Over Hill With Dale

The 14th-century castle ruins in Okoř memorably silhouetted against the setting sun.

Sorry, I've been away from the bike, and the blog, too long.

Daisy and I have guests, Dale Bemis and his wife, Cory. Dale is a childhood friend of Daisy's from State College, Pennsylvania. Dale works as a computer contractor for the U.S. military. He and Cory and their two kids are currently living in Hardwick, England, not far from Cambridge. Lucky sods.

In fact, they've got their own blog that details their own expatriate experiences. It's called Adventures In England. Check it out. It's nicely done.

Turns out Dale and Cory met at a cycling race. That is, they were competing in the race. And they still cycle regularly.

So naturally, I wanted to take them out to show them some of the trails and paths and routes I like to ride. I took Dale out on Thursday evening, May 31. Cory and the kids stayed behind with Daisy and Emma. They all went to Letna park to play.

Dale and I headed to -- where else? -- Okoř.

He rode Daisy's bike, an Author Reflex SX.

We had a really nice ride. The weather was just warm enough, with a little chill in the air on the way back.

It was great to point out the usual sites to someone who'd never seen them before. Dale had no trouble keeping up. Actually, it was I who had to work to keep up with him. He's in great shape. They're both in great shape. I found myself pedaling furiously to maintain his pace, out of breath from talking a mile (kilometer?) a minute.

Our average speed is quite impressive, methinks, thanks to Dale.

Besides Okoř castle itself, which is always a sight to see, the most interesting thing we passed was a burned-out car on the road leading from Okoř to Tuchoměřice. Looks like someone had an engine fire that got a wee bit out of control.

It was somehow oddly disturbing, though, to see such a sight in the middle of the beautiful countryside.

RIDE STATS
Length of ride: 46 kilometers
Average speed: 19.7 kph
Maximum speed: 43.9 kph
Length of ride: 2.17.09
Total distance for 2007: 804.5 kilometers


Dale refreshes his body -- and spirit -- with a glass of Czech Gatorade.


The road from Okor to Tuchomerice looked more like Baghdad that bucolic countryside on this evening.