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As has become a habit during this tour, I woke up around 6:30. I checked the bike from the window to see if it was still there—and it was! So, good news. I had ordered breakfast for 8:00: scrambled eggs with bread rolls plus some sweet pastries. After breakfast, I checked the weather, and it was confirmed: strong south to southwest wind during the day. This was good news also, as it meant a strong tailwind for at least half of the trip. So I started to pack my stuff, and around 10:00, I was on the bike, heading north through the city of Olomouc.

As always, first things first. The temperature for the whole day was expected to be around 18 - 19 °C. In the morning, it was around 15 °C, so shorts for me. Today’s ride started with a wrong turn—why not? After a quick correction, I started heading north to find my first cycleway (with an additional wrong turn, of course). Not long after, I passed the first railway crossing, but no pictures of them today. Soon afterward, the cycleway started. At 10:18 (5.1 km), I encountered the first minor detour of the day. Every time I encounter a "no entry" sign, I become nervous because I'm afraid of long detours. The cycle path to the park was closed—looks like some reconstruction of the path and sidewalk. I still had this thought in my mind (which didn’t want to go away) to buy some additional food/snacks as I passed some grocery stores. But every time, it was discarded. Soon after, I encountered the first cyclist. And over the next few kilometers, their numbers kept increasing. Cycling through Olomouc was very pleasant because of the bike paths (and their great condition). I was enjoying it a lot. The only downside was some sections with cobblestones. “Cobblestone” is a word I don’t like very much. Indeed. But more about that later.

At around 10:37 (10 km), I was out of the city limits (at least I think so), but the cycleway continued. The sky was clear, with a strong tailwind—what more could I wish for? But I knew the tailwind wouldn’t last forever, so I was mentally preparing for some side-wind and also for some climbing. The first part of the cycleway ended in the township of Příkazy, and the word cobblestone came to my consciousness. The cobblestone part began.
After riding on it for a couple of minutes, I started to swear, as every stone was a different height, which made riding very uncomfortable. Then I saw a sidewalk made of paving stones. Paving stones I like, because of their symmetry and the smoothness of the surface. But I want to emphasize that I don’t ride on sidewalks in normal life, because I truly believe sidewalks are for pedestrians only. Period. But in this situation, when there were no people, I just broke my "law." At around 11:07 (17.9 km), the first cobblestone road finally ended. At 11:19 (21.2 km), I made a short stop to replenish fluids and eat a small snack. Then the second cobblestone road began. Sidewalk to the rescue. Fortunately, it didn’t last long, and soon after, a cycleway started. Looking at the sky, it was apparent that it would become overcast later in the day. Passing through Chořelice around 11:36 (26 km), I turned left onto another cycleway. But the “entrance” to it was like some kind of puzzle. I was afraid I wouldn’t fit through it with my panniers—but the worries were unnecessary. This was the last cycleway of the day, if I remember correctly. At 11:47 (29.2 km), I passed a restaurant, thinking maybe I could stop and eat something. But I immediately realized I wasn’t even hungry and still had some food in my panniers. So I passed it. It was also the point where the cycleway ended.

Soon enough, the first climb began. It was that rollercoaster type of climb. The temperature was around 19 °C (Garmin was showing 25°C, but there was no way it was that warm), and when going downhill, the chilly wind could be felt quite strongly. The problem with getting an accurate temperature reading on the Garmin Edge is that if the sun is shining, it shows much hotter than it actually is (quite logically). In this case, you need to find some shade and ride for a good amount of time, or ride downhill to get some sane numbers. The road surface became very mixed—sometimes really good, sometimes not. The plus side is that when climbing hills, the surface quality doesn’t affect the ride as much. But when going downhill, that’s a different story. In my case, the downhill part was excellent. Once I passed the hills, I stopped at Vranová Lhota to eat some snacks and drink plenty of water. I was carrying quite a lot of water, and since it was less than 20 km to the destination, there was no need to carry it all the way there. During the stop, I received an SMS with hotel info saying I could take my bike to the room. That was great news, because it meant I could go shopping without worrying about my bike (as I had planned the day before), and also go to a restaurant for a burger or pizza. So, after half an hour, I was heading into the next and final climb. It had already become overcast, but it wasn’t cold. The temperature was around 19 °C. While passing the local pub, I considered stopping for a non-alcoholic beer (as I don’t drink during rides, and sometimes not even after). But, as you may have guessed, I didn’t stop.

The final climb started in the village of Petrůvka. This climb was a bit tough, but I knew beforehand that it would be steep, so I was mentally prepared. Once past the top, the descent began. The first half was OK, but in the second half, the surface deteriorated quite rapidly—to gravel, old asphalt, and some fairly large stones. Not fun to ride on is a polite phrase to say it. I was braking a lot, trying to find a decent path. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. At 14:49 (66.6 km), one last wrong turn—and then I arrived at the hotel in Moravská Třebová. There temperature showed 20 °C and wind was decent strong.

At the hotel, I took a shower and headed to the restaurant. I also checked where the grocery store was so I could finally buy some stuff on my way back to the hotel. Finding the restaurant should have been easy, but my wrong turns made it a bit difficult. When I finally arrived, the restaurant was quite full, so I decided to skip it altogether (and instead eat one of my canned meals) and went shopping instead. I bought some bread rolls, beer, and snacks. After getting back to the hotel, I ate the canned meal—meat in sauce with beans. It was quite good. Then I realized I wasn’t quite full, so I found out that the restaurant I had visited offered food delivery. I ordered a burger, and 15 minutes later, it arrived. It looked like I wasn’t the only one in the hotel who had ordered—there were about six pizzas and other food in the delivery car. After eating the burger, I drank the beer, checked my next accommodations and some news on the internet, and went to sleep.

Money Spent: 52.22 EUR (Accommodation) + 12.78 (Food) + 11.28 EUR (Burger)

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