If you’ve been following along, you know that Linda and I just finished a week of biking from Prague, Czech Republic to Dresden, Germany. We rode over 160 miles in five days, following the Vtlava and Elbe Rivers. It was a great trip that took us through a very beautiful place in Europe.

I have always had a bike and have always loved riding. I’ve owned Schwinn Stingrays, Schwinn Varsity derailleurs, road bikes, and mountain bikes. I still ride bikes often, for the joy and for the exercise. This bike trip we just finished has created a dilemma for me. It goes like this.

When I reserved the ride, I had, among other things, a choice of bikes. Since I ride often, am in good shape, and have always liked a challenge, I chose a 26 speed cruising/touring bike for me. It had a rack for a pannier, a handlebar bag, and a water bottle cage – all that I would need. Linda wanted an eBike. She is a strong rider as well, but because of a recent knee injury, she wanted to make sure she could finish the ride without difficulty.

We picked our bikes the evening before the ride. Mine was semi-lightweight. Linda’s bike weighed a ton. When I picked it up, it felt like it had a six-pack of bowling balls strapped to the back rack. Half of the weight I assumed was for the battery, a large black cylinder that probably could power our home back in Arizona for a month. But Linda is worth it.

The next morning we started our trip. We left the hotel in Prague and had to navigate several busy streets. I had the lead and pedaled through pedestrian-rich squares and car-rich streets. Linda by then had figured out how to use the accelerator button to zoom here and there. I’d peddle around a garbage truck that was driving straight for me. Linda would press a button and gently glide by.

We made it across the Vtlava River to a place called Trojska Lavka. The riding became quite pleasant as we rode through quiet parks and along the river. That didn’t last long. About 10 miles out of Prague we encountered a hill – a big hill. Nothing like I’d ridden before in Idaho or Colorado or even Arizona. But I was on a heavier bike with a pannier full of stuff. Plus, there was a strong head wind.

I started up the hill, using all my little gears. Linda, who was by my side, pressed the little red button, and . . . whoooosh . . . she was up ahead of me.

The sound of her bike reminded me of the sound a TIE fighter made in Star Wars when it was in pursuit of the Millennium Falcon. As it turned out, Linda’s bike has three speeds- 1) with me, 2) ahead of me:

And 3) way ahead of me.

I stopped twice on the side of the mountain. I told myself the stops were to take in the beauty and make a few photographs. Actually, the stops were to catch my breath and let my burning leg muscles cool down. Part way up the hill, I caught up with Linda. She was stopped along the side, smiling. And not breathing hard. As soon as I caught her . . . whoooosh . . . .

I made it to the top. I conquered the hill, only to be met by gale force winds. The rest of the ride, all the way into Melnik, was against the wind. The same scenario lasted the rest of the ride.

Me: pant . . . pant . . . pant . . . pant . . . .
Linda: Whoooosh . . . .
Me: pant . . . pant . . . pant . . . pant . . . .
Linda: Whoooosh . . . .

The rest of days riding into Dresden followed suit. None were as bad as the first day, but I usually found myself bringing up the rear while Linda breezed here and there. I even found myself carrying her eBike up and down stairs when necessary to stay on the designed route.

So here’s my dilemma. As much as I consider myself a strong, able-bodied bike rider, I felt that I often was holding Linda back and making her wait for me. I also think we would have enjoyed the ride more had I been able to keep pace with her. We could have explored more sights that were off the main route. We could have stopped more. We could have talked more as we rode side by side.

I think it’s time to let my ego take a break. It’s time for an eBike.

We are planning more bike trips in the future. Maybe the Mosel Valley next year, or perhaps the Douro Valley in Portugal. When we do, I will be ready. I too will get an eBike.

We finished our ride yesterday. I loved every minute of the trip, even riding up mountains into the wind and riding into the rain. I’m sad to see this part of our trip end. On the other hand, it feels good to get out of the saddle and into my walking shoes.

We are in Dresden for two days. We checked into our hotel yesterday afternoon, rested a bit, took showers, and then went for a short walk to find a place for dinner. Germany is not like the States in many ways. One is that virtually all stores are closed on Sundays. Restaurants are an exception. People need to eat.

Today was our day to explore “Florence on the Elbe”, as it is called. Dresden is a very charming city, beautiful, and mostly rebuilt after it was bombed in 1945. Linda and I left the hotel early in the morning and spent to better part of the day walking and walking and walking more. We found out that today is a holiday (something to do with Ascension Day), so most stores were still closed.

