Today had it all - the good and the bad: ...... but we made it to Prague - Exploring Germany, Czech Republic and beyond... on our Recumbent Tandem - CycleBlaze
Today had it all - the good and the bad: ...... but we made it to Prague
We had a good start to the day. At the hotel, we had a visit with a family from Freiburg, Germany who were travelling with their small child in a trailer. Like us, they have been finding the hills challenging and are on their way to Prague. We watched the grads gathering in the square across from our hotel - still in their formal outfits from the night before with flowers in hand enjoying their moment. Throughout our ride today, we also saw kids walking home with their report cards and dressed in their finest clothes. It brought back memories for Barry of the fun and emotions of year end as a primary teacher. The route out of Horovice shared a secondary road with traffic and was a delight to ride. The grade was manageable and the surface was great. We enjoyed the views of the countryside and felt encouraged that perhaps it would be mostly downhill to Prague. But that wasn't to be..... When we camped at Camp Stanowitz last week, a Dutch woman had recommend Camp Matyas south of Prague. I phoned and they said camping - no problem, and I also asked about their cabins - and they had one available, so we reserved it for 3 nights. For 800 kronur, we have a lovely cabin with bathroom, kitchen, verandah, etc. We like that this place is south of Prague (a short train ride away) and that it will be quiet and safe. We have heard horror stories about bikes being stolen and tents broken into at the camps in Prague. But, back to today's riding. We followed rivers, shared the road with Czech drivers (so fast!) and had a near miss with what we think was a drunk driver. Ironically, as we passed through the village of Hate, Barry made a joke about needing to get through this one quickly. At that moment, a car swerved and came within inches of wiping us out. The car pulled over ahead of us and we saw her passenger screaming at her and pointing at us. As we watched them weave down the road, we were grateful that they had missed us. Hate, Czech Republic - won't be coming back here! The adventure truly began when we encountered 2 bridges. First was the railway bridge which had a lane for cyclists. The access was challenging, to say the least. However, the real problem was when we tried to access the pedestrian bridge We had had the joy of following the river on a paved bike path - but when we tried to cross the river on the pedestrian/cycle bridge which would lead us to our campground, we encountered gates/barricades that were impossible to get a tandem through. As this is the official route in to Prague for the much used Dutch route, we wondered what boneheaded soul had come up with this decision. We backtracked (reluctantly) trying to find another way across, but realized that we would have to endure the difficult railway bridge. So back again we went - to the amusement of cyclists at a rest stop who had seen us a few times. In the end, we unloaded our bike, removed the wheels, etc from our trailer, lifted our bike over barricads 4 feet tall and made it over the pedesrian bridge. Warning!! If you have a loaded tandem - take an alternate route!! We love Czech Republic, but moments like this remind us that the infrastructure is not what it needs to be. Oh well, it does make us stronger. Finally, we reached our campground and it more than lived up to our expectations. It is a small, family run campground on the Vlatva River. The laid back charm suits us - plus it doesn't hurt that our bungalow is pretty sweet. We plan to take the train in to Prague early in the morning to beat the crowds.
Kati, Werner and Titus are doing a cycle tour from Freiburg to Prague, then Berlin. They stayed at the same hotel in Horovice.
Another crazy list of what not to do - this time at the entrance to a post office. We continue to be relieved about the "no gun" idea, but I guess we missed the message about no camera!!
Oh boy - a wicked uphill on loose gravel to the railway bridge. The final insult was when we were navigating the narrow lane on the bridge and a mountain biker refused to wait for us and clipped our bike - Barry was not amused!
Poor Barry - his pseudonym is B.O.B. (aka Beast of Burden). To exit the rail bridge he had to push the bike up a fairly steep and winding path alongside a stone wall. I walked ahead to warn speedy mountain bikers to slow down and give him space.
Exhibit B: What a stupid barrier!! The air was "blue" when we saw this. Of course, our recumbent was too tall to make it through so we angled it with the help of a stranger. Thanks!! Ironically, these gates are supposed to stop motorized vehicles, and as we were struggling, a motorcycle zipped through. Yikes.
Showered and comfy on the verandah of our cabin at Camp Matyas with a Czech beer - the problems of the day are gone and forgotten. But we will remember the good things.
Sandra LawnThanks for the recommendations for this campground we are cycling via Prague next summer 2020 this sounds like an ideal stopover for us too Reply to this comment 4 years ago
