Liberec

Dobry den.

We have just had a great weekend (well mostly great but I will come to that...) away in the North of the Czech Republic.  I really like this area - it is my favourite part of the Czech Republic.  We actually went up there as I was racing in Round 2 of the Cz mtb cup in a ski town called Bedrichov (another really nice area just out of Liberec).  Jase had Friday off work so we set off on Friday morning (with the usual McCafe stop along the way!).  Liberec is only 100 or so kms North and slightly East of Prague, up near the Polish and German borders. 

Our hotel in Liberec was interesting to say the least!  Never a great sign when you are the only guests.... !!  It was damn noisy as it was right by a busy road. In the middle of the night I even attempted to sleep on the floor near the door, but the wafting smell of stale cigarette smoke (from the owners downstairs who seemed to be the only people who used the restaurant!) soon put a stop to that!  The room was very dark, with only 3 out of 8 light bulbs working, the TV didn't go (not that we could watch it anyway), the pillows were the size of a small mattress, we ran out of toilet paper and had to buy more ourselves, and the toilet and sink were painted a funny shade of blue - the whole experience was quite amusing to say the least!  Then today when we went to pay, they told us the VISA terminal was not working since the hotel had recently closed down for several months so we had to pay in cash!  We had lots of laughs anyway, but not sure I would go back there!!!

On Friday afternoon we headed out to the course so I could pre-ride it.  I asked two of the officials where I was to register, and then told them I had made a mistake when entering online... without me telling them what the mistake was or who I was, they simply said "We know!  You have entered once as a Czech rider and once as a kiwi".  Luckily they laughed, but I had stuffed up their numbering/ranking system... oops! 

The mountain bike course was really bumpy with short steep pinches and rocky drops etc.  I was a little concerned at how my shoulder would cope with such a course as I have not ridden anything so bumpy since injuring it, and it is not yet strong.  Saturday's race proved that my shoulder is definitely not yet up to racing.  I think I have been lucky in the last 2 races (no drops and fairly smooth courses), but this course was a disaster for my shoulder.  It was getting worse and worse as I was riding and I was struggling to control the bike.  On the 2nd lap I punctured as I landed after coming over a large boulder (probably nearly the furthest point from the tech zone), and couldn't lift or push my bike after that as my shoulder was too sore.  Time to call it a day and have a break from racing until my shoulder is better....  grrrrrr!

Saturday afternoon we headed up to the transmitter and hotel on the top of Jested mountain (1012m).  The picture of the cone shaped building is the transmitter and hotel.  The views up there were amazing.  We went into the restaurant and had a drink and a snack and savoured the awesome view.  The mountain is popular for tramping and cycling in the summer, and skiing in the winter.  

After Jested we drove out to a small rock town in the 'Cesky Raj' (pronounced chess-ski-rye) region.  This area is amazing!  The region is dotted with massive rocks and castle ruins, and is probably the most impressive area I have seen since being in the Czech Republic.  The 'rock town' we visited was called 'Hruboskalske'/'Hruba Skala' (I think the 2nd name represents the rocks and the first is the town??).  See photos above - very cool. 

Jase is off to Switzerland next week for work, and Mum and I are off to walk the Cinque Terre in Italy.  We will meet Jase on Friday afternoon in Milan and then drive up to Domaso on the edge of lake Como for the weekend.  Should be fun!

Hope those aftershocks have eased off again in Chrischurch.... 

Take care

Jeanette.

Mum is here!

Dobry den
Mum has arrived in Europe!  We drove to Frankfurt on Tuesday night and picked her up first thing Wednesday morning, before trotting back to our hotel for a european buffet breakfast - yum!  German bacon is the best!  I made the most of it by loading up my plate a couple of times as usual.  Then it was back on the road for the 4-5 hour journey back to Prague.  It was Mum's first time on the German Autobahn - i.e., 160-200km/hr! 

