Itching To Get Out

It's hard to think of a more beautiful sight for a cyclist that pedaling past fields of rapeseed on a car-less path through the forest.

Sometimes when I start a ride, I wonder if I'll find anything interesting to write about or photograph. Rarely am I disappointed. Themes somehow magically present themselves.

I went out the other day for a solo ride and later linked up with Daisy and Emma for the second part. The weather was perfect. I hadn't been on my bike for awhile and was itching to get out.

I left my house in Černý Vůl and headed to Statenice and then Tuchoměřice. From there, I cycled up to Kněževes, and then down a beautiful country road to the village of Středokluky.

From there, it was across to the hamlet of Cernovicky and then down a dirt path to Číčovice and Malé Číčovice before arriving in --yes, you guessed it -- Okoř, where I had a beer before heading back home to Černý Vůl through Lichoceves and Statenice.

On this part of the ride, I became fascinated by all the tiny architectural details on the houses, barns, shops, chateaus, and hotels I passed on my ride.

I couldn't stop to take pictures of them all, but I did photograph a whimsical eyebrow window, the Art Nouveau façade on a delightful village inn, the orange-tiled roof of a lovely chapel, and the year 1914 on the gable of a house in Statenice (not because of how old it is, for there are homes here dating back hundreds of years, but because I loved the font).

Once I got back home, I hooked up with Daisy and Emma and we rode the path to Únětice and Roztoky. We cycled through the village of Roztoky to the riverbank, where we linked up with the paved cycling trail that follows the west side of the riverbank north toward Úholičky.

It's a great ride for parents and children. There's really not much to worry about, other than running into other cyclists or rollerbladers.

I'm pretty sure this was Emma's longest-ever bike ride. I think it was around 24 kilometers round-trip from our house. She did great.


Daisy and Emma on the wonderful bike path along the west side of the Vltava River, above Roztoky.

We stopped in at Hospůdka Zvířátka for beers, ice teas, and sausages (I dearly love that pub, but it was one of the worst klobasas I've ever had) and then it was home.

This ride proved that, as usual in Prague, when you're on your bike, you don't have to venture far from home before you encounter something that will make you smile or take note.

Adventure's always around the corner when you're on two wheels.

RIDE STATS
Length of ride: 47 kilometers
Average speed: 14.9 kph
Maximum speed: 47.8 kph
Time on the bike: 3.09.42
Pivo Index: 2
Distance ridden so far in 2010: 341 kilometers


Rapeseed in full flower.


From a distance, I saw this salmon-colored smear across the landscape near Tuchoměřice. I just had to investigate


It was a vast field of poppies. (Cue "Wizard of Oz" references)


Emma and Daisy heading south along the Vltava.


Enjoying a half-liter of Pilsner Urquell in Okoř.


Architectural details on the outside of the Pension u Svatého Prokopa, housed in a 17th-century farmhouse in Středokluky. I've always wanted to stop in there for a beer or spend the night. Looks lovely.


A chapel in the village of Středokluky.


Poppies against a field of wheat near Knezeves.


Roses spied from afar on a balcony in Tuchoměřice.


A woodpile near Statenice.

Little Rides, Lovely Ladies, Big Fun

A particularly beautiful stretch of the Únětice-Roztoky trail.

I've been out for a couple of lovely rides with my two lovely ladies that I want to tell you about.

I was off on a weekday recently, and after she was through with school I took Emma on a ride from Černý Vůl, where we live, to Roztoky. It's a great path for Emma, who's 10, because it's almost entirely free of traffic. Hell, I love the path for the same reason!

The path connects Cerný Vůl to Únětice, and then picks up again on the other side of Únětice and takes you all the way to lower Roztoky.

We passed country ponds ringed by fishermen, and a brook with a cool, gnarly tree crossing over it that Emma loves to climb on. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the brook was babbling, and Emma and I were pedaling through it all.


Emma climbing on her favorite gnarly tree across the brook.

We ended up at Hospůdka Zvířátka, my pub of choice in Roztoky since the untimely demise of the beloved Koliba. I still feel twinges of sadness every time I ride past that place and am always looking for signs that someone's started to rebuild it. But so far, I've seen no such signs.

Zvířátka means "little animals" in Czech. The owners have a fondness for wee creatures. On this visit, we got to see some bunny rabbits and a mother cat and her four adorable kittens. Man, were they cute.


The mother and her kittens.

I had a creamy half-liter of 10-degree Černá Hora (for an incredibly reasonable 22 CZK or about $1) and Emma had an iced tea and then it was back the way we'd come.

