After the meeting I want to do the last step, cycling home. Although my parents were at the meeting with the van I wanted to end the chapter of the journey by cycling. But during the meeting the weather has turned from summer temperatures to typical autumn conditions with cold temperatures and wind. Therefore and because traveling alone for several days again is not what I want I decide to try the whole trip at once. At about 10am after having said goodbye to many of the other recumbent cyclists and to good friends there I start the way to the north west. It is still windy but at least it's not a headwind. I cycle through Brno following the cycle paths number 1 and 4, just like Jirka described it to me. That works perfectly and I don't get any navigation problems although it's a big town. Before leaving it I still get myself some stuff for surviving the following about 330km. And then it's just pedalling. It's strange to look at the bicycle computer and think: "Oh, 100km. 1/4 is done already."On a cobbled road I notice a strange noise at the rear part of the bike. First I think it's one of the tools I have with me. So after reorganising the luggage at that place I think it's gone. At the next cobbled road the noise is there again. I begin to check the bike and yes, there's a screw that is almost falling off. And it's no screw less than the one that holds the brake... "Motivated" by this I check all the important screws at the bike but fortunately this one is the only loose one.
At around 130 kilometres I must have slept or something similar. Because suddenly I stand at an intersection with a big road that I should have crossed coming from the south. But instead of that I stand there coming from the north. According to the map I must have missed the first intersection with this really big road and have made a big bow of at least 10 kilometres. Later in a map service I see that the missed intersection is not an intersection but a bridge running over the road that I have taken. However, strange...
The weather isn't friendly today. It doesn't develop the wish to extend the trip but to go home. At least it's not raining. But all the day the sky is grey and it looks as if it was getting dark within the next half hour. At least it's not shocking when it really gets dark in the south of Chrudim. There it's a nice cycling, too. The hills are soft, mostly downhill as a big hilly region seems to be done already. And so it rolls quite well to Pardubice where it is really dark then already. On the main road running through the town bicycles are forbidden and I have to take the bicycle path next to the main road. This is not as safe as the main road at that time of the day but at least it's better than expected. As soon as the prohibition doesn't apply anymore I change back to the road again. The cycle path ends there anyway. Hradec Kralove stays next to my route and I take the route in the west of the town.Via my mobile phone I get the warning that I should cycle very, very carefully because of the traffic especially in the darkness. Well... after having left the bigger roads near Pardubice I almost don't see any car anymore. Deers and other more or less wild animals are the real danger if they run in front of the bike. Cats are the most common animals around me at that time.
Rather small roads lead me further to the north. Jičín is the next bigger town. From there I want to go to Jablonec nad Nisou which means that after around 300km I have to go through a very hilly landscape. At the road number 10 I get a feeling of psychic tiredness combined with a strange feeling in my stomach, maybe caused by not drinking enough. I stop, put the bike on the ground and myself next to it. It is cold and I know that staying there wouldn't be clever. So when I notice that my back becomes cold I stand up again. The short time of relaxing there on the ground has slightly improved the situation. I get back onto the bike and continue cycling uphill. Finally I reach Jablonec where the busy life of monday morning begins already. From there on it's almost only downhill, always following the river Nisa or Neiße as it is called in German. It runs smoothly downhill. Only the beginning rain in Hradek nad Nisou, a few kilometres before Zittau is not nice. Almost exactly at 6am I cross the border to Germany after having cycled through Poland for about 1-2 kilometres. Still a half hour and I'm at home. Finally, 21 hours and 393 kilometres after I left the camping site in Dubňany and around 3 weeks and more than 2500 kilometres after I left Groningen, my home for a half year.