Day 77: Rokycany to Revnice

June 28, 2022

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The heat and humidity that wiped Dodie out yesterday afternoon turned its attention to gathering as a thunder and lightening storm much later in the evening. We had the windows open as usual, to get air and cigarette smoke into the room, and Dodie cautioned as she turned in that stuff ought to be moved out of raining in range. She was so right.

Quite quickly rain began to blow at the building. This was then accompanied by continuous lightening. I started to video it, to show Dodie in the morning. Very soon the storm intensified and I needed to quit filming and close the windows well. We later learned that the winds were at 90 kph, which is a little below a Category I hurricane! We couldn't help but think of what it would be like to be out there on bike, or maybe in a tent! The power hung in surprisingly long - like 10 minutes - but then it was gone, for good.

I woke Dodie up, because this was too "good" to miss. After a time of cowering by the windows we just went and hid under the covers. (Ok, maybe I hid, Dodie is very brave!)

By morning the wind and rain was gone, but so was the power. That meant no hot drinks on the bikes, and no grocery store for breakfast supplies. (No included breakfast in the lame hotel, of course, and had there been it would have had to be cancelled.)

However, we did locate a sort of open sort of bakery. Like the one yesterday it was more of a kiosk. And the sweet rolls they had on offer must have been from yesterday. Still it was something.

We think the hotel is at one with the various Communist era apartment blocks standing around.

Google also translates "Pekarstvi" as 'Bakery". Yesterday the shop was a "Pekarna", which also translated as "Bakery".

We set off from town, finding the river really swollen and rushing along. Branched were strewn on the path, but no big trees were down. The trail crossed the river on several small bridges, but they seemed fine. Except for the power being out (and no coffee on board!) we were fine.

The raging stream, with a bit of broken branch.

A few blown leaves, but no downed trees.

All along this road, driveways or side gravel roads washed loads of gravel down to the street.

The further we pedalled, the less evidence there was of the storm. However we looked at the maps promising gravel cycling up on the ridges, and we thought that this would be an even less attractive option than usual. But our choice was that or no shoulder riding on road.

This time we mostly chose the road. Sometimes we went with Route 3, which had shown a tendency to include newly paved off road bits. Interestingly, Route 3 was also frequently choosing the road, typically highway 117, a "yellow road" but not the "red and yellow" main highway.

In our years of cycling, we have never ceased to be amazed at the way drivers will risk their lives and the lives of those around them, all to save a few seconds in transit time. And when these risk takers are driving mammoth gravel trucks, semi-trailers, and buses, it's downright terrifying. So today, we faced them all in the on road sections. Then off road, we had the sections really only suitable for unloaded mountain bikes. And finally, there were the bits of nice cycle path.

On road with Route 3. We noticed today that Route 3 is also part of the PanEuropa Radweg. Whatever. On road is on road.

If you don't like the road, try these rocks.

Well, lots of times the road had no cars or trucks.

Of course, I was on the look out for a cafe with power, so my day could be complete, with a sip of coffee. Dodie is skeptical of this "addiction" because she thinks I don't really drink the coffee she makes every day, but only like to have it along. Consequently she suggested that I don't need actual coffee in the thermos, but just the thermos itself. That might well be true, but when we passed an obviously open cafe I yanked the stop chain on the tour and we pulled in.

I could see the coffee equipment through the door and was pretty excited, as Dodie rummaged for some korunas. But just then a troupe of about 20 school kids and two teachers marched up to the cafe. The kids were being taken out for ice cream. Pretty nice. I don't remember that from my school years!

Dodie just made it in before the kids. She was carrying our two themoses, one with coffee powder already in there and one with instant cocoa. The option was to dump the powders and put in real drinks, or to put in boiling water. With the translation help of one of the teachers, the decision was for the boiling water. While the water was boiling, Dodie thought the kids should begin getting their ice creams, but somehow the staff was just doing things in order. After the boiling water went in, Dodie tried to pay for two drinks, but the staff refused.

The main beneficiary of all this was not the cafe and not the kids and not Dodie, but Steve. I poured some (little) hot liquid into my folding silicone cup (stolen from Dodie - I broke mine), pulled out a mohn kolache, and ... bliss!

Lots of kids were out for walks today. Surely not all got ice cream!

As always, we most enjoyed the bits of the ride that were among the crops. Here for the first time were sunflowers. But sunflowers and I have an issue when they are so misguided as to ignore me, as in the first photo. By the second photo, I had managed to get the attention of at least some of them.

Here we are on a ridge, with some of the grain that is the main thing here. We have seen almost no cows.

Our hotel is right by the train station. It perhaps was once Grand, but now is just comfortably run down. This time we sent Dodie in, and she struck gold with a desk clerk who knew some English, though she said she has not spoken it in two years. More importantly, she was friendly and informative. She also gave us a choice of rooms, and I chose one not above the smokers. We have all our windows wide open and it is so pleasant in here!

Our window is at the top right. See the beer garden down on the lower left!

What gave Meaning to Life, today? Electricity for coffee.

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 4,340 km (2,695 miles)

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