The
purpose of all the holidays is the same…to relax, forget about all the troubles
and enjoy your time. What is different about the holidays is how you relax ;)
When
I landed in Prague at 11am, my brother Jan picked me up and we went straight
home, but there were no chilling out or cold beers. We packed some more gear
and at 7pm we were already driving to England. Why the hell we were driving
1500k to Lake District? Because we had a race to do!! That’s how I relax J
Adidas Terrex Coast to Coast adventure race is
a four day multi discipline race, when you in 4-5 consecutive stages every day
run, bike, kayak or swim through unknown countryside (for me unknown, but for
some local heroes quite familiar!) for more or less 6 hours without break. For
the most of adventure races you need a team, which is quite difficult to get,
especially in Qatar, so I chose this race because it was possible to go solo
and it was also a good opportunity to find out how good and fit I really
am…competition was tough! And because you have to bring your own bike, kayak
and be able to move between the transition points and change the gear from
stage to stage, I needed a car and a support person who would drive meanwhile
I’m racing. That explains why Jan took his car and we extended the race for two
24 hour road trips J
So
on that day we smoothly crossed Germany, Belgium, lightened up for couple of
Euros in the Euro tunnel (never go there without pre-booking your ticket!),
rented a green kayak in Leeds and crashed for the night in a scout camp in Lake
District. We had luckily one extra day for additional preparations so we
managed to buy a smoke flare in Windermere, to realize that our kayak spray deck
is too small, to buy another spray deck (I got it one hour before the start
from a guy from Windermere kayak shop who I called and who was by chance in the
media coverage team coming for the race) and to scout the bike route for the
day one a bit. We met up with my friends Andy and Jake doing the race too and
that was it. The time came to make all the training worth it. LET’S RACE!!!
Day 1
My
goals were to finish. This was not an objective, I simply had to do it…no
questions about that. In the back of my realistic mind I thought to finish in
the first half from the 19 guys in my category. In the back of my dreaming mind
I wanted to on the podium, which obviously vanished just at the first day!
I
brought a good weather from Qatar with me so the race could start with 10.5k
sea kayak section. Everybody lined up in the old harbor in Whitehaven and when
there was a zero on the clock, passed the buoys and headed along the cliffs to
St. Bees. I had a 5m long sea kayak which I believe was reasonably fast, but I
couldn’t compete with guys with elite surf ski boats which were flying through
the waves like sharks. I was not very comfortable with the new boat, especially
on the wavy sea, so I was a bit struggling and I finished somewhere within the
field.
Our
first transition was flawless. Jan took his role more than responsibly, and
when I jumped off the boat in the racing mode flooded with adrenaline I heard
exactly what I needed: “Leave the boat, run to the flag to the bike…” He
followed me up, reminded to put on the race jersey and punch “Transition out”
and I was off again in less than 4 minutes. Not perfect 1 minute like the
leaders but not bad for the beginning.
The
next 30k road bike section I knew from the previous day so I was fast. We
thought that doing the race support would be easy, that Jan would have time to
follow me, make pictures and take it easy. When I came to the next transition
just couple of minutes after him, we saw that we were wrong. So for the rest of
the race, except for one sad section during the second day Jan was same busy as
me driving, loading and unloading the boat, assembling the bike, filling camel
bags, preparing clothes, giving orders and making sure I don’t forget
anything…with basically not time to spare J
The
next section was 5.5k kayak on the lakes Buttermere and Crummock water with a
1k portage between them. I took a bit complicated route and with 25kg kayak on
my back it was quite painful. I felt a bit cheated when I saw videos of the
surf ski guys lifting their boats like feathers and running with them on their
shoulders.
After
the next transition and with the racing field quite spread up I was heading on
foot up 700m to Robinson with little company. Seeing another 3 days of racing
ahead I was not going 100%, but almost. But when I got to the top and started
to run down 13k to the finish I decided to slow down a bit more. All the hills
were so steep that going up you had to go on all four sometimes and you can
imagine how hard is to run huge boulder steps down. So after a while, when I
started to feel my knee I took it a bit easier.
