Here's the map of the route I took on Stage 4 of my circuit ride in April this year.
Showing posts with label stage 4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stage 4. Show all posts
Monday, 30 May 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
Return of the Curse of Circuit Rider
Stage 4, day 4 (Tuesday, 12 April 2011)
Babylon to Nýrsko (34 km)
Today is an in-between day - a transition stage, you might say. I’m leaving the Bohemian Forest, but I won’t quite reach Šumava National Park further to the south. I’m not travelling far either, only as far as Nýrsko railway station a couple of hours away. A good thing, too, as the weather has broken. The cursed rain that blighted the first stage of my circuit ride last year has returned in earnest.
I was woken up in the early hours of Tuesday by a chill wind gusting through the open window of my hotel room. A cold front had arrived. By the time I got up a couple of hours later, the clouds were lying low over Čerchov mountain, where I’d been the day before. It was a stark contrast to the glorious sunshine of the previous three days. After breakfast I cycled out of Babylon along a tranquil woodland trail then joined the road heading west. The weather held steady to begin with, but before long a drizzle turned into a downpour and I had to pull up and put on my raingear.
Before setting off, I’d had an uneasy feeling about Stage 4 of my trek along the Czech border. Now, as the gloom descended, the wind whipped up and the rain came teeming down, I realised why. Cycling along those long lonely stretches of the former Iron Curtain would have been a miserable experience had the weather been like this the whole weekend. It didn’t matter too much now though, as I’d soon be heading home in a warm dry train.
I took shelter from the storm on a pub veranda in Velruby. I consulted my damp maps and decided to make straight for Nýrsko along the main road rather than take the more scenic route closer to the border. After a while the rain eased off a bit, so I set off again. A stiff north-westerly wind carried me at startling speed towards my destination, sometimes even threatening to sweep me off the road entirely.
On the outskirts of Nýrsko I checked the time and discovered I might just make an earlier train home. After a mad dash through the town, and at least one wrong turn, I arrived in a bedraggled state at the station with less than five minutes to spare. My journey home was complicated, involving four different trains, one bus, one van and one missed connection, but I arrived back in Prague in time for tea.
Babylon to Nýrsko (34 km)
Today is an in-between day - a transition stage, you might say. I’m leaving the Bohemian Forest, but I won’t quite reach Šumava National Park further to the south. I’m not travelling far either, only as far as Nýrsko railway station a couple of hours away. A good thing, too, as the weather has broken. The cursed rain that blighted the first stage of my circuit ride last year has returned in earnest.
I was woken up in the early hours of Tuesday by a chill wind gusting through the open window of my hotel room. A cold front had arrived. By the time I got up a couple of hours later, the clouds were lying low over Čerchov mountain, where I’d been the day before. It was a stark contrast to the glorious sunshine of the previous three days. After breakfast I cycled out of Babylon along a tranquil woodland trail then joined the road heading west. The weather held steady to begin with, but before long a drizzle turned into a downpour and I had to pull up and put on my raingear.
Čerchov from my hotel bedroom on Tuesday morning
Before setting off, I’d had an uneasy feeling about Stage 4 of my trek along the Czech border. Now, as the gloom descended, the wind whipped up and the rain came teeming down, I realised why. Cycling along those long lonely stretches of the former Iron Curtain would have been a miserable experience had the weather been like this the whole weekend. It didn’t matter too much now though, as I’d soon be heading home in a warm dry train.
Nearly there
I took shelter from the storm on a pub veranda in Velruby. I consulted my damp maps and decided to make straight for Nýrsko along the main road rather than take the more scenic route closer to the border. After a while the rain eased off a bit, so I set off again. A stiff north-westerly wind carried me at startling speed towards my destination, sometimes even threatening to sweep me off the road entirely.
Stage 4 completed
On the outskirts of Nýrsko I checked the time and discovered I might just make an earlier train home. After a mad dash through the town, and at least one wrong turn, I arrived in a bedraggled state at the station with less than five minutes to spare. My journey home was complicated, involving four different trains, one bus, one van and one missed connection, but I arrived back in Prague in time for tea.
If you have any questions, use the contact form on the left
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Riding down the Curtain
Stage 4, day 3 (Monday, 11 April 2011)
Přimda to Babylon (68 km)
God I love the mountains. This hill is steep - granny-gear steep, lung-burstingly steep, as steep as anything I’ve encountered since Poland last year. But I don’t care. However much it hurts, it's still more fun than staring at a computer screen at work. The day I’m no longer physically capable of doing this will be a sad day indeed. I feel lucky - so lucky - to be here. I round a corner and the twin towers of Čerchov suddenly come into view through a gap in the trees. I descend briefly, then hit the final ramp to the summit.
