Postscript: Down but not out in London (thanks George)

48 hours in London just felt like it should be written about. I landed Friday afternoon and left Sunday evening but allowing for travel in and out, 48 hours was close.

Just a perfect day

Circled three times.
Lost our place at the gate.
Joined three other flights at the immigration queue
"Why are you only here for two days?"
"To see my daughter."
"You're only seeing her for two days?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Time to bite my tongue ...

Drink sangria in
the backyard

Let the weekend begin ...
Rehydration at The Chapel on Edgeware Rd to combat the muggy heat.
London Pilsener is the butter chicken of beer.
Out to Blackheath.
Dinner at the local and it does pies, pies and more pies. If I'd had a week ...
One beef and blue cheese with spud, mushy peas and onions later ... contentment.

And then later

Into the city.
Slow stroll along the south bank from London Bridge.
Stop for sideshows. Cross at Westminster Bridge past the hordes of tour groups. Most of Europe's schools are on holiday and it feels like most have come to London.
Stroll through St James Park and some shade. Past Buckingham Palace, no sign of Hamish's 2004 legacy.

When it gets dark

Tube to Brixton. A riot of cultures and colour. Also crowded. The jerk chicken smelt to good to pass by. Food and rehydration in the shade.
Back to Blackheath Standard. 
Walk through Blackheath (the paddock) to Blackheath village. The heath didn't match the romantic expectation in my mind, just a browned off open paddock.
Coffee and a wander through the village High St.
Stroll to and through Greenwich Park. Pretty good view from the observatory to the city.
Rehydration and a snack at The Royal Standard.
Back home to have a drink in the backyard (with piccies).

Up and out, eventually. 

We go home

Dropped the bags at Kings Cross and began the weave towards East London.
Tube, bus, walk to Shoreditch and beyond to the Columbia Rd flowers market.
As good a dose of old cockney as you're likely to get. 
Looking for coffee and our first and only celeb moment for the weekend. Russell Brand charging out of a shop and yabbering 50 to the dozen.
Back towards Shoreditch and tubes across to Camden.
To the market and the locks. Packed and then peace, packed and then peace. Wandered the length to see what was beyond.
Rehydration stop at the Camden Head.
More wandering.
Rehydration and nourishment stop at the Camden Eye.
Time to go, more walking as Camden Stn is exit only on Sunday.
Kings Cross for the bags and a farewell at Green Park Stn.

48 hours in London, most compass points covered, we walked a marathon ... really we did, the app doesn't lie.

Day 8: Karlstejn to Prague

Hrad Karlstejn - not
much has changed since 2004

Last day of the cycle trip and the day I choose to sleep later than usual. I was woken at 8am by a knock on the door from Hank. Must have been tired. After breakfast, it was on the road again. Hank decided to visit the castle, Stan and I waited in the shade of a tree.

The sun moves round the Linden tree
There is no sign of Henery

Say A Little Prayer For Me

After Hank's visit, it was off to face the last set of climbs. These weren't too bad and generally under the shade on forest tracks. At what was reportedly the highest point of the ride we found a religious statue where we took the opportunity to pray for no more assents. Once we got onto roads the ride was easier. The day was quite hot, around 30 degrees. 

Live Streaming in
the Wop-wops

Late morning we decided it was time for a break and a refreshment at Jinocany. As this was a short ride we had plenty of time to goof off. After a couple of beers, we headed to the reservoir just out of the township and it was good enough for a swim. This is the same place we went swimming on the last day in 2014. So, we goofed off for a couple of hours swimming, played some cards and snoozed in the sun.

Day 8 Marker

After a short ride from Jinocany we reached the outskirts of Prague and headed home via cycleways. We arrived home at 3.30. Today's distance was ~35kms with a top speed of ~40kph. A short trip but at a leisurely pace. Today's marker is from the dinner table at Hrad Kavale.

