Czech Republic

The road out of Linz left the river straight away and immediately started going up. I cycled uphill for much of the morning which saw me gain about 500m elevation.

After going over the hill, I soon found myself crossing the border in to the Czech Republic.

By the end of the day, I made it to Vyšší Brod and the Vltava River, which I planned on following north all the way to the Elbe. Almost the whole way through the Czech Republic.

The Vltava is incredibly difficult to follow along as the terrain prevents the road from running along side it. This makes for slow cycling and tedious navigation, but also makes for some pretty fantastic scenery!

I stopped the first night at a kayakers campsite near Cesky Krumlov.

Cesky Krumlov is a medieval town with origins in the 13th century and is pretty amazing!

Next was České Budejovice, home to the real Budweiser beer.

I stopped this day near the Hrad Zvikov (castle). The castle is situated between two rivers and is from the year 1234.

After the castle, I put my head down and peddled my way through the heat all the way to Prague where I would take a rest day to see the city.

The next day (July 10) I left Prague and continued along the Vltava, but now with a very easy path that stuck to the river except for a few short deviations. Also, I wish rollerblading was as popular on the U.S. as it is here.

Just outside of the city, I met a couple from Oakland that was cycling from Istanbul to Berlin. As our routes  were the same for a while, we cycled together for the next two days all the way to Dresden. They were great to cycle with and we got along well, using one another to keep the pace up while making good conversation along the way. 

We passed many fields of hops that day.

On the 11, we left the Czech Republic and I was back in Germany.

Czech Republic, while being difficult to navigate and the weather not cooperating, was an amazing country and one of my favorites so far.

Munich to Salzburg to Linz

After 2 full days of rest in Munich, most of which were spent relaxing in the biergartens and bierhalls, I headed east towards Salzburg. It took 2 days to get there, stopping half way at a camp site on a lake.

My neighbors at the campsite generously offered me a bier and some supper. We talked for a while, and spent breakfast together the next morning. This sort of kindness from my neighbors at campsites became a pretty common occurrence.

This was also the start of the most trying weather I have experienced so far. From Munich to Prague, I had about 8-10 of extraordinary heat. Some days it approached 40. 40 Celsius = 104 Fahrenheit 

But this had its benefits. Such as stopping at biergartens and breweries along the way to keep cool.

Both days on the way to Salzburg, I was able to look to my right or straight ahead and have a great view of the Alps. They were majestic!

The campsite in Salzburg was on a hill that gave me a great view of the city!

Salzburg:

Salzburg to Linz was 2 easy, but long days along the Salzach, Inn, and Danube  rivers.  The routes along the rivers were always longer than expected because the rivers are so meandering.

The second day was my 30th birthday. There was a lot to process with me turning 30. My first birthday out of the country... Being alone... Getting older... Luckily I had the ride to distract me, and it was so hot that all I was really thinking about was how much I hated the sun. Which I feel bad about, because I love the sun. So I think the time to reflect on turning 30 has come and gone.

About 60-70km into the ride, I came to the Danube river, which I would follow to Linz for 28km.  The route along the Danube is perhaps one of the most popular bike routes in Europe. And I immediately saw that it was like a bike touring highway. 

I stopped to treat myself to a birthday ice cream:

So good.

I arrived in Linz and found my way to my warm showers host, and finally had some shelter from the heat.

My hosts took me out for a walk that night and treated me to some more ice cream for my birthday!

It was a strange and wonderful birthday. But, I think from now on, I will prefer the company of my friends and family.

During the walk, my host suggested I stay a second night to avoid the heat, and to experience a little more of Linz.

In the morning, we rode our bikes to the Danube for a swim, and then I went for a walk to a museum.

In the morning of July 6, I left Linz to head north towards my next adventure: Czech Republic!

France

After taking many rest days in Belgium, I was determined to get to Paris quickly. So, I decided to do Ypres to Paris (340km) in 3 days instead of 4.

On the first day, I hit 2000km's! I celebrated by eating a Snickers bar, which is not a proper celebration because I eat those pretty often.

As soon as I crossed the border into France, I no longer had the Belgium Fiets Route Network to follow. I was on my own to decide what roads to take and what towns to go through.

The northeast of France is mostly rolling farm land and small towns with very few people and even fewer shops. While I think the rolling farm land is beautiful, it is definitely nobody's first choice when it comes to bike touring in France.

The second day, I woke up to heavy rain knowing I was going to push through it. It ended up being my longest day, distance wise, by about 30km. So 130km total, and rained heavily almost the entire day.

