After my Easter Monday whipping by the local boys, I thought it was safe to walk out the front door, what did I find?

This bunch sang a song as they used their canes ( far more gently than the older males earlier in the morning!). This is a hilarious tradition I must say and I could see some politically correct ‘do gooders’ finding offence in Australia. A third group arrived shortly thereafter and I submitted again!

We had arranged to meet a local group of riders, ‘up the road’ at 10 am.  Tomas, Milos and Kat I had ridden with before, but I had not met Jaroslav or Honza.

It was quite windy, but a pleasant 20 degrees as we headed to the town of Podebrady.

Once in town, I had requested we visit the spa fountain. I had been here 12 months before and was very surprised to taste the water here.  It is naturally carbonated.

As you can see in the photo above, locals visit the taps to fill bottles to take home. Far healthier than the original bottle contents too.

We then headed around the town to a series of cafes adjacent to a large park.  The place was swarming with people walking and enjoying the lovely weather on what is also a public holiday in the Czech Republic.

Here we are at the cafe. Whilst the weather was great, it was quite cool in the shade, hence the old granny blanket in the second photograph. I had a great iced coffee.  Most of the guys had a beer, including a chocolate beer!!  I will take my chocolate neat thanks!

We headed out via the park, walking our bikes as it is illegal to ride in the area.

Lo and behold, another water fountain. The boys replenished their bidons.

Cruising out of town past the first water fountain.

Turning right into a busier main thoroughfare.

No roses, but hey I am making the most of smelling the non scented tulips! 😜

I love riding with this Czech group….they enjoy their regular refreshments. Our numbers had dwindled … but the remaining lads ( Mirek and Milos) knew of a place! Prerov nab Labem!

We needed to wait a short time for a table. Here we are assessing the likelihood of a table becoming available within a short time. We were fortunate.

After a lovely bowl of a Czech soup that I thought was beef with funny tasting meatballs I found out the meat balls were actually liver!! Hmm…

We were only 5 km out of Cekalovice and we went looking for an ATM so we could have some local currency and then headed home via the Elbe River.

We stopped for a picture at a small chapel. Behind us is a locked metal gate. Behind that is a small chapel, maybe 1-2 person capacity.

We were quite taken by this topiary

Now we are packing our bikes up ready for an early start tomorrow.  We had tweaked the route as were were heading to Podebrady, but given our visit today, we will do a slightly different route.

The forecast is looking pretty good for the next few days.  I am not sure about the wind, but I am hoping it eases otherwise it will be a headwind all day if it maintains the same easterly direction.

Todays route: