Today was a relatively tiring 66 km ride – cycling on Czech cycle routes is definitely harder work than the Austrian or German equivalent.
We started with a long steep uphill climb out of Horšovský Týn to a viewpoint above the city.

From here on we had every type of bicycle path imaginable. A few (just between villages) were excellent, tarred off road paths that we sailed along – we speculated that these may have been funded by the EU. They were in the minority. Most of the route was on minor roads with little traffic – it was fine, but a number of the minor roads are in really poor condition with many patches and pot holes. At the worst end of the spectrum, we had a number of stretches along poor dirt roads with pot holes and stones.

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The country-side was pretty – rolling hills so we had lots of ups and downs. We passed through a number of small towns – the biggest being Dobřany where we stopped to eat some peaches we had been carrying. It was very quiet with almost on one else in the town square.

The entry into Pilsen on bicycles was not easy – in fact we lost the bike path and meandered a bit through suburbs. Kris had to ask for directions a couple of times. There were also a couple of long uphill climbs just coming into the city.
Our first stop was the tourist info bureau to for help with accommodation and the route from here on. Unfortunately they did not have a good map of the bike path to Prague, so navigation will be more challenging tomorrow. The accommodation Jenny chose was not great either – poor value – probably because it is in the centre of the city. The toilet is private but down the passage.

We had a bit of a pub crawl in the evening – walking around the city centre and sampling beer at different pubs – many of them outdoor. The beer is good but there is not much variety – ie all Pilsners and no craft beer. We enjoyed the unfiltered beers the most.

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