Bohu & Robert & kids…

7:15 start, easy no stress… hanging in the front group, at approx. 25km dropping from it, but after 15km within the sight of the lead again, and after another 20km back in “business”, anyway at 80km by my own for good, suffering, feeling toooo “warm”, stopping, stripping knee-warmers & buff. Spicak 100km, 2nd refreshment point, at last! Fast descent to  Zelezna Ruda beginning to rain, +7C, oh yeah! Pushing up the hills and just “gliding” downhills (really no power) and it’s even worse on flat parts. Somehow I managed to get to the 3rd refresh at 150km (I can’t recall the road, now being at home and studying the road-map). If I would have only entered to 150km race… well next time mate! Still 100km to go, arrgh!!!!

Alone, rain, cold, feeling absolutely empty in my head, cursing myself for being such an idiot… Kasperske Hory, 165km, thanks God, the legs are starting to work again, slowly though. Bloody heavy rain, cold, and finally someone in the sight, must be in pretty same miserable conditions as I’m. Working together up to the 4th refresh, if it’s actually even possible to call it working together… Somehow after this 4th “pit-stop” I can really hit the hammer again! FINISH!!! After 9hrs at last, pretty fucked up, but soooo happy that it’s over!

So many “ifs” this time. Have I started too fast? Probably yes. Did I think that I could hang with semi-pros all the way, and perhaps at a certain kilometer “decide”  myself: “OK lads, I’ve had enough, thanks for the help, but I feel like I might crack up, so I’ll ride my own slower tempo now”… Not likely. Choosing a different tactic, riding really easy in the beginning and speeding up later on? Definitely not. That’s so not me I can’t imagine just do “nothing”, ride in some up-to-10-guys-group, being absolutely passive. But when to speed up then at 100?, 130?, 160???? No f… idea, 250km is sooo bloody long that I couldn’t predict it anyway. And the result, that would perhaps be the same, no matter the tactics, something around 9hrs. So why to bother… results

Funny story, as there always is. I had drunk about 7 liters of liquid during the race. I had to stop twice due to nature calling. It was not so warm, so I did not sweat so much, at least I think. Where all the water have gone then? Well since the finish, while not being in the saddle, I had to pee 6 times before going to sleep (4 times on the way to Liberec, and once even 1 km before home). I might have drunk max. 1l during that time. With an easy math I was “keeping-in-the-storage” approx. 3l of liquid inside me, myself and I. Now tell me how male friendly biking is for our most precious parts of our macho-body? I think not so much…

I guess that’s it for the bike-racing for this year. I’ll still keep on riding on the bike, but just for fun and to keep myself fit. I’ll probably start some more running, maybe… Next weekend O-races and in less then three weeks some real challenge

It’s important to mention that prior to the Tour de Sand rocks, we’ve had a little high-altitude training camp in Nova Pec, Sumava. If you think that we’ve been training 2x a day,  and only eating and sleeping in between, before and after the session, then you are absolutely wrong… How can you, if you have both kids, well, that’s still doable. But if you have Lala along, then it’s a mission impossible Yes, we’ve been biking, inline skating, running, but the evening programs put all the day efforts into a deep… Nevermind…

ready to rock!!!

As usually this year, I had a pleasure to be just a babysitter during the O-races. So there was no difference in my program during Valecov and PP. Bohu did splendidly, again, only that I really could not persuade her to run the last stage in Valecov. The only response I got was something like: NO …. WAY I AM GONNA RUN IN MY AGE TOGETHER WITH OTHER GIRLS AND FIGHT FOR SOME 3-5 PLACE, NO … WAY!!! I LIKE TO RUN ALONE, FULL STOP! (Comment from Bohu: I was feeling quite sick actually…)

Luckily I was more persuasive/successful at PP, so Bohu started even to the 3rd stage. Well it was not a-chasing-start-stage, but the problem was that it was a LONG distance. And according to Bohu, the LONG distance is about running on the roads/paths = boring. Comment from Bohu: And I was right – it was boring running on the roads

Valecov maps #1 and #2 and results

PPcka #1 #2 #3 and results

I’ve tried my luck/shape at Jizerky Tour. Unfortunately the initial course (120km through the Jizerske hory) had to be changed due to enormous floods 2 weeks prior the race. In some places the roads have simply gone missing… (actually they went to the Nordic Sea). So the new course was only 70km long without any real climbs, basically boring…

Well I had a stroke of luck again, check this: after approx. 1km the cassette got shattered. So of course the only available gears were not so particularly good, since the course was sooo flat. I just basically hanged at the end of the group. Spinning the pedals like a maniac… Well I survived, but just before the final-decisive climb I had a little crash. Luckily nothing serious a little road rush, but unfortunately at that moment the race was  over… The chase went well, but down the hill toward the goal, with the light gears, what can you do… results

But as Bohu said, what would you expect from the 1st season? Winning each race? So I’ll try my luck again this Saturday, 250km, I’m a bit scared if I actually manage to finish. Imagine, driving 250km, it’s quite a distance…

sleeping comfortably

anna & bike

Stepanek & Heczko juniors

time flies…

I wish, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

le ballet...

was over for me after 60km… thanks to some idiot, who, unconsciously I hope, did a little “move” closing on me. Instinctively I made it to the left, but unfortunately to somebody’s rear wheel. At 55km/h you know what happened next… I’m actually lucky to come out the the crash just badly bruised. It could have ended up much worse (the helmet is in 2 pieces), but anyway, why me…. Well, it was bound to happen, I haven’t had a single crash so far, but the timing wasn’t quite right!