We arrived back in Prague to a cold drizzly day - about 12 degrees.  Mum didn't listen to me when I said the weather is changeable and only brought 1 sweatshirt!  Luckily it has now warmed up again...
That afternoon we went for a walk in the local park - Divoka Sarka.  Don't worry Dad I am not killing her - we are limiting ourselves to 2-3 hours walking max. 

We have had a good week so far.  We have been into Prague a couple of times, and seen most of the sights - including the compulsory visit to the Hard Rock Cafe.  On Saturday we headed out to the nearby castles (Karlstejn and Krivoklat).  At Karlstejn Castle (picture above) Mum held the Owl!!  Jase took a few photos on Mum's camera, but I certainly wasn't getting too close to that huge bird (how can we be related?!). I am actually secretly quite proud that I was brave enough to get as close as I did (see photo taken by me above - we won't mention the zoom on the camera!!).   After Karlstejn we drove through the countryside to Krivoklat Castle.  Here Mum had a crack at hunting with a weapon (can't remember what it is called - sling shot arrow thing!!)... she managed to hit the pig a couple of times - Dad you would have been impressed!

Saturday night we headed out to the movies.  Jase was keen to see 'The Dictator'.  All I can say about it is.... not recommended!  None of us enjoyed it. 

We have now covered most of the park on foot.  Last Friday Mum and I caught the bus and tram to a place called Podbaba, where we started our walk of the length of Divoka Sarka.  We headed straight up the hill to the Monument called 'Baba' (see picture above), where there are great views out over part of the city and the Prague Castle (see picture).  Then we walked back home via the walking tracks in the park (see pictures), which took us about 2hrs 30.  Of course we had the customary stop at McCafe to finish with a hot chocolate and Americano!

This coming weekend (Fri-Sun) we are away to Liberec (just over an hour north-east of here near the Polish border).  Tomorrow I am considering a visit to the hairdressers... could be interesting with the language difficulties! - oh well, hair grows back!

Hope all is well back home
J

Prague Stairs Race

The Prague stairs mtb race - an annual event here - was on last night.  Wow!!  That is the most brutal race I have ever seen!!!  You basically don't get a rest because the descents are either bumpy cobbles or stairs (heaps of them!), and the climbs are steep cobbles.  One of the photos above gives you a bit of an idea of just how steep the climbs were.  Amazing! 

The race duration is 1hr - and it looks like 1hr of hell if you ask me!  There were no women racing - just elite men, including current World Champion from Cz, Jaroslav Kulhavy, and a former World Champion and top World cup rider from Spain, Jose Hermida.  Alot of the riders were lapped out, which is not surprising, with the top guys lapping in around 3 minutes. 

I went and watched the race with my Cz mtb friends, Ondrej and Michael.  I was quite interested to get an accurate idea of how tall Hermida is, as he looked very small but extremely powerful.  Then after the race I spotted my chance - a photo with the man for later comparison - yes that's right - I really do have no shame!!  As you can see he is not much taller than me, but Michael said the difference between us is all in the muscles!  He would eat me for breakfast!  More protein powder! 

Jase unfortunately missed watching the race as he has had to go to Poland for work.  It has been a busy last few weeks for Jase, so he will be looking forward to a weekend at home this weekend.  Last weekend we drove to Austria for a UCI Cat 1 mtb race.  I enjoy doing these races as it gives me an opportunity to race some of the top riders without having too much traffic on the course like at a world cup when there are 100+ girls on the start line.  Because I missed the Oceania Champs with my shoulder injury, I am down on points, so am always starting near the back of the grid.  These races are a good way of getting a few points.  I didn't have a great race this time.  The course was super tough, with a long steep climb that became more technical as it went up.  I finished 8th, and 12mins 52 down on the winner.  The girl who came third finished 5th at the last World cup, and the girl who came 4th is ranked 10th in the world at the moment (I looked these things up to try to make myself feel better!!), so I guess it wasn't too bad.  I want to get better though so will keep working hard!

