Where is Říčany? Which way to Prague?

Another Sunday morning, another adventure in the Czech Republic.

Back in the fall, I found a group of Czech cyclists who meet every Saturday and Sunday and ride their bikes in the countryside around Prague. On the 19th of March the weather was looking good, so I thought I would join them.

I honestly can't decide if I appreciate the chance to speak Czech or the actual cycling more. It is fun to ride in a group, but it is also fun to try to communicate with people who don't speak any English. With the sun coming out, I had everything going for me this morning.

I ate a big bowl of pasta for breakfast at 8:00am and then rode a few miles to meet the group. I counted 37 riders, not counting myself. We cruised along and soon were joined by another group. We ride in a double column and after my turn (along with Marek, who I was trying to talk to about bikes) we pulled off the front and I counted heads as I drifted toward the back. I counted 56 riders! It was a massive pack heading south along the Vltava river. We made a turn away from the river, and more than half of the group turned back to return to Prague after about 30 km. I decided to keep going, and our group slowly slimmed down to about a dozen.

Then tragedy struck: I started getting tired. Before dropping of the back of the group, I found out the ages of the guys who were pulling away-- 63 and 66 were two of the oldest. And then on a small rise they were 200 yards ahead, and when I crested the rise, they were already at the bottom. Gone. For a long time I could see the tracks left by their tires. Although the day was a beautiful one--sunny and clear--it was still cold. The snow on the side of the road was melting and so there was some water on the road, and I was able to follow the tracks after these puddles.

It wasn't exactly that I was lost, because in the fall I had ridden in this area. But it would have been nice to not second guess myself and look around at each intersection. And then it happened. I had seen a few familiar roads and buildings, but then things started looking less and less familiar. To make things more interesting, I was getting really hungry and really tired. Uh oh.

At this point any sign pointing to Praha (Prague) was the one that I followed. Eventually I crossed a main highway, and was able to read from a sign that I was only 15km from Prague. But I wasn't going to ride on the main highway and so I kept meandering on country roads, trying my hardest to pick the road that would lead to Prague at each intersection. But I was fading fast, and looking for excuses to stop and rest. I took my jacket off and put it back on several times, just so I could stop to rest for a moment. If only I had brought some food.

Finally, I made it to a town called Říčany that had a Nádraži (train station) and I was saved! Three US dollars and 30 minutes later and I was headed back to Prague. Highlights from Říčany include a really young boy who liked my bike, and some nice cobbled streets leading to the train station.

Too much fun! I tried to make a map of my 4.5 hour (mis)adventure. See for yourself:

(It might be easier to read if you click on it)

The girls return tomorrow, and hopefully we'll post some fun Swedish adventures in a few days! Until then...