Day 6
When the third hour of the morning struck and we still had a heavy midnight, he set out from Kraliky Jura Nedas. His stomach was still churning and he had bought a large roll of toilet paper for the trip just in case. Fortunately, he unwrapped it at the finish line intact. He said he was worried that this would be the hardest section, but by not getting caught loose in the Eagles, he was more sick in the Eagles and it was better here, and therefore easier. We didn't expect him to arrive until later in the afternoon, but Jura didn't mess around too much (he was probably in a hurry to go to the toilet) and his orange dot on the screen moved quite briskly. Our naive plan of catching him on the hill in the morning was completely out of reality, so we at least went to Císařská bouda, where we caught him on the run, because why bother chatting when the destination is just a short distance away. This was the longest race for Jura and he did it with absolute bravura and rode honestly from early morning till late every day. And just like the others, he was always in good spirits and smiling when we met him. He didn't linger much at the finish line because the kids are on spring break, so he rushed to make it up to them. But he said they probably won't go skiing tomorrow. Congratulations to Jura for skiing 300 km.
Meanwhile, Tomas Brabec, who was bivouacking directly at the station in Králíky near the second track, came down from Sněžník and as expected stopped, like almost everyone else, in the Návrší hut for a reward drink. Just like boys from Polička even he was surprised it wasn't running. Moreover, a tragic event had befallen him. As he writes in his text message, „This afternoon, at the young age of only four days, my beloved Boban Skluzic left me. May his ashtray be light and his reincarnation into another beautiful plastic one go smoothly. I will remember!“ So he had to throw the bag on his back. He was looking forward to seeing his favourite lady at Kladsky, who was always closed when he got there, but as always all he had to do was knock and they could at least have a cigarette and a drink together. He had the latter mainly to soothe the strong call of the blister on his heel, which was making itself quite noticeable. We went to meet him at the Beam, but he took too long to soothe the blister and we didn't get to see him. Fortunately, we soon saw him at CP. It was great to see that he was in a good mood and that he had shaken off the bug from Náchod. True, when I saw the crater on his heel, it is clear that he will not walk well with this. But he'll manage again. He's becoming the last of the Mohicans to head for Beskydy and Havířov.
After Tomas' arrival, we watched as the dot Honza Kopka approaching the legendary Havířov Arc de Triomphe. Unfortunately, we could only watch it virtually, because its speed was already elusive and it was not in our power to be in Havířov. But fortunately, our lady Eva turned on the phone lines and arranged for Honza to get to the apartment. The instructions were clear - goulash on the counter, beer in the fridge, bath, bed available. And even at the finish line, a few of his fans gathered to give him a proper welcome. So he made us laugh a lot before he got to the finish line. I'm looking at a GPS tracking map of where John is in the park, where the finish is. And suddenly, a phone call from John. I answer it and Honza says, „Hey, where's the Arc de Triomphe?“ And in the background you can hear a gentleman passing by, who Honza is obviously asking where the Arc de Triomphe is in Havířov: „I didn't even know there was a Arc de Triomphe here.“ So I tell him it's the arch at the end of the park. Honza: „Yeah, you mean the passage, right?“ Yes, it may not have the dimensions of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, but the JIBE JAHA ends below this one in Havířov, so its dimensions are immeasurable. So congratulations to Honza for a great ride and result. As always, he handled the navigation and winter conditions, which were not always made for a bike, with aplomb.
Water began to fall from the sky instead of snow, the temperatures climbed to zero and these were the conditions in which he made his way to the finish Tomas Lovas, in the pedestrian category. He was prepared for a very long day, starting before dawn and expecting it to be slow. But then again, speaking of expectations, he was going at a brisk pace. He didn't stop or linger anywhere. He was looking forward to the views from Sněžník, but he saw beautiful white all around. The frequent throwing of his pack on his back made his discs curl and threatened to throw his pack for the last time and not move again. Fortunately, that didn't happen. As I wrote earlier, Tomas won the competition for the heaviest backpack and the worst shoes for long marches (pohorky), but because he has a strong head, he didn't let it get him down and was ready for anything. He could boil water on the stove, when it ran out he could change into dry clothes and when he got injured he could get treated. Well, why not, if you're up to it? So a huge kudos to Tomas for making it to the finish line, and like the others, he didn't look too bad. A wonderful performance and congratulations.
Tomorrow's report will probably be thinner, as only the brown rectangle TB remains on the track, but I believe that with his style of travelling there will be no shortage of experiences.