Dresden Germany to Decin Czech Republic

May 31 2023

This morning we were in no hurray to get on the road as we only had 63 kms to ride and it was all down the pathway.  So after a nice leisurely breakfast we got on our bikes and rolled out of Dresden at 8:30 am.  The sun was up bright and the day was already getting quite warm.  The path way was quite busy with bike commuters heading into the city.  As we left Dresden we had a great view of the three castles which were built along the river escarpment.  

The pathway was so pretty in the dappled green with sun shinning though the trees and reflecting off the river.  We passed a river boat paddle boat which does tours up and down the river.  It had a lot of people on board who were also enjoying the sun. 

We stopped in a little village which was by the pathway and walked up the main street to have a coffee.  I found a fresh food market and purchased some fresh apricots.  They were so sweet and the perfect morning snack.  

At the 40 kms mark we came to a resort along the path way which was selling food and drinks.  It was a great spot to eat lunch.  I had a slurpy which was the perfect complement to my lunch on a hot sunny day.

The river had gone from a wide river in a wide flat plain to a narrow river in a deeply incised valley with steep sides.  The top few hundred feet of the valley sides look to be a cliff forming sandstone.  This has lead to some very interesting places to build castles and other structures.  It also means that the pathway, the road and the railroad all compete for the same real estate.  So quite often the path is right on the river with a retaining wall next to the path, the rail road on top of the wall and then the road right beside the tracks. 

Marlene had received a recommendation to go to this organic brewery in this little town across the river so we made a detour across the river to find this little brewery.  It was called Schmilkaer Braurhaus.  It was up this tiny little and very steep alley.  It must have been a popular place as the tiny alley was lined with little guest houses and cafes.  Sure enough there was a water mill powered brewey with a beer garden under the trees at the end of the alley.  After having made the detour, and climbed the hill we were having a beer.  It was a wonderful treat on a hot sunny day (25C).

We rolled down the hill and there was a ferry waiting to take us across the river.  Perfect timing.   

It was only about 15 kms into Decin form there. The Garmin route took us directly to the hotel which is an interesting place right on the pathway.  I wound up with something like 68 kms today.  

This puts us in the Czech Republic where we will spend the next 9 days.  

Terry   

 

 

Rest Day Dresden

May 30 2023

Dresden was a great pick for a rest day or maybe an off the bike touring day.   Dresden has long history dating way back to middle ages as a trading center on the Elbe River. It was a center for the arts. It also became a manufacturing center for cigarettes in the 1800's.  In 1945 it was fire bombed into a smoking heap and then had to endure 50 years of soviet occupation.  However it is totally amazing how many of the buildings have been restored and how beautiful the city is. There are huge walking parks gardens throughout the city as well as hundred of huge plazas. 

After breakfast here in the hotel Ken and I took the Hop-on Hop-off tour bus around the city.  With the head phones you could listen to the commentary in English.  The bus tour took us past all of the historic sites and through a lot of very nice neighborhoods which had huge mansions, many of which have been converted to museums.  I was amazed at how green the city is with all the parks and lush trees.  The tour was about 2 hours long and so we wound up back at our hotel right at lunch time.  I needed to get some more tooth paste and sun screen so we hit a local super market.

One of the things we had seen on the first pass of the Hop on Hop off tour was the VW Glass factory.  It is the so called glass factory because all of the walls of the factory are glass.  Inside they assemble the VW ID electric cars.  So after lunch Ken and I headed back to get the guided tour of the VW assembly plant.  One one side is a huge circular structure which can hold 280 cars. The other side is the assembly floors.  There are three floors.  One assembles the chassis, one the bodies and one floor puts the two together.  The floors are all hardwood with a center section which moves along.  The bodies sit on pedestals and the workers put the parts on the cars.  Robots deliver parts to each station and help with the assembly.  When the body is ready a robot delivers the completed chassis and an other robot bolts the two together. It was a fascinating tour. Unfortunately NO photos in the factory.   

