Stage 2 looms

The Tour de France might be up to its 15th stage already, but I start stage 2 of my trip around the Czech Republic this weekend.

View Stage 2 in a larger map

I’ll take the train up to Starkoč on Friday evening to take up where I left off, and then ride to Náchod, where I’ll spend the night. Over the following four days I’ll be cycling very approximately west, in and out of the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany, until I reach the town of Děčín on the Elbe on Tuesday evening. From there I plan to catch the train back to Prague. You can read about my planned route here.

As on the previous stage I’ll be reporting on my progress from my mobile phone. When I get back I’ll write an in-depth account of the whole stage day by day. The main difference this time is that I’ll be on my mountain bike rather than my road machine, because this stage contains quite a lot of off-road trails and has some pretty steep hills to boot.

I’ll be travelling through some touristy areas at the height of the summer season, so the next step is to book some accommodation in the towns I plan to stay in en route: Náchod, Trutnov, Szklarska Poręba (Poland) and Zittau (Germany).