A Bike Tour In Your Own Backyard

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Jace Gifford

We sometimes dream of far away places, epic climbs and gorgeous sweeping descents. We dream of the mythical routes of the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta. Sometimes though, we have to look no further than our own “backyards” to find beautiful riding. A local bike tour, if you will.

I’m fortunate to spend most of my summers on the road, experiencing first-hand the gorgeous routes we visit with In Situ’s bike tours in Europe. But when I’m off of trip, I’ve to look no further than the rolling hills, dense forests and rocky outcrops that are so nearby.

I’m speaking of the fantastic riding that exists on both sides of the border with Germany and the Czech Republic. Both the Czechs and the Germans claim this gorgeous region as their own local “Switzerland”. The Germans call it the Sächsische Schweiz and the Czechs, České Švýcarsko‎, meaning Saxony Switzerland and Czech Switzerland, respectively.

I realize my luck in calling this my “backyard”, but it reminds me that we don’t often have to look as far as we think to find amazing riding. We can make our own bike tours, right in our own neighborhoods.

The Elbe river near the border between Bohemia (the Czech Republic) and Saxony (Germany) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The village Hřensko at the river Kamenice in the North of the Czech Republic. Polski: Wieś Hřensko nad rzeką Kamenicą w północnych Czechach szl: Wjeś Hřensko (Herrnskretschen) nad rzykům Kamenice, we Czeskij Republice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)