September 3, 2010
Prague: The end of stage two
We thought we would be in Prague by lunch time after an easy ride. Once again we were wrong. The distance we have covered today is only 63km but it is the hardest we have done so far. I felt completely stuffed at the end of the day and usual I feel fine and as if I could go a lot further. We started off down the hill from Melnik and over the Elbe ( here called the Lube). We had been following it since Cuxhaven and it had become our friend - amazingly so far from its mouth it is still an impressive river. Although not nearly as wide it is swift and still has barges on it. Our new river is the Moldau, Ken was delighted as he loves Smetna's Ma Blast and in particular the segment The Moldau. He hummed the theme as we went along and I would have too but I can't sing in tune so just had to do it in my head. Now came our first nightmare a cycle track of huge loose boulders, they were incredibly unstable but miracle of miracles I didn't fall off - there was occasional 'relief ' by sand track but this was impossible to ride on at all. What a delight it was to reach the road and the small town where we had to cross the Moldau on the ferry. But where was it? The first lady Ken asked ran away in terror, he must look like a mugger in his lycra, eventually we found it but finding the boatman was a challenge and we had to knock on a couple of doors to eventually find him. He was a nonchalant gentleman with a cigarette hanging out of the side if his mouth. The ferry went across on a wire and he used the oar rudder to get the considerable current to take us to the other side. We felt we were doing well now but then we hit the worst nightmare of all a narrow goat track beside the river. There was a steep and long drop to the river below and tree roots and rocks made it even more challenging. I went on strike and refused to ride, I didn't fancy floating down the river and we pushed our bikes for over an hour with the overgrowth catching the panniers and us (I think we had made a navigational error). Eventually we emerged and who should we meet but another cyclist with excellent English. He told us that his English was so good because he learnt it in New Zealand when he was picking apples in Motuaka - He flattered us by saying NZ is his favourite country but most importantly put us on the right track. That and Ken's clever map interpretation got us through the beautiful parks on the outskirts of Prague and into the centre. I felt shell shocked by the hoards of people and wished we were in a quite village again but we got into Wenceslas Square and found a hotel with wIfI - it is comfortable and we are relaxing back drinking a bottle of Muller Thurgar made from the chateau estates of Melnik and very nice it is to. Sorry I said before I was to much of a wine snob to like M T.
We are staying put and having another night in Prague to enjoy being tourists and prepare for stage three of our journey.
Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 1,371 km (851 miles)
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