Category Archives: Road Report

A roundup report from a day on the bike with stats

20130514_1509_DSC_2125-reduced30

Day 18: Blansko, Czech Republic to Olomouc, Czech Republic

Leave a reply


View Larger Map

Start: Blansko, Czech Republic
End: Olomouc, Czech Republic
Distance: 69.6km
Elevation Gain: 2410ft
Elevation Loss: 2752ft
Time: 6h44m
Reading Material: The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown – Hugh Agnew
Audio Material: WTF Podcast (Noah Baumbach interview); 99% invisible podcast (multiple episodes)

Description
Here’s one thing bicyclists don’t talk about enough: bugs. While riding you are constantly bombarded by bugs. Smaller guys like to embed themselves on forearms where they blend in with your arm hairs. But, the worst are the ones that end up in your nose and mouth. After a long uphill stretch to start the day, I earned a refreshing downhill through the Dědice Forest that was full of bugs! Conscious effort was required to keep my mouth closed to avoid ingesting bugs. I could actually see them incoming like projectiles before splatting on my glasses (lucky) or nose (unlucky).

Opted for a fast lunch in order to arrive in Olomouc with some time for sightseeing. Olomouc is an ancient Czech city (oral history claims it was founded by Julius Caesar but written history first mentions it in the 10th century) and is the historical power center in Moravia. In early Czech history, political power oscillates between Bohemia (e.g. Prague) and Moravia. Olomouc was a seat of power for the Přemyslid House (a precursor to the Hapsburgs) and the last of the Přemyslid’s, King Wenceslas III, was assassinated in Olomouc in 1306 effectively ending the dynasty.

I had time to climb the tower of the gothic St. Maurice Church and get a nice aerial view of the city before eating a pig knuckle for dinner and immediately falling asleep.

20130513_1534_DSC_2068-reduced30

Day 17: Brno, Czech Republic to Blansko, Czech Republic

Leave a reply


View Larger Map

Start: Brno, Czech Republic
End: Blansko, Czech Republic
Distance: 60.5km
Elevation Gain: 2225ft
Elevation Loss: 2012ft
Time: 3h transit; 4h exploring caves
Reading Material: The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown – Hugh Agnew
Audio Material: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me

Description
Legs are getting stronger. Was finally able to maintain a brisk 20km/hr pace on sustained, slight incline. I find it interesting how much road surface resistance impacts the ability to maintain speed. When the rig gets moving on smooth asphalt you can feel how momentum just wants to keep the tires rolling. But, on slightly rough asphalt you really have to work just to keep from slowing. I’m riding 1.75″ tires and wonder how narrower rubber would feel? Though, given the strange surfaces you encounter on a long tour (getting out of Brno was a maze of fractured sidewalks, missing paths, old railroad tracks with warped gaps and massive potholes), I doubt it would be a good idea.

Today’s ride was really only about 40km. This region north of Brno is known as Moravian Karst and is laced with limestone caverns. I arrived to the main tourist center Skalni Mlyn by 1130am, checked into the hotel and then started exploring. The caves are huge and I was only able to see 2 of the 4 before they closed for the evening (almost got to a 3rd but my improvised shortcut deadended at a 800ft cliff and I had to take the long 10km route around). I’ll check out some more caves tomorrow morning and then continue heading north.

20130510_2009_DSC_1689-reduced30

Day 16: Laa an der Thaya, Austria to Brno, Czech Republic

1 Reply


View Larger Map

Start: Laa an der Thaya, Autria
End: Brno, Czech Republic
Distance: 86.8km
Elevation Gain: 1475ft
Elevation Loss: 1099ft
Time: 6h29m
Reading Material: The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown – Hugh Agnew
Audio Material: Bullseye; Stuff You Should Know; Diane Rehm’s Friday roundup (domestic & international)

Description
After a small detour leaving Laa (cough) went the wrong way for 5km and had to backtrack (cough) it was smooth and flat sailing to Brno. Starting in Hevlin, I traveled for 10km on the same path I followed to Vienna. But, then hung a left and headed north towards Brno.