Přimda to Babylon (68 km)
God I love the mountains. This hill is steep - granny-gear steep, lung-burstingly steep, as steep as anything I’ve encountered since Poland last year. But I don’t care. However much it hurts, it's still more fun than staring at a computer screen at work. The day I’m no longer physically capable of doing this will be a sad day indeed. I feel lucky - so lucky - to be here. I round a corner and the twin towers of Čerchov suddenly come into view through a gap in the trees. I descend briefly, then hit the final ramp to the summit.
Čerchov comes into view
If you have any questions, use the contact form on the left
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Half way round
Stage 4, day 2 (Sunday, 10 April 2011)
Cheb to Přimda (92 km)
I’m standing at the base of Milíře, a steel telecom tower built in 2001. I’m feeling pretty exhausted after a long day in the saddle, so it takes me quite a while to persuade myself to tackle the 126 steps up to the viewing platform. As I ascend, my cycling shoes beat a slow percussive rhythm on the metal grill steps. The sound contrasts eerily with the plaintive moaning of the wind rushing through the girders around me. My cycling muscles complain painfully about this unfamiliar form of exercise, but I keep going to the top, where I can feel the whole structure swaying in the breeze. Some 80 feet below me, the long shadow of the tower on the field points east towards my destination for the day - the town of Přimda.
Cheb to Přimda (92 km)
I’m standing at the base of Milíře, a steel telecom tower built in 2001. I’m feeling pretty exhausted after a long day in the saddle, so it takes me quite a while to persuade myself to tackle the 126 steps up to the viewing platform. As I ascend, my cycling shoes beat a slow percussive rhythm on the metal grill steps. The sound contrasts eerily with the plaintive moaning of the wind rushing through the girders around me. My cycling muscles complain painfully about this unfamiliar form of exercise, but I keep going to the top, where I can feel the whole structure swaying in the breeze. Some 80 feet below me, the long shadow of the tower on the field points east towards my destination for the day - the town of Přimda.
Přimda Castle from Milíře
If you have any questions, use the contact form on the left
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Warming up
Stage 4, day 1 (Saturday, 9 April 2011)
Aš to Cheb (79 km)
I’m on the shuttle train from Cheb to Aš, the same train that I took in the opposite direction more than six months earlier at the end of Stage 3. I should be raring to go after such a long winter break, but I’m not. I might be physically prepared, but I’m not feeling mentally ready to resume my circuit ride of the Czech Republic. On top of that, my unease about spending three days alone on the Iron Curtain Trail is resurging. Still, at least the sun is shining.
Aš to Cheb (79 km)
I’m on the shuttle train from Cheb to Aš, the same train that I took in the opposite direction more than six months earlier at the end of Stage 3. I should be raring to go after such a long winter break, but I’m not. I might be physically prepared, but I’m not feeling mentally ready to resume my circuit ride of the Czech Republic. On top of that, my unease about spending three days alone on the Iron Curtain Trail is resurging. Still, at least the sun is shining.
If you have any questions, use the contact form on the left
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Stage 4 slideshow
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Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Stage 4 completed
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Monday, 11 April 2011
Summit of Čerchov
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Babylon beckons
If you have any questions, use the contact form on the left
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Halfway home
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Saturday, 9 April 2011
On the road again!
If you have any questions, use the contact form on the left
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Stage 4 this weekend!
After a six-month hiatus, Circuit Rider CZ is hitting the road again. On Friday evening I’ll take the train to Cheb, and on Saturday morning I’ll make for the town of Aš to start Stage 4 of my trip around the Czech border. From there I’ll head for the north-westerly tip of the country and turn south along the Iron Curtain Trail through the Bohemian Forest. If all goes to plan, I’ll reach the stage finish in Nýrsko by Tuesday lunchtime.
I’m back on my own for this stage, but my feelings of unease about it have ebbed and I’m itching to get going again. The weather forecast is good and the trails should be pretty dry. I’m now busy refreshing my memory as regards what to take, how to blog from my mobile phone and generally how to be a touring cyclist again.
So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll sign off now and get on with booking accommodation, sorting out trains, packing my bags, finalising my route plan...
Aš here I come!
I’m back on my own for this stage, but my feelings of unease about it have ebbed and I’m itching to get going again. The weather forecast is good and the trails should be pretty dry. I’m now busy refreshing my memory as regards what to take, how to blog from my mobile phone and generally how to be a touring cyclist again.
View Stage 4 in a larger map
So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll sign off now and get on with booking accommodation, sorting out trains, packing my bags, finalising my route plan...
If you have any questions, use the contact form on the left
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Circuit Rider is back
It’s been all quiet on the blog in March, but I haven’t been idle.
First of all, I’ve been training pretty hard - both on and off the bike - to get back into shape for the remaining four stages of my cycling circumnavigation of the Czech Republic, all of which I intend to complete this year. For the first time in my life, I have something approaching a physique.
