The title of this stop is a mountain range far to the north, but you are in the rolling farmland of central Bohemia, east of Prague, around the small town of Kouřim. The Krkonoše, the Giant Mountains on the Polish border, lie more than a hundred kilometres away, and this is the quiet, gentle country you cross on the way home. The land is a mixture of fields, orchards and woodland, with long views across the plain and the occasional church spire.
Kouřim itself has an unusual claim. On a hill above the town stands an early medieval hillfort, a great ring of earth ramparts that was one of the main centres of the Slavic tribes before Prague rose to dominance, and it was still important in the tenth century. Below it, the town keeps a market square and a Gothic church with a high tower. A short walk from the centre is a skansen, an open-air museum of village buildings, with wooden cottages, barns and a windmill brought from villages across central Bohemia, so that you can walk through the countryside of a century ago.
The surrounding region is a patchwork of agriculture and forest, with a mild climate and fertile soil, and the villages are quiet. Near Kostelec nad Černými Lesy, the forests belong to a school forest used for teaching and research, and old oak and beech trees stand beside the paths. In spring the orchards blossom, and in late summer the combine harvesters work the cereal fields from dawn to dark.
For a rider finishing a long day, this is an easy landing. The roads are flat or gently rolling, with moderate traffic and a good surface, and the villages are so close together that you drop speed limits every few minutes. Speed cameras and police checks are common in Czech towns, so keep an eye on signs. Český Brod, about thirteen kilometres away, has fuel, shops and cafes, and Kostelec nad Černými Lesy has a few small places to eat. Try a plate of svíčková, beef in cream sauce with dumplings, and a glass of local beer, and be in Prague by dark.