Border Bashing
4 Days, 2 Brothers, and a Gravel Ride Across Bohemian Switzerland and the Ore Mountains
Words and photos by Tomas Franta and Jan Franta.
An annual ritual, zero training, 35°C heatwave, summer storms, and endless climbing. A story about how you don't need months of planning for a proper bikepacking adventure. Just pack a tarp, grab your bike, and get out there.
Intro
For several years now, my brother and I have kept a tradition. In the middle of the summer rush, we turn off our phones, escape the city, and take a few days just for ourselves. No complicated itinerary, just the two of us, our bikes, sleeping under the open sky, plenty of sweat, and raw nature. It's our annual brotherhood reset.
This year, we took inspiration from the route of the iconic Bohemian Border Bash race. We picked one of the stages and created our own DIY escape. Starting point: Děčín. Finish line: Karlovy Vary, crossing through Bohemian Switzerland and the Ore Mountains (Krušné hory).
The weather forecast for the coming days? A brutal heatwave topping 35 °C with evening thunderstorms. Our physical form? Our usual, we had both spent the entire year doing everything except cycling. All the better for a challenge.
Day 1 / 58 km
We wake up before dawn and catch the 5:46 AM train from Brno to Děčín. By the time we step off in the north, the morning air is already thick with heat. The first few kilometers roll alongside the Elbe River before we take the ferry across at Hřensko and start climbing towards Kemp U Ferdinanda in Srbská Kamenice.
Feeling a bit worn out from the long train ride, we watch the sun drop quickly toward the horizon. Barely as we set up our tarp, the weather radar flashes dark red, a massive thunderstorm is heading straight for us. Instead of hiding in camp, we hop on our bikes for a quick exploratory loop. The downpour catches us on the trail, demanding a strategic pit stop: a classic piece of Czech bikepacking gastronomy in the form of fried cheese at a local pub.
After the storm passes, the sky clears to reveal absolute magical evening light. We roll past old border pillboxes and bunkers, I pull out my camera, and we soak in our first true evening on the road. The Wahoo ticks over to 58 km. We call it an early night, tomorrow the real riding begins.
Day 2 / 89.2 km
Morning greets us with relentless heat. Today’s menu: riding through the entirety of Bohemian Switzerland National Park (České Švýcarsko). The landscape here is surreal, massive sandstone cliffs, deep forests, and steep climbs pushing past a 14% gradient that test our lowest gears and our willpower.
The scorching heat forces us to stop at every water source we find. The shade under the forest canopy offers relief, but once we descend back to the Elbe and begin climbing the foothills of the Ore Mountains, the terrain changes dramatically. Technical trails give way to long, endless asphalt climbs under the blazing sun.
We had planned to sleep in a trail shelter just beyond the legendary E55 highway. But when we finally arrive in the dark, exhausted, we discover a family with a small child already sleeping inside. Not wanting to wake them, we push further into the night. Eventually, we roll out our bivy mats directly in an open field under a brilliantly clear summer night.
Day 3 / 105 km
We wake up with empty stomachs, all our food supplies are gone. The first round of breakfast is as rustic as it gets: instant chicken ramen out of a camping stove. The second round, however, is well-earned after a grueling climb to the summit of Komáří hůrka. The view from the top makes every watt worth it, below us unfolds a surreal panorama: the contrast of the rugged Bohemian Central Mountains (České středohoří), the massive open-cast coal mine of Bílina, and Teplice nestled in between.
Descending into the town of Dubí to restock, we stumble upon a bizarre Vietnamese outlet store. The inventory? Plaster garden gnomes, windmills, cigarettes, and hard liquor. Amidst all the absurdity, we manage to find actual food and drink that's safe to consume.
The second half of the day is pure Ore Mountains gravel-endless alpine meadows, punchy climbs, fast descents, and undulating ridge riding. We grab our final resupply at a gas station and arrive at a wooden trail shelter just as the sun sets. This time, it's wide open. With 105 km of tough terrain in our legs, the feeling of satisfaction is unmatched. Tomorrow: Boží Dar and the final descent to Karlovy Vary!
Day 4 / 65 km
"Today's going to be a relaxed recovery ride, just a easy cruise to the finish," we tell ourselves in the morning. Our train home leaves Karlovy Vary at 5:00 PM, giving us plenty of time for 65 km.
Reality quickly proves us wrong. The trail winds through demanding forest terrain over rocks, roots, and waterlogged peat bogs. The navigation gives us a hard time and the kilometers tick by frustratingly slow. The final push up toward Oberwiesenthal and Boží Dar doesn't come easy either.
At Boží Dar, we treat ourselves to a proper lunch at a local restaurant before enjoying the real reward: a long, technical gravel descent into Jáchymov. From there, we join a beautiful rail trail built along a disused railway line connecting Jáchymov to Ostrov. In Ostrov, we stop for a well-deserved coffee and cream cake (špička) before a final road transfer into Karlovy Vary station.
Slow Down and Just Be
Four days on the bike, sunbaked shoulders, trail dust on our skin, and a mind clearer than it’s been in a long time.
At the end of the day, trips like this aren't about watts, average speeds, or how many kilometers you can log on your GPS. They are about slowing down. Turning off the constant rush, leaving the calendar unsynced, ignoring the clock, and refusing to hurry. It's about being present, breathing in the mountain air, and enjoying a few simple days in nature with people who matter most.
Thank you Bohemian Switzerland, thank you Ore Mountains. It was incredible, see you next year!
