Day 2 - July 10th - Stay in Decin, Usti nad Labem and Dubice

Wake up, shower, pack up and hit the road, that was my plan. I had breakfast at the Czech border. It was a 40km ride to Decin for the 10 am church service at the Evangelical Church. I made it just in time. As I entered the church, I was greeted by the congregation and took my seat. There were about 25 visitors in the medium-sized church. An elderly lady was very attentive and brought me a hymnal. The worship service was musically diverse with guitar, keyboard, and organ music. The sermon from the pulpit was given by a vicar in her middle years and lasted a little over 20 minutes. I understood very little. The worship service turned into a mini concert with the vicar, who was originally a musician, singing some more modern hymns accompanied by her keyboardist. Most of the visitors stayed for the post-church coffee gathering, and I was offered some homemade cake. I had a conversation with the local pastor, who knew some German, and we exchanged some interesting information. His Evangelical congregation consists of about 160 members, of which around 40-45 actively participate in the community life. But they feel like an absolute minority among the 50,000 residents of Decin. Unfortunately, there is no religious education in schools, so most residents rarely encounter religious content. The pastor has a small youth group, but there are very few children in the community and currently no offerings for them. The biggest challenge is keeping the worship community alive and staying in touch with the members. Then he excused himself because he still had to evaluate the sermon with the vicar.

Afterwards, I visited the synagogue in Usti, which is still largely in its original condition. Unfortunately, it was closed. It wasn't 'Shabbat' (Saturday). After that, I bought some lunch and cycled to Usti nad Labem to visit the Evangelical Apostle Peter Church, an Evangelical Hussite church. I encountered heavy headwinds along the way. Fortunately, it was quite cloudy. After another 35 km, I arrived in front of the church in Usti in the afternoon. But it was locked. I had notified the pastor of my visit by email, but there was no response. So I considered whether I should still ride to the Evangelical Church of St. Barbara in Dubice. It is only 12 km away, but there are about 300 meters of elevation to overcome as the church sits high on a rocky spur above the Elbe Valley and can only be reached via a steep country road. I rode back to the city center first. After about 1.5 hours at the train station cafe, I decided to ride to the small Evangelical village church in Dubice, hoping to find a suitable place to sleep nearby, even though my legs were already very tired from the 75 km against the headwind. The first 3 km in the urban area were still easy to cycle. Then came the steep road. I could still painfully ride uphill for the first kilometer, but then I could only push the heavy bike, which also required quite a bit of strength. Sweat was pouring down my back, my legs gradually turned into lead weights, and I had to take frequent short breaks because it was very strenuous. Meanwhile, my eyes enjoyed a beautiful and idyllic mountain landscape with beautiful meadows, magnificent views, and abandoned mountain villages. But the eyes don't provide any strength, so I had to continue pushing for the next 3-4 km, apart from shorter flat sections. From the last village before Dubice, the last 2 km were downhill again, and I rolled into the high plateau village at over 40 km/h - what a pleasure. Thanks to the easily visible tower, I quickly found the church on the outskirts of the village. Completely exhausted, I got off the bike shortly after 7 pm. Unfortunately, this church was also locked. According to the notice, there is only one worship service per month. There was also no parsonage. However, the church is scenically very exposed on a rocky plateau and offers a splendid view of the charming and romantic mountain valley. The Elbe rushes far down below. This is where the "Bohemian Gate" is located, a narrow spot in the Elbe. Perhaps that is why the church was built here about 500 years ago. After dinner with a view of the beautiful Elbe Valley, I set up my tent on a small meadow right next to the church in the now shining evening sun. The man from the inn across the street assured me that it was not a problem and did not bother him. Exhausted from this day, I crawled into my tent and looked at the bike computer, which I took off, showing 94 km for the day.