years ago after never having visited. Now I am here for the second time and it’s just as amazing.
And I rode here from Florence. 🙂
Leave a Reply