After we completed the tour we walked back and I saw the perfect chair that Agnes and I have been looking for our place in Phoenix in a shop window.  

A great site seeing day in Dresden.

Tomorrow we are back on our bikes with a 68 km ride down to Decin.  We have three ride days to Prague for our next rest day.

Terry 

Reisa to Dresdin

May 29 2023

This  morning we met up in the lobby at 7:15 and headed off to find breakfast.  As today was a holiday in Germany the only place open was the train station.  I had a schnitzel sandwich which was a pork schnitzel in a large roll.  It was pretty good.

Yesterday I mentioned all the cobble stone roads and how hard they are to ride on.  So I thought I would post a couple of pictures to give you an idea of what they look like.  The first cobble stone picture is the small granite ones which are 3-4 inches across.  They aren't bad but are still pretty rough.  the second picture is the random sized cobbles which are 1-6 inches across and are absolutely bone jarring. 

At about the 25 kms mark we came to the Albrechtsburg castle. It is a really imposing castle. It was built in 1471-1495. We parked our bikes at the bottom of the hill hand hiked up to the castle. We were hopping to find a nice patio to have a coffee on but we were too early and nothing was open.  The view of the surrounding country is amazing.  

After the hike down we continued on in to Dresdin.  The pathway was totally jammed with walkers cyclists and roller bladders.  It was actually quite dangerous as there was some cyclists who were only going a few kms/hr but there were others who were hammering down on you at twice your speed.  So while you are trying to get around the slower traffic there are hoards of others coming straight at you in the opposite direction. Yes it was a beautiful day and yes it was a holiday but there were too many people on the trail to make it an enjoyable ride.

It seemed like the last 28 kms into Dresdin took forever. However we did get here and the views of the old town are totally spectacular.  We are staying in a Ibis Budget which might be the smallest hotel room I have ever been in but it is right down town.  Ken and I changed out of cycling clothes and headed off for a walk around the old town.  We were amazed by the architecture and wonderful buildings(posting of buildings tomorrow).   The place was alive with people enjoying the weather and sitting in sidewalk cafes.  

A short day of only 53 kms.

Tomorrow is a rest day so it is going to be fun exploring this historic city.  

Terry

Pretzsch to Riessa

May 28 2023

After a great breakfast in the Park Hotel in Pretzsch we were off down the path way.  It was a great morning to be on the bike as it was beautifully sunny and just the right temperature at 8:00 in the morning.

That said it seemed like it took forever to get out of town and off the cobble stones and on to the path which is very nice smooth asphalt.  In fact almost every town is all cobble stones.  Some are the small granite stones which are about 4 inches square and aren't too bad to ride on with my big fat 40 mm tires.  However a lot of the towns are the large irregular river rock stones which are round on top and random sizes.  These are terribly rough to ride on. About 8-10 km/hr is about as fast as you can go.  So this really destroys any average speed you may have.  

Once on the path it was clear sailing through down the pathway. We are traveling through mostly wide open farm land with crops of canola, oats, barley and wheat.  Sheep seem to grazed a lot along the river dikes and in confined areas along the river.  

At about the the 35 kms mark we came to Torgau. This is where the American forces met up with the Red Army forces on April 25 1945.  There is a large monument there which commemorates this historic moment. We then climbed the hill and wandered into the Torgau castle looking for a coffee but finding none we rode on.

Back on the trail  with close to 50 kms still to go and temperatures on the rise every bit of shade was now welcome.  More farm land.  

At one point we came to an ostrich farm and there were several birds right by the fence.  We stopped and took their photos.  I sure wouldn't like to get attacked by one of these creatures.   Later on we came to a place where there were some horses tethered right beside the trail.  I stopped and took a few photos and picked a few hand full's of grass for the horses which was gratefully recieved as there was nothing in their little paddock.  

We were all glad to get into town as we were hot and tired after an 83 kms day.  Tomorrow is only 55 kms and then we have our second rest day.  

