In June Kate Slegrova returned to her home country for a family holiday. And while there the ever competitive Kate took part in a mountain bike race. Here’s the story…
I went to visit my parents in my home country, Czech Republic, and to my luck there was a major race happening in my home town. There is a small mountain range called the Jestrebi (Hawk) Mountains where my parents stay and that’s where race took us.
Photo by Kate Slegrova.
KoloProZivot is a big series of marathon races across the country. It’s quite commercial so some old-school, hard-core, mountain bikers don’t like it because the route isn’t the most technical and there’s usually more gravel roads than singletracks. The organisers try to draw in as many people as they can so they aim to create a route which isn’t too difficult.
This race though is known as the hardest of the series with 1 800 meters of climbing in the 65km route, with the fact that it’s also the most technical race in the series.
Photo by Kate Slegrova.
In the Czech Republic you have to gradually improve your seeding with race results, as we do here. But I know the local organisers so I managed to get a Wild Card entry to enable me to start in 3rd row in the start chute. Which was particularly helpful as the race boasted a packed starting field.
Photo by Martin Šupich.
So there I was standing at the chute with my dear dad again. It’s been a while since that happen as the previous times I was home I was pregnant and then had just given birth to my daughter. My dad was so kind to lend me his super light Specialized Stumpjumper Hardtail 29er. I usually ride a soft tail, so it’s was a bit bumpy on the down hills but it felt really good on the climbs where I was routinely passing people. There was steep climb right from the start and then some gravel roads where people went pretty fast pace. We hit great singletrack called Cizkovy Kameny which is near town Trutnov. It was built to attract more tourists and they are still building more and more awesome trails, which include natural features like roots and rocks plus man-made berms and bridges too. There was bit of bottle neck which was the only negative of the race. The rest of the race was up and down with some steep rocky, technical, descents and back up steep hills with beautiful views over green fields and woods.
Photo by Kate Slegrova.
I managed to finished in 4th place in my age group which was a pity, but still a good result considering it was only two days after my overnight flight during which I got no sleep at all. More importantly though I managed to beat my dad by almost 10 minutes, which he didn’t take very well at first. But it had to happen one day.
It only took me about 20 years to beat my very competitive and fit dad! He said thought he isn’t giving up just yet!
A very cool thing about Czech races are their top-up stations. As a rider approaching the water table person a volunteer shouts “water or energy drink”. You shout back your response and while you pass he hands you full bottle and you hand him your empty one. So you don’t have to stop and lose momentum.
Photo by Kate Slegrova.
Another amazing thing is the children’s racing. There are six categories under the age of 13! It starts with a push bikes race and moves up to proper mountain biking. Plus in each category there are between 50 and 70 participants. Amazing numbers!
Photo by Miloš Lubas.
There is a big kids’ zone at the finish area as well as little pump track. Showers and choice of six meals for participants are included in the race entry fee. There are also lot of bike shop stands should you wish to buy new gear. It’s like a bike festival. I hope South African organisers can learn from this and ensure there’s something to do for the whole family at more races here in SA.
To view more photos from the Jestřebí hory České spořitelny 2016, which Kate took part in click here.
Photo by Miloš Lubas.
