Tag 13 (Svetla Horni, CR; Friday 99.04.23; distance = 111.6; time = 6:18;
odometer = 1458.8) -- I don't know why I was surprised that I got up so
early -- plenty of sleep -- no reason not to. I got packed up good and
quickly. It was already sunny!! I had sworn to myself that I would use that
opportunity to further H2Oproof my jacket. I emptied a whole can of spray
on it. That should hold off bad weather for a while. It worked today. The
weather was perfect all day. I rode off down the border trail. I hopped
over the creek just for fun. Somehow, I got popped back on the road. In
Altenberg I waited for the grocery to open for a few minutes and bought
some snacks. By the way, there was a decent climb up to Altenberg, and then
the border. At the border, I was surprised when the German officials (who
shouldn't care what I want in CR) held up traffic to talk to me about my
trip. They (there were 3) tried to speak English when they saw my passport,
but my German was much better (pat on the back). For some reason (probably
the fact that I've been struggling to make decent mileages and I was afraid
of being stuck in the CR interior), I changed another 20 DM. Onward. The
main road at this border goes to Teplice and is VERY busy. I didn't take
it. Instead, I turned immediately left at the border and followed the
border patrol road some more -- excellent riding ... excellent. It was here
that I took off my gaiters (SPRING!!!). The road was generally pretty good,
but there was a rough patch by a mini ski resort. I stopped to eat my
breakfast and, of course, my Jogurt was all over my food bag. That's the
2nd time I've done that ... I felt like such an idiot as I wasted time
washing all my food in a stream. Last night I devised a route that was
designed for 1 thing: cranking km. I realized that one of my problems is
map checks every 2 km. This route followed major roads that were very
simple and near rivers or RR tracks. There was a lot of long, gradual
climbing, then long, gradual descending. I went through the town of Decin.
That was a very cool place. Very nice town. I didn't hang around. On the
heavy-duty climb out of town, off came the hand baggies!! The first time I
was without jacket, rain pants, gaiters, gloves, hand baggies OR winter
hat. FREE!! I was Jan Ullrich! I felt great. There was a prostitute at the
top of climb one. I thought about getting a leg massage like a professional
racer. But no, I was still racing. Next climb -- super. Then I was in Ceska
Kamenice, which would have been even more interesting and nice if the
entire town square wasn't torn up for underground pipe work. I thought
about eating here, but I figured I could find something in a smaller town
that would be easier to watch my bike. I was back to tiny back roads, but
this one was a dream -- paralleled RR tracks and a beautiful river. Nice
pavement (for «) and almost no cars. Beautiful forest and not much else. It
wasn't even too tough to navigate. Unfortunately, the little town in this
forest didn't make its restaurant plain enough, if indeed it had one.
Snacks and candy and onward. More riding in the woods, but this time with
some heavy climbing and sometimes with crappy road surface. Finally, I got
to a perfect little restaurant. I noticed that beef was twice as expensive
as anything else -- so I had it. I needed to jettison my CR money. I had a
great meal for about $8 with HUGE tip. OK. On to the border. Lunch was only
about 6 km from the border, but I wanted a room as close as possible. I
rode along looking for a place, but near the border, there was nothing.
(Actually, I probably could have put one of the houses for sale on my
credit card.) Well, dang. I didn't want to go to DE with useless $ in my
pocket. (You can't easily get a refund on Czech money.) So I turned around
and doubled back. Finally, I got to the closest Penzion to the border (~4
km away). There was a young guy sweeping the little parking area. His
German was ganz schrecklich, but we managed to communicate what we needed.
For 200 KR, he had a room. I was thinking, "Hmm. That's a bit cheap ... I'd
really like a nice room, since I'm trying to unload $." BUT this room is
awesome! I can't believe it. I want to live here, and at $5/day maybe I
should. There are two rooms in the upstairs of the house. My room has nice
furniture and a bathroom/shower. Both rooms have access to a common,
stocked kitchen/dining room area with TV. What an excellent set up ... it's
all pretty new, working, and impressive. Very hard to believe. I knew I
shouldn't leave prematurely! I went to the restaurant that the guy
recommended and had a much cheaper meal ($2.50) which wasn't as good, but
definitely one of the best $2.50 meals of my life. I'm writing this in the
restaurant. Now, I'll walk back to my room and spread the rest of my $ in
their little shop in the lobby -- they deserve it.
![[Bike]](./only2500b.gif)
