Last year we travelled to East Europe for the first time since we’re racing. And we liked it, so this season we put a week of racing in the Czech Republic on or calender. Starting with a new race on the UCI Marathon Series in Holesov.
The Drasal
Marathon is not a new race, in fact it’s the 25th edition, but it is new on the UCI Marathon series calander.
We like long distance racing and we have seen organisations with races of 160K, but over here the longest off road distance on the program is 208K ???
We like long distance racing and we have seen organisations with races of 160K, but over here the longest off road distance on the program is 208K ???
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| 208 K offroad??? Not for us 😀 |
117K was on
the program for me so I had another chance to get a top 5 spot to qualify for
the World Championship CX Marathon. Peter decided to ride a short distance (55K)
as a last preparation for our 3 day MTB Trilogy in a few days.
Raceday was Saturday so we left on Thursday to get all the driving (1200K)
done.
 |
| Not to hot @line up |
Friday
afternoon we arrived on the free camping site organized in the castle garden where
the organisation is located.
Saturday
Morning breakfast for me was @ 5 AM, Peter could just sleep for another hour. I did prep everything the night before
so I could nap for 30 minutes after breakfast.
Start was in the village at 7:45 AM. A lot of women at the start line but not too many girls racing for UCI points.
 |
| King Peter & his castle |
Start was in the village at 7:45 AM. A lot of women at the start line but not too many girls racing for UCI points.
First 2K was neutralised start behind the car followed by a first 6K of climbing.
I started in the 4th position and in the first climb I got overtaken by two other female riders. One of them a Spanish rider who went too fast for me, the other rider was right in front of me and I could stay in her wheel during the whole climb.
In the first downhill I could overtake. I could keep this position for the rest of the race.
The course was not too difficult with about 30K of tarmac through out the race and some super nice single trail downhills. Some more technical than others.
Most of the climbs were not as brutal steep as the ones on Belgian soil but they did manage to find more technical parts where staying on the bike was a challenge.
I started in the 4th position and in the first climb I got overtaken by two other female riders. One of them a Spanish rider who went too fast for me, the other rider was right in front of me and I could stay in her wheel during the whole climb.
In the first downhill I could overtake. I could keep this position for the rest of the race.
The course was not too difficult with about 30K of tarmac through out the race and some super nice single trail downhills. Some more technical than others.
Most of the climbs were not as brutal steep as the ones on Belgian soil but they did manage to find more technical parts where staying on the bike was a challenge.
In a little
less than 7hours I finished the 117K with 3920 AM with a smile.
 |
| Mission accomplished! |
Mission accomplished! Great ride in very nice conditions and enjoyed every bit of the race... After cleaning my bike (what I didn't have to do my self, Thanks my love 💗) showering and getting my shoes look like new again my job was done... Time for recovery and help Peter out for prepping his race.
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| Really happy with the race and my result! |
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| UCI points 👍 World Championship Qualification 👍👍 |
Sunday it was Peter’s turn to discover the Czech trails. We could sleep a little longer today, the start was at 9:30 AM. While peter dressed and got ready it was me who played soigneur for once. Getting Peter’s bottles ready making sure I was at the start line and get some photo’s. The little film didn’t work as my mobile decided to get all weird since we arrived on Friday.
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| Prepping my athlete |
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| Tension rising 😬 |
He promised to try to get it done in about 3 hours, so I had a little time to do a recovery ride before I headed back to the finish line.
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| Crossing the finishline! |
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| Possing with #mycanyon |
So first
part of our Czech Republic story is a wrap.
Ready to drive to Teplice and Metuji about 300K from here.
Little word about the organisation: It was brilliant!
A stunning location in castle gardens, a great setup, a lot of good feedstations , they even handed out bottles at some stations and beside all the ordinary services they even had washing machines to wash your race tenue after the race! What more would you wish for?
Thumbs up for this great organisation 👍👍👍
Little word about the organisation: It was brilliant!
A stunning location in castle gardens, a great setup, a lot of good feedstations , they even handed out bottles at some stations and beside all the ordinary services they even had washing machines to wash your race tenue after the race! What more would you wish for?
Thumbs up for this great organisation 👍👍👍
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