My original intention had been to take the most direct route and head north from Heidelberg through Germany and into Poland, but after stumbling across some photos of the Czech countryside I knew I had to go. Looking at the map I noticed I would be passing close to Bayreuth, the home of Wagner and the Bayreuth Festival. I left Greg's around 11:00 after having finally finished the last paper of my college career that very morning. My route took on small back roads through the Old Forest east of Heidelberg. Fortunately the rain that was threatening held off and this was a great ride through a beautiful landscape of forests, small mountains, and farms. After passing through it I continued on to Bayreuth. Bayreuth is an attractive city, with lots of old architecture and a large student population. Wagner's house and grave was a bit of a let down though, I later found this article from the New York Times: (link)
Wagner's house and grave:
Greg had conveniently recommended a pension near Bayreuth run by a German friend named Stefan and had sent them an email to let them know I was coming. Stefan and his family were great hosts, his wife Carmen is a professional, and apparently excellent chef, but unfortunately she was unable to cook that night and I wasn't able to sample any Bavarian specialties. I did, however, have an interesting conversation over pizza and beers with Stefan who was able to talk despite a broken jaw that came about from a seed in a piece of bread!
After an excellent night's sleep I left Stefan's under gray skies and a few hours later crossed into western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. I've always been interested in this area because of the music of Dvorak, one of my favorite composers. Dvorak was born in a small village outside of Prague in Bohemia, and many of his compositions were inspired by traditional Czech folk music from Bohemia and Moravia. The Czech countryside definitely did not disappoint and I would have liked to have more time to explore. 
My route took me south on small roads through Sumava National Park, a beautiful region of forests and rivers. Judging by the enormous amount of people I saw cycling, hiking, and kayaking the park is a very popular tourist destination for Czechs. The gray skies continued all day and it was so chilly I put on my heated jacket liner! This is a great investment I think, amazing piece of gear - at 1/3 heat I was toasty warm. I imagine full heat would give you second degree burns! I stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch and was handed a menu Czech and German, not being able to read either I attempted to ask the waitress who spoke very little English for a suggestion. She did manage to catch the words “typical” and “Czech” though and soon brought me back a plate of cabbage, potato dumplings, and some type of barely edible and incredibly salty meat. Having little choice I dug in and finished everything except the cabbage of which I only managed a few forkfuls.
After this rather less than satisfying meal I continued on to Tabor. A small city with a beautiful old town centered around a square. Another popular destination for Czech tourists, tried several pensions and they were all full. Fortunately a waiter at a restaurant recommended a pension right off the main square. There was no reception so I used the payphone to call the number on the door and Olga, who owns it, came right over from her house around the corner and offered me a nice room for less than 20 euro. She also offered to let me park in her garage while recounting how she used to listen to the Voice of America when she was a student and the Communists were in power.
After the barely platable lunch and long ride I was famished and set off to find dinner. Not willing to risk Czech food again I decided to try an Indian restaurant on the main square. Having ate at various Indian restaurants in France I knew that Europeans generally have a low tolerance for spicy food, so I asked the waiter to prepare my thali spicy, and then to be sure, I added “extra spicy.” He gave me a questioning look and repeated “extra spicy?” Sure enough it came back spicy, but entirely edible and was actually quite good, much better than a lot of the Indian food I've had in New York. Going inside to pay the bill they laughingly asked me if it was not too spicy, they definitely thought they were going to get me! I explained to them I eat Indian food often in New York and have started to love spicy food (thanks Raj!) Turns out the Indians were not Indians at all, they were from Nepal, but I guess a Nepalese restaurant doesn't sell.
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