Along the way, we had to stop and wait for a few minutes while they filmed a scene along the trail for some Czech TVshow. I thought they said it was for a show called "Neighborhood," but I'm not entirely sure. Could have been the famous Czech serial "Ulice."

A few days later, Daisy got to come along with us for basically the same ride.

Another gorgeous day to be on the bikes. And we wanted to show Daisy the kittens, but sadly they were nowhere in sight at Hospůdka Zvířátka on our return visit. However, the bunnies had been given their own special enclosure. Very cute critters.


Mugging for the camera at Hospůdka Zvířátka.

We had a couple of malt beverages and headed home in the gloaming.

I think summer may finally be here.

RIDE STATS (two rides combined)
Length of rides: 24 kilometers
Pivo Index: 2
Distance ridden so far in 2010: 294 kilometers


On a little adventure.


A wistful Emma.


Filming a scene from a Czech TV show -- perhaps "Ulice" -- on the path between Únětice and Roztoky.


Me and my riding buddy.


Emma takes the lead.


The best little pub in Roztoky, Hospůdka Zvířátka.


They don't call it Zvířátka for nothing.

There's Something About Sunshine On New Leaves

Daisy and I enjoy a half-liter of Gambrinus for 23 CZK (about $1.10) at Marina Vltava. A half-liter of Pepsi is more than twice as expensive.

It was a gorgeous day (a rarity in Prague this spring).

I was off, and Daisy was off, and we both had an afternoon free of obligations (also a rare confluence).

A perfect time for a bike ride.

Daisy has been hearing me rave for months now about the picturesque bike path from Kralupy nad Vltavou north to the village of Nelahozeves, famous as the birthplace, in 1841, of Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. And about the atmosphere at Marina Vltava, a cool nautically themed restaurant and hotel in Nelahozeves that overlooks the river.

The ride from our home in Černý Vůl to Kralupy is about 20 kilometers or so. And it's a gorgeous ride (as I've mentioned many times before). The ride home, however, is a real nightmare (as I've also written about).

We had plans to meet friends for dinner that night. And speaking for myself, I knew that if I rode back home from Nelahozeves, I'd be in no shape for socializing.

So we threw our bikes into the back of the car and headed for Kralupy. We'd park in the city and ride our bikes up and down the river, and then drive back home. A perfect plan.

It wasn't a particularly long ride, but it was a most enjoyable one.



In Kralupy, we parked near the old-school Hotel Sport and then rode on the shady, cliff-hugging (and on this day, very muddy) path up to Nelahozeves. We checked out the exterior of Dvorak's birth home (that's it at right), and then wandered around the grounds and interior courtyard of the impressive sgraffito 16th-century Nelahozeves Castle, owned by the Lobkowicz family.


I passed this old tree trunk twice before stopping to check out the cacophony within. I'm not sure what kind of baby bird was inside that hole. (One reader has suggested in the comments below that it was a baby woodpecker.) Listen to the sound file posted with this entry (below) and let me know what you think. One thing is for sure. It was very loud!



From there, we continued downriver to the village of Hledsebe, where we crossed the river on a cool old bridge that's been closed to cars, and then rode upriver all the way back to Kralupy, where we crossed back over on the city's progressive pedestrian and cyclists' bridge, then rode back up to Marina Vltava for a bite to eat and a beer or two.

Then it was back downriver to the car and home.

In this case, for once, I'll shut up and let the lovely photographs, and the lovely Daisy, speak for themselves.

RIDE STATS
Length of ride: 16 kilometers
Average speed: 13 kph
Maximum speed: 36.6 kph
Time on the bike: 1.13.07
Pivo Index: (1 for me, plus a nonalcoholic beer)
Distance ridden so far in 2010: 270 kilometers


The lovely canopied trail on the east side of the Vltava, almost directly opposite the Marina Vltava. Highly recommended. (Check out Daisy's lyrical waxing on this part of the trail in the audio file posted with this entry.)


A cool abandoned bridge over the Vltava in the village of Hledsebe which is now open only to pedestrians and cyclists.


I just loved this little boy, pensively staring out at the boats and the Vltava flowing by.


We passed this Dalmatian taking a snooze on a hot rock on the east side of the Vltava.


Our second Dalmatian of the ride, this one relaxing by the smoker at Marina Vltava.


I have to say, for a weird little town-that-time-forgot, Kralupy has a very progressive pedestrian and cyclists' bridge over the river.


I never get tired of marveling at these undulating sandstone cliffs on the west bank of the Vltava, above Kralupy.


Three shots of the 16th-century Nelahozeves Castle. One of these days, we've got to take a formal tour and attend one of the classical music concerts they host during the summer.