Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/969222375
245km, 10h35, elevation 3202m< Trip rating: 75%
沒想到 Tabor 之旅竟然會如此豐富. 半夜四點起來, 吃麥片早餐, 穿上冬季的車衣. 剛出門就發現特別的冷, 零下六度, 比下著雨的合歡山還要冷十度. 頭兩個小時還是黑黑的, 七點多才看到天亮. 我發現與上兩次相反, 爬坡路段特別多, 坡度很高, 距離也不錯. 當天亮起來時, 總升 已經接近1000. 上午就是按照導航慢慢將離目的地的距離拉近. 至於導航路線的選擇, 我必須讚賞不已. 幾乎都是最小最偏僻的路線, 沒有甚麼車子多的地方, 全程都是. 到了Tabor我環顧四週, 拍一些照片. 好像這個地方有古老的歷史, 到處都是城堡, 非常有特色和美麗.
因為早知道該路線的爬坡會不少, 怕時間不夠, 所以難得規劃掉頭回出發點. 既然風景那麼美麗, 也沒關係, 只是本人比較喜歡走別的路回家. 回程比想像中煎熬許多. 先是強烈的逆風. 相信我, 零下六度的逆風一點也不好過. 再來我眼前突然出現了白色的小東西, 下雪了! 因為溫度那麼冷, 我非常擔心雪會累積, 造成無法騎公路車. 幸好沒有! 要不然的話真的不知道該如何回家. 不過這個雪還是讓臉頰跟眼睛很痛. 這樣子的雪, 下了快要四個鐘頭. 跟下 雨一樣, 衣服淋濕了, 地上都是水, 車子髒兮兮的. 既然回程也是爬坡連連, 因此無法在黑暗前回家. 天黑了以後, 還剩下30公里的旅程, 但因為又黑, 又一直爬坡, 又遭到坑坑洞洞路面的騷擾, 還有溫度回到最可怕的零下六度了, 所以最後一段真考驗我的毅力. 幸好考試順利.
在這些惡劣的條件下照樣把規劃好的路線騎完, 感覺很好. 距離很棒, 245公里. 爬坡更讚, 跟爬一趟武嶺一樣. 我沒想到捷克可以提供. 看來我必須常來這個地區騎車. 相信後來返台的我會更強. 禮拜一可以看到部落格的故事
I had succeeded in hitting the sack before 8am. As a result, I felt full of energy when I woke up at 4am. I had my breakfast, double checked my bike, put on my stuff and went outside. I noticed it was even colder that last week. Good thing I decided to go full out in wearing my winter outfit. I was dressed up really warm and I noticed during the first few miles that it made a tremendous difference.
The moon was clearly visible in the darkness
I started cycling at 5am, but daylight would arrive as late as 7:15am. That meant I had two hours of dark cycling in front of me. I have to do this if I want to make these distances. I decided I would not be taking too many pictures during darkness.
Fifteen minutes into my ride and the temperature was already a freezing minus 2.3
Me in my hibernation outfit. I am wearing FIVE layers of clothes here, of which two beefy winter jackets.
The temperature was sinking and it would even sink to minus 6.5 degrees. Now that is extremely cold
This section of the ride was just following the indications of my Garmin and counting down the km and minutes to daylight
Bloody cold
Gradually the darkness was fading away
I had climbed more than 500m in these two hours of darkness. It would obviously be a hilly ride
When I descended out of the woods, it was daylight. I decided to do a small video report
Fall at its finest in Southern Czechia
Keeping myself and my enthusiasm warm was the key to success today
From here, a 10km section with various ascents and descents began. I used my bike cam for a few recordings.
When I passed through here I noticed a bizarre phenomenon, the sun was rising at my left, but I could still see the moon at my right
8am, I had been outside for three hours already
The sun was rising, but the temperatures didn't really change.
This orange gold glow was nice though
Bike-cam equipped subzero rider
My drinks were starting to freeze, that's how cold it was!
