Over the Hill and Around the World by Darby Roach

Author:Darby Roach [Roach, Darby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Button Books
Published: 2016-03-11T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen: The Czech Republic

I’d been on the road four months, and the old self, the one used to the comforts of home and family, was fading, making way for a new personality more suited to life on the road but whose nature was, as yet, as indefinite and malleable as that of an embryo. There seemed to be a connection, though, between who I was becoming and the people I met, the hardships I endured, the joys I experienced and the landscapes I passed through.

Near the Czech border, less than a day’s ride from Dresden, the Elbe River Valley changes dramatically. The broad flood plain gives way to a narrow gorge hemmed in by towering rock formations. High atop one of the cliffs looms an ancient fortress, the Konigstein Castle, built by the princes and kings of Saxony. The Nazis used it as a prison, and it’s now a military museum. Lower down, the villages along the river have a medieval feel, and a ride up the Elbe is a journey back in time. The bike path hugs the river and runs along at water grade all the way to its point of origin just north of Prague. Colorful commercial tour boats filled with merrymakers ply the slow-moving river, while more sedate tourists sip the local estate wines and watch the action from pension and café patios.

With all the positive vibes in the air, it was easy to feel good. The Elbe Cycle Route, Elberadweg in German, is perhaps the quintessential example of what cycle touring should be. It is flat, scenic, and varied. There are great expanses of open farmland, narrow rock canyons, small villages, and big cities. You have your pick of cheap nicely-appointed campgrounds placed at just the right intervals.

At one campground on the Elbe, I pitched my tent on a grassy meadow overlooking the river. Next to me were two young men dressed in military uniforms. They both slept in a small tent not half the size of mine. For a few days I leapfrogged with two young women who I believe were German. We camped at the same campgrounds each night and would wave when we passed on the trail. I met one couple who, in their mid-seventies, were on their second ride around the world.

In between camps, I would pedal through two or three quaint villages a day, as well as big cities such as Dessau, Dresden and Wittenberg. It looked as though the trains run daily along the river, and though I didn’t check them out, I imagine you could catch one if you didn’t feel like riding. I enjoyed every minute of riding the Elbe River Route. I ate and slept well and was on a high the whole time. I went slow, dragging the trip out.

And This Too Shall Pass

Crossing the Vltava River

I entered the Czech Republic, my sixth country since leaving the USA, around 10:00 in the morning. The only indication that I had crossed an international border was a small coat of arms on a sign in the center of the trail.

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