March 6, 2016: More headwinds and even occasional downpours on the return ride from Moravia

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1075189605

201km, 8h10, elevation 1668m. Trip rating 70%

禮拜天又是新的一堂課, 這次的話題是: [捷克春天後母心]

一大早在民宿吃早餐, 這早餐只要台幣100元可是分量未免也太多了吧! 還沒有吃到一半我就投降了,太離譜了. 而且我騎了五個多小時之後還不覺得特別餓, 可見吃的有多鮑.

一出發就遇到森林的長坡, 爬到海拔600多. 那邊還看得到雪. 很奇怪, 導航規劃的路線跟前一天完全不一樣, 到讓我懷疑是不是在回到布拉格的境界.

騎了約50公里之後我體驗到上述的後母心: 開始下雨, 一下就下兩個多小時. 不是說下非常大, 但不斷的下雨. 路面都濕濕的, 下坡轉彎需要小心, 儘管28mm的外胎提供比較好的抓地力. 除了下雨意外, 還唷爬坡, 還有逆風. 確實有訓練到! 雨過了之後逆風讓我的衣服乾的, 這倒是好事.

大概一點多太陽出來了, 我休息了一次, 吃個東西, 充電一下導航, 繼續走. 最後97公里又是走未知的路. 這個地方應該是整個捷克最平的地方, 在這100公里只爬了800公尺. 進度因此反而比較快. 雖說很晚才出門上路, 但還是有辦法黑暗之前回家, 心情會變得好.

離家20公里的時候來了一陣超級大的雨, 我立刻停下來把照相機放在防水的背包裡. 讓照相機因為豪雨而掛了, 我曾經在2013年8月的嘉義遇到過, 不需要重複這種遭遇. 忍耐了五六公里, 雨再度停了. 餘程儘量給風流吹吹, 回到家的時候不算特別的濕了.

三月的第一個單車周末就這樣結束了, 騎了417公里, 17小時10分鐘, 爬坡接近4000. 戰馬的總公里數17250. 接下來幾個禮拜繼續累積...

When I woke up, I went outside for some pictures. I had slept more than eight hours, but I could still feel my legs were tired.

Linhartice is a small place in the middle of nowhere, not a single light is on here.

Good morning Moravia! Ready for another blockbuster ride back to Prague?

Yesterday, I had said that I wanted the 80 crowns breakfast. It was A LOT of food!

There was a lot of bread, muesli, yogurt, cheese, tomato, sausage and so much more. I only ate half of it and I was so full that I only had food five hours later. And those five hours were active hours, with 500 calories burnt per hour. So you can imagine I was pretty stuffed from this buffet!

I left rather late this time, it was 7:40 before I was decently hitting the bike. Somehow my return ride was only 200 km instead of 217km. Don't know where that happened, but maybe that was not a bad thing.

Right in the beginning I was sent via another route than yesterday.

The first section had 2-3% average ascent. Not too steep.

Oh yeah, that breakfast also had a LOT of orange juice. I drank it all. I think I stopped for five sanitary stops in the first 28 minutes. Crazy stuff! How much joy you can get for 80 crowns.

All of the sudden it became a genuine climb with 5-10 percent gradients. I climbed all the way to 600 meters. The road went through a forest area.

Actually this was a really nice climb, it just came a little too early. After 10 km I had not digested my monster breakfast yet. It did get me warmed up for the remainder of the ride.

Once again, higher spheres result in snow. This time it was not freezing anymore so it was good to go. It is just sad to see you do all that climbing and then you instantly lose that altitude.

I liked the alternative route offered by my GPS today. It was completely different from yesterday. I even started questioning if I had indeed selected the road for Prague.

This looked better in real life, it was a nice panorama with the sun and the clouds. Some stuff does get lost in a picture

I do not like cycling alongside bigger roads like these, but here there was room to keep right. I also saw other cyclists coming from the other direction. It was a short section, I went right to Janov.

The town of Lytomysl. The skies were overcast. It would def. not be the weather I had yesterday.

I passed the village of Javornik again, this time it was a long climb up here. Early in the ride I already had 700 meters of elevation gain.

On the top I could still see yesterday's snow

I stopped here because I felt it drops of rain falling from the sky. I made a quick video report and then I continued. It was raining for quite some time. Not a harsh downpour, rather a continuous drizzling. That drizzling lasted for almost two hours. With almost 140 km left to Prague, that was quite an ordeal. It put my will to the test. I did not stop for it, I just kept on cycling. I was mainly happy that my socks did not get soaked.

Misty and overcast skies in the out-lands of Czechia, that was the setting that March 6th provided. 

A lot of John Deeres over the place here. Having grown up at a farm, it is one of those details I notice

When it finally stopped raining, I had already left Chudrim behind me. This snapshot was just after the rain. The roughest section was the 10 km before Chudrium. Those field roads were n crappy condition, they went slightly uphill and there was a lot of headwind. And the rain did not stop.

For the descents I felt confident about my 28mm tires. Extra grip in the corners was welcome.

The sun came out and I saw a little park. It was a perfect moment for lunchtime. I had my GPS charged a little and enjoyed my home-made sandwiches. Honestly speaking, I still was not very hungry, it was just advisable to eat as to not be too hungry in the evening.

Having lunch in the microregion of Hermano mestec. Once my Czech improves, I will make more of these signs with history and tourist information. Now it is pointless.

Obviously the bike got dirty. Make sure to wash it when I get back home.

I stopped here for a video report. This was quite a lovely view. About 100km in the saddle here.

These are the kind of settings I enjoy the most

After all that rain, the ride once again entered a stage where it could be enjoyed

Rare mix of dark clouds and a clear blue sky

All things considered March was already better than the previous two months

I felt almost home when I entered the Stredocesky Kraj region. Still 90 km to home from here.

I felt a lot of head wind here. I had hoped that it would be tail wind today, but I did not have this kind of luck. Strangely enough I was not sent through Kutna Hora, but around it.

I was sent through Kolin and Nymburk. That area was relatively flat. Normally this road here is blocked for traffic, but sometimes, a bike gives you that extra freedom of movement.

A village called Katerina, I should show this to one of my colleagues. It is probably her Czech hometown.

The alternative selection of roads was very welcome. It was just too bad that elevation was so low. I was heading for lowest elevation in a ride here. 

At 20 km from home, a heavy downpour began. It was even hailing. I stopped to hide away my camera and mobile phone. Let us not repeat what happened in the August 2013 Typhoon in Chiayi, Taiwan.

It took a few miles, but it stopped rather quickly. At this section, Garmin wanted to send me through an unpaved road with rocks. Considering the rain, I said no. I went around it.

I arrived home before darkness. All things considered, the ride went pretty smoothly. 

Another nice weekend with 417 km done. Great numbers! My road bike now has 17,200 km. I am missing only 2800 km for the great mark of 20K.

17 hours of cycling this weekend, not bad at all! And I discovered the central East of this country.