On the way home from Austria, there was a crazy thunder storm.  The entire motorway came to a grinding halt due to the hail, and we managed to partially score shelter under an overbridge.  The hail stones were huge.  Jase was worried they were denting the roof of the car, and I was worried they were going to break the windscreen!  The temperature reading in the car dropped from 24 degrees to 7.5 degrees in the space of 5-10mins!! 

Yesterday Michael and I went for a road bike north of Prague, to a castle called Kokorin Castle.  It was pretty cool actually - a nice area.  On the way back, we biked past a huge inferno at a tiny railway station.  The building was blazing, and I expected it to blow at an stage!  Apparently the fire engine was on it's way.  We had to bike past it to continue back to Prague - it was quite freaky, as stuff was flying off the building and it was super hot as we biked past.  I live to tell the tale though!

Not much more to report for now - time to head up to the McCafe for my usual - standard Americano.  We were hoping to drive down south to Nove Mesto this weekend to watch the next round of the World cup and support the kiwis who are racing - but I think we will have to see how tired Jase is.  Next week we are off to Frankfurt on Tuesday to pick up Mum!!  Exciting stuff!

Hope all is well back home.

J

A weather improvement!!!!

Ahoj there
I just had to take some photos today of my local and favourite park (only 2 minutes bike ride from our apartment) - Divoka Sarka.  The weather has been fantastic the last couple of days.  On Tuesday I was biking in 11 degrees, and by Thursday temperatures had reached 26 degrees!!  Today is just as good, and this warm weather is forecast for another week yet. Bring it on I say!!

Today I went to the park and lay in the sun reading a trashy English magazine (thanks Sandy!).  At one point I glanced up, and spotted a man stark naked, in a stride stance facing the sun reading a book!!  What is it with Europeans and nakedity?!  In a city park???  Like in Zurich, I had no idea where to look, so put my nose back into the magazine!

Last weekend I did my first race in 8 weeks.  I loved being back racing, although it is quite funny being at an event where I can pretty much speak to nobody!  It was a bit of a mission registering, paying my entry fee, getting feed zone passes (there was a fair bit of miming on my part!), and finding out how many laps I actually had to ride.  Then the course was another challenge - there was a sign up above one technical descent that I couldn't read - but saw the word 'elite' and figured since I was in the elite women's grade, then that would be me.  It was very loose and steep to say the least, but I figured I would need to ride it in the race so set off down it on the practise day gritting my teeth and hoping to stay on my bike and not hurt my shoulder again.  What didn't help matters, was a man shouting "ne zeny! ne zeny" repeatedly as I rode down it.  I don't know much Czech at all, but I do know that 'ne' means 'no' and 'zeny' means 'woman'.  I successfully made it to the bottom though and looked at the man, who now just gave me a thumbs up and uttered the word "dobry" (good).  This left me a bit confused as to whether I was supposed to ride it or not, but I luckily came across another girl who spoke a little english, and she told me it was only for the men.

Race day was sunny and a rather mild 16 degrees.  I had an ok race - 8th out of 29 girls (1st, 2nd and 3rd were Slovakian, Polish and Ukrainian, then 4 Cz riders, then me).  It was a bit of a shock to the system racing when I had been off my mtb (apart from 4 rides) in 8 weeks, but it has given me a starting point that I can hopefully improve on.  Lots of fun anyway!

Not much more to report for now.  This weekend we will make the most of this weather - it is awesome!

Oh before I sign off I do have something exciting to report!  The McDonalds up the road at the entrance to the park has just opened a McCafe!!  Too awesome for words really - I love a good hot, large, strong coffee - and I have to say McCafe meets all my requirements!  And it is now pretty much on my doorstep - things really are looking up!

