Circuit Ride Recycled – Part 2

In which our intrepid protagonist enters Poland, where he finds the trails - and the food - not entirely to his liking...

Testing spells and spelling tests

Stage 2, day 3 (Sunday, 25 July 2010)
Trutnov to Szklarska Poręba (84 km)

Funny things, borders. As I cross into Poland, where I’ll be spending the next day and a half, I feel like I’m somewhere new, somewhere alien and exotic. But the birds and the bees above my head don’t see it that way; they just see more of the same. And the beetle scuttling across the path in front of me just sees more colossal pebbles and towering blades of grass to negotiate - although maybe he should be paying more attention to the bicycle tyres bearing down on him at speed. Oops, sorry Ringo!

Stage 2 on Bikemap.net

I've now added my Stage 2 route to Bikemap.net. Stage 3 will follow soon.

I particularly dig the way the bicycle icon travels along the route when you run the mouse cursor over the elevation profile. Nice!

Bike route 771190 - powered by Bikemap 

Five fave photos

Winter is upon us in Prague. This morning there was frost glistening on the rooftop outside my flat. A smattering of snow is forecast for the weekend. I’m planning to keep cycling as much as I can in and around Prague throughout the winter. However, I won’t be able to resume my ride around the Czech border until next spring, and that seems an awfully long way off at the moment. To console myself, I’ve been looking back at the photos of my travels earlier in the year. It occurred to me to put together some of my favourite snaps that hadn’t made into any previous posts. So here they are.

Trees cowering from the wind

Germany-Switzerland-Czech Republic - in an afternoon!

Stage 2, day 5 (Tuesday, 27 July 2010)
Zittau to Děčín (120 km) - Part 2
(read Part 1 here)

Down, down, deeper and down. I’m on the long, winding descent through Saxon Switzerland National Park and I’m in a rush. I’m travelling over loose gravel and I'm having to concentrate hard to find a safe line through the tricky bends. The deeper I go, the darker it gets, as the low sun fails to penetrate the forested gorge. I’m entirely alone in this eerie, twilight world. Everyone else has escaped to the safety of civilisation before night falls. Now and then I pass a small sign indicating the direction of the cycle trail, but it doesn’t tell me which trail I’m on, or where it’s leading. If I get lost now in this rocky labyrinth, I can forget about catching the last train back to Prague this evening; I’ll be here all night.

Goulash guzzler reaches furthest point north

Stage 2, day 5 (Tuesday, 27 July 2010)
Zittau to Děčín (120 km) - Part 1

I love German hotel breakfasts! Stuffing oneself with as much food as possible first thing in the morning can be a laborious process. But it has to be done, otherwise you can "bonk" (run out of energy) before lunchtime. Food equals fuel when you’re cycling long distances. Calories become your friend, not your enemy. And when the breakfast table is groaning under the weight of such an opulent selection as it is at Hotel Dresdner Hof this morning, tanking up is not a chore, it’s a pleasure.

Heaven and bagpipes

Stage 2, day 4 (Monday, 26 July 2010)
Szklarska Poręba to Zittau (119 km)

When Czechs want to compare and contrast two very different things, they describe them as being like “nebe a dudy” - heaven and bagpipes. Well, if yesterday, with its agonising ascents and tooth-rattling descents, was bagpipes, then today is pure heaven. I’m on the lofty Jizera plateau and there’s not a soul in sight. There are rainclouds all around, but the sky directly above me is clear. The landscape up here is gorgeous, so gorgeous it makes the hair on my arms stand up. Moments like this remind me why I’m doing this trip.

Flash floods in Frýdlant

Today I was intending to post a write-up of day four of the latest leg of my cycling trip around the entire Czech border. I have been overtaken by events - tragic events.

Last weekend, catastrophic flash floods swept through the German-Polish-Czech border area - the exact same area I had cycled through in late July. At least eight people were killed. Many, many others saw their homes damaged or destroyed. In the Czech region of Liberec alone, 57 towns and villages were affected. Among the worst hit communities were Višňová, Frýdlant, Heřmanice, Bogatynia and Hřensko, to list them in the order I passed through.

Testing spells and spelling tests

Stage 2, day 3 (Sunday, 25 July 2010)
Trutnov to Szklarska Poręba (84 km)

Funny things, borders. As I cross into Poland, where I’ll be spending the next day and a half, I feel like I’m somewhere new, somewhere alien and exotic. But the birds and the bees above my head don’t see it that way; they just see more of the same. And the beetle scuttling across the path in front of me just sees more colossal pebbles and towering blades of grass to negotiate - although maybe he should be paying more attention to the bicycle tyres bearing down on him at speed. Oops, sorry Ringo!

Broumov rocks!

Stage 2, day 2 (Saturday, 24 July 2010)
Náchod to Trutnov (85 km)

One of my goals on this trip is to sample as many local Czech beers as possible. I’ve not had much success so far. One reason is that Prazdroj and the other big producers seem to have bagged many of the best town centre locations. If the local stuff can be found at all, it’s usually in backstreet dives where a Lycra-clad lone ranger is not always made to feel welcome. But this evening I’m determined to succeed. I’m dressed to blend in, I’ve a pint of Guinness inside me already, and I’m on the hunt for Krakonoš, legendary lord of the Giant Mountains.

