Today was a day of surprises! Maybe "the unexpected" is a better way to put it. But nothing that I hadn't dealt with before. As for the others, well, maybe yes, maybe no. But I like a certain degree of adventure, and we got our share today.
So first off, no breakfast at our penzion! Well, that wasn't a surprise, really. Our hotel's restaurant was closed, so we had dined at the only other hotel in town the night before and left assuming they would be open for breakfast the next morning. Not!
But that news at least came in a timely fashion. Happy and Jerry departed at 7:30, and Kenneth and I had slept in till almost 8:00! But by the time we got to the restaurant, only to find it closed, Happy and Jerry were still there and only then about to leave. So they saved no time getting up early, and Kenneth and I were not delayed much by getting up later! So I went to the local COOP, with Kenneth, and purchased things to eat. For me, that was two yogurts, some cheese, some bread, and two bananas. I ate about half and jumped on my bike, following Happy and Jerry by 30 minutes and Kenneth by maybe 10.
Breakfast this morning: some yogurt, some cheese, some bread, and some fruit. But no coffee!
There was no reason to rush today! It was 20 miles of flat riding and then 30 miles of hill climbing! A total of 3700 feet, most of which was in those 30 miles. So a good warm-up was in order, and I wanted to enjoy the countryside a bit before tackling the climbing. We were still a little out of shape after that easy ride down the Danube and still needed to get our climbing legs back!
So I followed Kenneth out of town but not in sight of him. And I kept my pace easy and enjoyed the morning. It wasn't long before I was back on the Greenway bike trail and rolling through the agricultural farmland that makes up a large part of the landscape.
I recovered the Greenway within a short distance, quickly identified by this information kiosk!
And while I was on the designated Greenway bike trail, you would still meet the occasional car. Like other parts of Europe, sometimes it's hard to distinguish between a bike trail and a narrow roadway! Either way, pavement conditions could be wildly different from one section to the next. A nice smooth surface followed by a heavily patched section with potholes and raveled asphalt is not unusual.
As in many agricultural areas, the roads can be pretty beat up in sections and not well maintained.
We bypassed a lake (Dolní Jaroslavický rybník) and then went through a nice nature preserve before returning to more farmland and countryside. We were also, at times, fairly close to the border with Austria, so there are reminders of that, mostly in the form of concrete pillboxes. Some of them seem to have been expropriated for other uses, as one appeared to be a bar of all things!
A water control structure on Dolní Jaroslavický rybník.
After a short climb (actually, we had been climbing all morning, but it got noticeable after the bunker), we made a sharp right turn and started a real adventure! Swiftly downhill, then a hard left along a riverbed, and then a crossing of the same river on this wonderful suspension bridge!
The hard right and then a descent, a steep one, followed by a fast left turn where it flattened out a bit as we followed the river to . . .
The crossing was followed by an arduous climb! And I mean arduous! Roman road arduous! I mean, who thought this was possible? On a Greenway for touring cyclists? So no biking up that; we walked it!
This hill is steeper than it looks! Zoom in and look at those Roman stones. Bikable? Not on my bike!
That plateaued out to a small, somewhat level spot that was paved with asphalt but then continued upward sharply. With a somewhat level spot, I could at least get in the right gear and get some momentum going! So on we pushed, eventually reaching the top and being rewarded with a beautiful view of the river gorge. We had crossed the Dyje, which coincides in part with the border with Austria. The mountain range and gorge are very impressive, and more so after all that work!
After climbing to the top of the "Roman" road (as it has now become known), we rested a bit at a somewhat level spot to get into proper gear and re-establish our momentum for the next climb (seen behind me).
That climb took us to this view. Below us is the Dyje River, which we had crossed on the suspension bridge. It always amazes me how fast we, as cyclists, climb and get great views.
But we were hardly done. We still had some more ups and downs and impossible roads to bike. More dirt roads, more gravel, and more ruts! Not everywhere, but enough to interrupt your cycling momentum. This route is not for the skinny tire set!
"ZPOMLA!" . . . SLOW! That's because there's a big descent ahead! Yeah, the one behind me.
These were relatively steep grades, made worse by the road conditions. A good climb is made easier when you can establish momentum. That was not happening today . . . at least not on this section! Am I whining too much? Within the context, maybe; in retrospect, definitely. We had a blast.
