# Prague to Dresden, Gratuitous Bike Photos, and an Uncursed Lounge Jersey



## nonsleepingjon (Oct 18, 2002)

Part 2
Part 3

My wife and I finally got around to our honeymoon (only 3 years late). We booked a cycling tour through Top Bicycle. We cycled for 5 days from Prague, Czech Republic to Dresden, Germany, covering around 50km per day (sometimes less, but probably made up with wrong turns).

I recommend Top Bicycle - they answered all our questions via email prior to the trip, spoke great English, and were very friendly and helpful once we got in to Prague. The tour included bike rental (a tandem), daily luggage transfer, hotel accommodations, route slips and maps, gps and cell phone, and in case everything went totally wrong and we found ourselves lost and hungry.... two Big Corny Nuts energy bars. We were on our own, not part of a tour group, and it was nice to set our own pace, stop for lunch when and where we wanted, and experience other countries and cultures first hand without an interpreter. (Note that we don't speak any of the local languages, so this was both entertaining and frustrating).


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## nonsleepingjon (Oct 18, 2002)

We started in Prague, with nightly stops in Melnik, Litomerice, Decin, Bad Schandau, and ultimately Dresden. Each morning we packed up our suitcases, handed them off to the hotel staff (for later pick up and portaging by the tour company), then hopped on the tandem and took off down the road. It's a great way to travel.

We were on a designated cycle route the whole way. Conditions ranged from dirt path to cobble stones to MUT to open road. Sometimes, we thought we were on a MUT but turned out we shared it with cars! However, it never mattered how small the road was - everyone just seemed to go with it and make room for all road users. We never got honked at. Totally different than cycling in the USA. We loved it.

Most of the route was along the Vltava and Elbe rivers, going with the current. Cycling downstream is the way to go! Those yellow fields are apparently Canola. Thanks to Majura's post, I didn't have to do a lot of research to find that out. FYI - stinging nettles apparently grow in similar conditions to Canola. Keep that in mind if you stop to take a picture in a field.


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## nonsleepingjon (Oct 18, 2002)

The Czech Republic is amazing. We saw vineyards, farms for hops, old castles, communist era infrastructure, modern buildings.... old and new, all thrown in the mix and it all just seems get along.

The photo below shows cobblestones under the pavement. It puts things in to perspective to know that they didn't build a modern road here because it was needed - instead, they just modernized a road that had already existed possibly for hundreds of years. There's no real comparison to that where I live.


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## nonsleepingjon (Oct 18, 2002)

I wore the Lounge Jersey 4 out of 5 days with no issues. No flats, no mechanicals, no incidents with cars or other people. Even when I almost wrecked us by hitting a nasty rut going on to a bridge (my feet flew off the pedals and it was sheer luck that we didn't go down) and in fact stayed on and kept on cruising. Even slinging the tandem in to a traffic circle without hardly slowing didn't phase us or cause any trouble. We weren't invincible by any means, just riding smart and proving that there is no curse to the Lounge Jersey.

The only bike issue we had was the last day, wearing a different jersey, hiking the bike up yet another stair case, that one of the grip shifters came off. We were maybe 2km from the hotel, and I was able to slam the shifter back on and just hold it in place until we got there. I never did like grip shifters.


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## nonsleepingjon (Oct 18, 2002)

So as to not kill your browser or the server, part 2 is here.


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## rkj__ (Mar 21, 2007)

Sounds like a very nice trip, with some nice views. 

Baggage transfer is great while touring.


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## Cyclist69 (Apr 15, 2011)

Awesome, again!


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## Art853 (May 30, 2003)

Thanks for the report and pictures. I especially like the motion one on the dirt trail with the blurred trees.

And congratulations to both on your honeymoon.


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