The forecast today was warm. When we left Prague Moravska Trebova it had been 8 degrees Celsius. It got down to 4 degrees on the first day so to read that it would get to 28 degrees was a pleasant surprise.

Ah, yes but there would be a southerly wind. Of course, we were heading south as we had decided to pop into Vienna, 140 km away.

Beautiful looking out our bedroom window in the early Brno morning. It was 7 am and the church bells had just commenced.  The market was being set up.

 

A substantial breakfast, quick pack and we left Brno around 8.15 am, to contend with early morning traffic.  I am not a fan of cobbles, most people understand why.  I’m not keen on tram tracks either.  Here we had both!

Leaving Brno navigationally speaking was easier than anticipated. Once we had crossed over a plethora of railway and tram lines we were in an industrial area and picked up a cycle track adjacent to the river.

For a section this morning we were on Euro Velo 9, a route that goes from the Baltic to Adriatic Seas, and one we have considered riding the length of.

The first 50 km was really pleasant riding. It was warm with a gentle southerly breeze ( maybe 10 kmh). It provided a gentle cooling effect.

Again we were predominantly riding through agricultural areas interspersed with various sized towns and villages.

It was mid 20’s by mid morning and we had left our lip balm on the floor of Mirek’s house, so we stopped at a chemist shop to buy balm and some sun screen. The view up and down the main Street in Zidlochovice.

Leaving town this was our bike path.

We crossed a small bridge over the river.

The road started to undulate as we headed towards a large lake Nové Mlýny.

The lake features a lengthy bridge crossing. You can see a small section on the far right of this picture.

Riding through the small village of Horni Vestonice, we rode past many of these structures, predominantly constructed under the small rise.

The village of Horni Vestonice. I was disappointed the icecream shop was closed!

We had planned to grab some refreshments at Mikulov, a few km short of the border with Austria. Arriving into town we were surprised just how large and busy it was, with lots of heavy transport vehicles. We opted to stop at a service station on our side of the road, rather than cross into ‘centrum’.

Quickly consumed a Mr Brown!

Whilst it might not have been the best spot to sit, it did come with a pretty top view of Mikulov Castle.  The castle stands on a place of historic Slavonic settlement. The original castle was commenced during the thirteenth century, and the current one early 1700’s.

The Germans occupied Mikulov during WWII and upon withdrawing from the town, set fire to the castle. The local museum historical collection was destroyed as it had been stored there for safekeeping.

Crossing the border was easy, as the checkpoint buildings were closed. Looking back,  the castle was still in sight.

After a brilliant morning with no navigational issues, the wheels fell off the cart. We arrived in an area of massive roadworks associated with the extension to the autobahn.

Trucks seemed to converge at speed and were whizzing past is very closely, giving us the absolute heeby jeebies!

Extensive map consultation took us on a couple of longer, ‘alternative’ routes through agricultural land.

Eventually one of our routes arrived at a junction where the highway and autobahn connectors met sans roadworks. We took the major arterial road and stayed on this route all the way to Vienna, as per our original route plans.

Stopping in Poysdorf we opted to have a more substantial lunch.

Poysdorf is quirky, with many statues around.

The southerly wind had increased in intensity and we were to have it in our face for the rest of the ride, adding a bit more of a challenge.  Whilst it slows you down, for most of the time, it provided effective cooling as it was now the forecast maximum of 28 degrees Celsius.

As we approached the outskirts of Vienna, one final rest for the bikes at a supermarket whilst I grabbed some supplies.

Vienna is a large city with an intricate road network. The final 20 km was quite slow with constant stopping and starting for red lights.

We crossed the Danube River as our accomodation was nearer the city centre. A few challenges finding our hotel as the street address differs to where it is actually located (on an adjacent street).

Great hotel, self check in (new one for me) and the bikes are in our room! They provide you with a portable device to take around town with wifi, phone calls free of charge. I am impressed.

Tomorrow we intend to cruise around Vienna and see what we find and maybe head down the Danube on the westerly flanks.

Today this was our route and elevation map.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to letting you know what we got up to in Vienna where we are spending two nights.