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.