Wobbling Winos: Day 7. Cycling from Kadan to Loket mostly along the Ohre River.

Day 7. Kadan to Loket. 77km, 5h40.

We picked up Route 6 on the Ohre River just below the Kadan Castle. We spent a while trying to sort out my gear system again, but only with marginal success. Today we found out that rivers flow downhill and we were cycling upstream. Initially we were on a paved track through forests along a reservoir on the river until Klasterec. Here the route turned away from the river and we burnt off the excellent scrambled eggs and ham we had for breakfast.

Back on the river at Straz nad Ohri the gps and Route 6 on the map had a disagreement. Initially we followed the gps instructions for a km but decided there were too many trucks so backtracked. Route 6 rapidly deteriorated to muddy single-track, so we opted for the trucks. After a 4 km climb, we turned off onto an excellent winding road through the forests to Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary). The clouds were building all morning and about 10 km before Carlsbad we had a rapid stop to haul out the rain gear.

Carlsbad is the most famous and largest of many spa or hot spring towns in the Czech Republic and had been frequented by the nobility of Europe for centuries. It is magnificently preserved with very elegant Neo-classical architecture, mostly from the late 1800s.

As we arrived in Carlsbad we fortuitously found a cycle shop where the young mechanic was happy to sort out my gears. In seems that the dérailleur was bent - probably happened on the flight here. Oh for a Rohloff hub! In no time he straightened and rehung the dérailleur, tensioned the chain and reset the gears. What a difference!

After the heavy downpour we realized that Route 6 to Loket would be very muddy and slippery. The gps directed us along an alternative large, quite busy road, but at least there was a shoulder for the long ascent out of Carlsbad.

Loket is a small old village situated on a tall hill surrounded by the Ohre River on three sides. A beautiful site and charming village. There is a 12th century Gothic castle at the top of the granite rock, which was often used by Emperor Charles IV. We found an old brewery at the town wall where we enjoyed a very tasty lager. Pork and chips for supper outside on the town square (a long thin square) surrounded by locals doing their bit to keep their country at the top of the beer drinking and smoking statistics. While Czech has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world, it is struggling to get into the top ten for smoking (the Balkan countries, Ukraine and Russia head the list), but it is not for lack of trying. Your BAT shares are safe.

Track along the river from Louny