Traditions must be upheld, which is why our team once again swapped the office and laboratories for bike saddles this past May. This time, the traditional “OptiXs on Wheels” sporting event took us to the picturesque surroundings of the Jizera River.
Our journey began in Svijany, from where we set off along trails by the Jizera River through Turnov, Malá Skála, and Líšný all the way to Železný Brod. On the first day, our bike computers clocked just under 50 km. The May weather wasn’t exactly on our side this time, with temperatures hovering around 10–12 °C, but the cooler day was more than made up for by the great team spirit and the beautiful natural scenery. During our stop at Malá Skála, our colleagues who weren’t cycling also managed to successfully climb up to the Pantheon rock castle. In the early evening, we all met up in Turnov, where we also spent the night.
The highlight of the evening was a group dinner at the Na Lukách pub in Turnov. Three more colleagues joined the ten cyclists for the evening program, and with a full group of 13 people, we enjoyed a wonderful, informal evening. The fact that the best networking happens spontaneously was confirmed once again—in the restaurant, we happened to run into colleagues from the regional center TOPTEC. One thing led to another, and by the very next morning, an excursion had been arranged.
So the next day, we kicked things off with a great professional highlight. Our colleagues from TOPTEC gave us a tour of their state-of-the-art facilities, showed us their current experiments, and presented the projects they are currently working on. We would like to thank TOPTEC for their warm welcome and wonderful inspiration!
After visiting the laboratories, it was time for the athletic portion of the trip on the way back. A slightly shorter route awaited us through the Jizera Valley and then along the picturesque Příhrazské Rocks to Svijany, where we parked our cars; from there, after having lunch together, we headed back to Prague.
In total, we added about 80 kilometers to our company’s total, with just one mechanical breakdown. A huge thank you goes to our colleagues Saša and Mirek, who used the support vehicle to transport all luggage in the support vehicle, allowing us to travel light. Team spirit got a great boost, professional bonds unexpectedly strengthened, and we’re already looking forward to where we’ll head next!
