DAY 7
When I woke up in the morning and looked out the window, it was white everywhere. It was a beautiful sight. I don't think Takao or Martin, who were both bivouacking outside, would have said the same. Martin on the descent from Jeseniky on Jelenka. In the evening he wrote that it was quite cozy. So maybe he wasn't too snowed in when he started at 9am. In the morning he had already sent a photo of how he had converted the handle of his cane into a holder for empty cans, so I guess it was good.
I don't think Takao slept much. He walked until about 6 pm and stopped above Silesian Harta. At about 10 p.m. it began to snow, and that probably drove him out into the next night. He walked a difficult section through the Budišovka valley, where he had to cross three fords. Ivana was the first to make it through, and in solidarity sent information on how it looked. The first ford could be bypassed via another bridge, the second was difficult to cross over a fallen tree and the third had to be crossed. So regeneration by cold.
Martin Šilhán, currently unemployed, is moving forward steadily. He is going for his goal and this is the third time he has set off on the 600 km route. And I believe that all the best for the third time. The first race ended very early, already in the Krkonoše Mountains at the Krakonoš breakfast, where his fingers froze and he had to stop. He still suffers the consequences. But he wasn't afraid of the wolf and took the start again. This time he dragged his self-made bobsled (model Ultrapicus V.2.0 - older brother of the fancy and ultralight model V.3.0) to the finish line at 300 km, but he couldn't go any further. It rained almost the whole time and the body didn't have the strength for another 300 km. And this year it looks very promising. Even visually, Martin seems to be in much better shape than last time.
Tonight Martin will have another night out. He's got no problem with that, he's a bum. The weather has deteriorated, but it shouldn't rain or snow anymore, just a stronger wind. On Friday night, or rather on Saturday during the day, he should arrive at the last CP in Rožnov and then he has no choice but to finish.
Unfortunately, there is not much skiing here in the Beskydy Mountains anymore. According to Ivana's information, it would be possible to ski on the ridges below Radhoštěm, but the grooving of the slide would be more than good. I ran up Radhošt', and although it looked wintry, there were only a few centimetres of snow on the ground.
That doesn't have to bother Takao, on the contrary. He's already the only pedestrian on the route, so less snow means better for him. And he doesn't have to carry his skis on his backpack. That's a load of crap, of course. And imagine the Oder, the lowlands, where cycling is already going on, snow is nowhere far away, and suddenly someone with skis on a backpack appears and goes somewhere. So the classic question from the locals with a surprised look.
Takao has another challenge though. Imagine you are somewhere in the Japanese countryside, you don't understand anybody and nobody understands you, you don't know the culture, you don't know the food, you don't know what's normal and what's not... Well, it must be an incredible and intense experience. Too bad we don't get to know much about how he perceives all this and what his detailed feelings are. It would have been an interesting probe. Takao stops or slows down more during the afternoon. This morning I estimated his arrival in Roznov on Thursday evening, but it's more likely to be early Friday morning.
Ivana hadn't set her alarm and so she slept for the first time. She said on the first day of the race that the first and last night you don't sleep. And since tonight is her last night, I don't expect her to lie around unnecessarily. Although the Beskydy ridge is not exactly easy - up and down and lots of slippery rocks, Ivana will hardly be thrown off by it. I'm fascinated by how she looks just as cool as she did before the start. True, her socks stink more than on the first CP, but the way she calmly arrives at the CP, unpacks her stuff, eats, rests and moves on again is amazing. No fussing around. Her functioning is very efficient, she's not going anywhere, she's going and not wasting unnecessary stops. She doesn't complain. She breaks a stick on the way, so what, she breaks off a piece of branch and goes. He couldn't be more modest. What you don't ask, you don't find out.
It is clear that Ivana will set a record that will not be easy to break. It looks like she will not be greedy and will be under the Victory Arch in Havířov on Friday morning at the latest.
And how I'm supposed to make it, I have no idea. 🙂
