Day 6

Another wonderful day has ended. Couldn't have been nicer. The Jeseníky Mountains were occupied by blue sky, no wind and in some places freshly groomed tracks. But really only in places - Jeseníky is not Jizera Mountains, so for example the descent to Medvědí bouda was a real adrenaline rush. Plus the views from the ridges, the brutal Jeseníky hills and descents, just a perfect day for a good experience.

During the night, there was not much lazing around. It's funny how a person watching a moving rectangle creates different thoughts and scenarios, but the reality is always a little different in the end. So a few corrections from yesterday's article. Lubos Kocourek arrived in Mladkov and didn't sleep at someone's place, but found a hayloft and hid in it like the philanderers of old. I can confirm from my own experience that straw is an excellent insulator. The fact that he slept there until dawn proves it. But it was wise, because he was gaining strength for the final long march over Kralický Sněžník. And he succeeded. He reached the finish line in the evening and gave a magnificent performance. His satisfaction was maximum!

Tomáš Brabec's tracker in Králíky showed signs of rest. From this I deduced that he was bivouacking, because it was already quite late. Roughly closing time of pubs. Of course, that was only to stuff the pizza he desperately needed. Fortunately, he had stumbled upon human kindness and the pizza was made after closing time in his family circle. Tomas gave himself a big challenge. He wanted to try to see beneath the surface of his depths and so he just went. And he went for a hell of a long time. From the Eagle Mountains to the Jeseníky Mountains in one go. Just when he thought he was going to collapse in the snow and fall, Daniela suddenly appeared and together they pulled towards the finish line.

Daniela Havránková also gave herself a solid haul from the foothills of the Orlické Mountains. It's tricky, because on the map it looks like nothing too terribly long, but in reality it's a long way. She joined a group of retired people discussing sore knees. Head's a bitch. Half an hour later, her knee was hurting too. So she spent the night at the hilltop cabin and then attacked the last 20 kilometers. As I wrote, she did it with Tomas. Hosta and I rode opposite them to Paprsek. And what a beautiful sight it was, when we saw them from afar, standing there happily, sipping their drinks, smoking their cigarettes and the world is most of all fine. Huge compliments and congratulations to both of them!

Martin Šilhán aka the bum, who loves sleeping on the outskirts of society or rather the forest, also had a brutal night march. All night long he crawled under the stars on the Jesenik ridges and arrived at CP at 4:30 in the morning. If you have ever tried a night march by yourself, you know that it is not a pleasant affair. The night is longer than it seems in bed. But he handled it well. He had a good rest at the CP and after lunch he was heading further towards his goal. He set a personal best by leaving the CP. He crossed the Jeseníky Mountains, said hello to Praděd and now he occupies the shelter on Jelenka like a proper hobo.

Takao Kitada, fearing no wolf. I don't even know if they have wolves in Japan. Maybe just the steaming ones. When we finally broke the communication barrier, I felt better. He even sent a picture and a message in English today. He was just at the highest point of the race and caught a beautiful sunrise. He wrote: "I'm enjoying the Czech Republic" and we're enjoying Takao. He rested during the day and at about 10pm he set off to meet the night march. He crossed the entire Jeseníky Mountains and got as far as Slezská Harta. There he lay down for a while, but in my judgment it started to rain (it rains everywhere around), so he soon got up and continued on. It's still a long way to the CP in Roznov, but he will make it with his patience.

And Ivana... that's just Ivana, a chapter in itself. She's a normal, great woman who doesn't mess with anything. She just doesn't care and goes. On the way during the night march she gave herself a challenge in the form of wading through the Budišovka River, where the footbridges disappeared. Then she wanted to get some sleep, but didn't notice that she had bedded down at the quarry, and was soon awoken by heavy equipment and then the cold. So she had to just walk again, with skis on her back. Across the Oder, with skis on her back. Can you imagine the sights? She made it to the CP in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm at machine pace. She's almost two days ahead of the others, with about a hundred kilometres to go. She's going to get a good night's sleep and then she'll be in Havířov for what she wants.

And it's gonna be ugly tomorrow, I mean, it is now. So it's gonna be a good day again.