Photos by; www.exmedio.plThis year’s Winter Raid Timex 360° came to an end some 60 hours from start ... but the winners appeared on the finish line in Koniaków much earlier; the fastest team – Polish Code 34 – covered the distance of 250 kms in just 27 hours and 20 minutes.<br />
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Why so early, you may ask... Well, it seemed to be tough battle from the very start to the end. Code 34 rushed ahead early – right after the 8 km foot-orienteering prologue, but they were not alone. At least two teams stayed very close to them: Polish team Lurbel Adventure and AlpinePro/Nutrend/Merida from the Czech Republic. Lurbel eased their pace after some 10 hours while the Czechs stayed in touch almost to the end. It was not about winning this competition only; the long course of Winter Raid Timex 360° was the first round of AREuroseries as well. And AlpinePro won this title in 2010 ...<br />
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But it was not that easy to grab a lead in this event. Polish mountains – Beskid Śląski, to be exact – are not the highest and the steepest ranges ever, but they’re tough enough to put someone into despair. Especially, if you’re not used to pushing your bike instead of riding on it, and riding downhill on the icy surface is not your favorite task. There were some trekking and cross-country ski stages as well. Skating was cancelled, as it would be bit too dangerous on a very thin ice. Even for the adventure racers …<br />
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And, let’s not forget about the Special Tasks. Some teams struggled trying to execute the ascending/descending and climbing, but it was a rare chance to get some warmed up at least. AlpinePro seemed to be faster on the first special task, but Code 34 maintained their lead after the orienteering stage. The gap between those teams increased to one hour before the last stage – 45 kilos of cross-country skiing. <br />
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Unfortunately, there was not enough snow to ski all the distance – which made things easier for the Polish side, who are better runners than skiers. The Czechs reduced the gap to 30 minutes by CP 23 – 12 km from the finish line. But Poles stepped up a gear and were fast enough to leave the last special task (a climbing section in an old quarry) just before their rivals arrived. It was only 3 kms from the finish line, so Code 34 started to celebrate their victory early. AlpinePro reached the finish line 50 minutes later.
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