DOES THE DOWNHILL EVER START?!?!!

September 5th, 2012 Wednesday

We left well after our Kiwi friend, yet still before 11am (stunned? as am I). It took a while to get into the groove of riding because we had to take the cycle path through the city\town of Tabor, but as the signage was not as great, we thought it best to follow the map. Alex decided to play some music from the speakers in his backpack to get us in the riding groove. We started out with some Bad Brains and New York Dolls and almost Bad Brains again when I asked to have a music change. Not even guiltily, I asked for ABBA, because it was in my head and it made Alex blush. Most of the way I couldn´t even hear it because he was riding quite ahead of me. We ended up in the next town over with his backpack blaring ABBA right next to a restaurant where a hunting club was having lunch. With a deep blush in his cheeks, I managed to convice Alex that we should eat there (all ABBA embarrassment aside). The food was excellent, maybe too much so, because all we wanted to do was nap.

Chateu something-something

We hit the road yet again, only to come to another hiccup. We made a right into a nice walking area that was around a lake where people were boating right next to a beautiful Chateu. After admiring it, we realized we did not know which way to go, yet we saw some sign markings along trees and rocks that the Greenways website told us that we would encounter.We walked along this narrow narrow path right next to the lake until it turned into a narrow bridge less than a foot wide, and leading into an uphill of rocks for about a meter or two. Needless to say, this was NOT the way to go on bikes. We turned around, asked for help and found the correct road.

the long and winding road that leads to more uphill

We probably would have been more excited about getting back on the right road if we had not realized how much of an incline our travel would be for the rest of the day. Though not several steep hills upwards, it was a slow grade that didn´t let up on our legs one bit. At least all of that workout kept us at a pace where we could enjoy the utter silence of the woods. No cars around. No commecial chatter. Trees and leaves and maybe a slight wind. Quite beautiful.

Nice tree color gradient

Enjoying the silence

Alex was also having a time with his backpack strapped to the back of his bike. Our bungees were wearing out and kept slipping, and thus he constantly needed to stop and adjust. At one point, in the silent woods, he took a moment to fix his bag and then... Al Green comes on- Let´s Stay Together. It was a nice refresher to the somewhat stressful energy of our afternoon of traveling. We kept the music going with some Beach Boys and Zeppelin to carry us the rest of the way. We spotted a sheep house, some horses grazing, and a beautiful sunset in the town just before the campgrounds.

sheeps in da house

the sun fades over the green hills of Czech

When we got into town we ran into our Kiwi friend who gave us the proper directions to find the campground. We set up just before dark, but there was no one at the reception to give us the lowdown on the bathrooms or anything. We cooked up some beans, gnocci, and instant soup with the last of our water. Fortunately our Kiwi friend- we finally learned that her name was Beth- returned from town to tell us that there were keys to the bathroom right next to them under slats of paving stone. We spoke for a little about our travels- turns out she also biked in Germany, and it was also her first cycling trip- and what we did when not traveling- she lives in London and traverses the opposite laned streets with her bike. We also discussed the cycling route for the rest of the way into Vienna, and she pointed out a camping place once in Austria that was not listed on the map (which was helpful since there would otherwise be no place to camp for the next 100 km before Vienna). We said good night, filled up our water bottles, and went to sleep.