Wasting away

Haha. I've just seen my map location and it has me in Burger King at Incheon. Shame. I'm in an airport lounge having decided to splash out $25 for the five hour wait.

Here's what's been going on for Friday and Saturday. Had a lazy start and lounged around after breakfast reading a book (my Czech has improved out of sight). Packed my stuff and then bummed around some more and made idle chit chat with Stan. Had some lunch and the almost obligatory beer. Yes, someone really does make that stuff.

Started going a bit stir crazy so we took the dog for a walk around a few hill tracks. Maree, kids, part of the walk was past the old animal sanctuary we visited last time but it's no longer there. Good to stretch the legs.

Mooched around a bit longer and headed to the airport. Amidst floods of tears, wailing, back slapping and other high emotion, Stan and I said our goodbye with a firm handshake and a promise to finish the journey in the future.

The flight was a flight, got some sleep. Went through Transfer and went looking for the free showers I'd heard about. Had one and changed some clothes and now I sit in the lounge to while away the time until the flight to Auckland. Sounds all so boring.

With that I'm signing off. There's about 19-20 hours until I get home.
320kms travelled in ~3.5 days on the cycle trip.
A jolly good time was had by all.
This was my story.

A Display of Might

All was quiet in the valley when Paul awoke today at 5.30am. OMG, a jet lag relapse. Ha, I know better. ZZZZ. 6.30am, that's better. 

Helicopter Camouflage Testing

What to do today? Well, there were some messages to run in the city and there was a visit to a military graveyard, Vleteckem Muzeu,  at Kbely. There were all kinds of corpses at the graveyard. Some had been restored to their original state so you got an idea of what it was like during that era. Years ranged from 1914-~1990s. It was interesting to see the diverse range and types of corpses on display. We spent about 2.5 hours wandering round having a look.

MiG 17F, 1950s

While we were at the graveyard we got to read about a famous hero of the Soviet era crusades against the capitalist evils of the world, Capt. Pavel Vrcholkov. Personally, we thought he looked like the communist equivalent of Popeye the Sailor Man.

Oh, I haven't mentioned we had the bloody bikes. We had the bloody bikes. We headed back to town on the metro to complete some more messages before doing what could be described as an inner city cross country ride back to the valley. I'm sure this was a cunning plan by my proletariat comrade to soften me up physically before the Clash of the Titans. 12kms later he had not succeeded. 

Capt. Pavel Vrcholkov

Time to prepare for the Clash of the Titans. The showdown was scheduled for 4.00pm. Never before since the last time had something like this been so anticipated.

4.00pm

The arena is ready. The clay is groomed. The protagonists enter. There's the obligatory pre-match psychological games being played out. No-one gains an advantage. It's Stanislav "Kavalnikov" Kavale to serve to Pavel Mahnud. Whack, thump, groan, 1-0. Whack, dink, lob, 1-1. The pace is exhausting at such an early stage of this vital clash. 1-2, 1-3. The Kavalnikov doesn't seem to be firing. 1-4. Mahnud is making the better plays and enjoying the advantage of luck. Wait! The Kavalnikov appears to have cleared his jam. 2-4, 3-4. No, maybe it was a temporary burst. Mahnud moves to 5-3. Can he take the first set? No, 5-4. Oh, 5-5, this is getting tense. Mistakes are creeping in. 5-6. Oh God he's lost focus, he's not comfortable. Mahnud is making some gesture with his hand. Is something wrong? Is he losing his grip? Phew, 6-6. Tiebreak. This is close, no-one is leaving their boxside tables. Mahnud has an early advantage in the tie break. He's ahead at the change of ends. He's holding, he's holding, he's holding, yyyyeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssss, he's taken it 7-4. first set to Mahnud 7-6.

Round 2. If things continue the same way this will be a long gruelling encounter. The second set begins. 1-0 to Mahnud. God, The Kavalnikov seems to have run out of ammo. 2-0, 3-0, 4-0. This could be over by bedtime. Wait. There's hope, 4-1, 4-2. This has added another dimension to this classic encounter. 4-3. Oh. God, say it ain't so. 5-3. Is normal service resumed? Whack, lob, thunk, drop. 5-4. This is close again, it looked like Mahnud was running away with the match. This is looki ....................