Stopped at a “bike” bar just south of the city for refreshments and a hamburger. I met Jacob — a younger Czech with excellent English — and had a good chat + photo op! The rain picked up and I got pretty soaked honing in on my accommodations, a cute B&B on the outskirts of Brno. Though, additional research would have revealed that it is located on top of a big hill which isn’t the most fun way to finish a day. But, should be a nice ride down in two days when I continue onwards.

20130509_1131_DSC_1684-reduced30

Day 15: Vienna, Austria to Laa an der Thaya, Austria

2 Replies


View Larger Map

Start: Vienna, Austria
End: Laa an der Thaya, Autria
Distance: 75.5km
Elevation Gain: 2478ft
Elevation Loss: 2416ft
Time: 6h08m
Reading Material: The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown – Hugh Agnew (figured I should bone up on my Czech history as I’m basically crossing the country twice);
Audio Material: The World in Words Podcast; Re:Sound; Nerdist podcast

Description
After several days exploring Vienna, it’s time to start heading to Krakow. I’ve chosen another EuroVelo-inspired route. Sometimes called the Krakow-Moravia-Wien Greenways trail or the Amber Route (either an ancient trade route or a nice piece of marketing). The planned route is about 700km in length and might take 8-9 days of cycling with a few stops along the way (Brno, caves, Ostrava, Auschwitz).

Today was a bit of backtracking from Vienna north to the Czech border. To keep things interesting, I plotted an alternate route that conveniently landed me in Laa an der Thaya, a thermal spring town just a few km from the border.

Unbeknownst to me, today was Ascension Day — a public holiday in Austria. This meant the streets were empty as I bicycled away under blue skies at 830am. Unfortunately, it also meant I wasn’t able to get a farewell breakfast bagel from my local cafe. I had a beautiful farewell cycle through Vienna and up the entire length of Danube Island, much friendlier than the route I took on the way in. Twenty km north of the city, I was able to stop and get a proper breakfast — espresso + marmalade rolls.

The remainder of the ride was on quiet backcountry roads and some stinky fields freshly fertilized. Achtung Wildwechsel! (Beware Wild Children?)

Don’t tell anyone, but I decided to stay an extra day and enjoy the thermal springs in Laa. I’m a sucker for hot tub soaking — hopefully this doesn’t ruin my cred.

20130509_0926_DSC_1682-reduced30

20130504_1402_DSC_1546-reduced30

Day 14: Poysdorf, Austria to Vienna, Austria

2 Replies


View Larger Map

Start: Poysdorf, Czech Republic
End: Vienna, Austria
Distance: 86.6km
Elevation Gain: 1916ft
Elevation Loss: 1993ft
Time: 6h31m
Reading Material: A History of the Jews – Paul Johnson; Attempting Normal – Marc Maron
Audio Material: Sound Opinions, Planet Money (lots of “is Economics a science?” discussion after the Reinhart/Rogoff Excel error)

Description
Arrived in Vienna a bit ahead of schedule. This last section follows EuroVelo Route 9 into Wien, a section I might repeat in reverse when heading to Brno and then Poland.

The last ~20km was spent tackling the sprawl of Northeast Vienna. Pretty much a straightshot, but the drab cityscape goes on for a long time before the Vienna you remember from covers of philosophy textbooks appears. All sources indicated that Vienna would be a bike-friendly town. And, indeed, there are dedicated bike lanes on many roads. However, they also end unexpectedly with poor signage and occasional misplaced curbs.

One positive aspect of this bike lane confusion is that I had my first opportunity of the trip to exchange the universally understood bicycle/motorist salute: the raised middle finger. Like Prague, Boston and many other elder cities, Vienna is built along a river. However, unlike those other cities, the main bridges over the Danube River do not have bike or pedestrian lanes. I was following what I thought was a bicycle lane over the 4-lane wide Gürtelbrücke bridge. The lane ended and I was forced onto the roadway. Two hundred meters or so later, a sidewalk appeared but with constant traffic, a fully loaded bicycle and high curb to navigate, I deemed it safer to continue pedaling with traffic over the bridge. A woman two lanes over leaned her head out of the passenger window and yelled at me. She was a good 10 car lengths ahead by the time I flipped the bird but luckily I was acknowledged with the reply. I couldn’t think of a more fitting way to be welcomed to Vienna after two weeks of bicycling from Berlin.

20130504_2031_DSC_1550-reduced30