Wednesday, June 26th, 2024

Distance ridden 373 kilometres

We had a few days free, so we decided to spend some of them in the beautiful region in the middle-north of the Czech Republic, known formally as CHKO (National Park) Jeseníky, but known, more simply to most people, as just Jeseníky.

It is a paradox of our pared-down and lightweight travelling, that there is little discernible difference between the amount of luggage we need for three nights away and the amount that we need for three times that number. As Lucie remarked, most of what we carry is the modern day electrical paraphernalia attached to our various “devices”. Whatever it was that we were taking, it fitted easily into our normal bag and the two panniers on the Softail as she attached it, with her usual efficient aplomb, on the path outside of our house.

With only about 350 kilometres to go, we were able to leave home a bit later, so the attachment process had a periodic audience of bemused passers-by. It was so bright and sunny that, as a final thought, I fixed my jacket to the top of our bag and rode without it, in just my leather, HOG vest. I am pleased to report that it remained fixed there all day.

Leaving later and the fact that it was a “working” day for most people, meant that our initial progress, around the Prague inner ring-road, was a tiny bit fraught. There was a lot of traffic, populated by a fair sprinkling of the usual idiots and psychopaths, which made the first twenty or so kilometres a bit of a lottery. Fortunately, we came through unscathed and made it to the D11 (E67) motorway which we took in the direction of Hradec Králové, where the traffic thinned and we were away.

Motorways, in general, have little to recommend them and the D11 falls very firmly into that category. There was a lot of slow moving freight, which we passed easily enough – but it was always necessary to keep a keen eye out, when overtaking, for those drivers who only move under the speed limit when they are reversing – and not always then ! It was still June and the barley already looked ripe enough to be harvested.

We drove up the D11 for about eighty-four kilometres until the sight of a castle, perched on the distant Kunětice mountain away to our right, announced the imminent arrival of our exit onto the D35 (E442) highway in the direction of Olomouc.

The first part of this road, hence the “D” prefix, is motorway, that will eventually lead to northern Moravia and obviate the present need, for almost everyone, to use the hideous D1 motorway, all the way to Brno – and then branch north. We stopped for a coffee (and Lucie’s inevitable cigarette) at a very well equipped service area just before the junction and then moved on.

Initially, we headed eastwards on the D35 towards Olomouc but, after a short while, we turned in a more northerly direction towards Holice.

Despite being comparatively “minor” roads, the way was well surfaced (at least by Czech standards) in the main and passed through picturesque countryside and small villages.

The good roads continued as we headed in the direction of Rychnov nad Kněžnou, Vamberk and then, confusingly for people with short memories, Žamberk.

From Žamperk, we wended our way, somewhat tortuously, east, passing to the south of Jablonné nad Orlicí. A lot of the riding was through very rural countryside and was frequently along little more than country lanes, which were more scenic and often very dubiously surfaced. When we take a “Club Ride” with Prague HOG, it usually includes a section of such riding. I said to Lucie that “It was like a HOG ride, but without the HOG people”.

We stopped for lunch, in the small town of Výprachtice, at the U Svatého Jana pub (Výprachtice 216, Výprachtice).

Sadly, the board outside of it promised big but, on a still out-of-season Wednesday lunchtime, it did not really deliver. None of the traditional Czech pub “standards” were on offer, so we had to make do with a pizza which was, at least, prepared in house. Where were our calories ?

After a short sojourn on the pub’s sunny terrace, where a constant stream of agricultural vehicles passed by (it was hay cutting time) we left in the direction of the far larger town of Šumperk.

Only a few kilometres later we came to the sign marking the ancient border between the Czech and the Moravian regions. The current Czech state is composed of both these areas, together with a small part of another ancient region, Silesia. Even today, Czechs are inclined to describe themselves as Bohemian (Czech), Moravian or Silesian first – and Czech second !

The good town of Šumperk features strongly in a recent Czech novel, where it is portrayed as a hot-bed of crime and murder. You never know, so we hurried through the outskirts and departed, as swiftly as the roads would allow, towards Rýmařov, on Route 11.

In Rýmařov, we found Route 445, which took us more or less directly to our destination of Mála Morávka.

We had booked three nights in the Pension Lukaš (Mála Morávka ev.c 16, Mála Morávka). We found it by using its clearly indicated direction boards. The SatNav disagreed, but I had entered a slightly incorrect destination. If you ever have a lot of time with nothing to do, Lucie will happily explain the difference between a ČO (číslo orientační – the red number), a ČP (číslo popisné – the blue) number and an Ev.č (evidenčí číslo – any colour except red or blue). Anyway, after a slightly traumatic ascent up a steepish, loosely surfaced, slope on a loaded Harley, we arrived at our destination.

The pension Lukaš is a pleasant little place, perched upon a rise above the town. The road up is, as I mentioned slightly taxing and I would not want to ride a heavy bike up there at night in the rain, but one the tree-fringed plateau is achieved, you enter a haven of peace and tranquility.

Our room was, to be fair, “compact”, but it was clean, comfortable and had everything we needed. Tea and coffee making facilities, together with a communal fridge, were provided on the adjacent landing.

We had booked “bed and breakfast” but, after a long day in the saddle, we had our evening meal there too, a wholesome soup and beef with pasta, both of which were simple, but eminently edible. The only real drawback was that it was served at 18:00, which is a bit early.

I have to admit I was quite tired. The long stretches of country lanes are often harder work in retrospect than they feel while you are riding them. However, we decided to walk down into the town to have a look around. Mála Morávka is a long, thin town running for almost four kilometres on either side of Route 445. It was, as I said, still out-of-season and we might have had difficulty eating at all had we not done so in the pension. The few places to eat were either closed completely, or had shut their kitchens (it was 19:00). We had a beer at the Restaurace U Kovárny, which had a nice (but unavailable) menu, before walking on up the hill and finding Restaurace na Rychtě (Mála Morávka 59), where the kitchen was still open.

We had a beer and some wonderful blueberry livance (a small, thick pancake).

I go on about Lucie’s love of the weather radar Apps. As we sat there, she opened one and announced that it would start to rain any minute – and, of course, sadly, she was exactly correct ! We literally scampered back to the pension in a slowly increasing downpour. It was only about two and a half kilometres, but we were both quite damp by the time we reached the sanctuary of our little room.

We hung up our damp clothes and I crawled beneath the covers and fell asleep in about five seconds.