Antique little constructiosn
Ulice means "street". All Czech streets are indicated with red signs
A lot of Holy crosses and Jesus status along these tiny roads
Scenes like these are beautiful, I love that orange fade over the trees and the white-frozen grasses.
The inscription is Latin and it means: Jesus of Nazaterh, King of the Jewish people
A somewhat better stretch of road. Most of these roads are just terrible. Makes me come to appreciate my Specialized Roubaix bike
The 121km distance to Tabor was slowly increasing, about 40 more to go from here
There are a great deal of forests in the Czech republic.
Spending my time in the freezer
Some Czech horses in a small village, just a picture I would like to show my mom
This looks like a flat piece of land but it is in fact quite hilly
A nice downhill here, I cam-corded it
This view reminded me of the Big Snow Mountain in Taichung. After this sign was a lovely 3km with super steep gradients as steep as 16%. Man it felt good using my 32t cog again! Hadn't done that since Taiwan!
In this section I climbed from elevation 300 to 650. 650 is already more than Xinshe or Puli in Taiwan. Almost as high as Baimaoshan. Up here, there was even snow by the side of the road
I entered a new region here, district of Tabor. It was still 25km until the town of Tabor
More lovely gradients ahead. On my downhill here I filmed this section
A snow white village at elevation 650m
A romantic village indeed
A rare species of cows
It was rather tranquil here, not that many cars
And then I found myself in the middle of a lot of Christmas trees
This was becoming a nice ride, good elevations, beautiful views, and great distance
Snow was everywhere here
Without the instructions of my GPS, I would never find my way in this maze of small roads
A John Deere tractor
The tourist village of Jistebnicko
The water in this pond was frozen solid
For a minute I was thinking, could I cycle over it. But then I decided not to do stupid stuff
Makov, another tiny Czech village
Tabor in 8km. It was 10km according to my GPS
Funny story, there was a local airfield here and my GPS sent me right across the starting lane. I did make sure to check left and right for incoming aircraft, but the coast was clear. Strange selection of roads there, Garmin!
Fields as far as the eye can reach
I was being shadowed by another cyclist
Finally, I made it to Tabor city
I had lunch in that gas station. It was perfect: I could watch my bike and buy some sandwiches and drinks. But man was I cold when I got outside again. What a torture!
Then I entered the historic town of Tabor
Once I know better Czech, I will do all weekend rides to more distant locations
The cobbled streets of central Tabor. Not a Potraviny around here
The remainders of an old castle
This city center reminded me of Medieval times
A view over the city. Obviously the castle was located higher than the town
More ancient buildings...
Then I instructed my Garmin to lead me home again. It would be 122km, which would bring the total to 245km. I had already calculated that total ascent would be more than 3000. Great numbers
I noticed I had a strong head wind to face, combine that with the average 2-3% gradient in these roads and you'll figure out why my speeds suffered
Then I noticed it started snowing gently
I stopped here to film that steep descent
Then it really started to snow. I looked at my GPS and saw the temperature was dropping fast, from -0.1 to -2.5. I was really afraid that the roads would become slippery and unable to cycle
I even started thinking where I could take a train should that event occur. Luckily that wasn't the case, however, it did rain/snow all afternoon. I incurred this for four consecutive hours. I put my camera away and refrained from taking more pictures or movie clips
When I was 45km from home, I knew I would have to do a considerable part of cycling in the dark. I took my last pictures here. I stopped to share a post on FB, saying I had passed the 200km mark for this ride, with elevation 3000m near.
Good thing I am riding with these alloy wheels, reliable and solid
A heavy ride but with good numbers
The last 30km were tough. I was tired, it was dark and I was reduced to my small light. On top of that, Garmin sent me through some roads full of construction works. I even missed the road and landed in the - thanks to god small - pothole next to the road. Luckily no flat tire.
Eventually I made it home, with some nice numbers: 245km, 10h35, elevation 3202m
I was ready for a hot shower now! And some Chinese food.
