The Race That You Cannot Lose
| Vendula KosíkováThe endurance relay race entitled “24 Hours on a Scooter” has a longstanding tradition in the Czech Republic; this May it took place for the 24th time. Although prizes are awarded and the rankings are announced in this amateur race, no one can actually lose the race. And as the racing rules say: Everyone will finally be overcome by total exhaustion.
This year’s ’24 Hours on a Scooter’ race started exactly at 5pm on the 19th of May in the Stromovka park in Prague. Riders from 15 teams and 2 men competing within the category entitled ‘One man Team’ took turns within the 24-hour race at the 2.4km-long racing circuit. Attendees could see a number of scooter types as well as many riding styles.
The race is intended for non-professional riders and it is carried out in the spirit of fair play without the presence of a jury. It was the finite number of circuits written by each rider in a big chart situated near the starting line that decided about the winner.
Dramatic And Exciting Race
It was the so-called “Parallo” team that has achieved the best score in the race. It managed to finish 226 circuits during the 24-hour marathon and covered the distance of 542 kilometres. It was the “Nudle s mákem” team (last year’s winner of the race) and the “Yedoo” team that fought over the second place. The latter finally managed to cross the finish line with a 10-second lead. Both teams finished 224 circuits (i.e. 537 km) and thus managed to overcome the imaginary distance between Prague and Lago di Garda (Lake Garda) in North Italy.
This year, in contrast to the two previous years when racers had to face rather rainy weather, the weather conditions were excellent: the sky was clear and the temperature around 25 °C. However, it turned quite cold by night; moreover, the bitter darkness absorbed the lights of head lamps, torches and flashing lights, and thus slowed down the tired racers´ speed. Nevertheless, these received strong support from their numerous fans and admirers who provided coffee, tea, cakes and schnitzels for them during the entire race, as well as encouraged them by cheering them on.
Yedoo Team Can Greatly Encourage Itself
This year the Yedoo team took part in the race for the third time in its history and its performance has been steadily improving over the years. Last year the team was awarded bronze, this year it has been awarded silver. “Maybe it is because this time we tried the prototype of the new road scooter Yedoo Wolfer during the race,” Jakub Bostl guesses. Nevertheless, the strongest point of the Yedoo team is that its members can greatly encourage each other.
“We carefully measured and wrote up the times that took us to finish each circuit. We thus had certain feedback on our performance during the entire 24 hours,” Marek, one of the sturdiest Yedoo team racers, explains, and adds the following: “This also helped us to regulate the riders take their turn easily and enabled us to write down our personal records.”
“Don’t slack off! Or you may stop and relax,” Marek threatened Alena for fun, because around 5am it took her 7.15 minutes to finish the circuit. Her personal aim was to enjoy herself with people with similar interests, enjoy the lively atmosphere of the race and finish at least one circuit more than she managed to finish the previous year. Besides, anyone who manages to overcome his/her own seeming limitations is the winner of this race.
Another race is scheduled to run from 17 to 18 May 2013. Photos from this year’s race are available here.
