Back on the Road: Round Two Starts in the Czech Republic

Not a clean travel report, more of a journal. After four weeks off the bike — festival, family and friends in the northeast — I'm back in the van heading for the Alps, for the next four or five weeks. First stop: Trail Park Klínovec in the Czech Republic, an old final boss and the question of how much better you get in a year.

I'm back on the road. After four weeks of mountain downtime — festival, family and friends in the northeast of Germany — it's back towards the Alps. Four, maybe five weeks in the van lie ahead, a few trails I missed in June, and some bike areas I want to check out for the first time. It feels good to be rolling again. It's exactly the feeling I love most about van life: the tank is full, the calendar is empty, and the mountain is waiting.

Klínovec: The Stopover from the North

First stop was Klínovec in the Czech Republic, in the Ore Mountains right on the border. I'd been here once before, last year — and honestly, that was the very first lift-served bike park of my life. I liked it, and now I wanted to know how my skills had changed after putting a fair few deep metres behind me since then.

The first thing you notice in the Czech Republic is the prices. It starts with fuel — diesel is much cheaper than back home. In Germany I'd filled up at €2.20 a litre, in the Czech Republic it was €1.50. And in the evening the full programme: we ate in the nearby town, pork knuckle with sauerkraut for me, one or two proper Pilsner Urquells, ice cream with hot raspberries for dessert. Total: €14. That makes a holiday rather more fun than the €20 Kaiserschmarrn in a hut in Saalbach. You don't have to eat out every night — but with food like this you're happy to.

Alex, the Trails and an Old Final Boss

I met up with my friend Alex from Hamburg. To warm up we rode the Azur, the endlessly long blue float trail that genuinely suits the whole family — until we turned off halfway because it got too boring for us. Then Rubin twice, which is real fun: small jumps, fast berms, loads of grip, forest one moment, open the next. The most fun of all was Baron — also fast, a few jumps in it, but rough from the second half on with rock gardens. Ride it all the way through and you'll need strength in your forearms and wrists.

And then the Illegal. That was my final boss last year. A jump line has since been added at the entrance that I honestly still don't dare hit — a few gaps outside my comfort zone. I need to get a coach at some point and follow their wheel so I can judge the speeds properly. But then the entry into the forest, and it's on immediately: steep, rooty, blocky, rocky, and it stays that way the whole way. Several really steep sections to roll down where you have to let off the brakes, otherwise you go over the bars. This time I got down cleanly — over the spots where I still failed last year. It was even genuinely fun: technical, blocky, just minimally outside the comfort zone so you still dare, but you're well challenged. Exactly my thing.

To finish, another two runs of Baron, and by the end there were 55 kilometres and over 3,000 vertical metres of descent on the clock — not bad for half a bike-park day. Anyone who wants the trails in detail will find it all in the Klínovec Trail Guide.

Peak Season, and Still Room

One thing I want to note down specifically: I was there on Saturday, 18 July — right in the middle of the absolute peak holiday season, on a weekend. And it wasn't crowded. Always a bit going on, sure, but you never had to wait longer than three or four chairs. On the trails too there was congestion only very rarely. Especially on the more demanding lines, most riders already have a good level and a certain base speed, so you barely catch up to anyone. That's really pleasant — especially compared to some parks in Austria, where weekends in peak season can genuinely get packed.

Sleeping with a Mountain View

We stayed the night right at the park. There are two options: down at the base station in the big car park, where most people are and where you're allowed to stay in the upper part for a small fee, with toilets and showers — or a little higher up on a plateau, by an old building with a large antenna tower. In atmosphere it reminded us of the old NATO base in Finale Ligure — not in architecture at all, but in mood. We stood right on the edge, a clear view across the valley and over the mountains, facing west. Which means: a beautiful, blood-red sunset thrown in for free.

A Sprained Thumb and a Bit of Culture

Right next door there's another bike park we'd actually meant to check out too. But Alex had sprained his thumb on the Illegal, so we left it for the day and made a detour to Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) instead — a bit of culture. There was time for the Becherovka Museum, not quite enough for the thermal baths, but that's fine now and then. The same day I moved on to the next Gravity Card park in the Czech Republic, Špičák. More on that in the next entry.

What Lies Ahead

The plan for the coming weeks is deliberately open — but a few destinations are set.

Lenzerheide for sure. Last time the highest lift wasn't open yet, so I'm still missing The Dark Side of the Moon and the long trail down to Arosa. There are still a few runs waiting for me in Flims, too.

Livigno / Mottolino is right at the top of the list. The park only opened at the end of June and was still closed on my last trip. We'll see how the weather plays along.

And after that? Maybe South Tyrol — Paganella, Kronplatz — or I'll stay a bit longer in Switzerland and Austria. That's the whole point of the thing: the van goes where the weather and the mood point.

Round two has begun, and the Czech opener was exactly right: cheap, relaxed, an old final boss beaten and a blood-red sunset to close. Klínovec isn't an area you travel to specially — but as a first stop from the north, warming up before the big Alpine areas, it's hard to beat. Now it's onward, towards the mountains.

Written on the road, mid-July 2026. Setup for the curious: Amflow PL e-enduro, 170 mm, Öhlins RFX 38, EXT Coil, Continental Kryptotal. Van over hotel, always.