The streets were crowded with tourists, but almost all businesses were closed, so the day was quite peaceful, especially when we hiked through a very big park.

Here are some of the sights of the city.

We leave in the morning for Copenhagen, where we’ll spend two days, before going to Sweden to visit my son and spend my birthday in Stockholm.

Day one of our bike trip to Dresden is complete. Linda and I are sitting on our hotel room, feet up, drinking tea, and sharing stories from the day. What a great ride it was. Thirty-six miles along the Vltava river from Prague to Milnik.

Getting out of Prague was fun – not really. Linda was learning how to use her e-bike, and I was trying to follow my GPS app while trying at the same time not to get run over. Once, I made a wrong turn onto a one-way street, into the path of a garbage truck. Except for a few more wrong turns, we made it to the river and the Troja Chateau. Once we started riding along the river, the ride became absolutely delightful.

The only difficult parts of the ride was when we had to climb a mountain. It was like the Mount Everest of Bohemia. It wasn’t too bad for Linda. She had an e-bike. All she had to do was press a button to zoom here and there, and there was the top of the hill.

I on the other hand do not have an e-bike because I’m 1) in good shape, 2) only 67 years young, and 3) stupid. Linda flew to the top of the mountain and waited for me to trudge my way up, sweat pouring out of my body while my heart raced faster than, well, Linda on her e-bike.

Part of the reason I was slow was the fact that I was carrying most of our gear in my pannier. I had both locks, Linda’s bike charger, repair tools, two six-packs of beer just in case we couldn’t find anywhere to quench our thirst (as it turns out, that was not a problem), extra clothes I didn’t need, and two bottle of water, which I did need.

To my credit, I made it to the top and only stopped twice (to make photographs, of course). On top of that, I was only passed once. I heard a squeaky voice say “On your left”. I looked over to see a turtle whiz by.

A beer was in order after the climb, and we found a place along the river. While there, the wind started to pick up (it picked up everything on the table that wasn’t weighted down). The strong wind followed us, mostly in our face, for the rest of the ride.

One last hill, up the side of a lesser mountain to our hotel in the center square of Melnik.

TIme for rest. More of the same tomorrow.

Prague is a beautiful city, especially if you wander around small roads that have less tourists. Linda and I did climb the hill from our hotel to the castle. But once we looked around for a bit, we lost the crowds and ducked in and out of quiet areas.

We made our way down to the Vltava River and decided to on take a river boat cruise. Our boat was small and there was only one other couple on board.

Also, they served beer.

On a silver platter.

After the boat ride, we just wandered around. We found a park with nice paths, old trees, and a half dozen or more peacocks (and I assume peahens too).

We stumbled upon an open air restaurant and enjoyed local meets and cheeses.

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking back to our hotel so we could meet with the people who organized our trip and also so we could get our bikes and equipment.

Tomorrow morning we start our ride, down the Vltava River from Prague to Melnik.

Linda and I had a (not so close) call at the Munich Airport. We arrived early, checked our bags with no problems, made our way through security, and made our way to the gates. Our boarding passes said we were in gate K section, but didn’t have a gate number. We had plenty of time, so we found a snack bar and sat down to eat lunch.

We finished lunch and walked to the big board to see of our plane had been assigned a gate.

We found our flight to Prague. Leaving out of gate G35. Linda looked at the last column in the board. It said “12 Minutes”.

“OH S@!T!” she exclaimed. “We have 12 minutes to get to our flight.”

“OH S@!T” I replied. “We better run”.

We sprinted to the terminal tram, ran down the escalator, jumped on the tram, jumped off the tram at the G gates, ran up an escalator, ran down the row of gates, and turned a corner to find gate G 35.

There was no one there. No passengers, no gate agents, and NO PLANE.

“OH S#!T” I said. “We missed our flight.”

“OH S#!T” Linda echoed. “Now what do we do?”

We ran to the closest Lufthansa Help Desk. I showed my boarding pass to the agent.

“Your plane doesn’t leave for another hour.”

As it turns out, the “12 Minutes” we saw on the big board was the walking time from where we were to gate G 35.

On to Prague.

Sunday was our last full day in Munich. There is so much to see here, and not enough time. With that in mind, the four of us decided to visit two places that are must sees in Munich. The first was the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial and the second was the Nymphenburg Palace.

