Things were looking up this morning: my breakfast stayed in, and I quickly got out, reversing the situation of the last few days post-food-poisoning. We followed the path north from Brno along the Svitava River, a lovely little trail on an untrafficked lane that hugged the woodsy waterside.
Eventually we rejoined the road, and Nigel found his bike had a problem. The Brompton carries luggage not on the rear rack but on a sturdy bracket mounted on the front. Not quite sturdy enough, though. One of the bolts had failed, so his substantial front bag was only getting half the support it needed. I get that feeling myself much of the time.
We had a discussion over whether the failed item was to be referred to as a bolt (my preference) or a screw (Nigel’s insistence) and which body of opinion backed this up (bike mechanics for me, engineers for Nigel).
More usefully, Nigel managed to tweak things that might with luck last a day or two until we could find a Brompton specialist bike shop, in, er… um… ah, Berlin, in a week’s time.
But then came the best hour of the whole trip so far: the long winding climb up a limestone gorge on Eurovelo 9, between Arnoštov and Sloup.
Meanwhile we’d have to cross our fingers. Though as I’m still recovering from hand surgery, my deformed fingers are crossed most of the time anyway.
The lower reaches are a bit touristy, with a ‘train’ and a few eateries and souvenir shops, and you can take boat trips into the caves that riddle the cliff faces.
But once past a barrier, you have a few miles of delightful ravine shared only with fellow cyclists, walkers, and enterprising buggy-pushers. It was all a bit fab.
We lunched at the top, garnering supplies from the Co-op in Sloup. There seem to be Co-ops everywhere, even in small villages, often supplemented by a potraviny (grocery).
(In two of them I recognised the unmistakable sound of Cantonese being spoken by the owners. Later I was told it was almost certainly Vietnamese instead. Clearly I’m not as good at identifying Far East Asian tonal languages as I thought.)
A few country lanes later, now on open hilltop farmland by the village of Repechy, we went up Kopaninka observation tower: a (paid-for) staircased ascent of 22m to add to the 635m altitude on the ground.
The view from the top was everything I’d expected. Pretty much the same as from the bottom except a bit better, in other words.
Then came another highlight of the whole trip: a ten-mile-long whoosh downhill from this summit to the village of Žárovice, all through quiet woods on a virtually car-free lane.
At one point an eagle flew lazily right in front of me for several seconds, almost touching distance, its beady eyes scanning for voles and rabbits. I’ve never been so close to a raptor; it was thrilling.
The sunny bike route from here to the city of Olomouc was pretty good, often on well-paved, motor-free rural paths going past lakesides or across rolling farmland. We shared them with a variety of fellow travellers such as horses, skaters and German cycle tourers.
Olomouc itself proved a fine-looking place. We cycled through a park vibrant with people out enjoying the evening sun, checked in to the hotel, and strolled out into the grand central square for some food and beer after this excellent day of riding.
I had a burger, chips and beer to prove my stomach was now back to normal. Unfortunately, I only proved the opposite…
Miles today: 66
Miles since Cheb: 338