There
was one surprise at the end yet, 400m of swimming through freezing lake. With
the final energy boost of a Turbo snack I jumped into 15 degree water without
thinking and actually came out on the other side also. I started shaking, couldn’t
speak, but put on the shoes and ran the last 1.5k to the finish. Without a
jacket Jan left there for me, I would have been turned into ice I guess!
The
first day was over and it was tougher than I expected. If somebody heard me
saying that 6 hours of racing is a piece of cake, I was wrong! But still, I
managed to finish 8th in my category and was 11th
overall. There were some really crazy guys in “Men solo” which were just out of
reach, so I focused more on keeping the guys behind me in check, especially
Tarquin who caught me on the running stage and was 7 minutes back.
At
the camp we spend couple of hours with preparing the gear for the next days,
studying map in which I terribly failed, eating whatever was around and after
the race briefing we went to sleep.
Day
1: Time 6:22:12, Distance 65km, Elevation gained 1760m
Day 2
Another
advantage of being fast was that you could sleep longer. So with staggered
start every 4 minutes from 6am and with 35 slower racers behind I was on around
8:20 with Tarquin just 4 minutes ahead. First 9k road bike stage was lightning
fast and with a blink of an eye I was already paddling on Thirlmere 6k down
south. I caught Tarquin at the beginning of another brutal ascent to Helvellyn during
the next 15k running stage and in the same time I was caught by Adam who was 7th
and starting right behind me. I outran them a bit on the way up…and then I screwed
up!!!
Navigation
is usually one of the most important things in adventure racing and this race
was no different. Only difference was that the route was known several weeks
before and it was the same as the Coast to Coast 2009. Therefore the local and
returning racers almost didn’t need a map. They just knew where to go. Here was
my disadvantage. The navigation in this race was quite easy, going on public
footpaths and ways often marked or well visible, so during the first day I had
no problem and up to the top of Helvellyn was smooth also. That was probably
why I lost a bit of focus and concentration, didn’t check the map and followed
the team just ahead of me. Two mistakes in the same time. They went the wrong
way and when they stopped to check the map, I said “The lake down there is the
one from the map…only dried up!!” Silly right? When I checked the map in the
evening, I immediately found that dried up lake with a dam there…just in the
other valley!! So I don’t have to tell you how I was crawling in the mud, wet
grass and dense shrubbery across the ridge back to the correct side and how I
lost around one hour by doing that!!
In
the transition areas there was a screen with GPS tracking of the competitors
showing their position. When I reached finally the transition point, Jan knew
everything. “I screwed up there!!” I said quietly. “Have I lost a lot?” He
sadly nodded. But as a real support he added “Jiri!! Let’s go!! The race is
still long…come on!!!” With all motivation lost a paddled 13k alone across the
lake dreaming “How nice would that be to catch Tarquin on the bike and finish
same as him”.
We
planned well the road bike section and picked a good route, so after the kayak
and pushing the bike over a steep hill at the start I was flying 30 km/h
average speed to the 44k far finish. You will probably not believe it, but
dreams sometimes come true…even the racing ones. So immediately after when I
crossed the finish line and turned back I didn’t believe my eyes!! “Tarquin!!
What the hell are you doing here…” Apparently I was not the only one who made a
navigation mistake that day J
At
the end of the day the cards were on the table. Adam on 7th was 1.5
hour ahead and Chris on 10th was 1.5 hour back. It was just between
me and Tarquin still separated only by 10 minutes.
Day
2: Time 7:08:08, Distance 85km, Elevation gained 1930m
Day 3
I
was getting tired. I though kayaking would be my strongest discipline, but
because kayaking in summer is almost impossible in Qatar I didn’t train much
and without surf ski type boat I would be slow anyway. Then I thought I would
gain some time in running, but my legs now were hurting, sore, heavy and I was
running slow. I also thought I would be good in mountain biking but going steep
up and down on gravel or wet mud was not exactly my style and I was going quite
carefully (read “slow”). So to my surprise it was the road bike sections on
mountain bike with road tires where I was gaining and was faster. Day 3 was
exactly like that.
