Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/956404923
228km, 9h40, elevation 2420m. Trip rating: 75%
歡迎各位好朋友看看新創造的捷克部落格 @ceskokola.blogspot.com
藉由該部落格我會跟各位分享捷克騎車的相片, 路線還有故事. 為了控制時間, 用英文寫, 但照樣用中文在臉書報告.
今天初次騎車立刻來長征: 230公里, 2450總升, 進攻捷克北部的 Krupka村莊. 沿途無所不包: 黑漆漆的四周, 寒冷的溫度, 強烈的逆風, 陡峭的坡度, 崎嶇的山路, 遼闊的荒野, 爽快的感覺. 以這些條件, 等我回台灣, 東進武嶺第一名非我莫屬! 記得, 無法在臉書分享所有相片, 在部落格可以看到全部. 先這樣, 早點睡, 騎的很累, 而且明天再來一趟長途
Today was a very special ride. It was the first ride in a new country, my first genuine Czech ride. From my week at the company I learned that it would be dark at 4pm. Therefore I decided to wake up at 4:30am and start cycling at 5:30. Somehow I spontaneously woke at at 3:23am. I decided it would not be wise going to sleep again. So I had my breakfast, prepared my bike and hit the road.
At my place, before leaving, not even 4:30am. Crazy early
The Church right across my house. Pitch black dark
Let's get ready for a day full of pedalling.
I originally planned to ride a GPX route I downloaded online. As it started somewhere else in Prague, I had do so some navigating through the city. I noticed there was water on the grounds. It had been raining. When I made it to the starting point of the GPX, I noticed that this feature does not offer navigation, which would lead to a big number of mistakes and frustration. I decided to cancel the GPX and navigate to one of the WayPoints I had stored in my GPS. I chose Krupka, which was 105km from my current location. Perfect for some 200+ km.
I passed some cycle paths that ran parallel to a river, just like in Belgium
I kinda regretted leaving so early. I thought there would be daylight in one hour, 90min max. I was wrong. It was almost two-and-a-half hours. Bloody winter short days! Next time I will leave somewhere around 6am. That will be fine too.
After 90min of cycling, the skies were getting paler. Sunlight was making its way to me.
I had some initial setbacks on this ride, but now I was cruising fro Krupka
Steadily daylight was upon us. It was already 6:25am when I took this shot.
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Then I lost a considerable amount of time on construction works. There was not a single alternative available. I tried every side lane there was, nothing! Moreover my GPS was reluctant to calculate a route for m. It was only after trying several alternatives and then going the other way resolutely that I managed to continue my journey. I lost at least 30 minutes here
We have these in Belgium too, Catholic shrines
I felt a lot better when it was actually daylight
Cute little churches everywhere
A dancing called Santa Maria. Where I live, Santa Maria is something else (a madhouse)
Finally, daylight!
Beautiful views, but there was a lot of wind and it was quite cold.
This route sent me through some cycle lanes that could not be justified as such.
The roads were in a very poor state. I was just happy to be riding a Roubaix, at least that gave me some comfort.
This sunrise was gorgeous, displaying an array of gold-shaded colors everywhere
Good morning Czechia! I have already been cycling more than 50km.
I made a small video report here. Somewhere before this I almost fell over a railroad track. It crossed the road in a sharp corner plus the iron was wet. That seriously scared me. I proceeded with caution whenever I saw railroad tracks. And there were many!
I was starting to see hills in the horizon.
Terrible paved road conditions
I had a great muesli breakfast, but after four hours of cycling I needed to power myself up. These fruit muesli bars are only 12 crowns a piece. Perfect!
There was a nice climb before I arrived at this spot. I really enjoyed these climbs. They bring the challenge into the ride.
Lots and lots of castles and other old, maybe even ancient, buildings
The wind was fierce, slowed me down quite a bit
I was mainly traveling from one village to the other. Each village had their own church and Potraviny
More churches
Historical information about this village, will have to wait until I am proficient in Czech
Downhill section
Berlin in 300km, too far for today
When i checked my GPS battery I saw there was only 28% left. So I stopped at a little vendor and I plugged in the charger. In the meanwhile I bought some snacks. The charging took a while and I rode one section with the battery pack in my left hand. As long as it is not a descent that's fine.
Remarkable choice of colors
12% ow yeah! I missed you for so long!
I was trying to hide away from this blistering cold. The average temperature for my entire ride was 5 degrees Celsius. That also includes the entire afternoon
Hills ahead
This section really was about 12%
This section had a light gradient of around 2-3% but there was also head wind.
I mounted my bike cam for some nice snapshots and clips
This is definitely a charming sight
The distance to Krupka was slinking and the mountains were drawing closer
Bartman riding his SW Roubaix in Northern Czechia, dressed in a hibernating attire
That black guy was following me the entire day!
Elevation was increasing gradually, this was around 350m
All of the sudden there was a descent
Then there was a longer climbing section, with some good double-digit gradient as well. I'm guessing that was about 2-3km.
Bike-cam equipped Bartman in a setting that reminds him an awful lot of Taichung's Daxueshan mountain.
I could see that the hills on the end of the horizon were taller. It meant I still had to climb more...
As it was my first Czech ride ever, I had no idea where I was going or which towns I came by. For those interested, feel free to check my Garmin map.
Now, if I were to buy a house, I would seriously consider this color
Colorful houses all over the place
I was nearing my goal, Krupka in 9km. I had already done 120km at this point.
A Chinese Potraviny, I went in for a quick drink. Made it really quick because I seriously hate leaving my bike unattended. Even though I only needed two minutes, I was highly uncomfortable with that.
The WayPoint on my GPS led to this location. It was almost noon. The distance back to Cukrovarska in Prague 9 was 98km. I left right away, because I wanted to be back by 4pm.
There was mist in these hills and I could already feel the drops falling fro; the sky. I hid my camera inside of my water-proof backpack.
Gloomy and overcast skies
The roads were already wet, I had to be very careful and focused on this -12% descent
Pozor, Czech for danger or warning
I had to redo a large part of the route I took here
Back in that Daxueshan look-a-like forest, I took some more pictures
If this were Daxueshan, then this water would be referred to as Tianchi, heavenly pound
Before I arrived here, I had to do a somewhat longer climb. It was steep enough to require my 32T cog. When I checked my GPS I was positively surprised by the fact that I had already accumulated more than 2000m elevation gain. Moreover, I was still a long way from home.
My GPS calculated a somewhat different part for the return home. Good to not have to exactly repeat the same 100km.
Skies were dark and it did start raining. When I was 50km from home, it rained for a very long time. It only stopped when I was less than 20km from home. The rain was not super intense, but it was constant
I did not have a lunch proper, so I was super hungry in the last 20km. I ate two Muesli bars and hit the road again.
This spot was 10km from home. Looks nice for MTB'ing
I made it home before 4pm. I took this picture at the little church on the other side of the street
I live in the middle house, first floor. Glad to be back home before dark. I did a stunning 228km and 2450m elevation gain. I did spend 9h40 over it due to my slow speed in the dark part. When I entered my room, where the heating was cozily on, I felt that I was tired. Great ride! Tomorrow is another chance for a ride, but I might not do 200.
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