Suddenly Mahnud experienced a shaking like he hadn't experienced for years. "Paul, wake up, it's time for some dinner. Hope you enjoyed your Nana nap."

My Idle Life

Wow. Wednesday. I had the best sleep only waking up once to hoik my lungs out. A couple more days and I'll be trying to resync the other way. Oh joy. Another great summers day in the valley. Time for a quick breakfast and into Prague central to hunt down necessary trinkets. Into the main town square garish in all it's tourist glory with people shouting and silly flags fluttering. But we were on a mission. Our mission was successful. Numbers 51 &

#51 & #52

52.

We headed over the Charles Bridge battling a horde of tourists  whose experience of the rich culture of the Czech Republic will be a whirlwind spin through Prague and a visit to Starbucks.

Over to Smichov to have a look through a couple of book shops then back to the valley to listen to the chirping of the birds, have some lunch and drop Henry at the airport.

Maree, look who I found

The rest of the day has been and will continue to be an R&R day as we close in on the final countdown and the much anticipated clash of the titans. Now it's time to enjoy a beer at the Black Cock.

Come in Number 4. Your time is up.

Today (yesterday in reality) is the last day of the cycle trip. We are in Cizov in Southern Moravia and will end up in Prague in Bohemia.

[Interlude to today.]

I'm finding it hard to concentrate on this blog because the wonderful vista in front of me is so distracting, along with breeze through the trees, the sounds of nature and the general peace only interrupted by the occasion airliner passing over. That and feeling it's easier to shut the eyes than fight to keep them open. The video is AVI if anyone doesn't have a plugin.
[End of interlude, three hours later]

We feed ourselves on the cooked and continental breakfast available and then had our first strategy meeting without beer. It was going to be a short day as we made our way to Znojmo. We headed out of town with a slight climb which was good as it meant I could ease myself onto the saddle by using the excuse of standing up while climbing. In the I just took a deep breath ...

Then we saw it. It was a sign. It was a sign that instantly made the day a happy time to be in. 18km to Znojmo. God, that was an easy hour. We had time to explore so we headed to an old quarry to see whether a swim was in order. It wasn't but we still ended up at the quarry, had a look and carried on our merry way.

Stan said we could trek to Znojmo through a local forest however poor sign posting meant we decided to take the easy route. We skirted the edge to the forest before heading back to the main road a Znojmo.

With time to kill we settled in for a bit of lunch before heading to the train station .As luck would have it, there was a train to Breclav that connected with the Budapest-Prague service. On we hopped and on our merry way we went. Tally ho! Time to settle in and enjoy the scenery for the ~4 hour trip to Prague. Now this is where things got a little mysterious. 

We settled into a compartment that was occupied by a Brazilian. He recognised us as cyclists (must have been the oversized calf muscles) so we got talking for a while. He'd just cycled from Prague to Budapest and was heading back to then head off to Estonia then onto Montegro and Croatia. good keen chap, that one. we headed off to enjoy the delights of the buffet car for a while. We approached a table that looked like it was occupied but seeing an Aussie hat and no head, we asked to waiting staff if someone was there. If not, could we sit there. There was some interesting body language and huffing so we said if this person wasn't here we would be. this started some speculation that maybe this person was a secret agent or had been knocked off. So the items got moved and we sat waiting for a Mission Impossible type show down. There were visions of motorcyclists pulling along side the train and emptying a couple of clips, fights of the roof of the train and other such merriment. As it was, we enjoyed a couple of beers and the waiting staff were pissed off we took there table so they couldn't skive off. However, we would continue to look for the mysterious Australian.

In Prague early evening, a ride along the river to the metro and into the valley and home. A mission taken and successfully completed. Cue applause, finishing theme and into the arms of a woman ... well none of that happened. Off for a shower, a feed and bed. Goodnight.

