Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1515618072
97 km, 5h05, elevation 880hm. Trip rating. 90%
It was already winter before the weekend with snowfall. Therefore no question of taking my road bike. Instead I would try out my winter tires for a long range ride. I did a few rides this week and based on that experience,I decided 100 km should be the sweet spot between too little and too much
I planned a Basecamp route into Kokorinsko and further to Mlada Boleslav, which was 100 km. A few minutes outside and I saw it was already minus 12. My coldest ride record of December, -11 on my Roubaix was devastated in a mere ten minutes.
The fields were all snow white
And I was well wrapped up. I mean, I wore two termal trousers and cycling panths, two termal sweathers, a thin sweater, a thick sweater, a cycling winter jacket and this yellow arctic jacket. I had two scarfs around my neck, the balaclave and two pairs of gloves and two pairs of sucks, with shoes wrapped in overshoes. I have NEVER worn so much clothes and I am not only speaking about cycling
There was no reason to regret this, it quickly dropped to -14. The good part was all these clothes were actually keeping me very comfortably warm. It enabled me to enjoy this
So I was well wrapped up and on ice spiker tires. My kit was top notch for this day. Now let's go eat some miles!
A few alternations to roads I normally road but in the end they all led to Neratovice
The temperature kept dropping. This is extremely cold for a bike ride!
Apart from riding 4 km along route 9, the whole day was small roads, excellent for a day like this
MINUS fifteen! That was the absolute dept for today. The temperature was stable around -14.5 for a very long time. Btw I do not think I ever experienced such cold. I cannot remember it was ever so cold in Belgium.
First 15 km led me to Neratovice, a somewhat bigger town north of Prague
Relying on Schwalbe\s Ice Spiker Pro tires turned out to be a good choice. It enabled me to do a ride in circumstances that last year kept me inside.
Neat cycling bridge over the Labe. I actually saw someone else cycle here. I was no longer the only fool haha!
Saturday morning, 20 km outside of Prague
I was constantly thinking how nice it was to have such good grip. Especially considering the 10 km walk I had to do on Dec 31 in Frymburk. The contrast in experience was rejoicing me.
I have experienced Taiwanese 40+ in the high mountains, I have experienced typhoons and heavy rainfall, I have experienced the headwinds of Netherlands and Belgium. I have experienced the continental climate of Central Europe. But this experience makes the list all the more impressive. harsh winter on the bike
Next place I was being led to was Vsetaty. I know this area quite well thanks to a few visits
It was calm and tranquil. It figures, since everyone will be inside or in a bar
But not this fellah, he is seizing the day
I also recorded some riding in the snow action to share on Facebook
Magnificent views, I think we can all agree to that
Admittedly, riding in the snow demands more power since the road offers a lot more resistance. I could really feel it. Pounding and pedaling hard translated into 20 kmph. On a road bike on a normal road in normal conditions, that would be around 35 kmph.
Progress wasn't as bad as I had feared. I thought my average speed would only be around 16-18kmph. The whole day's avg speed was 19 kmph and at times I was going 20-25. It was very acceptable for this kind of weather.
I took a moment to share this on Facebook. This is in Bysice, another small place between Prague and Melnik.
Don't worry, I only took off the gloves for the picture. I am not suicidal haha
Very clouded, the sun could not reach through. One of the main reasons why it is -15 I suppose
I left a tad late today, a bit before nine. However, I was positively surprised with my progress
Central Bohemia in Czech Republic
Just a few months ago, I was standing here too and I was checking out the road (which you now cannot see) at the left. The same well known area looked so differently
Yeah btw I stopped here because there was a steep climb here and I was tired. Taking this monster bike uphill in the snow is very exhausting. It goes soooo slow. At times only 6kmph
Even though it was only 100 km, I could feel every little hill very intensively. Climbing was exhausting.
The absence of sun. This is the other extreme compared to the days in Frymburk
For me this ride was already a success. I could enjoy this and slowly tear up the miles.
I stopped here to take a drink. I learned from previous experiences and put the bottle of lemon water in my backpack. Thanks to my body heat it never got close to freezing. Many people underestimate the importance of drinking in cold weather. It is so important!
