How to Ride at 25 mph after 800 Miles

by Hana Ebertova

Round Czech Republic qualifier for RAAM. From Trinec (in the east) to Skalna (in the west) and back.

The fifth edition of the increasingly popular bicycle race Round the Czech Republic (RCR) started in Bystrice in the eastern part of the Czech Republic ( August 2nd to 5th ). The distance to be covered on two wheels was 820 miles with 37,500 feet of climbing. The route looped around the Czech Republic, running counterclockwise. After the start, the cyclists headed westwards, the Skritek (goblin in Czech) and the Cervenovodske passes were the first serious challenges. After these climbs, the cyclists went through the towns of Jicin, Mlada Boleslav, Melnik, Zatec, Louny, and Kadan to Skalna, the turning point of the race, approximately midway to the finish. At Skalna, food, showers, and a place to sleep in were ready for those who opted to get some well deserved rest. The best cyclists, however, did not stop. The second half of the race went through Cheb, Plana, Stribro, Milevsko, Tabor, Moravske Budejovice, Znojmo, Breclav, Uhersky Brod, Vsetin, over the last punishing climb, Bumbalka, and then through Frydek Mistek, and Trinec to the finish in Bystrice.

A total of 11 ultramarathon cyclists, including one woman, lined up at the start of the race. Here is the start list:
Jutta Kuffer (Sui)
Petr Hrubes (Cze)
Martin Stancik (Cze)
Roman Jurecka (Cze)
Stephan Schulze Ger)
Jiri Legerski (Cze)
Juraj Teplan (Sk)
Patrik Bartik (Cze)
Lutz Nestler (Ger)
Martin Kerekes (Sk)
Josef Trchalik (Cze)

For safety reasons, the start was staggered at three-minute intervals. The first cyclist to start was the only woman in the field, Jutta Kuffer from Switzerland. The last cyclist to start was the defending champion Josef Trchalik from the Czech Republic.

In the first half of the race, the cyclists battled headwinds and rode through several showers. The headwinds slowed down the cyclists, so they arrived at Skalna by approximately two hours later than last year. Fortunately, the weather was otherwise fine and warm, and this positively affected the number of finishers.

Martin Kerekes, one of the favorites and the eventual winner, had a slow start, and at one point he was riding as low as in the sixth position. However, he formidably overcame his problems and at the race midpoint at Skalna he was already in the lead. To the contrary, another favorite, Patrik Bartik, had a speedy start but by the race midpoint he had lost his advantage and was trailing the race leader by several hours. Two riders did not reach the race midpoint, Juraj Teplan and a multiple RCR finisher, Lutz Nestler. Juraj, after a promising first half of the race, had to abandon due to stomach problems. Lutz had to abandon because of muscle problems. The second half of the race proved to be too difficult for Stephan Schulz who had to abandon at mile 456.

Typically, the race starts in earnest after the midpoint at Skalna when the cyclists start coping with a second consecutive sleepless night and a challenging hilly terrain. Matin Kerekes, after riding into the lead of the race, kept performing solidly and rode to a well-deserved victory. He admitted, though, that it had cost him lots of energy and that he arrived at the finish completely exhausted.

Patrik Bartik, despite his heavy time losses, did not lose his fighting spirit, and in the second half of the race showed an inspiring ride, overtaking all his competitors but one, the winner. In the process, he reduced his time gap to the winner by four hours. Finally, he crowned his performance by riding the last 45 minutes at 25 mph!

The defending champion, Josef Trchalik, who did not ride this year with his usual ease, rounded off the podium, finishing third. Despite not being at his optimum, his finishing time was still excellent.

The only woman in the race, Jutta Kuffer, rode steadily and finished fourth overall!

The three RCR rookies, Petr Hrubes, Roman Jurecka, and Martin Strancik finished the race.

Last but not least, the race organizers deserve a big round of applause. Despite the scarce number of sponsors this year, the RCR has been organized at an absolutely top level. Kudos to Radek Kysely, Petr Bezdecny, Jiri Kysely, and others! It was obvious that they did not treat the cyclists just as a source of income, and they did their best to help every cyclist. From my recent experience with RAAM I can compare the two races, and the organizers of RCR are winning by many bike lengths! RAAM seems to be too much about business and that harms its reputation.