Border Hopping

Up we got to another clear Czech morning so we decided to stock up on supplies and have breakfast somewhere down the road. The early start would have been good if Hank hadn't spied fresh cherries for sale and decided to queue. We soon realised this was a bit of a social occasion for some and the queue crept along. In the meantime he enjoyed the banter of the seller as he offered advice to patrons complete with fag hanging out his mouth. Hank shared his cherries so we didn't mind.

We cycled through the countryside with still more barley chops until we hit the town of Slavonice. Nice little town but it seemed it was full of $2 shops. We settled in for some breakfast. The young waitron started to make eyes at Stan saying she wanted him to come and meet her mother. She also said he could dress up in rubber if he wished. While we were enjoying this dance, we soon realised she was saying there were underground caves and you had to put on waterproof gear to go down there. We liked our story better. We had another successful strategy meeting and continued on our way.

Hunter Gatherer

Along the roadsides an abundance of trees have been planted to brighten up the landscape. In this area it was cherry trees. So we stopped to feast on fresh cherries from the trees hoping that the fibre intake didn't have any spontaneous consequences  at inconvenient times. On we cycled stocked up on cherries as we headed towards Pisecne. Along the way we looked at some remnants of the Iron Curtain (fences and bunkers).

"We have rocket launchers but no
rockets. Let's improvise!"

We cycled along old border patrol roads again until we reached a pleasant memorial garden on the Austrian side of the border. Eyeing the nice flat Austrian road we crossed over to use this for a while. Much easier on some parts of the anatomy. We headed back to the Czech Republic to Vlatenin for some lunch primarily because it was a hell of a lot cheaper to do this . After lunch we headed back across the border to Drosendorf Stadt on our way to an old quarry outside Langau now used as swimming facilities.

Jesus of Infinite Suffering

After Drosendorf Stadt we were cycling along a track when I heard Stan start laughing. I rounded the corner and started laughing. Hank caught us up and started laughing. There in the middle of nowhere was a twisted cavaderous Jesus of Infinite Suffering. After gathering our composure we headed to the lake. We stopped off for about an hour so Stan and I could enjoy a swim in the lake. Refreshed we soldiered on towards Hardegg. Stan was continually warning us of the gut busting ride out of Hardegg to our final destination. We weren't sure if it was a windup. There were two things about the ride into Hardegg. First, it was a damn fine descent so I set a new speed record of 70kph. Hell, that was good. Second, you descented and that's when you realised Stan wasn't kidding about the

Lost in Translation

ride out. We stopped off for a few photo ops and then crossed the bridge back into the Czech Republic. There was no chance to build up into the ascent. It just started and kept going for ~2-2.5kms. The climb was such a struggle I started thinking of  The Little Engine Who Could. I was so inspired by the engine's values of optimism and hard work that I started  repeating, "I think I can, I think I can." This provided me with the intestinal fortitude to make it to the top where I  chanted "I knew I could," It was pretty satisfying that we all made it in one go and the only thing stopping us from enjoying the descent was we'd have to come back up again.  From the top it was an easy run into Cisov to our penzion and a well deserved beer.

90 kms travelled, top speed 70kph. 

Green Barley Fields Forever

As this is being written retrospectively due to connectivity issues, it's fair to say that day two was a quiet day compared to  days one and three. That doesn't mean you stop reading now and jump ahead!

After an average sleep of a few hours and being affected by something I've picked up in flight to Prague I got up at 7am after thinking that if I lay there any longer I might get bed sores. We traversed the Tabor village square on a diagonal aspect to dine for breakfast for the grand sum of ~NZD9. Full buffet, just the type of nutrition finely honed cyclist need. A fry up and cakes. I could take a liking to the continental  tradition of cake for breakfast, justified by the wholesome fruit that's used.

So, fed and supplied we head towards Lunice to follow the river to Plana then onto Dirna. We stopped for morning tea in Dirna after deciding in a strategy meeting held the night before that we should make more frequent breaks to ensure we have an adequate intake of nutrition. We are pleased to say that this meeting was conducted without flip charts, Powerpoint presentation, silly games or complimentary backslapping. all we needed was the appropriate information source (a map) and beer.

