May 21, 2016: My rain check with Krkonose, Spindleruv Mlyn and Vrchlabi




Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1189560498
178 km, 7h00, elevation 2100m

My first weekend cycling trip since I came back from Belgium. My destination was the Krkonose mountains up north, near the town of Vrchlabi. I had already done a ride there on April 9th but it rained all day and it fucked up the whole ride. That is why today I had a rain check.


I left Cakovice at 7 in the morning


150 km to Spindleruv Mlyn + the return to Vrchlabi (15 km), that was my distance for today. Pretty relaxing



I recognized everything from my last ride, I was practically able to go without GPS



The wind was gentle and I was progressing quite well. I stopped for some occasional snapshots.



It was very obvious from the beginning that we would be having a good weather day



Oh yeah, I was riding without a backpack this time. Felt relaxing


30 km outside of Prague: entering the region of Mlada Boleslav



Good morning sunshine



Striking panoramas. This entire setting was inviting me to take more pictures




I found this little cycling track, which was not on my route. I followed it for 2 km and then headed back. This yellow was astonishing




Excellent combo of green blue and yellow


Oww my goddd, it is beautiful!


And not a living soul out here



More snapshots...









Mlada Boleslav was already south of me and I was advancing well. 



Here and there I also stopped for a video report, all of this was just so beautiful


I had to do some extra miles because of this road block. Could not pass at all. 




It is also remarkable that so few people cycle on a day like this




White nigger out in the Czech hinterland



Later in the ride,, there were some hills. Nothing huge, but elevation was steadily growing over 300 m.





A little forest area every here and there



Between climbs and descents, it was just riding around with the GPS, enjoying the views. It did not even matter in which city I was. 





Cesky Raj, I remember this one. When I last came here six weeks ago, I was completely soaked and the descent required my full concentration



Closer to the Krkonose mountains


Green, forever green



Then I made it to Liberecky Kraj. I was welcomed by a long climb of 200 meters at once.



And then I descended into this little town


Of course over the paved road, not through the grass


Clouds were starting to accumulate, was it gonna rain after all?



More and thicker clouds as I approached Vrchlabi




It seemed trouble was ahead



I just love being out here




At this point I was sure it would rain, but luckily it didn't


Vrchlabi was right behind those hills




Here I am, Vrchlabi! Now let's move on to Spindleruv Mlyn


Entering the Krkonose natural park



To be very honest, the 14 km to Spindleruv Mlyn were a bit disappointing. The gradient never came above 4% and the total elevation was only 720 meters. I had expected it to be 1000.


But there was a very nice dam here



I took some time to check this out


This was quite lovely




Contemplating the Krkonose mountains


Picturesque setting. Too bad there were tourists





I took some time to study the map. There were a few villages here, but not all of them could be reached from here. For some of them you had to actually descend, go back to Vrchlabi and go up via another route. 



Some snapshots in the town center



There was one town I could reach: Svaty Petr. It was only a few km further but it climbed to 820 meters. That number seemed a bit better already



Nice place for skiing in the winter



Mighty mountains up front. From here I went back to Vrchlabi. I raced the downhill part, keeping my speed above 40 kmph.


At the hotel in Vrchlabi. In the evening I checked out the town center and something to eat.


Only 178 km today, but I enjoyed this ride, taking it slowly and relaxing more.

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