Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1034536512
125km, 5h15, elevation 1512m. Trip rating: 90%
昨天我在遙遠的 Kaplice 起床，先用早餐，大概八點上路。我決定要去看一個世界遺產地區，叫做 Cesky Krumlov, 中文地名是捷克克魯姆洛夫。那一段是25公里，經過許多遼闊的丘陵，風景真漂亮。雖然溫度只有一度，可是整個騎乘都樂在其中。在捷克克魯姆洛夫我看到了古老的城堡跟宮殿。依我的估計這些建築至少有六七百年的歷史。
看完這些可愛屋子之後，我開始北上。對於無法一邊看名副其實的世界遺產一邊騎車回布拉格這件事情，我早就有心裡準備：距離太長，啊不，是捷克白天太短。不過至少可以騎整個南波希米亞的丘陵區。這個距離大概有100多公里。導航又帶我走很偏僻，可是背包裡面的補給品這次綽綽有餘。
逆風也沒有昨天強，進度明顯有差。我騎了五個多小時，爬坡累積了1500多公尺，終於抵達了 Tabor的火車站。本來想要騎到更北邊的 Benesov ，可是多了七十公里。既然不願意在黑闇騎，我就在火車站知足了，買了票，一個半小時後回到布拉格。
就這樣本人流浪南波希米亞偏僻遼闊荒野的兩日一夜結束了。感覺很爽。總共騎了 370 公里，總升 5100，時間 17 小時。等白天比較久一點我一定破這些數字。記得晚一點可以在部落格看到所有相片以及故事
I woke up somewhere after six am today and started preparing my stuff. My lights were charged, my GPS was good to go and I put everything in my bag. At 7:00 am that woman brought me breakfast and I ate it all. It was a good breakfast. Hard to imagine that I only spent 500 crowns here.
I had lots of cups of tea. I had to make up for being thirsty all day yesterday.
Where I spent the night, in the town of Hradiste in Kaplice, elevation 660 meters.
I had to walk to the main road, the 154 and from there I descended all the way to Kaplice. It was only by seeing this in daylight that I realized how high this location was.
A John Deere tractor, something I gotta show the folks at home
This location was pretty high. The road was descending all the way down.
The temperature was below zero here
An impressive panoramic of my precious bike at 600 m elevation
The Holy Cross of Jesus, there are quite a lot of them in the Czech hinterland.
A minor ascent, but this route 154 was descending big time.
My GPS planned a trip that went straight ahead. I did not want to lose too much time and took a right here, following Route 3 to Cesky Krumlov. It was a bigger road where I had higher speeds.
With a few ascents and descents this road was keeping elevation steady around the 600-650 meter mark. This is where I entered the touristic area of Cesky Krumlov.
A panorama view of the country side in South Bohemia
Route 3 deviated into route 157. It was 15km to Cesky Krumlov from here. This part led me through some forest and hills with great gradients. For a moment I felt as if I was in a Taiwanese mountain.
Hills, fields and the occasional small town, mostly with a Potraviny that is closed
It still struck me how there could be so much elevation hidden in these hills. Even on today's shorter ride I would be facing 4-digit-numbers elevation.
Beautiful panorama's. I could take pictures here all day if I wanted
Right before arriving in Cesky Krumlov, the elevation dropped from 600 to 480.
First task of the day accomplished.
Cesky Krumlov, here I am! Now where is that UNESCO world heritage site?
I stopped at a gas station for water and food and from there I saw the old town. I gently approached it.
It looked majestic even from this distance
Better views inside of the little town.
That small stretch here was apparently a road for cars. And they did not bother giving me a lot of space.
There you go, a lovely view of Cesky Krumlov. I made a video report here. It is really charming
A tourist blue print of Cesky Krumlov. I was not gonna explore this in-depth. Just 30 minutes here was fine.
Cool, they had information in Chinese! Helpful for the parts of Czech I did not get.
I saw a balcony where I could get a closer view of the town.
I am guessing these buildings are at least six hundred years old.
A lot of damage could be brought here if ISIS shelved this site
Cute little homes and stores linked together by cobbled roads, a horror for road bikes
This hotel was right across that fantastic view over Cesky Krumlov. I am guessing one night here would be more than 500 crowns...
I have been looking around in the center, but after 30 minutes I decided to once again hit the road.
I made some last snapshots of this fairy tale village
Interesting fact: there were a lot of Asian tourists walking around here. In fact, they were the only tourists I saw here.
I made it out of the city center and selected Tabor for navigation. It was 97.8 km from my position. According to my calculations, I could make it before 3 pm which would enable me to take the 3.09 train to Prague. Perfect! Now let's get going!
The first part was already amazing: I was led away from the main roads, into the hills, where I enjoyed tranquility and eye-caressing panorama's. These horses here were surely enjoying their view.
The elevation was just like elsewhere in Southern Bohemia: full of ups and downs. The sun light gave this scenery that extra touch.
The occasional Czech forest popped up. I stopped here for a snack. It had already been a few hours since my breakfast.
All of the sudden I saw a hilarious place name: Klet. In Belgian Dutch, it is insulting to ladies. It means something like stupid bitch or dumb broad. Seeing a town called that was just so funny!
Progress was better than expected. This is where I officially left the region of Cesky Krunlov and entered Ceske Budejovice. It was to my understanding that after this one, I would already be in the area of Tabor.
Jesus Christ our Savior
A view from the other side
I did not stop for many pictures as a large portion of these roads were identical to yesterday's ride. However every now and then I stopped for a piss or a little snack and that was a good excuse for a photo.
My street view was that of tiny little roads crossing through fields, forests and rivers. I did not see a single big town on my path. This was truly the Czech hinterland, where cars were fewer than cyclists.
The good part about my GPS is how it sends me through bike only lanes.
This picture was taken at about 50 km from Tabor. By now I had already realized that I would be there somewhere after 2 pm. No time stress!
I even started considering cycling one stop further to Benesov. But I would have to see how many km it would be.
Twelve percent, I know how to enjoy these stingers
As a Dutch national, I honestly felt embarrassed by what I saw here: A DUTCH camping? That is just waaaaaay too Dutch!!!
Just now I realized I took this same picture yesterday. Pretty striking
Cycling path twelve would lead the way to Tabor. It crossed a multitude of small villages
Out in the open as they call it. The tranquility here is breath taking. It is a paradise that belongs only to me.
Riding here all day like this is quite nice
Almost there: region of Tabor. It was 25 km until the city of Tabor.
Yesterday I faced strong head winds on this road that goes slightly uphill. It totally knocked me down. Today, it was a slight downhill and there was no head wind. Speeds were soaring high around 40 kmph
This spot was 13 km from Tabor. I stopped here because I wanted to take this picture. And while I was standing still, I had some food. Also, I calculated the distance to Benesov. Unfortunately it was still 74 km from here. That's when I decided to go to Tabor and not further.
I just came up this nice stinger here, around 12%
This was just before the city of Tabor. I was well in time for my train. I only had to look for the railway station, which I found without having to ask people.
The Tabor station. It cost me 257 crowns for a ticket back to Prague, but the train was fast. It covered that 124km with only a few stops in about 90 minutes.
The first time I ever took a train in the Czech Republic. I felt OK for doing it. I had done a very intensive ride yesterday and today I also did more than enough: 125km, more than 5 hours, more than 1500 elevation.
I was back home by 5:30, which granted me the opportunity to process all my pictures, road maps and story lines. This weekend of cycling was a genuine success! More weekends like these to follow!
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