This morning, I was planning on heading down to Vienna, Austria. But a quick check of the weather suggested I would likely hit rain on the ride for points south and east.
I started staring at the map, and noticed that if I went a bit north, I might get to hit Cesky Krumlov, a town recommended by one of the guys I met at Knopftours. The weather report was favourable there, so I made the trip.
As I was packing, I chanced upon the pack of maps I got from ADAC in Heidelberg, so swiftly forgotten about. Many of the maps they gave me are specific to motorcycle touring; they paint great motorcycle tour roads in green, and recommended motorcycle sideroads/connectors in light green. Almost immediately, the route from Munich to Cesky Krumlov was laid out.
Convincing my GPS to follow the map was a bit of a challenge, but not insurmountable. I would just tell it to take me to a town half way down the road I wanted, then pause on the ride while I'm well down the road, to tell it to take me to a further town.
The route was great. Lots of good narrow roads snaking through a huge forest, very little traffic, and a very peaceful ride.
One surprise along the way was a stop for gas; 4 pumps but only 2 offered unleaded gasoline. All 4 did diesel. It was the first time I've seen a priority given to diesel.
Upon reaching Cesky Krumlov, the GPS wanted me to ride down a very steep path between two buildings to get to my hotel; that was kinda funny. If it wasn't for the pedestrian paintings at the bottom of the path, I wouldn't have realized it was a sidewalk.
Cesky Krumlov severely restricts the flow of cars through its city centres. There are very few parking spots, and you need a permit to use them. Most of the roads in the centre are narrow, cobblestoned, and some are not well suited to anything without a great suspension due to the inclines and the ruts.
I had a great dinner, with an appy of beef tartare and raw egg on roasted bread, then rabbit in a cream sauce.
Fuel costs in the Czech Republic were about CAD $2.09/L (CZK 37.3/L), and I got about 5.4 L/100km.
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