Still I’ve chickened out abandoning the race well I don’t have a spare bike to hop on and continue riding. Pharmacy supported or not, the Pros are really tough guys!

I’m quite frustrated, well fucked up to be correct, since the race went soooo well, the feeling was so good, being in the lead group, and the mountains were about to start…

Anyway, the race itself was a chaos. Ridiculously fast in the beginning, which I was prepared for. The race stopped TWICE on the crossing-gates by the train, so almost like starting again, too much “unpredictable” movement in the bunch, so all in all not really my cup of tea…

The fact that the bike needs some fixing/investment and I need to buy a brand-new bike clothes is just another fuss…

Is there any safe sport for me??? I doubt it…

our new puppy

Holiday in numbers: 2250km driven in a car, 7:45 hrs of O-running (Bohu), 395km ridden on a bike, 4hrs of O-running (Robert}, highest point: Passo di Sella: 2214m, lowest point: KFC Beroun Czech Republic, 3km of mountain “climbing” see the video average temp. 27C, kilos of eaten pasta: too much

results and maps by Bohu #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 and Robert #7 #8

P.S. comment by Bohu: the terrains were excellent but please do not follow my route choices, they are mostly wrong (I did not take my brain with me on holiday, but I did not care about the results anyway, just enjoying!)

Back in CZE now, real summer!!!

Anton aus Tirol way beyond brutal…

SMS from Bohu 19.6. 15:10 : It’s over, THANKS GOD! I was lucky again… No mistakes, but I couldn’t run faster.

map (GPS) results splits

Well I have a different opinion to Bohu’s performance, but it doesn’t count much

I was following the race over the night, too sleepy around 4 AM, but I thought, since I’ve managed so far, I’ll stay up and see the best in the finish. Well, at 6 AM, in the middle of the last leg, YLE stopped the broadcasting, at least it did not work in CZE, and so I could only follow the online results, PERFECT! I was like a zombie whole Sunday, but luckily my parents took care of the children…

on Friday off to Tyrol

ROAD CYCLING CUP Liberec 2010, #4 FINALE GRANDE

almost threw up the top of the hill… yep that was a hard one!!! results

map by http://casovky.spinfit.cz/

PS: Checking the first stage (thanks God I dd not follow online) of NOR, I truly am sorry for you TOP-O guys, that you have to run such, well how to put it, BORING courses. No matter how sophisticated the “stuff-behind-the-race” is (GPS, TV, online, etc…) but WTF, where is the TOP-O heading toward??? Maybe I’m all wrong and everybody liked it… but I imagine the World Cup races held in REAL challenging forests.

I have run Finnish Sprint Champs in Tuusula in 2006. Check out the maps Sprint F, Sprint Q and compare them with the NOR course. Some similarity I would say…

Bohu leaves to Finland tmr, and I will ride to Zlatak (1411 m above the see level) this wend…

Howgh

Middle Champs by Bohu

It’s better to screw the Qualification and run a perfect Final than the other way around.  Luckily in the “Semis” the terrain, and most importantly the map, was a real challenge, so the others missed as well. Why on Earth the Czech mapmakers tend to map EVERY single feature in the forest? I don’t know, it’s needlessly too expensive and doesn’t bring any benefit neither to the map-owner nor to the runner…

The final was simpler, maybe too much, plus the “highways” made by the B, C and D Finalists made it even easier. But who will ask after half a year??? Well, I won’t remember it anyway

Middle Final

results

On Friday, off I go to JUKOLA!!!

Kral Krakonos by Robert

I was looking forward to ride with some other guys at least some part of the race. Since so far its been always just Robert & his bike… Well after approx. 1km I was alone again and so all the way toward the goal. On the finish line some 20min ahead of the 2nd guy. The last 13km-decent form Vysoke to Semily wasn’t so enjoyable as I would wished, since my lower back was rather fucked up, otherwise the overall physical feeling OK!

Next race in 1 month, this time I’ll test myself on 182km, check the map

map & profile

results

ahooooj!!!

ahooooj!!!

ahooooj!!!

PS: check out, cool stuff!!!

I would like to win, but I prefer to run a mistake-free race and take a 10th place or so, instead of running like a beginner and be on the podium, even in the Elite. Amen!

Middle by Bohu

results

ROAD CYCLING CUP Liberec 2010, #3

this time more hilly, which I definitely prefer… results

map by http://casovky.spinfit.cz/