Stumpy–packing
Beskydy, the mountains that form the eastern border of our country. They don’t have sharp, pointy peaks, but their hills are still steep and beautiful. We decided to ride them—north to south. About 100 km with 3,500 m of elevation gain awaited us. The tool for the job? The Specialized Stumpjumper.
We started late, with a delayed train to Návsí—the closest we could get by train to the northern edge of Beskydy.
The first climb, 19 km to reach the ridge trail, didn’t sound very appealing, but it wasn’t that bad. Once we gained some elevation, the views occupied my mind and I forgot about the effort.
Then the real hills began. We all dropped into the easiest gear, pedaled, sometimes pushed, sometimes hiked-a-bike. The descents were fun—flowy, sometimes steep, sometimes technical natural trails. I enjoyed every bit of going down. Climbing was fun too, but downhill was better.
As we ticked off more and more peaks, I realized I was falling even more in love with this bike. I never thought it would be such a fun experience—it just feels like the perfect tool for the job. I know it might sound silly, but I really enjoy this pure mountain biking experience, and I’m honestly surprised by how many proper mountains we have to ride here—not just trail centers and bike parks.
We arrived late at the top of the bike park in Bílá, where we planned to spend the night. The last descent through the bike park was fun, but my sore body was just barely hanging on.
It was a tough day, but everything about it was awesome. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow.
We woke up early. Yesterday had taught us that pedaling—or pushing—your bike uphill eats up a lot of time. So we set off around 9 o’clock, climbing back to the ridge trail and continuing our Stumpy-packing ride.
The first couple of climbs were properly steep, but the descents made up for it—they were so much fun. Then we hit the hill before Velký Javorník and I thought: what?! I had never seen such a steep hill. This one was definitely a push. It’s hard to see in photos, but OMG—it felt like climbing a wall with your bike. Velký Javorník was the highest point of our ride at 1,072 m.
From Velký Javorník to Kohútka it was pure joy—lots of flow, plenty of tiny side jumps, just a fun, natural trail.
My legs and butt were sore from the previous day, but the riding was too good to think about that.
Before the final descent, there were a couple more hilltops that had to be pedaled or pushed over. But the whole ride was simply awesome.
We finished at the southern border of Beskydy in the village of Horní Lideč, hopped on a train, and that was it.
Two days of Stumpy-packing were over. I already have a plan for the next adventure—and I can’t wait to ride it.
