Cesky Krumlov, or rather Nove Udoli, Czech Republic to Passau, Germany, 36.2 miles (58 km), and 1519 feet (463 m) of elevation (climbing).
This route is very deceiving. It looks downhill the whole way. It wasn't....
Our cycling route today actually starts in Nove Udoli, which was a relaxing, slow, two-hour train ride from Ceske Krumlov. It made several stops along the way, but the train winds its way through the Sumava National Park with a few villages along the way. People take this train out to the park to hike and bike. There is actually a freight car with bike racks in it, allowing the conductors to load the bikes up on their ends for transport. Clearly our type of bike wasn't going to conform to that rack, so it got to ride in the passenger car with us. At 8:30 on a Sunday morning, we had only five other people on the train with us.
The day started out as expected. We had a lovely breakfast at Pension Gardena, which served us earlier than their normal breakfast time. The route given to us by the proprietor was exactly as he described. There was a climb, but the traffic at 7:30 am on a Sunday morning was minimal and we arrived at the train station very early for our 8:18 am train. Only to find out there was no 8:18 train......
There was no one to ask, either. A security guard, who spoke no English, decided to ask me if I needed help. Even with Google translate and my Q-code train ticket, she couldn't answer which 'train' I needed to take.
Okay, there was only one train to take. It was either going to Ceske Budejovice or Udoli. I did not know this. Therefore, my panicky fear about getting on the wrong train or missing the correct train required a call to someone on my tour my contact list. I did get a call back within the hour, and they double checked the train time (which had changed). After we figured out which side of the train platform to be on, everything else was pretty easy. They loaded our bike onto the passenger car without any problem. Our tour rep encouraged us to get off the train at any stop before the end and finish the ride to Nove Udoli through the park. Yeah... nah... I'm good watching the park scenery from the window and then doing our 36-mile ride Passau. This was a very wise choice....
We finally arrived in Nove Udoli. It was a little more than a train station with a couple stores and a guest house next to it. Not too far from the train station, we saw these signs and realized we were on the Czech-German border.
We started our downhill ride through the park, which was a rail trail. This meant very gradual incline and descent grades. It was through a forest with a crushed gravel path. Sometimes it was two tracks, like the photo, sometimes it was more like a road. Really great trail for being gravel. It felt like it was going to rain a few times and the minute I put my rain gear on, it held off, so we were spared a wet ride. It was a downhill coasting ride with a little pedaling that went on for a long time. We found a really great public toilet/water closet at a trail head on the trail part way through our trek through the forest. It was even free. There were even showers there if you wanted one. So grateful to come across these when they happen. We even had a great conversation with a German lady who was born in the Czech Republic but was brought to Germany when she was a child. That was an interesting conversation. She talked about what her life would have been like had her family remained in Czechoslovakia instead of going to Germany. Another conversation about the importance of freedom. She was impressed by our lack of electric assist on our bikes. Every adult we came across on that trail was on an e-bike.
Once we came out of the forest, we began to pay our dues for that long descent. Our route took us into many towns where we rode up (or walked the bike up) to the highest point in the town and then coasted down out of the town to continue on to the next town. It became a tiring series of hill climbing and descents, that seemed to go on and on. Passau seemed like a disappearing illusion on the horizon that we were never going to get to. I was getting discouraged. The sun seemed so hot, and the air was muggy. I was sweaty and tired and ready for the day to be done long before it was. The last ten miles seemed like it took forever. I had read earlier some vague instructions about avoiding this dirt track hill by taking the alternate route, but we never found what this alternate route was and when we asked, we didn't get an answer in time to avoid it.
The only redeeming value of this part of the day were the views we saw at the tops of these climbs:
Our climbs and descents became more urgent as we saw a rainstorm heading towards us. I was sure we were going to be hit by it so now we felt pressure to hurry to get to the hotel. You could actually see the rain in the distance which meant downpour.
FINALLY, we rode into Passau, Germany and I was very relieved to arrive there. The storm never crossed our path. The traffic, however, was horrendous and I felt very nervous riding through the city with that many cars, but we finally got out of the worst of it as we rode the side streets to our hotel.
We had a little climb up to our hotel, which was a few miles from the old part of the city and situated right on a city street. I was very relieved to see that a laundromat was a short walk from our hotel. We had a rest day planned for the next day in Passau which was when I had planned to get some laundry done. That was a very convenient amenity to have close by when we had time and needed it. However, we were a long walk from the old part of the city where St. Stephen's Cathedral and other interesting sites were. We would be hoofing it to see the sites tomorrow.
We ended our day with a little walk to a nice outdoor restaurant, where I had my first schnitzel of the tour and some local German beer. As we were sitting there, I received a surprise video call from my son and grandchildren to wish me a happy Mother's Day. A great end to a very long day and the end of a successful tour through the Czech Republic.
As always, you can see more photos of our trip on Instagram under the handle 7th_decade_redhead.
Tomorrow is a rest day in Passau, Germany and then we start our tour along the Danube River the day after.
If you would like to read more about our three week-long bicycle tour starting in Prague, Czech Republic and ending in Budapest, Hungary, here are the links to our entire adventure:
Day Zero in Prague (Weather or not I wanted to)
Day One.... The Hills are Alive .... and I am not
Day Two....Vistas and Grocery Stores (and an angry cashier)
Day Three.... Are we Hiking or Cycling? (Today it was hard to tell....)
Day Four.....My Favorite Place on the Entire Tour (and a nod to the Beer of Kings along the way)
Day Four and a Half (I couldn't do it justice in one post)
Day 5 ...... Will This Day Ever End???
Day Six... Pausing in Passau (AKA This is the way we wash our clothes.....I think....)
Day Seven - Off down the Danube (If we'd only had that meeting.....)
Day Eight - We needed a day like today.....
Day Ten Cycling the Danube - Cloudy With a Shot of Melk
Day Eleven Cycling the Danube... A rare short mileage day!
Day Twelve Cycling the Danube - Aahhhh Vienna!!!
Day 13 - Our Day in Vienna (It's not supposed to be this HOT)
Day 14: Vienna to Petronell-Carnuntum (Apparently, I can speak some Italian.....)
Day 15 Petronell-Carnuntum, Austria to Bratislava, Slovakia (Rain and broken Chain...)
Day 16 Bratislava, Slovakia to Gyor, Hungary (There's a snake in the grass....)
Day 18: Komarno, Slovakia to Esztergom, Hungary (A tense tummy and a tense moment......)
Day 19: Esztergom to Budapest, Hungary (A long ride for the last day)
Day 20: A Day in Budapest (We had to see the last of the "Stevens/Stephens")