But wait. As usual, there's more. There was one last act. Tennis. Stan and I headed off for the traditional clash of the titans in the early evening heat. However, as this is the last blog, dear reader, you'll never know the result as we'll complete the match tomorrow morning before I fly to London. However, it is fair to say, it would have been a close, hard fought contest played in a fierce and competitive manner with a few laughs.

As mentioned, this is the last blog of the cycle trip. We've cycled ~450kms over 8 days. Whilst it seems leisurely there have been some challenging hills. However, to enjoy the good times, you have to expect a few challenges. This year's top speed was ~62kph. With all that's been written, the trip has been another success but all I got from it was this t-shirt.

This has been my trip. Here's today's map.

Day 7: Cheb to Beroun ... er ... Karlstejn

Day 7: Cheb to Beroun
Today hasn’t been a very interesting day blog wise. Point A to C with B in-between. We left Cheb about 9.30am and headed southeast for route 36 (and about half the kicks). Today’s leg was a mix of quieter minor roads, forest tracks and cycle tracks. There were a number of climbs again. Some were deceptive in that they looked relatively flat but after several kms the legs were feeling some pressure. 

Day 7, Marker #1

Stan and I had lost Hank after a long gentle climb. We stopped at Palic to wait for Hank to catch up but  … no Hank. We’d been separated. What happened? Well, good detective work found the answer. Hank took the right turn off. We didn’t. A bus went past and in our anxiety to avoid it, we also missed the turn off sign. However, by the time we’d caught up , the beer was good. We did get to look at a ruined church in restoration mode though, so culturally, this mishap was not a waste of time. We radioed ahead and caught him for a break and lunch in Dolni Zandov. due to circumstances, here's today's first marker at the Putyka Pod Kostelem (Pub Beneath The Church) in Dolni Zandov.


Over the course of this trip the days have been getting warmer and it has been noticeable with the amount of water being drunk during the day. Thankfully, it’s cheap. Today it was ~NZ$0.35 for 1.5l. And it can be fizzy.

After lunch we continued our route cycle towards Mariánské Lázně, another spa town. We had a look around but it was a bit over populated and inflated. The jazz band along one of the promenades would have been nice to have a longer listen to but we are on a mission. The old building lining the main street through the older part were quite lavish and ornate but a little run down. We opted for plan A and headed to the railway station to catch the train to Beroun filling in the wait with beer and pizza.

Ban Nadvedouci
Honza Kavacs

Ah, the train system. When you buy a ticket and ask for a seat and your bike onboard you’d expect the ticket agent to give you all the right ticketing. Then you get the bored conductor with the whistle telling you that you need to reserve seats and he shouldn’t let you on because it’s more than his job’s worth (my Czech is improving). After much haggling  about it being someone else’s problem, there seems a disconnect between the ticket issuer and the ticket validator. It’s like two separate companies. Finally, he acquiesced but grudgingly. Then just when we thought everything was good, he had another go when he validated the tickets. We thought of taking his whistle off him. Here he is. Ban Nadvedouci Honza Kavacs.

Serious Writer at Work

I decided to kill some time on the train and draft today's blog entry. Whilst engrossed in my own imagination I became the subject of artistic intent.

to put things in perspective, the train ride from Mariánské Lázně to Beroun took just over two hours and we headed west to wards Prague.

Today’s distance cycled was ~55kms with a top speed of ~51kph. Here’s the map between Cheb and Marianske Lazne.

But wait ... there's more.

Day 7, Marker #2

We arrived in Beroun just after 7pm and couldn't find any accommodation. Enter plan A-1. Cycle on to Karlstejn about 15kms further downstream. After trying a few hotel sand pensions along the way it seemed there might be not accommodation available. One last try. Up the hill towards Hrad Karlstejn and along numerous closed restaurants and hotels. But finally success. We set up rooms with the landlady and then headed to the eatery next door before it closed. After being well hosted for dinner, we decided it was worth a second marker. Now we're ready for our final push to Prague in the morning. 

The revised distance is ~70kms and here's a map of the second leg.