North of Prague the land flattens out and opens, and this point lies in the middle of that wide plain, right beside Neratovice on the river Elbe, which Czechs call the Labe. The Vltava joins the Elbe a few kilometres to the north at Mělník, so by the time you reach this spot you are riding through the heart of the Elbe lowlands, a broad, fertile basin where the soil is sandy and the fields are given over to vegetables and grain. It is a long way from the sandstone gorges of Bohemian Switzerland that the name suggests.
Neratovice is a town of sixteen thousand, known for its chemical works, which dominate the skyline with pipes and chimneys. During the great floods of August 2002 the river swamped the plant and the town, causing a chlorine leak that became one of the more dramatic episodes of that disaster. The river has been calm since, but the memory lingers, and the levees you ride along now are newer and higher.
The riding here is flat and fast, with long straights, gentle bends and few surprises. It is not a place for corners, but it is a good place to cover distance, especially on a clear morning when the light is clean. A headwind can wear you down, so pick your direction accordingly, and watch for slow farm machinery and cyclists on the many riverside routes. The villages around, Libiš and Tišice among them, are small and straightforward, and the old road bridges across the water are worth a look.
Fuel is no problem, since Neratovice is big enough to have several filling stations and supermarkets, and there is the usual run of cafés and bakeries in the centre. If you want a break, the riverbank is an easy place to pull off and watch the barges and the herons. This is a plain, honest, working landscape, and it pays off more with each visit, once you have stopped expecting drama.