Hope you all enjoyed Anzac day.
Bye for now
J

Cesky Krumlov

Dobry den.  We have had a busy couple of weeks over here.  On Sunday Jase's Aunty, Uncle and cousin (Sandy, Brian and Wills) flew over from London to stay with us for 4 nights.  Unfortunately the weather didn't play ball on Sunday and Monday but the rest of the week was pretty good.  On Sunday we took them to see the local castles (Karlstejn, and Krivoklat), followed of course by dinner at Fabianos.  On Monday Jase went to work, and the rest of us set off into Prague after a late start (with runs, bike rides etc).  It was a pretty damp dreary day, but we got most of the sights in, and also a 2hr stop at Costa Coffee!  Jase came and met us after work, and it was dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe (whereby Brian now owes me a trip to Hawaii for correctly predicting the next song and singer!). 

Mid morning on Tuesday (thanks to me holding everyone up with my training!) we all (including Jase who took a couple of days off work) headed down to a cool little place that Sandy had booked in the south near the Austrian border, called Cesky Krumlov.  It was an awesome wee town (all the photos above are taken in the town), and it is now a World Heritage sight.  Boy was it chilly down there though!  We had a good look around the town on both days, went up the tower, into the castle, etc etc.  Our sightseeing was regularly interspersed with food and coffee stops - often just to warm up inside!  I have to say I had the best steak I have had since being here in Cesky Krumlov - I now ask for 'well done' and it seems to come out just as I like it - medium!  I would hate to think what I would get if I asked for rare - probably a slice straight from the cow!

Yesterday Jase went back to work, and the rest of us headed back into Prague for a day of sightseeing in the dry.  Much more pleasant!  Another long stop at Costa Coffee, much to my liking!  While there I had a chat to 2 kiwi women (there aren't many of us kiwi's in these parts so it was pretty exciting) - they had been here for 5 days and were off to Budapest today.  They couldn't believe how great the Cz coffee was - I didn't have the heart to tell them Costa is from the UK!  (well I think it is anyway). 

Brian, Sandy and Wills flew back to London last night so things are a little quiet around here today!  I have been busy cleaning my bike and getting ready to leave for Teplice (90mins North of here by the German border), where I am going to do my first mtb race in a good 8 weeks!  The fracture will have healed now, but the rotator cuff tear still causes me a bit of grief.  Good enough to race though with it strapped up, and I will just take things somewhat conservatively on the technical sections. 

Last week I joined two Cz guys (both mtb marathon racers) for a mtb in the park near us.  It was great fun, and they sure pushed me along, so hopefully they will speed me up!  They speak really good English and are both really nice (have to say that as Michael reads this!!!) - good to also see a male who is slower at changing a tube than me!!

Well that is all for now.  I couldn't be bothered trying to sort the photos neatly side by side (and lets face it, I still don't really know how to!).  I can't get too tricky anyway - I have already outdone myself with this fancy centering!!

Hope you are all well

Jeanette

Easter in Berlin

Guten Tag!  We spent a very chilly Easter in Berlin.  Jase had been there several times for trade shows with work, but I had never been there before.  We were tossing up on whether to go to Vienna or Berlin for Easter, but given the weather forecast was pretty grim everywhere, there was no 'warmer option', so we opted for Berlin.  We had a great time, and it is a really interesting city to visit.  We stayed right in the centre of Berlin, so everything was pretty much in walking distance.  On the first day we were there it snowed!  Man it was cold!  In fact, I don't know if I have ever been colder - you will see from the photos that I was dressed as if I was heading to the ski slopes!  It was freezing!  Jase was in Berlin in February, and said it was -10 to -15, so this weekend was actually quite an improvement at 3 degrees!  It was the wind that was the killer!

Some of the photos above show parts of the Berlin wall that have been preserved.  One section of this had a huge memorial timeline of all the historical facts regarding Hitler, the war, the Olympics in Berlin, the Holocaust, etc etc.  Was really interesting.  The photo of me in front of a whole lot of concrete blocks is the Jewish Memorial.  There is also a photo of 'Trabi-world'.  Trabants are plastic cars that East Germans had to pay for in advance, and wait in some cases up to 10 years to get!  Then the wall came down, and they could buy what ever they wanted - and some had only just received their Trabants - gutted!  Jase said they are 600cc's - man that is worse than my justy!! 

