Hello everyone= Norma's post
Yes...it has been a rough start to our cycling journey. Two things you pay for on a tour...local guides who know the area and good equipment...we have neither...
Our ride starts off rushed. I think our guides got there late and they are already discussing where people will need to cut mileage. Now...some idea about our terrain. We are in the mountains...these are not Texas hills.
Maps were distributed and then we were told some of them had the wrong information....never you mind...when you get to the hotel we can give you our cell numbers...let's get started.
One of our guides is Janus a real slacker dude who only does this work in the spring and fall. He is responsible for cycling with the group while Martina works the van and prep.
10 miles into our ride...right after I took a fab photo, he notices I have a flat tire. He has no equipment, no tools, and he will have to ride out of the village 10K so that he can get a signal. Now the van will be here in an hour...Im so ticked because I'm dying to ride. I sit in the center of this no name village in a doorway and am interrupted by Brunhilde...who wants to know what I want..then the storm blows through and I'm thinking Moni must be having a fun ride. One hour later I am picked up by the sag {furious to be the first..how do you run a tour and not have tubes and your gear?
We pick up Moni and other riders and head to lunch...guess what there are 4 riders lost. Mary was the last one found. She not only got lost...flipped on her bike somehow and fell in a ditch=this is the person who fell again the next day and is now in a Czech hospital. Everyone is moaning at lunch about how crazy it is that all are lost. I choose to do the afternoon ride. This is the most brutal climb ever...up and up..and up...they gave us a map with the chart of elevation and it looks like an EKG? [u can read Moni's story and know where she was...
Some places I was able to control the grind up and breathe and enjoy. As we were closer to the top, deep behomian forests of trees and wind. When I finally hit the highest peak...it was an awesome feeling.
...until i didnt think I could bear it and then it peaked and the fabulous downhill started. OH SHIT I HAVE NO FRONT BRAKES...
My front brake popped out and every time I put the cable back in...it wouldn't hold. Never saw the sag so I just managed it. Rolling up and down and up and down on the road to Tabor. I wasn't really paying attention honestly and found myself riding the freeway =3K to Tabor...yes I'm here. OOPsss...nothing here matches my map so I crossed over the highway into Chotinsky? This is the village that Tarantino built...hostel...churches...no street names...garages with lots of welding equipment. Shesshhh....I was lost in and out of this village for 2 hours. No one speaks English...I don't speak Czech! I did talk to alot of people here though...they've erected a statue in my honor! One would say 10 k that way...then at that spot another would say no 10 k that way. This village was in a valley so in and out required climbing... I rode up and down for almost 2 hours...you count the miles...I had no cell phone and no phone numbers!!!!!
I finally gave up and saw a highway sign to Tabor 8 K and just started following it. Finally calmed down, relatively flat, trees and forest...
Hey, here comes Moni with the sag wagon. When I didn't show up at the rest stop, she forced Martina to go combing the streets for me. Finally, in my favorite village, a person who I had asked for directions started yelling to the van and told them which way I went. They didn't see me but Moni saw the sign and knew I would go that way. And here they are...first thing I bitched about was not their crappy directions but my piece of shit bike with no front brakes. All is well...we have decided not to let REI control our vacation and make sure we are safe. Cell phones...check...phone numbers...check...handguns...oh darn we forgot those... still I did enjoy the riding. Yesterday's ride was also brutal...climbing and more climbing...my drama yesterday is that I had another flat tire (never ever have I had a flat and now 2 days in a row) Read monis post for what happened yesterday...she in the van...we were riding the afternoon and the van never showed up to pick us up so we sucked it up and rode the optional ride to get to the hotel!!!
Mother of God...Two days of cycling in the mountains...50 miles each day...we took a rest and shopping day today. Moni has calmed down a little.
She has been such a trooper and bless her because I would now be a permanent resident of that small village. This is a pay back for all the bar fights I've broken up for her...and there have been many...even took a small clipping because she called a girl in a bar 'a nasty trick'
She's got my back...love my sister!!!!
N
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