I also decided to take the road along the canals for most of the day, not knowing that these roads were shit. Rocks, grass, shrubs and mud. They were everything but smooth tarmac.

But, rain and crappy roads are only an inconvenience, and I ended up making it to where I had planned without even coming close to freaking out. 

It was nice to see myself recognize something being inconvenient but not letting it ruin my day or hold me back. I had overcome my first significant challenge. I think I can do this! 

The next morning, the rain was gone, but everything was still sufficiently soaked as I packed it up to make the final stretch to Paris.

The day started with an unexpected castle:

I then cycled past some ruins:

And then slowly made my way to Paris.

In Paris, I stayed with Magali, Patrice, and their daughter Gwenn. I am really upset with myself for not getting a picture of the three of them as they were incredible hosts who I had a lot of fun with.

From Paris, I worked my way by train to Munich, with a short half day ride along the way. The train from Paris took me to Colmar:

And from there I rode 55km to Freiburg:

And the next day, a train took me the rest of the way to Munich, where I will start the next leg of the journey, which will take me all the way north to Norway!

Belgium

On the second day towards Brussels, I crossed the border back in to The Netherlands, shortly before crossing the border into Belgium!

That night, I found a host on Warm Showers, Piet, who took me to a barbecue at his brothers house, where they filled me with great food, and many Belgian beers. Including some really good homebrew! During dinner, I learned the best techniques required to make proper mayonnaise.

We listened to the Belgium-Wales qualifier on the radio before going to play Viking Kubb, a really great Swedish yard game.

The next day, Piet and I shared more stories during breakfast. He showed me pictures from his 6 month tour of Europe, and before we knew it, it was 11 and still a little bit rainy, so I decided to stay 1 more day with Piet and help him cut up some wood for the winter. He had received a pile of free wood taken from a recently demolished house that was I think 400-500 years old.

The next morning I rode to Brussels, where I would take yet another rest day to see the city. The highlights for me was touring the Cantillon Brewery and the Grand Place.

Piet's friend, came and met me in Brussels and gave me a tour of the city.

Then it was a short ride to Ghent. On the way, I stopped at the Delirium Brewery to see if they had a public bar I could drink at. 

They didn't. But they did have a bar for the tours, which had to be pre-booked with 15 or more people. Though, when I asked if it was possible for me to drink a beer, they walked me up to the bar, poured me a free glass of La Guillotine, and then walked me around for a quick private tour!

I then left the brewery to cycle the remaining 10km to Ghent. I pulled over to check my map, and someone came up to ask me about my trip, and where I was going, and told me about a trip he was planning, and I think mentioned something about going to pick wild elderflowers. He then invited me to stay with him in Ghent.

This was Charles. A young chef who also likes to travel by bicycle. His place was right in the center of the city. He and his girlfriend made me a gourmet dinner, then we walked around the city for 2 hours, and then went back to eat his homemade elderflower ice cream with Belgian strawberries. What a treat! This is one of the joys of bicycle touring. Only a matter of hours before this I was planning on camping alone that night, eating something like rice and beans, and maybe taking a quick walk to the main street of the city alone.

In the morning, I was once again fed like royalty before leaving to ride to Bruges.

Another short ride, followed by another rest day in Bruges.

Bruges is just a bunch of old buildings. I paid 8 euros to climb a tower to get a view of below, where I just came from! What a shithole.

The next day, I was relieved to finally be leaving Bruges. I started the journey to Paris. I was planning on it being 4 nights. The plan for the first day was to take a 20km detour to Sint Sixtus Abbey, where the West Vleteren Trappist beers are made, and then ride to Ypres.

When I arrived to the Abbey, I discovered that they are closed on Fridays. I then learned that it was Friday.

It is an interesting feeling to cycle all day, with nothing to think about but the "best beer in the world" that awaits you at the end of the day, to arrive and discover that you can not get this beer. 

No big deal. I came all this way. I was going to drink this beer.

I immediately decided that I would be spending another day in Belgium. The campsite in Ypres was only 22km away, so it really wasn't that big of a deal.

I continued on to Ypres and camped near the city center.

The next morning, I rode back to West Vleteren, and finally was able to get the beer! Some claim their 12 to be the "best beer in the world", and it did not disappoint. 

It was here I ran into a couple of guys from Montana that I met at the campsite in Bruges. They were camping at the same campsite in Ypres, so we agreed to meet up again and went out for beers again later that night in the city. 

The next day I left to cross the border to France.