Chapels and Castles on Day One

Dejna Odvody / 25.08.2022

Day 1 of the Czech Adventure Race 2022 was all about running and paddling.  This was fortunate for the two US teams whose bikes were left at the airport, as they arrived at the end of the day, in time for the first bike stage.  

This year 22 teams arrived representing eight nations. Six teams came from Holland and at the start it seemed as if it was Dutch Championships!

The race began with a short orienteering stage. Teams received their maps after the start and many of them chose a way to the 1st CP which meant climbing over a locked gate!  After that they visited some special locations around the race HQ, including a look-out tower, 3 chapels and two natural springs. It was an entertaining start to the race.

After this stage teams ran down to the river, grabbed their canoes and went for a 33km paddle down the Ohre River.  The water level was low and teams had to drag their canoes from time to time, so it took them about 5 hours. One team got a canoe with a hole in it and had to bail out water until their canoe was replaced.

After the paddle the teams started a 45km trek in the hills, and this one featured 3 castle locations. The middle of the stage was spiced up with an abseil & rock climb, with penalty lap across the river and back for those who didn’t complete it.

At the end of the first day the lead teams are TEAM CZECH and EPO & HSK Benecko/Sport nás baví, but it’s a close race and other teams are not far behind.

The American teams V360 and V360-2 decided to skip the CPs on the first half of the trek, going from the canoe stage straight to the climbing.  As far as we know all teams are well at the end of day one.

Following the tradition of the race, all of the teams received route books which serve as a guidebook with information about the places they visit, and this is available to download on the race website.

You can follow teams through the live race tracking at https://adventurerace.cz and see pictures which are posted regularly on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CzechAdventureRace .

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