No rain today, quite a relief. Also downhill quite a bit of the time, so I suppose I could have cycled further, but I wanted to spend some time in Brno. But I still climbed over 700m, soon adds up. But I suppose today was the day of roadworks. I had to change my route … Read more
Today I was really pleased that I do not have rim brakes on this bike – it was quite a lot of downhill in very wet (and sometimes muddy) conditions. That is what the Saarer Berge/Zdarske Vrchy, which by the way seem to be a downhill as well as cross-country skiing area, do for you … Read more
Touchscreen devices are not very useful in the pouring rain, as tested for you today. It started raining just as I was setting off, so I had to climb a total of over 1000m today while sweating inside my waterproofs and getting soaked from the outside – not the nicest day of this bike tour. … Read more
Today was my day of historical towns, including a UNESCO world heritage site. Bit of culture for a change, and the weather was still good (it is forecast to rain the next few days). I also left the Elba/Labe today, and leaving a river always means climbing. I also seem to be in an undulating … Read more
Shaken, not stirred is a good summary of my day today – the path and road conditions were atrocious for about 50km, very tiring. I had to concentrate so hard to find the best line on very bad cobblestones, stay in a very narrow track (only slightly broader than my tires) and try not to … Read more
Watched somebody order a beer, getting it and drinking it at breakfast at 8:00 in the morning, different level of beer-drinking here in the Czech Republic. I, however, started culturally: with a visit to the castle of Decin, the long drive up is really impressive. Then I set off along the Labe/Elbe bike route, which … Read more
This day marks the start of my real adventures: After 6 weeks and more than 2500km of cycling I have reached a country I have never cycled in before, nor do I know the language (at all!) – the Czech Republic. Left Dresden sunny and warm and stopped off at Pillwitz castle to have a … Read more
Wow, what a day! I had not planned to go into another city, but something Phil said made me do it after all – and I have not regretted it. I started reasonably early, as more rain was forecast mainly for the afternoon. In the end a few showers caught me in the morning and … Read more
I was intending to something like 30 – 50km today, so much for intentions… In the end I had climbed nearly 750m again. It absolutely poured all morning, so my motivation was huge – not. My goal was to see as much as possible of Landkreis Leipzig, ah well, all I can say is that … Read more
As there were thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon I got going reasonably early. The atmosphere on the campsite overlooking the Saale was special. After having seen the enormous construction site for a motorway just before (apparently it should have been finished by 2003, but there were delays because the Greens were opposed), stopped of for … Read more