A great day to be touring.

Terry 

 

Dessau to Pretzsch

May 27 2023

To day was another beautiful sunny day with a very nice tail wind most of the day.  We started out from our hotel just after 8:00 am and made good time along the trails.  We took Bob's route out of town which was a little shorter than my Garmin route, although we met up with my Garmin route around kms 8.  This took us past the temple to Dianna (what the guide book said ??).  and the past this little building beside the trail which was made of concrete and little pebbles.  The guide book said it was a UNESCO world heritage building.  

It wasn't too much further (17 kms) when Bob's front wheel caught the edge of some bricks and threw him down right in front of me.  I jammed the brakes but still hit his rear wheel and down I went.  I rolled head over heels down the embankment in nice soft grass.  Bob wasn't so lucky.  He wound up with several nasty patches of road rash on his elbow, hip, thigh and forehead. In addition his helm has a nasty crack in it. Both of the bikes seemed to be ok.

The stop of the day was in Wittenberg which is where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the cathedral in 15 Oct 1517  starting the reformation. The original wooden doors have been replaced with a set of bronze doors which have Martin Luther's theses inscribed on them.  Bob and I purchase tokens to climb the tower.  It was something like 250 steps to the top in a really tight spiral climb.  I was starting to get dizzy it was to tight. At the top the view was sensational. It was really interesting being in such a historic spot and eating our picnic lunch in the shadow of the cathedral. 

After lunch we had about 32 kms to go and it was back on the pathways. Some of it was down tree lined path, some was across open fields but over all it was a great ride. Just before we arrived at Pretzsch we crossed the river on a ferry.  In Pretzsch we are staying at a very nice country inn (The Park Hotel).

Another great ride day with a total of 76 kms.  

Terry 

 

Magdeberg to Dessau

May 26 2023

This morning we all ate our breakfasts separately as we wanted to do a picnic lunch along the way which meant that we had to go out and find stuff for breakfast and lunch.  ken and I went to the large supermarket across the street from our hotel the night before and picked up our breakfast and lunch the night before.  At 8:00 am there we were in the lobby and ready to push off.  

Bob and I had looked at the route the night before and agreed that I would use the Garmin route out of the city and the Garmin route to the hotel in Dessau and he would lead the ride in between.  Bob has studied this route extensively and is really good at  reading the map on the fly.  I loaded the Garmin route from the hotel and within a kms we were on the river path way and I turned the lead over to Bob.   

The day was absolutely perfect nice blue sky with temperatures around 15C and a very nice tail wind to help us along.  The path way was highly variable with it going from really rough cobble stones to loose dirt to incredibly smooth concrete.  The 40 mm tires at 55 psig sure helps on the cobble stones.  I don't think you could ride it on 25 mm tires at 100 psig.  

We sailed along and found a little village at 10:30 am where we sat and had a quick coffee.  Although I had a coke and a chocolate bar from my lunch.  Feeling re-energized we we off.  

My Garmin route had been originally set at 71 kms but Bob's route was closer to 78 but as it was so nice I was glad to get the extra kms in.  It was great fun just gliding along through the country side, passing little villages with interesting architecture. We saw a very grand chateau which was in need of repair.  A very strange round tower.  

At about 12:30 we came to a cross roads and there was a picnic table so we stopped to eat our lunch. A stork was perched on her nest above our heads but didn't seem to mind us eating our lunch.

A little further down the was we crossed the river on a ferry.  It was absolutely perfect timing as we rolled down and on to the ferry just as it was about to cross the river. 

When we got to the other side the sign post said the we still had 14 kms to go, which meant the the distance was going to be around 85 kms making today our longest day yet.

When we got close to town I turned the Garmin back on to lead us into the hotel.  It took a little searching around but Bob got us to within about 3 kms and Garmin found the route and took us straight to the hotel.  Tonight I get the single room which is very nice.  A very modern and luxury hotel.  

What a great day!

Terry