We crossed the finish line in 7th place on Sunday at 3:27 am after 58 hours and 21 minutes of cycling. Both of our goals were accomplished – we managed to finish in less than 60 hours, and we won our category 50+. It was fine! Our performance was better than last year even though the route was more difficult, and the weather conditions were not ideal on the Slovakia-Hungarian border. I was 4 hours and 37 minutes faster than last year, and I got my requalification to RAAM. My support team was great! Everybody did their best. I agree with Sváťa Božák’s statement that good teamwork makes at least half of the success. I would like to thank Vláďa, Vojta and Kuba, who got my back for the whole race, and to Vláďa, Petr and Jindřiška who were always waiting for us on the route, and created outstanding conditions for me during the breaks. My special thanks go to Jakub for the photos you can see in the Gallery. I am also grateful for all the text messages, calls and support we got during the race.
When I was leaving for my third ultramarathon, I never thought that this race might end up badly. I had a very ambitious plan to finish among the first five in my category 50+. At time station 8 in Moravske Toplice at 823,6 km I was already in the 5th place out of 13 in my category and than at time station 10 in Krško at 1012,5 km I was in the 4th place...). I am not used to forfeiting races just because I can’t deal with crisis, bad weather or so. I have never done that, and I wasn’t planning on doing so even at this extreme race – elevation and bad weather conditions. The race didn’t end up well for me and my team for more trivial reason. I came to time station 10 at the kilometer 1107 on Sunday at 13:04. My total time was 64:55 hours at this moment. I was told here that the next limit at time station 11 wasn’t at 18:31, like we figured from the chart in a route book, but at 16:43. At that moment it was clear that I won’t be able to make the next 87,4 km in 3:39 hours including a break I needed. I was disqualified by the referees for not meeting the time limit. It happened when I had 124,2 km to the finish line of my toughest ultramarathon ever. DOS RAS rightly deserves the word EXTREME in its name. I have never rode such a tough race. It is a real test of physical and mental strength of every racer. I find every rider who finishes this race within the time limit an excellent ultra racer. For me personally is DOS RAS a real entry card for RAAM, as I am thinking about this project that I am still working on. I will come to next year’s DOS RAS for sure. Regarding my tight schedule at work I can’t do a thorough analysis of the race at the moment. I will certainly write about this race in my future comments. Careful evaluation if this race will help us to prepare for our second race this year – Race Around the Central Europe in August.
When I started with my road cycling in 2002 I soon thought about utracycling and about RAAM. Perhaps the Race Across America is the greatest dream probably of every ultra racer in the world. This ultra race is the best test of your cycling physical and mental limits. At that time I had no idea how long was the way to the point to be ready to go! Ever dreamt of racing in the Race Across America? Have you looked for your answer? My answer is YES! Riding RAAM as part of a two person team is a good way for me. I would like to go to RAAM with my colleague Josef Trchalik in 2011. If you want to feel how such two person race might look like, to read the text “Racing Two-person RAAM” in section Media\Articles.
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My first planned test starts in March. But weather is still bad. There is winter time in South Bohemia and conditions for cycling are horrible. Winter is strong and snow has been covering roads for a long time – three months! The time spent on the trainer is longer than I wanted. Sometimes I ride on my bicycle outside but occasionally the road is not safe. I combine my bike with mountain skiing and cross country skiing. Sometimes I go to the gym. I try to fulfil my plan but it is not easy, yet I’m looking forward to the first test at the end of March.
Today:10
Week:130
Month:379
Total:17269
