Day 386 9th August
38 miles (Varnsdorf to Liberec) Average speed 9.5 mph Top speed 31 mph
Another good day in the hills.
I got up at 8.30 once the rain and wind had calmed and it turned out to be a lovely warm day. I had brekkie of cheese and chorizo sarnies and tea with a great view over the lake. I packed up and left at 10.30. I went through Varnsdorf and into Germany, where I stopped at Netto and bought a new towel from the shop next door for 4€, bargain.
Onwards and up a long straight hill and through glorious farmland. Then it was downhill all the way into Zittau where I looked at a bike shop and then continued into Poland, where I stopped for a sarnie from a garage and chatted to a couple of serious drinkers, one of which pointed to his St Christopher and wished me well in my journey.
I was only in Poland for about 40 minutes but I’m glad I stopped to chat. Then back into the Czech Republic and I found a cash machine to get some local currency. The road to Liberec was wonderful going alongside a river and the tree cover was cooling me down in the heat.
At the top of a climb I stopped for a drink and to charge my phone by a hilltop castle and met a group of older cyclists with electric bikes that were behind me. I left soon after them but didn’t catch them up on the descent. The road was dodgy in places and I needed to brake quite a bit to avoid potholes.
When I arrived in Liberec I found Decathlon, but they didn’t have any gas, so I looked for a hostel instead of carrying on to the next campsite, which was 15 miles away. I checked into my triple room and paid £12 and 80p for the washing machine. While my washing was on I went to a restaurant nearby for a couple of beers listening to a good music selection. Then as I arrived back at the washing machine it just finished and I put the washing in the dryer and went in search of food. I went up a hill and found a student area with lots of bars. I chose Vitos and had a pizza while chatting to Thomas from Bordeaux and Ander from Bilbao and Jindrieh from Prague.
Back at the hostel I picked up my dry washing and was in bed by midnight. Another good day and it’s good to be climbing again.
Hostel inter £12 – 340krone