On the way to Jindrichuv Hradec we stopped at Cervana Lhota Chateau. It is kinda red. The front was packed so we went around the back and looked at it from a bridge. I noted the similarity in colour to a female baboons bum. With that we had to leave.

Jindrichuv Hradec Town Square
(Hankville)

On to Jindrichuv Hradec for lunch. Not much to say about it, it was food. Around this time Hank Minnesota got lost because he'd lost touch with the leading bunch and came to a cross road and the devil wasn't there to help him (here's a quiz for you, who went to the crossroads and got taken by the devil?) Never mind, Hank was eventually located and is still hiding under that alias.

This is where we decided to our first excursion into the Osterreich. We cycled on shitty roads that had been used as border patrol roads in another era stopping off briefly to take in sustenance and a bar in the middle of nowhere. I guess if the crop doesn't do well you can always sell beers and ice cream. Well nourished it was off to the border. When we got there we were so jealous of the Austrian road. Our poor chaffed crotches would have protested if they new what they missed out on. About we turned and bounced our way back through the forest.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
Ostereich/Czech Border

We stopped at a village that had disappeared and don't remember it's name because that disappeared with it.

We stopped for a brief look around Smrcna before the merry band of continued on to the stop for the night at Nova Bystrice. Dinner, which led to the piece of poetic wit below (Pam Ayers, get your heart out), beer and bed at 9-ish. Was the sleep good? No, I didn't think the skull was so big to hold the amount of snot that came out of it overnight. Stan said I sounded like I was being strangled.

75kms travelled, a lighter second day, top speed 55kph.

There was a young man called Stan
Who came up with a remarkable plan
He consumed a pork knuckle
And later as luck'll ...
Have it, he shacked up with a man

They're Off And Running This Time

My strategy of staying awake from Icheon to Prague backfired when I woke at 4.30am and

knew I wasn't getting back to sleep. Henry was awake too so we got up and looked for some food. Stan wandered out a bit later so we decided to pack up and head off. About 6.30am, we were on our way for the first leg to the train station ~20kms down the road. "What?" I heard you say. A train. Yep cos an early leg of the road is pretty rough. 

I found out today is a national holiday, The Matrydom of Jan Hus Day, which made our final destination all the more interesting.

We got the slow train from  Vrane Nad Vltavou to Krhanice, hopped on over mighty vehicles and when to visit a military vehicle museum. There were vehicles from ~1914 to mid-80s of all types and a number of nations. Interesting to see some of these beasts in the armour. Pretty formidable. We stopped for a snack then headed on our journey.

Along the way we had stops for various things including nature calls and for Henry to take photos of poppies. As these were country roads we were cycling through small villages along the way. Interesting to spectulate on some of the ways of life in some of these places.

We stopped at Kosova Hora for more sustenance, this time including beer. There must be something about Czech beer as it didn't slow the rate of progress down.

One of the fun parts of the trip has been slogging up inclines then enjoying the free wheeling down the other side. Most fun, the top speed today was 65.5kmph. 

Onward. More cycling through country villages until we got to Sedlec-Prcice which is about 70km from Prague. These are twin towns seperated by a river. The town square in Prcice was very nice so we stopped for a breakand a coffee. Henry and I had a chat with a kid that must have heard us speaking English so he started asking us questions and practising. His English was pretty good for a 10 year old.

Onto the final leg of the day to Tabor. This is when all the travel caught up with me and it got to the point that I just wanted to get there and lie down. Every rise was a challenge and every descent was a blessing. With a lot of swearing we made Tabor. I think I set a record for emptying a bottle of Gatorade. It was ~30s. I was knackered. We headed to the old townsquare where I cursed Stan for us having to ride over cobblestones. We found a nice little pension, booked in and I headed for the bath. Lucky there was an overflow as I dozed off a couple of times as the bath filled up. Did the world of wonders though. Out for dinner, a few beers and off to bed. 

And that was our adventure on day one. ~125kms travelled. And the church bells chime 8am.