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No-one avoids swimming...

Jan Smolik / 23.08.2010

The last stage of Czech Adventure Race was the longest one. There was 190 kilometers of biking plus an orienteering section. Although the days are still relatively warm it was almost freezing when the first teams were leaving the TA at midnight. Some competitors were still shivering from the swimming - the penalty for failing the climbing challenge. It was cold on the bikes and teams were just two hours from probably worst part of the race the orienteering section, which had seven of ten CPs located in the water!

What was fun for slower teams that arrived to the mine in daylight, where the section was being held, was a horrible experience for those who arrived earlier in darkness. Jarda of lead team AlpinePro/Nutrend/Merida was talking about this section 12 hours ahead as he is not good with cold. With cards attached to their wrists all competitors had to swim. But they managed to cope, “Actually it was good because we lost any need to sleep. During most of second night we were swimming every couple of minutes, so we were wide awake. We did no sleep at all,� explained Jarda Krajnik at the finish.

The rest of the stage was mainly on tarmac roads. The only exception was the climb to Blanik hill, famous from Czech legend. Although they had a comfortable lead, AlpinePro pushed hard and after a little under 55 hours of racing they arrived at the finish line. They looked fresh like it had been a stroll in the afternoon for them. After racing at world champs in Portugal and Bergson Winter Challenge, maybe it was?

The fight for second place however was now unexpectedly, dramatic.

During the orienteering section and first part of bike section, Husky started to close the gap on Kompar XStream. They were only 35 minutes behind them and threatening to beat them on the run into from last CP to the finish. A distance of over 55 km offering many options for route choice. But XStream managed to speed up and finished second. “We thought we still had plenty of time until suddenly we didn’t,� they commented. “When we saw Husky as we descended from Blanik, we kicked it.�. Husky finally finished third a little over an hour behind Kompar.

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