Brdy is probably our favorite destination. It is not far from Prague and there are so many possibilities for a nice not crowded ride. This time we started from Rožmitál pod Třemšínem, a small town at the western edge of Brdy. If you never heard about Jakub Jan Ryba, it probably means that you did not ever participated at the Christmas midnight mass in any Czech church. Ryba was a local teacher and music composer in Rožmitál at the end of 18th century. From his more than 1200 musical compositions only one made it into the national fame – Česká mše vánoční (Czech Christmas Mass), which may be the most performed musical composition ever. As you start the ride from Rožmitál, you will be passing by the little graveyard at the point 2. It was the plague graveyard used for burying the victims of plague of 1771. Ryba was burried there because he committed suicide and therefore was not qualified for burial at the regular cemetery.
After going through Buková you will be entering the protected area Brdy, which was up to 2016 part of the military exercise area. Especially in the area called Padrť, you should not enter areas around the roads since they can contain some reminders of the explosive past. However the meadows around points 3 and 4 are now exploding only with flowers in the spring and summer. At point 3 you may contemplate the fate of twelve families which were in 1730 given a piece of land here in exchange for a promise that they will cultivate and take care of this area. And for 12 years they were exempted from paying any obligations or being forced to work for anybody – the involuntary work was cancelled only much later (1848) in Czech lands.
After that you will be riding through forests with the break in Míšov, where you can get refreshment in the friendly establishment at crossing the roadway 19. When the forest opens on the left with a long glade at point 6, look at the end of the meadow. During summer it is very likely that you will see an indian camp with several teepees. It is a summer camp organized there with permission of the local church, which owns that part of the forest.
At point 7 we followed the green tourist mark and realized that it was not a good idea, as the path was destroyed by forest machinery. So, we recommend to follow the suggested route to point 10, which seems to be more bike friendly. However, we did not ride that part, so we cannot be sure. From the point 10 you will be going basically downhill all the way to the finish.
https://en.mapy.cz/s/rahohujola 38.5 km, 570 m elevation gain, GPX file. To see this ride in context, check our interactive maps.
One thought on “Rožmitál pod Třemšínem”