One of the aspects of cycle touring is that you need to be flexible and adaptable. Whilst I had a carefully crafted route mapped out with supporting accomodation, health, safety and enjoyment come first.

We woke up and confirmed via meteorological sources that we would have a tough day heading to Rybnik with strong winds forecast. So we changed our minds and decided to head to Brno.

Changing your mind comes at a cost because there is a domino ripple with subsequent days routing but we would look at that once in Brno.

The accomodation in Merovska Trebova was quirky. An extraordinarily well appointed apartment right down to magnifying reading glasses and every conceivable toiletry possible.

The owner who had seemed somewhat inebriated the previous night (perhaps frustrated at our very late arrival) had been disappointed we would not drink beer with her.  Sleep was on our mind!

She scrubbed up early as we had requested 7 am breakfast and met in in the cellar.  Quite literally the cellar.

Our bikes had been stored there overnight.

We demolished a wonderful breakfast. This is all we left.

Packed and ready to roll we headed into the village square.  It was a fresh and crispy 8 degrees. Very pretty little town.

After riding at 8 kmh for 1.5 km on the cobbles we had found our navigational starting point. We were both cold as 8 kmh doesn’t not generate any body heat. I was glad to get off the cobbles given my history last year where I ended up with multiple fractured teeth and ribs riding on cobbles.

Today provided different challenges.  It was cold and the easterly wind still prevailed. Navigationally it was very slow at times due to a few different factors.  Weird and often confusing route selection by our Garmin app, blockages and a variety of surfaces.

We were lucky to miss this fallen tree, it had only just fallen.  Ahead you can see a man with a chain saw coming to cut it away from the track.

My favourite sealed trail beside a creek.

This is an example of a weird course route decision by Garmin. There was a 20 percent incline section, which is a push the bike up the hill kind of moment. We had to walk up and around this blockage too.

We perservered with the odd route, inherently believing it to be wrong. We heard a big noise as we descended down this hill and had to get ourselves and our bikes off the track and lean back flat against some trees.

The towns and villages today were again predominantly rural.  It was quite overcast for most of the ride hence the gloomy look.

The Czech Republic has the highest density of castles per sq km of any country in the world.  Here is just one we passed in Letovice.

Church building in the same town.

Arriving in Brno we sat down in the main town square and booked ourselves into this hotel. They were so accommodating with the bikes.  The older concierge guy had been watching somewhat curiously. He disappeared and the lady at reception started telling me there was no room in the luggage locker…she was interrupted by this man who in Czech told her that he had rearranged the room and our bikes would fit in!  I was so excited and thanked him, but all he wanted was a hug! Sweet guy.

After showering and washing our clothes we started to wander. In the photo below you can just see some of our clothing drying in our window on the third floor. A feature of our rides is ha going clothes to dry in prominent spots. It is like the Queens flag flying above her castles indicating her presence.

The old church is interesting.  Originally constructed back in the 12th century it was rebuilt around 1400’s.  At some point the Swedish attacked the area, and the church powers decided to torch all the homes on the hill leading up to the church to keep the Swedish at bay. The fire was so successful and inconceived that it continued up the hill and burned the church.

It was left unrepaired and the Swedish had a second crack a hundred years later further damaging the site.  It was repaired/rebuilt in the 18th century led by a man named Grimm.  Interestingly his body was one of the many we saw in the crypt.

The crypt has 50 plus preserved bodies for viewing. It was a bit creepy really!

 

 

 

More sites around town.

This window display attracted us. A little bit of Australia in the Czech Republic.

The Czechs certainly love their beer, putting most Australians to shame. Tonight there was a beer festival on with 30 plus different beer vendors selling copious quantities.

I particularly liked the name of this beer. Terrible photo of Tony but really I like to think that he is one…..

The highlight for me was Mr Peltek from Ukraine. This guy was so talented with his guitar skills and singing voice. He was brilliant and I could have listened to him for ages as he belted out well known hits.  I popped some money into his guitar case and felt it should be full given how many people were so obviously enjoying his entertainment.

Walking back to the hotel, the grimace on this guys face amused me.

Back at our hotel, the square has emptied somewhat.

With the final view from our room.

Todays route. We ended up in Brno, just does not show it.

So tonight we plot and decide what tomorrow will bring. We have a rough idea, but you will have to wait and see!!

Ooroo