For as many times that I visited Munich, I’d never gone to Dachau. It’s a place all who come to Munich should see. So many terrible things happened during World War II, and the memorial park helps keep the ugly past alive in hopes that what happened there will never happen again.

I didn’t make may photographs in Dachau. I did however read most of the historical displays and walked quietly through the grounds. Even though I know of many of the atrocities that occurred at Dachau, wandering around the grounds and reading about the past was still hard to grasp.

After leaving Dachau, we rode a streetcar followed by a few busses to get to Nymphenburg Palace. The palace and its grounds were a direct contrast to Dachau. The palace itself is huge and ornate, while the grounds were lush and beautiful. We sat in the gardens for a while, amongst statues of various gods, and then found a new (at least to us) beer garden.

Our next phase of our journey starts with a quick flight to Prague. We’ll stay there two days and then begin our week-long bike ride to Dresden.

More wandering around Munich today. We started with a stroll through Englisher Garten, which is close to Unterforing where we are staying. The morning weather was fantastic as we walked along secluded paths. We madebour way to a lake and sat for awhile drinking coffee and watching a white swan try to drown a baby goose (the goose survived).

All morning long, Gary and Susan were in contact with Julia, a young woman they know from Canada. Julia lives in Munich. In fact, I would out she was born just a few blocks away from the house where my mother was born.

We met Julia in Schwabing, a very cool area in Munich. I would a place where she might know – a huge statue called “Walking Man”.

Julia became our tour guide for the rest of the day. She took us into the Karlsplatz area of Munich, where we found a small cafe with an interesting statue as a cool fountain.

We eventually made it to the Augustiner Biergarten (the only one we visited yesterday).

Today we plan on visiting Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial and the Nymphenburg Castle.

My mother was born in Munich in 1928. Actually, she was born in Orbermenzing, a western suburb of Munich. I lived there with my family for a few months in 1960, spent the summer of 1973 there with my younger sister Monica, and when I was stationed near Frankfurt in the late 1970s, I traveled down to see my Opa (grandfather) and Tante Oni (aunt), The old house at 25 Eisenhart Strasse was an important part of my younger days.

Yesterday, I went back. The four of us, Linda, Susan, Gary, and I, spent the better part of the day and evening wandering around Munich, made our way to Obermenzing, and ended our day at a beer hall (or two).

We had plans to have lunch with a friend of Susan and Gary for lunch at the Hofbraukeller, a very cool beer garden near the Isar River. Julia, the friend, had to cancel, but we went anyway, stopping beforehand to see and hear the Glockenspiel.

After lunch, we rode trains and busses to the Blutenburg Castle, which is a few blocks from where my mother grew up. While Susan and Gary relaxed (slept) in the sun, Linda and I walked to the old house.

The house is still there, and looks just like it did when I was a kid, only there is an addition to the house.

The castle has a small lake near it (I believe it used to be a moat). The four of us drank coffee by the lake before catching a bus and train back into Munich. We found the Hofbrauhaus (every tourist to Munich who likes beer should go there). It was big and busy and loud, as it usually is.

After just one beer, we left. I told them that when I was 15 years old, my Opa took Monica and me to the Lowenbraukeller, a big beer hall where the locals go. We went. And had one more beer.

I have lots of memories of Munich from my youth, and yesterday brought me back town Memory Lane.

Today was our first real day exploring Europe. Linda and woke early, after about twelve hours of catch-up sleep. Our goal for the previous night was to erase the jet lag from the long flight to Munich.

After breakfast in our hotel, we met up with our friends Gary and Susan. We know them from Venture Out. They live in British Columbia. They also love to travel as much as us. When they told us they had a two bedroom apartment in Munich and asked if we wanted to join them, we didn’t hesitate to agree to stay with them.

The four of us checked into the apartment, dropped our bags in our rooms, and then headed out to Englisher Garden. Yesterday when Linda and I walked into the park in search of food, the weather was damp and the park was near empty. Today the weather was great and the paths and tables in the several beer gardens we visited were full.

We made the best of the sunny day by walking the entire length of the park. After four stops for some cold German refreshments, we strolled into downtown Munich.

We had a great meal in Marineplatz, the heart of downtown Munich. We shared an outside table, overlooking the Glockenspeil and the main square.

It was close to 10 PM when we finally rode the S-Bahn back to the apartment in Unterföhring. Time to rest up and get ready for more adventures in the morning.