Climbing To Another Country

32 miles, 7.4 mph, 2750' elevation game
(Nove Mesto, Slovakia to Bojkovice, Czech Republic)


View 2008-05-23 Nove Mesto, Slovakia to Bojkovice, Czech Republic in a larger map

Highlights: odd hay bales, leaving Slovakia, long gradual climb, entering Czech Republic, very steep climb, great view, quick descent to campground


Interesting Slovakian hay bales (north of Bosaca)

Last town in Slovakia (Nova Bosaca)

At the Czech border (southeast of Brezova)

First Czech town...an improvement over Slovakia (Brezova)

Impressive Czech bicycle signs (Brezova)

View from the top, looking west (north of Lopenik)

Bike friendly town (Bjokovice)
Journal: Today we left Slovakia after three days in the western part of the country. We needed to head north to the border & cross the White Carpathian mountains. Fortunately our road was quite good, with pleasant scenery & light traffic. The grade on the Slovakian side of the mountains was easier than expected - the 150 meter climb over the final 4 km turned out to be less than 150 feet. When we reached the border, we had risen from 860' elevation in Nove Mesto to 1400'. However, the climbing for the day was not over yet as we continued up to 1675' at Brezova (our first town in the Czech Republic) & took a lunch break.

Initial impressions of the Czech Republic were similar to Slovakia but somewhat improved. The towns look slightly nicer & cleaner, the bicycling signage is quite prominent, and the roads appear to be wider (giving vehicles more room to pass bikes) but a bit rougher in places. Drivers continue to be relatively polite to us. I learned the Czech Republic is also a relatively new member to the EU (like Slovakia), opening its borders last December. Interestingly, they will not be switching to the Euro anytime soon (unlike Slovakia, which switches next year).

After lunch we encountered the biggest climb of the day, culminating with a strenuous 150 meter climb over 1.5 km (500 feet in less than a mile). With a 10%+ gradient on this last segment, that's about the limit of my abilities on a loaded touring bike. I was exhausted at the top (2440') and looking forward to the fast descent down the other side of the mountains. We rolled into the town of Bojkovice (pop. 5000) around 4 pm, found the campground (which was actually open, unlike yesterday), and decided to call it a day. Went out for a nice fish dinner near the town's main street, although the menu was in English so it made me wonder if the prices were the same as the Czech menu. Had I known one day in advance I could have called ahead & ordered the Roasted Pig Knee dinner (only 140 Czech Krone for one kilogram)...guess I will save that for next time!