And then I made it into the Kokorinsko area, I think it was after 40-50 km.
Kokorinsko forest area, I come here often because it is close to Prague. I know the area and there would not be any nasty surprises on this deepfreezer ride.
The steep 4 km climb to Vysoka. Not this time, because my GPS sent me the other way. What I did not like about it, was that it made me miss that Potraviny store right on the top.
So this is where we went...
This area is pretty flat, it was about 8 km without too much hills. Perfect for some movie clips whilst keeping momentum
A frozen lake. I saw some children playing on the ice, with fire fighters keeping a close eye on them.
My 2013 bike, who would have thought that it would bring me so much joy on this early Jan. 2017 ride?
OK, I will use the expression ONLY ONCE. Ice Ice Baby!
Progressing in the Kokorinsko forest. Here, I saw some magnificent views.
Fojtechov was next on the map. Did you know that that place used to be the borderline between German occupied Czechia and independent Czechoslovakia?
Stunning white paradise unfurled in front of my own eyes
Cute little forest creek, it really stands out in between its snow white colleagues on both sides
This spot is the above mentioned border in wartime occupation. Too bad they did not even leave a sign of remembrance for it. It is something people should know, due to its proximity to Prague
And the beat goes on
With Fojtechov behind me, I started noticing some elevation. I noticed it primarily from my rapidly decreasing speed.
A quick view back
Ascending in the snow is rougher than usual. At first it was OK with 3-5%
Personally I find this the most beautiful picture of the ride, the climb uphill in the forest, the slipping rear wheel due to sand, the harshness of the 9% gradient, the snow white landscape, the warmth my body was feeling even though -15. This picture collects pretty well how I feel about this ride. majestic
Branches of trees suddenly gave way to fairy tale like sceneries
The climb continued until 450 meters. Would not be a big deal on a road bike, but today I felt it
Nevertheless, I was enjoying this all. I did not feel cold, I was well wrapped and moving. I felt safe and excited
A view over Central Bohemia's Kokorinsko area
Then the descent... Which became a lot more challenging due to the sand.
At certain spots I could feel my wheels slipping away. So I had to lower my speed
Slowly but carefully I descended out of Kokorinsko
First time I could actually see the sun this time
This was the beginning of an area with lots of sand. At times I had difficulties keeping balance
This is a view back where you can see the hills of Kokorinsko.
70 km in the pocket, 30 left to Mlada Boleslav. This complete flat snowland reminded me of Siberia somehow.
Beautiful in its on way
This segment was the hardest part, many spots with sand where I could not cycle. I overcame it but it was annoying
Some parts required me to walk a few hundred meters. Just too much sand.
I only took one apple and one bottle of water. I had expected to find something by now but no luck. Good thing I ate a large bowl of muesli in the morning which powered me up for four hours. But now it was time to eat the apple
My water was also almost gone. Time to find some gas station or something. One other issue. my GPS was almost gone but charging it did not really help, probably because of the temperature. I had the same problem the day it was -11 in December.
In the end I found one place, obviously it was a Vietnamese owned Potraviny. I drank, I ate and continued my way to Mlada Boleslav. I did not make many pictures in the last part because the GPS battery was dying. I wanted to have covered as much road possible so I did not have to look for signs.
This is a few km before reaching Mlada Boleslav
While I was standing here I thought of the fact that I should navigate to the main station (nadrazi), which in Czech republic is always located at the Nadrazni street. Makes sense huh? Anyway, it meant I had to turn the other way and I ended up not doing this hill.
It was 7 km to the main station, with 8% battery left. It sure was tight enough.
That segment of roads was actually very familiar to me and I already visually knew where the station would be. This is inside of the city center.
I was close to 100 km. Unbelievable stuff
Here I was with 3% battery left. I had 45 min to my train, which came in time and brought me back punctually to Cakovice, without even having to go to Prague center. How awesome is that. Oh yeah, and it only cost me 121 Czk.
These were my stats for today. Also add the part from Cakovice station to my home which makes a 100. This has surely been a very epic ride!
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