First Tour
These crazy fools...
Our First Bike Tour: Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Belgium, France, England
Having recently become obsessed with road biking, we got a couple of steel bikes, filled the panniers, and set off on our first bike tour. It would ultimately cover over 800 miles of riding, through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Budapest, Belgium, France, and England. It was a great initiation into bike touring, met wonderful people, saw beautiful and interesting sights, had memorable experiences, visited the emergency room, learned a few things, and are prompted to share. The biggest take away, there’s really nothing to fear, just go ride.
Santa Cruz Hills to San Francisco Airport
Our journey started back home in the Santa Cruz hills. We decided to ride our bikes to San Francisco International airport, a journey of 65 mile, ??? elevation gain, with no direct nor reasonable route. Thank you Komoot for plotting the course, it’s not one any of us would have come up on our own. Funny, most of our friends were more shocked that we rode our bikes to SFO than the subsequent trek through parts of Europe.
Plastic Bike Bag for Air Travel
Like many bike tours, this one starts in one place and ends up in another. Nice bike boxes were not an option. We had read reports of people in England successfully using CTC bags so we thought we’d try. Not a hard case, not a bike bag, not even a cardboard box, we instead used a big clear plastic bag. The idea is, if baggage handlers know it’s a bike, they will be careful and treat it accordingly.
Prague, Czech Republic
Originally we wanted to start with an easy trip along the Danube, traveling from west to east so it would be slightly downhill. We had read good things about the Czech Republic we decided to start in Prague and ride southward to Austria. Turned out to be an epic decision, definitely much more difficult, but equally rewarding.
Prague to Tabor
This was a long day in the saddle. We rode 81 miles and climbed 6109ft. The trails were extremely diverse, everything from cobble stones to dirt to crushed cement. But we had an amazing time on all of them. We ate lunch at the side of the road and were completely exhausted. We lay down under a tree and rested for a while before continuing on. We traveled through fields of wheat and wild flowers to quaint bucolic villages with lovely people. The villages were clean and well tended, it seemed every village had a small church a village square and a May Pole.
Tabor to Cesky Krumlov
We rode through beautiful countryside full of wildflowers and castles. We stopped and ate lunch in a little village under their May Pole. We traveled through village after village each as charming as the last. At one point we rode along the river with other Czech families all out on bikes enjoying the beautiful afternoon. Once the trail took us through we were in a beautiful forest, we felt like Little Red Riding Hood, while in the forest we came to a point where we had three paths to chose from. We chose a less trodden path that led us down a rutted dirt road, through cobwebs and trees growing out of the path. The path then led us through a cow pasture until we hit the actual bike path. All in the day of a fun bike adventure.
Cesky Krumlov to Linz
The ride to Linz was as beautiful as the rest of the Czech countryside has been. Fields of wildflowers delightful villages. We did learn to carry extra water and lunch with us because there were no stores of any kind in the small villages.
Linz to Melk
The next morning we explored the Linz cathedral which was impressive just by the sheer size. Then began our trail down the Danube. The trail along the Danube is the perfect bike path. It is wide and perfectly paved and well traveled. We were delighted to see so many older riders, mostly on e-bikes. The scenery along the river is stunning.
Melk to Vienna
This ride was the most scenic ride along the Danube yet. We rode through vineyards and orchards where the trees had been esplanade. We passed row upon row of perfectly manicured orchards that had been trained to grow on the hills along the Danube.
Vienna to Bratislava
The bike path out of Vienna towards Bratislava is a beautiful wide bike path that runs along the river. The scenery is beautiful, including or not the nude sunbathing along the river. We were cruising along almost to Bratislava when I saw some interesting cows. I called to Ian to look at the cows which he did when disaster struck….
Bratislava to Győr
The ride from the hospital to Gyor was interesting because Ian only could use one leg. Using the clip on his pedal he pedal one legged through fields of poppies and along country roads and through fields of giant wind turbines. It began raining through the last part of the journey so we changed into rain jackets, wrapped a plastic bag around Ian’s bandages and held them on with velcro straps and just kept riding until we got to the train station
Győr to Esztergom
Gyor is a delightful town. We explored the town going into the church where a service was being held, then climbed the tower of the old bishops house, we found the Hermes in a small yellow building because the basilica was being remodeled. Later in the afternoon we picked up our bikes and rode to the train station to ride to Esztergom to give Ian’s leg more of a chance to heal. On the train ride to Eztergrom via Budapest we chatted with the conductor who was an avid biker. We switched trains in Budapest so we grabbed something to eat before we got back on the train. After a very long train ride we arrived in Esztergom. Estergom is a charming town we were greeted with church bells and cobbled streets.
Esztergom to Budapest
We rode our bikes up to the Basilica. I went in while Ian watch the bikes. I explored the Basilica and climbed to the top of the dome and then up to the bell tower. The Basilica itself is huge and grand the carved marble in the Renaissance chapel is beautiful and of course the painting over the alter is large, the largest in Europe. I then watch the bikes while Ian explored the Basilica.
Budapest to Brussels
Rode our bike through Budapest residential neighborhoods lined with cherry trees to the airport. The roads were not terribly bike friendly and we got turned around several times, but also enjoyed a gelato with a group of elementary school children.We arrived at the airport with plenty of time before our flights so were able to pack up the bikes and change clothes. …
Brussels to Ghent
Belgium is a perfect bike country. Flat roads, beautiful bike paths and friendly people. Our ride from Brussels to Ghent was so delightful. We arrived in Ghent with enough time to explore the town, which we fell in love with.
Ghent to Brugges
We enjoyed our short ride from Ghent to Brugges which was full of cows, canals, locks, bikes and people. We explored the castle which had everything a good castle should have.
Brugges to De Panne
Riding from Brugges to De Panne we first rode along a canal and enjoyed the beauty of the area. We soon hit the coast and followed the coast for the rest of the day, which was beautiful and relaxing.
De Panne to Canterbury
After riding along the coast and crossing into France we then went through the back roads of the harbor passing through industrial areas and many parked semi-trucks finally arriving at the ferry ticket office where we purchased our tickets and went through customs. We lined up in the lane for motorcycles and were the first to board the ferry.
Canterbury to London
The ride from Canterbury to London began pleasantly traveling through lovely English countryside but the bike path began to run along the freeway and was very noisy. Not to mention the abundant and difficult turnstiles definitely not designed for bicycles with panniers. Which caused us to have to stop often and unload the gear from the bikes and bring the bikes and panniers through separately. As we got closer to London we began riding along the Thames. This path was sometimes wonderful and other times a bit dodgy as it left the Thames for a bit but would then rejoin the path along the Thames. At last we arrived at the flat we had rented and our amazing bike trip was at an end.