Cyclists Welcome - Náchod style

Stage 2, day 1 (Friday, 23 July 2010)
Starkoč to Náchod (9 km)

The hotel I stayed at in Náchod is part of the Cyclists Welcome scheme in the Czech Republic. As the scheme’s website explains:

“Cyclists Welcome is a nationwide certification scheme for evaluation and inspection of the tourist services and facilities of participating establishments. Certified establishments are labeled with a green and white logo depicting a smiling bicycle. The certification involves standards comparable with systems in other European countries (e.g. Bett & Bike in Germany and RADfreundliche Betriebe in Austria). Every tourist facility that wants to be awarded the Cyclists Welcome logo must meet certain requirements.” 

The site is available in Czech, English and German. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking for cycle-friendly accommodation (including campsites), restaurants and/or tourist destinations in the Czech Republic or Slovakia.

Stage 2 slideshow

I've posted the photos of the latest leg of my trip around the Czech border in a slideshow at the bottom of the left-hand column of the blog. Click on the image to see the full-sized version complete with a commentary. Enjoy!

Stage 2 completed!

I'm on the train home from Decin (pictured above) having completed stage 2 of my spin around CZ. I underestimated the distance today by at least 25 km. As a result I had to race like Alberto Contador through the Bohemian Switzerland National Park to avoid missing my train. Oh well, I should have more time to explore Decin when I return to start stage 3 later this year.

So gorgeous it gives me goose bumps

The photo, shot this morning, shows the Izera River on the breathtakingly beautiful plateau of the same name. It's been a day of enormous contrasts, from chilly mountains down to warm sunny lowlands. I've been in and out of CZ and Poland several times, and I've ended the day in Zittau, Germany, after visiting the point where all three countries meet. I've covered a whopping 119 km today, so if you don't mind I'll sign off now and... zzzzzzz

All shook up - by Polish bike trails

I tried to take a nice photo of Szklarska Poreba, the Polish mountain resort where I'm spending the night, but frankly it's not very photogenic. Too many tacky tourist shops and pizza/kebab joints for my taste. At least you can see my hotel, which is classy enough. Today was tough. The steepest section of the trail over the mountains had been washed away by a recent flash flood and I had to push the bike uphill over fallen trees and rocks. Even the flatter sections were boneshakingly bumpy. Still, it's nothing that a plate of pierogi won't put right.

Circuit Rider and the blustery day

Pictured is the oldest wooden church in the Czech Republic. It's to be found in the town of Broumov, where I had lunch today. I managed to avoid getting seriously wet today, but it's been overcast and very windy. I'm now in Trutnov, where I'm staying in, of all places, an Irish B&B. Coming right up: one pint of Guinness and a plate of fish'n'chips. Cheers!

Clouds over Nachod

I'm sitting enjoying a beer in Hotel Bonato on the outskirts of Nachod after an uneventful train ride up from Prague. So far it's quite a contrast from stage 1 of my trip - the hotel is busy and bustling, not empty, and the weather is hot and humid rather than cold and wet. The same old hard pedalling, however, awaits me tomorrow. And those clouds are looking ominous...

Stage 2 looms

The Tour de France might be up to its 15th stage already, but I start stage 2 of my trip around the Czech Republic this weekend.

View Stage 2 in a larger map

I’ll take the train up to Starkoč on Friday evening to take up where I left off, and then ride to Náchod, where I’ll spend the night. Over the following four days I’ll be cycling very approximately west, in and out of the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany, until I reach the town of Děčín on the Elbe on Tuesday evening. From there I plan to catch the train back to Prague. You can read about my planned route here.

As on the previous stage I’ll be reporting on my progress from my mobile phone. When I get back I’ll write an in-depth account of the whole stage day by day. The main difference this time is that I’ll be on my mountain bike rather than my road machine, because this stage contains quite a lot of off-road trails and has some pretty steep hills to boot.

I’ll be travelling through some touristy areas at the height of the summer season, so the next step is to book some accommodation in the towns I plan to stay in en route: Náchod, Trutnov, Szklarska Poręba (Poland) and Zittau (Germany).

Stage 2 route summary

At 410 km (at least), stage 2 is one of the longest of the entire trip. It is also possibly the most diverse, featuring overnight stops in three different countries as well as five national parks, two mountain ranges and three “hooks”. At either end are several areas of weird and wonderful rock formations – the Polish Table Mountains, the Broumov Walls and the Adršpach-Teplice Rocks to the east, and Saxon Switzerland and Bohemian Switzerland to the west. The central section is dominated by the Krkonoše and Jizera mountains, which I will be traversing mostly on the Polish side of the border. Highlights along the way include the highest mountain in the Czech Republic (Sněžka), the most northerly point of the entire journey, the northernmost town (Šluknov) and railway line in the Czech Republic, the point where the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany all meet, and the first German town on my route (Zittau). It’s going to be a long weekend in more ways than one.

Cycling on the shoulders of the Giants

I’ve been scratching my head for some time now about how to traverse the Giant Mountains (Krkonoše in Czech, Karkonosze in Polish) during stage 2 of my trip around the perimeter of the Czech Republic. Now I think I’ve found the answer.