Slavonice to Znojmo

June 7 2023

On the road at 8:15 this morning into spitting rain and a very dark gray sky.  I had programed the route straight down the 409 highway and Bob and I had reviewed it last night so it was really straight forward.  It seems like what ever bike paths there are have really steep pitches while the quiet backroads 

 are not as steep and the pavement is way better. The spitting rain only lasted about 20 minutes so we stopped to take jackets off.

About the 25 km mark Bob found a little detour along side a river.  It wasnèt going to save much in terms of distance but would be pretty along the river.  It was the water was very still and had great reflections of the over hanging trees.  As we rode along we came to this house which had some really strange sculpture. The climb out of the river valley was quite interesting as well as the road must of had 4 or 5 switchback.  The switchbacks made the climb much easier.

I hadn't seen any soviet memorials even though they occupied Czzech for 50 years,  Today I saw one at a little crossroads in a tiny village.  

We hadn't found any coffe places which were open and we were already 40 kms into the ride when we came to the castle Varnov.  It was a beautiful place to stop and eat our sandwiches.  The castle is extremely well preserved and has great views of the vally below.  Sitting eating lunch there was great.

After lunch it was a big down hill into the  town of Varnov which lay along the river.  The climb out of the river valley was even more switchbacks and afforded some wonderful views of the castle and river valley below.  It was just over 8 kms of switchbacks to the top of the hill.  

The last 17 kms into Znojmo was down a busy highway but it was mostly down hill and we made great time and arrived at our hotel by 1:15 pm.  

As it was still early Ken and I wandered around town and went into the local cathedral.  While not as magnificent on the outside as some of the others we have seen, the inside was absolutely stunning..  It should also be noted that the cathedrals here are not adorned with the onion spirals on top. 

Another great day on the tour.  Saw some great sites, managed to make 67 kms with 622 meters of climb and into a very cool hotel right on the town square.   Avoided the rain again.  Makes me wonder how long our luck will hold.

Terry