First
20k running section through flooded meadows, streams and tons of black sticky
mud, I took too easy and a lot of people gained on me. I tried to speed up from
the highest point down following a guy who was 3rd in standings, but
he ran away also. Adam caught me at the end of the stage, which didn’t help at
all. The following section on mountain bike I really felt I can’t find strength
to push harder. The track was bumpy and tricky, I was a bit afraid to go faster
and when I did, I lost it right away with some small navigation error.
After we
changed wheels came the road bike part again. With straight forward navigation
I somehow managed to find energy, speed up and finish the stage couple of
minutes faster than Targuin. Everybody was getting tired I guess!!
I
didn’t feel good about my performance that day. “I could have fought more and
should have done it!!” I admitted and I promised myself to give everything the
last day and defend my 8th position and try to gain something in the
overall ranking.
Day
3: Time 5:41:43, Distance 89km, Elevation gained 1180m
Day 4
Still
13th overall I had the luxury of starting 7:30am in contrast to the
last guys going off at 5am!! In the middle of the initial 17k road bike section
I caught the 2nd best lady and during the next 14k running stage I
overtook couple of teams. I was trying to go as fast as I could but I was
feeling that there is just little energy left. I passed couple of more people
at the beginning of the 31k MTB stage, but then I lost my map, due to not very
smart design of my bike map holder. “Shit!! I have to try to follow up somebody
or wait until somebody catch me up and shows me the way!!” I though. I didn’t
have to wait long for the solution. “Hi Adam” I greeted second of two Middle
Eastern competitors in the race. “You don’t have a map?” I asked. “No!” he
replied. “But you know where you are doing?” I asked again. “Yes!” he said
clenched in the aerobars and fighting against the head wind. “Next left”
he added. “Thanks Adam” and I rode forward.
At
the end of the stage, during fast downhill section Adam overtook me and
disappeared on his fat MTB tires together with couple of teams in my sight. I
chose to have road tires and was cautious. “Alone without the map…not good” I
thought when I arrived to the village where the transition should have been.
Luckily I remembered a bit from map and with help of a typical car with kayak
on the roof coming from the right, I turned right and found the transition. Jan
had ready a new map for me and within a minute I was climbing a steep hill of
the last 22k stage of the race.
I
tried to give everything what I had, but there was nothing!! No energy gels,
power bars or Turbo snacks helped and I was riding like a ghost to the finish.
Whole day Jan was telling me that Tarquin is was couple of minutes ahead, so
what was my surprise when 6k before the end he passed me from behind. “I took a
different route” he said and kept going. I tried to follow, but I just
couldn’t. Fortunately he was not gaining much so I could have stayed calm when
he caught green on the road crossing and I had to wait J
The
last 600m meters to the finish Jan ran with me. He diplomatically didn’t cross
the finish line, but he made it too. We made it!! After 24 hours, 14 minutes
and 24 seconds and 320km of racing we were on the other side of England. We
finished 8th in Men solo category and 12th overall, just
45 minutes behind 3rd ranked team and being 10th overall
out of 47 racing formations, 14 hours ahead of the last one, but over 2 hours
from 7th and 5 hours behind the overall winner!
Day
4: Time 5:02:56, Distance 84km, Elevation gained 1640m
I
was happy that Andy and Jake camped with us until the next days to have some
energy for our long drives home. We were all super tired, but only physically.
Mentally we were fresher than ever and already making even tougher plans for
the next year J
You
don’t have to ask me…It was definitely worth it and if possible I will do it
again in two years and if I liked adventure racing before, after the race I was
hooked!!! I was also happy that Jan liked his role and didn’t regret joining either…but next time he’ll be on the track also!
See
you soon again in another adventure J
You can check out the Google Earth view of the race route in case you plan to do it in 2013 :)
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1443442#Post1443442