Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1591220723
178km, 8h19, 2487hm. Trip rating 80%
I left Cakovice only a little before seven am and I could already see the sunrise.
I was heading north. The mission was to revisit Jested and go to Poland.
My hotel was right on the Czech Polish border, on the Czech side.
The direction went north to Kostelec nad Labem.
The first part of the ride was of course familiar terrain
From the very start it was obvious that the weather would be nice
Today was also a test ride for these frame bags I bought. I did not find them to be disturbing.
Here, I went a bit differently, but in the end it still connected to Melnik.
Good morning Bart, ready for another cycling weekend?
Some delay due to a train
In Melnik, I made a climb which led me to Vysoka in Kokorinsko. A place of many memories.
The weather got even better
And therefore also my mood
It was the well-known route in Kokorinsko, passing by the villages Dobren, Strezivojice etc.
All seemed fine at first
As I progressed, I noticed more and more snow on the fields
But also on the roads
Around 50 km done and things were looking swell
Dobren...
As soon as I entered the Liberec region, the roads looked worse. As if the funding of the two areas resulted in this.
When I saw this, I was demotivated. I thought I would be aborting mission.
I went in to check and apparently the snow and ice were very thing. I had grip with my tires.
It was very beautiful today. I was happy to be experiencing this
There was a longer part within the forest where all the roads were covered in snow. But somehow these Schwalbe 28mm tires managed to have grip. What an awesome set of tires!!!
Then I slowly went to a new part of the Kokorinsko park. So I have not seen it all yet!
I saw this bunch relaxing
After that, I came to a for me completely new area. It was refreshing to find some new routes.
This was going to the town I indicated on the map. Bela pod Bezdekem
When I came here, I saw a little sign indicating castle of Bezdez. I wanted to go check it out.
So there I went. I started at 350m and very soon I found myself above 400
Information about the area
A huge castle soaring n the skies. Talk about a nice discovery
I climbed and I climbed. It was nice and steep
More info
Unfortunately the last section was some muddy offroad, so I did not go all the way up there. But I did get a better view of the castle. It looked mighty
The view to the other side was also stunning. I shared it on FB.
Then I descended along a little street I found, which also gave me some beautiful views.
It was 3 degrees and the day was very successful so far
One more look at the castle, which lays at 600 meters
There was a short moment where my rear derailleur was being an asshole but luckily it got better. It is because of the dirt from the ice and mud.
Then there was a whole nature park where I had never set foot.
Absolutely stunning
Lately I learned that it is better to create your own route. Otherwise the GPS will just keep repeating the same stuff.
There were a few icy and snowy parts but I was able to maintain grip.
A ride full of contradictions!
More careful on the downhill parts though. No intention of smashing the concrete here.
I was on my way to the Jested mountain, and at the very end of this picture, you can see its tip. It was more clear in real life though.
Nevertheless, it was still more than 20 km to Jested.
Beautiful nature park. Again same question: Where is everyone?
In the middle of the picture, that mountain, that is the Jested. I was slowly making progress.
Many twists and turns in this area.
And hills and descents as well. It offered a very rich kind of cycling.
A name I remember from my previous Jested ride. Cesky Dub.
As I neared that town, Jested became more and more visible
For a moment I did not understand it the road led to Jested, but I just followed it anyway
It seemed like a good day for a climb to Jested
Already 600 meters, that means 400m left./
The big road goes until 750 meters and then there is the smaller steeper last part.
To be very honest, I did feel that this long mountain climbing condition was gone compared to my time in Taiwan. It makes sense, there are almost no big mountains here, just hills.
200 height meters left, come on!
Jested, to the right please
3 km to Jested, 200 height meters, that meant average gradient 8%
As soon as I entered, I found the road covered in snow. And this was more snow than normal. Still my fabulous tires managed to keep grip. But it was technically very difficult
900 meters done, 100 to go!
I took a brief break at this parking lot. It was less than one kilometer, but still 60hm, so again pretty steep
The weather was a lot better compared to my previous visit here, in December 2015.
There were many people walking here, it is a big tourist area. They all thought I was crazy.
But that never scared me
Almost at the top. The views were great!
I remembered it all from more than a year ago
Jested, the white TV tower of Liberec.
At the top. From here you can see a mountain range that stretches into Poland.
Good job!
There were so many people here that I did not bother going to that TV post, instead I headed down. After all, I would have to be walking for some time.
High elevation on a clear weather day
At this part I was just walking down. I did not trust it
I walked down for a few hundred meters and then I cycled down. It was manageable but my fingers were in pain from using the rim brakes. It still worked fine though
I stopped to clean my bike from all the attached ice and snow, and then I descended into Liberec. I did the opposite thing from my first visit here.
Bye Bye Jested.
In Liberec there was some folklore festival. I stopped because they were selling food and I was mighty hungry.
Then there was still 43 km left to my hotel in Cernousy and that went through the Jizerske Mountains. It was already after four and I realized this time I would not make it before dark. So I decided to do as uch as I can before darkness, I needed to be under 15 km at least.
There was a long climb to 500+ which was tiring for me. I took it easy.
Map of Jizerske moutnains, the mountain range in between Czechia and Poland
Then there was a long descent to the town of Frydlant. The views were amazing
Sunset in the hills, this was truly amazing to witness
I gained quite some time by ignoring the small routes my GPS indicated and just staying on nr 13 to Frydlant. I call it the Trebic Tactics, which helped me last week as well.
Thanks to that, I found myself very close to the hotel when it was not even dark yet. The long descent to 300m also helped of course.
I was here before darkness. What a great climax! I asked some locals where the hotel was and off I went
One last picture before I went in. The hotel was lovely and the food was great. Tomorrow I'm entering Poland!
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