Day 10 - 61.4 miles (96.7km)

Nebocady to Melnik
Woke up to no rain for the tenth consecutive morning! That must be a record. On the road by 8 but neither body or mind seemed willing to rotate pedals. Lots of groaning and face pulling.
Since we have been in the Czech republic the river is no longer the Elbe but is now the Labe. Beautiful river valley for the first couple of hours but then widened into open plain towards Litomerice.
On entering Litomerice we had a sharp word from a stern Czech policeman. This was understandable as we were cycling the wrong way up a one way street straight towards his patrol car.
Lunch in the beautiful town square revived spirits. Little did we know what lay ahead.
The cycle path from Litomerice varied from pristine to ploughed field. Derek was less that chuffed to find himself bouncing through a pea crop. He is this very moment penning a letter to the Czech PM asking how recently he has personally cycled this particular stretch of the Elbe Radweg and whether he still has to sit on a soft cushion.
Immediately after this awful stretch I attempted to lighten the mood by asking what our next adventure could be. Dereks reply was far from positive but I nearly saw him smile when I suggested doing the Danube downstream by pedalo.
Our destination of Melnik eventually appeared ahead. This lovely town is situated high up on a hill above the river. After circumnavigating the town in search of the campsite we eventually had to cycle up the hill to the tourist information. The lady behind the counter told us in perfect English that we had to cycle back down the hill to the campsite. The added bonus however wasof seeing the lovely old town market square and from the castle observation post a remarkable view of the junction of the largest Czech rivers the Labe and the Vlatava. It is the Vlatava that we will follow into Prague tomorrow. Those who have been doing their sums will have realised that there has been method in our madness of cycling such huge distances over the previous two days. We now only have 60km to go which will give us the opportunity of a day and a halfs sightseeing in Prague.
Our present campsite is beautifully laid out and offers beer food and internet access at our tent. We love the Czech Republic.