Tag 10 (in the woods on the north road between Rotva and Obora; Tuesday
99.04.20; distance = 135.5; time = 8:15; odometer = 1209.9) -- I got up
nice and early and packed up quick and easy -- it's amazingly easier when
everything's warm and dry -- especially my hand. I went down and had my
surprise breakfast of eggs with sausage slices in it. Not the greatest, but
just fine. Then I was off. I was having navigation problems early on and I
was surprised to find myself at a border crossing that's not on my map.
Hmm. This area (like all of the border areas I've seen here in CZ) have a
bunch of Asian-looking people selling booze, cigs and knock-off crap. There
was a gas station, and I went in to inquire about a new map. They had a
really excellent one for $5 U.S.! The whole country in 1:200000, like a
Delorme. Wow! This atlas also has bonus pages of Europe at the same scale
as my $10 Swiss map of Europe. So, armed with my new map, I was able to
avoid backtracking or going to Germany by getting on a tiny back road.
Tough on my flimsy bike, but excellent riding. I rode through endless
uninhabited woods. Big fields and tiny, ancient-looking towns. Eventually,
I got to E50 -- one of the major connections to DE. There were a lot of
"night clubs" in this remote area. Also, the Asians selling stuff. Later in
the day, I was on an even bigger connector and there were prostitutes
standing in the pull outs where the Asians were selling stuff -- 2 in the
afternoon ... anyway, I missed my turn at some point and got to ride
through a nice forest a bit out of my way. I thought that Tachov was a neat
town. They had a cool church with an ancient defense wall. They also had a
modern German grocery. The only place I've seen here to buy food. There
must be something I don't know. My next exciting adventure was a town
called "Lazy Horni." I realized later as I got to more Horni towns that it
must mean peak or mountain, since there was always a massive climb
involved. This climb in was about 8 km long, and there was snow on the
road. At the top, I can't say that was a pass. I think, rather, I just went
directly over a mountain instead of around it. The terrain now here in the
north is getting pretty hilly -- about Sigigen hilly -- and since I was
avoiding prime roads, I was up and down like a yo-yo. The general great
news today is that the sun came out!! It was still really cool, and I wore
my rain pants for ~ 80 km. It did also rain a bit this morning, and how's
this for a cheap date: I didn't spend a single Krone today. I basically ate
all the food I brought from DE. That's because when the time came, I
couldn't find a good place (another Penzion). This morning they were all
over! So, I just found a logging road -- pushed my bike up
impossible-for-cars paths and set up camp. Very nice. Chances of being
disturbed by a person = 1/10000. There's also a nice, fast stream in the
valley that I can hear. It is COLD again, so I'm going to get some sleep.
![[Bike]](./only2500b.gif)
