Czech Adventure Race 2013
Twice Across the Chřiby Mountains
Jan Smolik (Czech Adventure Race) / 23.08.2013
The first night of Wenger Czech Adventure Race was dedicated to trekking, at least for fast teams. The gap between fast and slow teams is rather large this year and it is very difficult to follow all the action.
At the 60 kilometer-long trekking stage ACE Adventure Team from Estonia has proven where their strength lies. They are rogainers and they had by far the fastest time on this stage. For a short time they managed to get into the lead. On arrival to the transition area they had two minutes advantage on the Salomon-Suunto/Nutrend team from the Czech Republic.
It is important to note there are two Salomon-Suunto teams on the Czech Adventure Race. It is important to distinguish them by second name behind the slash. Salomon-Suunto/Accom/Merida is the most successful Czech team during several last years. On the other hand Salomon-Suunto/Nutrend is in the lead.
The next biking stage lead teams back to the Morava River and once again teams had to bike over the Chřiby Mountains. While the stage was not that long, it was difficult and it took about six hours to complete and the climbing special task was located approximately in the middle of the stage. Teams had to climb eight routes, two per member. The routes were not difficult, but on the other hand demanded that competitors use some courage on some sections. The first eight teams however managed to climb all of the routes and avoid some difficult penalty loops.
The first five teams seemed to be fresh during the stage. Teams in sixth and seventh on the other hand looked tired. They had problems with blisters and with stomach ailments. The eighth team actually looked fresher. They told us they’d had 20 minutes of sleep and they were actually decreasing the gap.
The other side of the field looked very different. At the time teams in the sixth and seventh place (Wenger and Kompar) were leaving for the ride, Team Israel and all-girl Czech team Masakr were only leaving for the trekking stage. Their gap is huge and it is clear that they will have to miss some checkpoints. However both of them claimed they came to try the and they gain experience every hour, starting with simple things like route planning.
The end of the biking stage was again at the Morava River where there was another paddling section very similar to the first one. This one was figure eight shaped. Teams first went up through the Baťa Canal and returned to the transition area. From there they continued on Morava River and returned back through the canal.
Salomon-Suunto/Nutrend kept their lead during the paddling stage. They are riding on a wave. They keep asking about other teams, pushing hard in TAs, almost jealously watching every minute. The teams in places two to five (Czech teams Salomon-Suunto/Nutrend, Adidas, Estonian ACE and Russian Red-Fox) formed a big chasing group. They were within 30 minutes of each other and their positions kept changing. They are not losing much on the first team and the second night (the final night for first five teams) will be very interesting.
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