Tuesday 7th September- Day48- Týnec nad Sázavou to Tábor... Hazel

70km in 47hr11
Averaging 17.4kmph, max 54.2
Odometer 3964.2km

Each morning Alice's alarm sounds numerous times desperite for attention from it's sleeping owner. Colby responses to it's beckoning cry and is up shuffling around and repacking. Alice is oblivious, I am caught between slumbers and eyes blinking against the light.... It's now seven o'clock Alice's still feeling groggy so we elect to sleep another half hour whilst Phillipa repacks again.

Now awake we have the delight of Colby Bircher Museli to start our day with some freshly brewed tea a la the camping stove. We then hit the road and roll over the street to Lidl. There we purchase our Crivit Sports Track Pump. A snip at 159ck. Alice is thrilled, but again has to be prised away from the selection of Lidl cycling fashions. We spend sometime in the cheese aisle before choosing some imitation laughing cow to go with our selection of rolls.

So out of town and sure enough we hit the hills again. It is bright sunshine, with gusting cold gales and freezing cold shaded areas. Hills are climbed, feet a whir. At the top and I'm feeling overheated and queasy. When Alice later arrives and declares she feels sick I then promptly vomit over my shoes. The Bircher is sitting making an acidic pulp in my stomach and cycling up hills quickly is not helping. We decide that Bircher is too complex a dish for my delicate tummy to start the day with.

On we go enjoying the misty panoramas with the occasional vomit at summits. Ceska Republicka is quite a densely populated rural affair with villages at every turn through the hills and mountains. Every home is a dog owner and we are treated to a chorus of yaps and barks as we pass by. Since leaving Scandinavia the hairy caterpillars that would crawl out over the tarmac have been replaced with slugs in Germany, and fallen fruit in Czech. I imagine I have better awareness of the tarmac dwellers compared to the others due to my greater affection for road over bike path and that my bike's set up has me in a bent over racing postion. Whereas the girls saddles sit inline with their handlebars for upright touring my saddle sits proud causing me to reach down. But I'm digressing from the days events....

Lunch/ first roll stop is in a field with a lovely view and windy draught. The next stop thirty km later is in a mountain town sat in the town square. No one is aware of the cold as the children play in cardigans (fencing with twigs boys v. girl) and an old lady joins us on our bench wearing a jumper no coat.
We are enjoying our sandwiches and thermos coffee, and she strikes up Czech conversation with Alice next to her. Alice responds in with over enuciated English small talk. "Yes, it is cold here isn't it", "I'm enjoying my lunch yes", "I've come here by bicycle". The old lady asks her same question no more. She is smiling so everyone's happy. She declines Alice's offer of a biscuit.

We have recently been enjoying Dopplekeks. Which consist of two rich tea biscuits glued firmly together with chocolate (38% chocolate).

So some more hills and then we reach the historical and religious town of Tabor. The twon square is all of a flurry in preperation for the weekend's Medieval festival. Luckily we secure a Pension just off the town square as no one's arrived yet. Tabor was named after mount tabor where the transfiguration is supposed to have occured. The Hussites in the 15th centuary hoped that if they named their town after important religious places it would be Christ's obvious choice for a second coming.

We have an Indian for dinner- most excellant. Then bathtime and bed.