(A click on the route enlarges the picture!)
I manage to get an early start at the campsite and soon I am driving on a newly surfaced bike path along the Vltava. But after only 9km, in the village of Klecá¡ny, I head off the bike path. I had read in my initial research, that from Klecány to Kralupy the road along the river sometimes turns into a steep and narrow dirt path that has a 2-3m direct drop into the river and wasn’t up to trying that way.
Unfortunately that meant going up a steep incline in Klecány. Nothing like 20min pedalling uphill in your lowest gear at around 4km/h to get your day started properly. At Kralupy I rejoined the river-bike path again after 15km of detour and made some good progress. Most of the parts the asphalt was beautiful, on one occasion I did end up on a pretty rough part.
Good road
Bad road
View of Melnik in the distance.
In Melnik the Vltava flows into the Elbe River, so from now on I will be on the Elbe River Path until Dresden. I had done a part on the Elbe River trail from Hamburg to Berlin earlier that year so it was nice to rejoin this River further upstream.
After 80km of cycling I parted with the bike path near Libotenice, as I was going to have a look at Theresienstadt (Terezín) the next day.
Of course Theresienstadt is known for being a Concentration Camp for Jews during Nazi Occupation. All Jewish people whose names I had seen the day before in the synagogue in Prague had been deported to Theresienstadt. So when I entered the city my first stop took me to the memorial field.
Although it seemed very macabre, I afterwards rode the last kilometre to the campsite in Theresienstadt. This would help me get to the museums early the next morning. The campsite was massively weird. No one at the location actually spoke a word of English or German, and no one really seemed interested in me staying there. That was only after I had actually found the location, it wasn’t signposted and incredibly hidden.
I was surprised by all the Czech youth on the campsite. Suprisingly they built up a DJ soundsystem as soon as dawn fell, and were having an outdoor-night-rave on the campsite, all night. What a weird sight in Theresienstadt and great respect to my earplugs that actually helped me have a good night sleep.
Today had been a nice start into the bike-tour. I managed 93km and sunny, warm conditions accompanied me all day. Eager to see Theresienstadt in detail the next day I went to bed early.