An easier day – Sunday 2 June

An easier day – Sunday 2 June

Today we chose a shorter day (only 36 km), to allow ourselves some recovery space, and expecting more hills. We had a lovely big breakfast in the banqueting hall of the pension, where the wedding had taken place the previous day. Just us at one table and early rising wedding guests at the other. We had eggs, sausages, cheese, muesli, yogurt, little cakes, not very good coffee.

It was hot from early in our ride and there was no wind to cool us. Our ride was mostly through rural hill country, on very quiet roads, through wheat fields and occasional wooded areas. We would stop for water/ rest breaks in the shade of any tree alongside the road.

Getting out of the sun for a quick water break

Kris observed again that the swarms of gnats that delighted in alighting on our sweaty faces could not keep up when we travelled faster than 10 km/h. Between 9-10 km/hour they hover around and disappear after a couple of seconds. Any slower than this and we are plagued by insects. They can also be problematic when you hit a downhill run – as they hover in swarms and can easily be breathed in or swallowed if you don’t keep your mouth closed.

Hill climb through some woods

Every now and then we would pass through a small town. Our route took us through Korytha, Plane, Vladmerice. The biggest town we went through was Manetin, which had lots of statues all over the place – leading into the town and along a cobbled promenade near the church. We were keen to buy an ice cream, but even Manetin didn’t seem to have any open shops (at least not on the main throughway).

Manetin
Hilly rural landscape

The final couple of towns were Psov and Zizkov, until we reached our destination Zlutice at around midday. One of the first things we saw as an open supermarket, so we were quick to go and buy some ice cream (and other essentials such as dental floss). From here it was still a long hill climb (walking the bikes) in the hot sun to our hotel at the other end of town. I was quite happy to stop and get out of the heat early in the afternoon.

The Pension is in a complex which includes mini-golf, squash courts, virtual golf and virtual bowling. We had beer and a meal (mixed grill with vegetables) on the terrace after it had cooled down. We met and chatted with a German couple from Berlin during our meal. They are also on a (shorter) cycle tour. We have not seen any other cycle tourists on our route since Prague, but today there were two other cycle tourist couples (the other was 2 young men) staying at this pension.

Beer on the terrace

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