Our First Self-guided Bike Tour in Europe

I think there will be more of these self-guided bicycle tours in our future.

We love being able to stop and take pictures, listen to the birds, read a sign, go our own pace, and have a coffee break on our own schedule.  

I like not having to keep up to someone else's speed.  Steve usually rides behind me.  

And the scenery in the rural areas and small towns had been phenomenal. 

Our last night in Prague, we met with Andrew from Europe Bike Tours.  He showed us our bikes, explained how to secure them each night, and confirmed that we had downloaded the Ride with GPS maps.  He brought us tags for our luggage that they will transport for us to our next place of lodging.  We need to make sure to get it into motel storage by nine am each morning.

After trying out and adjusting our bikes, we put them back in motel storage and went back to our room at Hotel International in Prague to pack our bags and get ready to ride in the morning.

The guide had told us about a short cut and a bike ferry to take us across the river to start our Ride with GPS.

We saw that the Ferry guy had figured out a use for rubber ducks.

People over 65 ride the public transit for free. 

Early in our ride we had quite a climb.  I have e-assist but Steve doesn't.  We rested half way up.

We passed beautiful farm fields.  The yellow, we learned from some riders we met who are from Switzerland, is Rapeseed, used to make oil for cooking.

We went by a place for whitewater kayak training.  A kind of dam is quickly lowered to allow a rush of water to simulate whitewater conditions.

We biked through a chateau grounds with lots of deer.

Below is a Hops field.  The next day, we went by a field where workers were helping the vines find the wires to climb.

On the first day, we mostly followed Route 7 of the EuroVelo system of trails.  I didn't know about this!  I looked at the map and saw all kinds of neat places to ride.  Next year we hope to do Italy.

Our destination the first day was Melnik.  A lovely little town on a hill about 30 miles from our start in Prague.

We had to climb up to Melnik and our lodging. 

We stopped to rest and it turned out we were right by some amature art.  Take a closer look, if you dare.

We arrived at our digs, but not before I went into the wrong place.  When all the words are foreign, some of those words look real similar.

While Steve stayed with the bikes, I went in to check in.  The hostess didn't speak much English and I don't speak any Czech.  

I got us signed in though.  She took me next door to show me where to park our bikes and charge my battery.  Our luggage was waiting for us in that area.

Then she walked me a block to show me our room.  We had a two bedroom suit, plus access to an outside terrace and a kitchenette!

I went back and got Steve.  We locked up the bikes in the storage and hauled our bags and bike bags down the cobblestone street to our room.

The accommodation was amazing.  An updated very-old home split into suites now.

For dinner we found a brewery with veggieburgers and fries and beer.  Perfection!

The brewery was only a block from our suite.  And the overlook by the winery/old church was only a block away.

What a lovely way to end our first day of this bike tour.

In the morning, the Inn had quite the breakfast buffet.  We had chatted with a father and son from Florida at the brewery the night before.

They are touring the same as us.  We saw them again at breakfast! 

The buffet was generous, and the dining/reception area was delightful. I left them a raving review on Google.

Steve sent me these pictures via WhatsApp.  He took them the previous day.

Here I am hiding the drawing of the guy being a little too happy for public viewing.

Our second day was also awesome.  The weather was perfect.  We stopped in a wooded area to listen to the birds singing.  We identified a few with the Merlin App.

We stopped by a flood guage that showed a very very high flood in 2002.  Nearby was a little Free Library.  Next time we tour I have to bring some copies of the books I wrote.

We rode right by a nuclear cooling tower.  

We rode by an old sand quarry that they have turned into a rowing facility.  It has a timing tower and bleachers.  There were a few kayakers training and a dragon boat team while we were there.  

 

Below is a picture of the rapeseed after it has gone to seed.

We stopped at Terezin Museum.  An old fort that was used by the Natzis in WWII.  Many of the people held died of starvation and diseases due to the crowded conditions.

The horrible part (well, it is all horrible) was that after May, 1945 when the occupation was ended, many of the occupants were too sick to leave and died weeks and months later... mostly from typhoid.  Many survivors had nothing and no one to return to.  All their possessions had been stolen and their families killed.

A lot of the graves had no name on the stone, just a date of death.  The ones that did have a name, died after May 1945 when the Russians first entered the camp.

My phone ran out of power and my power booster wasn't charging.  I was in a panic.  I had no watch, no map, no way to look things up.  Steve still had some power.  Now he was in the lead.  We rode slower as he studied the turns and navigation to get us to our lodging in Litomerice.  We went in a few circles and got some hill climbing exercise before reaching Pension Dubina.  

That is part of touring.  We go with the flow.

Our space is smaller than our first spot, (which will be very hard to beat), but Pension Dubina is quiet and comfortable.

After showers and hand washing our clothes, we followed the Inn's guestbook recomendation to a Cafe with vegetarian food.  Oh my!  It was soooo beautiful and yummy! 

Tomorrow is another 32 mile day.  Steve is already snoring.  I better get some rest too.