We finally cleared the park and exited the forest on a crest at about MP 36. We also had caught up with Happy and Jerry, or at least I did, totally inadvertently when I made a wrong turn in Čížov and stumbled onto their lunch stop. Kenneth, a little bit behind, did not make my mistake and carried on. So he was now the point man!
On the plateau after exiting the Národní park Podyjí.
From that high point, we descended down to (what I will call) Lake Dyje, a dammed part of the river. It was a nice descent followed by a ride through a heavily wooded secondary waterway populated with what appeared to be vacation and/or weekend homes. I tried to imagine who stayed here during the communist regime. It must have been only the party faithful! And who owned it now? And how did that transfer take place? Things you ponder along the way sometimes.
Lake Dyje and the suspension bridge across the valley we had just biked down through.
It was a nice ride but resulted in our second challenge of the day. The roadway over the dam was closed for reconstruction! Kenneth got there first. While he went to the information desk for . . . more information, I went to the dam . . . to investigate. Yeap, no passage! What to do? Kenneth came back with nothing useful from the information office (of course not, we were only on a designated national bikeway), and I just pondered the situation, as I am wont to do. Jerry and Happy arrived and were investigating alternate routes, including backtracking a bit and crossing the fabulous cable-stayed pedestrian bridge we had passed earlier.
And an overview of the construction work. I pondered this for a while, trying to discern a path forward. I knew the detour would be "less favorable" . . . at least in my mind it was. We never detour; we find a way through!
So, as I pondered, I met this Czech national who was very friendly but spoke no English. But he saw my loaded bike and caught on right away. He then showed me the way forward. The bridge closure had meant temporary ferry service between shore points on both sides of the lake. Those who hesitate are lost, so I marched myself and my bike to the edge of the escarpment, as that's what it was, and carried my bike maybe a third of the way down the very steep stairs to a landing. The crew on the ferry just stared at me like I was crazy. Probably because I am sometimes. I was going to get on that ferry! In spite of precautions from a certain member of our party. I left the bike where it was and huffed it down the rest of the way to negotiate the deal.
Our ferry service to the far side of the lake . . .
Well, about a minute and 160 Crowns later, I had tickets for all four of us. I went back to my bike, completed the trip down (mind you, I never removed my panniers), and stowed the bike on board through what can best be described as narrow quarters! Success!
After waving to the others to follow, they all made it down in two trips, panniers first, bikes second. Or maybe the other way; I can't remember, but we were all on board in short order and on our way 10 minutes later! Success! And we had a nice view of the cable-stayed bridge and dam work on our way over.
The "stowed" bikes . . . such as they were. Very informal and easy. But then, the boat was nearly empty, at least for this trip.
The climb up the opposite side was actually worse than the side coming down! And since I was the first one on, I was the last one off. But I was the first at the top, as, again, I carried the bike up fully loaded. With a diamond frame bike, I have an advantage over the Bike Fridays which are difficult to lug around even when unloaded. They have no top tube!
The view looking back down as I climbed the stairs up from the lake. Halfway up, I realized there was a horde of people waiting to board, and like most good travelers, we were waiting for the arrivers to leave before boarding. Once I realized this, though, I stopped and let them all pass. There was no way I was going to get past them with my bike. I needed the full stairway width. I received a polite "Děkuji" from each as they passed. I'm sure they thought I was crazy.
Even at the top, beyond the stairs and switchback path leading to it, we could not ride our bikes, as the way forward was mostly a deeply rutted dirt road. But after some pushing and wayfinding, we came to hard pavement and had course recovery (Garmin speak) just outside of Vranov nad Dyjí.
There, we met a nice couple (he was Australian, she, English) who were on a day ride to see the dam but headed south to Vienna. They were a very nice couple, and we chatted for a bit and shared war stories. She also liked my Cannondale!
And from there, it was into town and our next big, long climb! Up and away from the Dyje again! And not for the last time either! It took us to a nice plateau with the (what is now) typical agricultural views before another crossing and the climb into Uherčice.
Vranov nad Dyjí, and beyond, the next hill. The hills in these pictures are always deceiving!
Uherčice is a sweet town but with limited services. Our penzion had a kitchen but no restaurant and was really more like a hostel. But we were the only occupants. She needs to advertise more!
After cleaning up, Kenneth and I had drinks at the local pub, where we met some of the locals, and then joined Happy and Jerry at the "other" penzion in town for dinner. A good dinner too! Well deserved after a rough day!
Some of the locals we met at the local pub . . . very friendly.