We also went to the Berlin Zoo.  Neither of us had been to a zoo for years, and since it is the oldest zoo in the world (created in 1844), we thought we should go and pay a visit.  Saw the lions and tigers being fed which was pretty cool, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for them all caged up.  I also enjoyed the monkeys - especially the chimps!

Our hotel had a buffet breakfast - yum yum yum is all I can say to that!  The Germans sure know how to put on a huge spread, and they do the best bacon in the world if you ask me.  It was so delicious that I arrived back to the table (much to Jason's amusement) with an entire dinner plate full of bacon!  Not exactly healthy, but I didn't know when I would get to eat bacon this delicious again!  In hindsight, it was a bit much - so the next morning I was a bit more conservative, only half fulling the dinner plate...

We drove back to Prague on Monday afternoon, and then Jase and I went for a mtb in Divoka Sarka park.  I showed Jase some new tracks and took him down to the monument that overlooks the city - great views... I will have to remember my camera one day, and take some shots while I am down there.  I am going riding with a group of Cz mtb marathon racers in the park this week, so it will be fun to ride with some locals and learn where all of the tracks are.  My shoulder is improving as I strengthen it, but I will just take things carefully as it still doesn't really like the bumps too much.

Well I hope you all had a great Easter - I hear the weather was fantastic.  I soooooooo hope it warms up here soon - I think I have become a bit soft in the cold!

Jeanette 

Photos at last!!

Zurich

Zurich

Karlstejn Castle

Karlovy Vary

Karlovy Vary from lookout point

Zurich

Ok - so I managed to get the photos on there at least!  Still can't seem to figure out how you line them up properly!!

We went up north to a place called Karlovy Vary last weekend.  It was absolutely freezing and even snowed on Saturday night!!  It is a crazy sort of a place - very popular with Russians, and the entire place is based on "wellness".  It reminded me a little of Lourdes - people drinking the "healing water" (although this time the water is hot and straight from a hot spring).  I can't say I was even tempted to 'speed my shoulder along' as I don't really believe a mouthful of water will cure anything other than mild dehydration!! 

Jase and I thought we would give this pampering thing a go, so each had a full body massage!  It was great - other than when the woman took it upon herself to try to fix my shoulder!  I put a stop to that!  The next day we took a cable car ride up to a lookout point - there appeared to be good biking tracks up there, and there were great views - but sadly it was far too cold, so we ventured into the restaurant up there for hot coffee!

This weekend is easter.  The Czechs don't have Good Friday off, but have the Easter Monday, so Jase and I may head off somewhere for the weekend.  The weather isn't supposed to be great, so I am making the most of getting out on my bike this week.  In fact I have started mtbing again!  Stoked!  My shoulder is coping pretty well, and today I even managed some slightly technical tracks without too much pain.  I love being back in Divoka Sarka park.  It is awesome - so close to the city, but you don't even feel like you are in a city when riding in there. 

I am also pleased to report that I have found some GF pastries!!!  YUM!!!  Not sure if it is a good thing or not, but man I have missed pastry!  Also today, I decided I would try having coffee at the local (aka Fabiano's - or Fabian's as we refer to it, based on Jase's hero).  I asked the guy for a very large black coffee using several adjectives for the word 'big'....ie large, grande, Americano, tall.  He definitely got the idea that I wanted a big coffee, because he came back with a decent sized cup and asked me if it was big enough!  I was very happy with my strong, piping hot, big coffee - so sat there very content in the sun, having spent several hours on my mtb, drinking my coffee whilst reading an article on the man himself - Fabian Cancellara!  If only my legs would work like his!  Jase is somewhat in mourning after the big man has broken his collar bone in 4 places though - nasty!

Have a good Easter everyone!
We are 10hrs behind you in NZ now.
Jeanette