I’ve also been giving my mountain bike (my machine of choice for the remainder of the trip) a bit of TLC after the battering it suffered last year. All that mud and rain put paid to the bottom bracket, so I got my local bike shop to replace that and to service the front forks, a process which, for reasons unknown, took them a week and a half. All the rest I’ve done myself: I’ve given it a deep clean and lube, installed shiny new wheels (a Christmas present) and replaced the brake pads. All that remains is to change the brake and gear cables and I’m ready for the off.
I’ve also been busy planning my annual summer cycling tour with my friends Ryan and Ciaran. Last year we cycled from Munich through the Alps into Italy on the Via Claudia Augusta. This year we’ll be taking up where we left off in Trento and continuing south towards Florence, mostly on the alluringly named Cycle Route of the Sun (Ciclopista del Sole) - but more of that in a later post.
Speaking of the sun, I’m currently in the market for some new summer cycle clothing. (In a triumph of hope over experience, I’m planning for sizzling weather this year.) I’ve given up on Czech bike retailers owing to a dearth of choice, especially in sizes that fit my lanky frame. Instead I intend to buy from Wiggle in the UK. I’m always reluctant to purchase clothes online, but the detailed sizing charts and flexible returns policy at Wiggle take most of the uncertainty out of the process. On top of that they deliver free to the Czech Republic on orders over £100.
So what’s next? Stage 4, that’s what. And it might come sooner than you think. Spring has definitely arrived here in Prague and I’m keeping a close eye on the weather forecast. As soon as a suitably warm and sunny weekend comes up I’ll be on the road again. And then, rest assured, the blog posts will start coming thick and fast.
First of all, I’ve been training pretty hard - both on and off the bike - to get back into shape for the remaining four stages of my cycling circumnavigation of the Czech Republic, all of which I intend to complete this year. For the first time in my life, I have something approaching a physique.
Out training in Prague
I’ve also been giving my mountain bike (my machine of choice for the remainder of the trip) a bit of TLC after the battering it suffered last year. All that mud and rain put paid to the bottom bracket, so I got my local bike shop to replace that and to service the front forks, a process which, for reasons unknown, took them a week and a half. All the rest I’ve done myself: I’ve given it a deep clean and lube, installed shiny new wheels (a Christmas present) and replaced the brake pads. All that remains is to change the brake and gear cables and I’m ready for the off.
I’ve also been busy planning my annual summer cycling tour with my friends Ryan and Ciaran. Last year we cycled from Munich through the Alps into Italy on the Via Claudia Augusta. This year we’ll be taking up where we left off in Trento and continuing south towards Florence, mostly on the alluringly named Cycle Route of the Sun (Ciclopista del Sole) - but more of that in a later post.
On the run-in to Trento last year
Speaking of the sun, I’m currently in the market for some new summer cycle clothing. (In a triumph of hope over experience, I’m planning for sizzling weather this year.) I’ve given up on Czech bike retailers owing to a dearth of choice, especially in sizes that fit my lanky frame. Instead I intend to buy from Wiggle in the UK. I’m always reluctant to purchase clothes online, but the detailed sizing charts and flexible returns policy at Wiggle take most of the uncertainty out of the process. On top of that they deliver free to the Czech Republic on orders over £100.
So what’s next? Stage 4, that’s what. And it might come sooner than you think. Spring has definitely arrived here in Prague and I’m keeping a close eye on the weather forecast. As soon as a suitably warm and sunny weekend comes up I’ll be on the road again. And then, rest assured, the blog posts will start coming thick and fast.
If you have any questions, use the contact form on the left
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Stage 4 route plan
I’m not sure why, but I’ve had a sense of foreboding about Stage 4 right from the start. It’s certainly not the longest leg of my trip - in fact, at an estimated 270 km it’s going to be one of the shortest. Nor it is the most mountainous, although you could not describe it as flat (as the profile below graphically shows). It does, however, pass through one of the most sparsely populated and least-frequented parts of the Czech Republic - the Bohemian Forest (Český les). During the Cold War, this area was out of bounds to all except border guards, as it formed part of the Iron Curtain that descended across Europe after World War II. Indeed, for much of Stage 4 I’ll be travelling along the official Iron Curtain Greenway cycle trail. My base for the first two nights will be Cheb (one of the few towns on this stage). This will allow me to leave most of my stuff in the hotel and cycle super light around the Aš salient on day 1. Then I’ll pack my bags and head south, crossing in and out of Germany until I reach Nýrsko, gateway to Šumava National Park. Along the way I intend visit the westernmost point of the Czech Republic and (according to one definition at least) the geographical midpoint of Europe. However, that gut feeling of mine tells me things might not go entirely to plan...
If you have any questions, use the contact form on the left
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