LESS RIDDEN ROADS OF MORAVIAN KARST

Moravian Karst is a karst landscape and protected nature reserve to the north of Brno in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. Area of roughly 95km² with geological features like 1,100 caverns and pretty deep gorges.

"Where the paved roads don't go."

The unique geography and microclimates in the southern Moravia area create a cooler riding environment during peak heat in the summer. In autumn, I spend most of my time on a cyclocross bike. It’s a popular time of year, so it’s perfect for exploring lesser trafficked routes, places where the paved roads don't go. It’s definitely the most beautiful part of the year to ride.

Today, it’s a classic autumn day in the karst. I'm up early, my son always gets up before the day officially starts, so it’s normal for me to get up ahead of the sunrise. The weather is clear and the temperature is going to rise from a crisp 5º Celsius to a more comfortable 15º. With the lurking mist in the valley beginning to disappear, it’s going to be a day to treasure before winter officially kicks in.

Josef - a guy I love to ride with, especially when the ride turns into less ridden non-paved roads and the weather is just perfect! The ride started pretty easy from the city of Adamov and slowly started to climb to the nature reserve of Karst. The roads twist above the valley like a snake and lead us directly into the heart of Moravian Karst - to The Punkva River. The roads begin to change to gravel and proceed to change from gravel to trails with a lot of challenging terrain of rocks and roots.

After crossing two valleys, we got into deep gorges and the temperature dropped to 7º (yeah, we call this place “Icebox of Moravian Karst”) from which we ascended with bikes on our shoulder to the viewpoint of the Macocha Abyss – the sinkhole is about 140 meters deep, which makes it the deepest of its kind - light hole type in Central Europe.

From this place, we slowly rode down the hill and headed for the second gorge that directed us back to Adamov. It was a beautiful day out with plenty of memories and the basic reasons – WHY WE RIDE.

Our ride ended with 83km and 900m of climbing (90 % of gravel roads 10 % paved roads and trails).