Are Czech drivers the worst in the world?

Yes, I'm still sick, but getting better. For the first time in a week, I can actually hear fairly normally. I've had a middle-ear infection.

I hope to be out on the road for the first time on Friday or Saturday. Whoo-hoo! It's been hard, sitting here staring at my new bike, while all my friends are out in the sunshine, racking up the kilometers. It's about 11 degrees Celsius today (52 F) and sunny. I'm dyin' in here.

I thought I'd take this downtime to write about the problems with Czech drivers. If you drive your car quite a bit in Prague, as I do, one thing you notice is how careless the Czech drivers are. I've driven in 19 countries, and I would say that the Czechs are among the worst drivers I've ever encountered. I'm talking about the stupid chances they take on the road, overtaking other cars on narrow, blind corners out in the country, following too closely in the city, idiotic lane changes, driving too fast for conditions, etc. Every time I'm out, I invariably see a fender-bender of some sort.

And if you happen to be on a bike, watch out.

Weapons on wheels

I've had two very bad experiences with Czech drivers while riding my bike.

In the first altercation, I was descending the hill connecting Jeneralka and the Vltava River near Podbaba. I would say I was going around 35 kph and was sticking close to the edge of the road. A car came up behind me and tried to run me off the road, or at least he wanted to scare me. The young punk driving the car didn't actually hit me, but he came damn close. There's not a lot of escape room on that side of the road, and I was lucky I didn't end up hitting a tree or something. The driver and his brain-dead buddy in the passenger seat were laughing. I yelled at them and gave them the finger (what else can you do in such a situation?), and they gave me the finger back and sped off.

As I continued riding, I could feel my blood begin to boil, my adrenaline rising. I was livid. I vowed that if I saw them again at the bottom of the hill, there would be hell to pay. Of course, when I got down to the bottom, there was the car parked next to a pub. The passenger wasn't in the car, but the driver was. I jumped off my bike and went up to the driver's window, which was rolled down slightly, and told him to get out of the #%&#@! car. He wouldn't. I yelled a bunch of expletives at him and told him again to get out of the car. Of course, he's a big man when he's behind the wheel, but he was a little girly man when his target was staring him down. I just rode off, yelling a few more curses as I went.

We will kill them if they don't kill us first

In the second episode, my friend Stewart and I had stopped to rest at a four-way intersection in the Hanspaulka neighborhood of Prague 6 after ascending a fairly steep hill. We were off to the side, but not necessarily over as far as we could have been. This car with another young punk driving came speeding down the hill and turned onto the street where we were hanging out. He was going way too fast for such a neighborhood street and came close to running us down. We probably shouldn't have been standing where we were standing, but he was driving like a maniac (which he actually may have been). We yelled some epithets at him as he sped off.

To our surprise, he stopped the car, put it into reverse, and proceeded to back up at high speed with the intention of running us over! We got out of the way just in time, and both of us started yelling at this moron. Stewart went up to the driver's window and I believe tried to punch the guy, who somehow managed to get in a grazing shot of his own, all while still behind the wheel. At one point, he gunned the engine and went after Stewart, taking the car through a ditch and pinning Stewart up against a large hedge with his front bumper. He eventually sped off.

I, of course, rather than yelling at the guy, should have written down his license plate number while all this was going on. I didn't (although I now carry a pencil and paper with me whenever I ride). Stewart was scraped up a bit, but generally unhurt. We ended up riding around to see if we could see the guy again (I think we might have killed him if we could have gotten him out of his car), but never did. We ended up calling the cops and knocking on the doors of folks who lived right there to see if they had seen what had happened and could act as witnesses. We found some nice folks who did see it all. After an interminably long wait, the police finally showed up and we explained what had happened, but we never did hear from them again.

What I remember is that Stewart, who's a professional artist, said he'd sketch the culprit for the police. He ended up drawing a portrait of a wild-eyed clown. We had a good laugh.

I had a work colleague of mine in Syracuse, New York, who was killed when he was hit by a van while riding his bike. His name was Brian Bourke, and he was a talented music writer. But he wasn't wearing a helmet. I always wear my helmet because of him. I think about Brian at least once every time I go out riding, especially in the Czech Republic.

What's their problem?

The drivers here are dangerous, to other drivers and especially to cyclists. If they're not trying to run you down, they're at least yelling at you as they drive by. I could never figure that out. What exactly are they mad at? It reminds me of the times I've been golfing on courses where a road happens to run close by. More than once I've been ready to tee off or sink a putt and some jerk in a passing car will roll down his window and yell something at me.

If you have any ideas why the Czechs are so nasty to cyclists, or have some experiences or tips of your own, please share.

A cyclists' oasis

To lighten the mood a bit, here's a picture of a hidden gem of a beer garden/restaurant on the fringes of Roztoky called Koliba. It's a fantastic place, especially for cyclists. It's situated at the start of a lovely trail that leads from Roztoky to Unetice. It's the perfect spot for a cold glass of Budvar on the way back from Okor or wherever.


They specialize in grilled meats, which are lovely, and the fish soup is great, too. You can sit and sip your beer and watch the carp jumping for insects in the small pond out front. But it's hard to find. Make a left in Roztoky at the Victoria Restaurant and head up. It's at the end of that street, past all the lovely homes.

When it's warm outside, there's no better place to eat or drink.