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.