The date of the event was set in the spring of last year, but it was still unknown whether it would be possible to organize the event this year. We knew that we were going to use a cost-effective solution and we adapted the program accordingly. One of the big concessions was the recall of the riders from England, when it was not possible to predict the development of the pandemic and the limitation of the number of starters.
We finally held the event in Tehovský Park again thanks to the support of the municipality and local people and it turned out to be a good choice. The preparation itself was marked by rain and storms, which complicated the pump track in particular and ultimately forced us to cancel the beam and log section for Trial, which we regretted a bit considering the tuning.
We won't beat around the bush. The weather was nice, over 90 riders arrived, and thanks to TERRA (JCB), Autosalon BENO Říčany (ŠKODA), the Inplem farm, SDH Tehov, trainer Klárace Hájková, the guys from Cage Warriors, the perfect sound and moderation by Aleš Matoušek, and a number of volunteers, an estimated 500-600 spectators arrived throughout the day, who cheered on the Trialists in the morning, the motorcycle exhibition performed by Dalibor Šulc and Tomáš Hůla. Some combined it with a trip from the children's day in Říčany, so the opportunity to dig, pet the cows, or play with firefighter equipment was certainly an interesting diversion for all the children (and what we will convince us parents and riders too).
The trial was divided into several parts this year. Unfortunately, holidays and injuries weakened our club line-up a bit and some took on organizational duties rather than the handlebars, but even so, the children's category was filled beyond expectations. After the children, the Elite riders took to the track. Since it was an exhibition race, they rode within one category and the boys had the opportunity to compare themselves with each other as in the final of a big race. The tracks were rideable and set up with regard to the weather, but there were also a few sharper passages. Lukáš Valný deserves great respect, who finished in third place despite his hellish involvement in the organization. The performance of Matouš Balík, who is a junior in age, was surprised, but managed to get 6 penalty points thanks to his balanced riding. The children from the club were curious about the performance of Vlasta Kabeláč Čiháček and probably even he himself did not know what to expect after 2 years without racing with a 40-year-old on his neck and his 6th knee surgery. The new bike and the feeling of well-being at the race were marked by 0 penalty points, so there was nothing to worry about.
The break between children's and adult training was supplemented by a smaller jumping contest, which was won by Vlasta again with an exhibition performance, with a 120 cm performance over the ribbon and a 225 cm vertical jump ahead of Lukáš Valný and Tomáš Kočička with Matouš Balík.
In the afternoon, the main role was played by boys and girls on the pump track, who were giving it their all for a time at a very fast pace. A bunch of children came to try how much they could get out of themselves. The highlight of the day was the full-suspension race, where the local duo Lukáš was in charge. Lukáš Turek took first place and also fifth place in Experts (hardtails). Lukáš Valný had to recover a bit after the Trial and especially the whole week of preparations and managed to get 2nd place and at the same time became the only rider who stood on the podium in all disciplines.
The junior category was taken care of by the talented rider Tobík Dolák, who, after a very decent performance in the Trial, jumped to the mainland and won ahead of the winner of one of the Trial children's categories, Jonáš Vavřinec, and Tommi Neuwirth.
The highlight of the event was the Expert category race, where a number of top riders, including MTB legend Michal Maroši, started. Michal experienced a little pain due to the vaccination, but he got into racing mode and managed to grab the prize money for first place, including the best jump award, ahead of Alex Sidor and Hugo Novák. Unfortunately, there was no shortage of crashes. The Best Crash award was won by Martin Králíček, who fortunately only suffered a fair amount of abrasions. Worse was the result of Martin Vavřinec's innocent step-off, who preferred the Pumptrack race to the Trial and unfortunately tore his cruciate ligament. We wish him a speedy recovery. The best-placed woman, despite her throwing arm and three children on her back, was another instructor from the club – Katarína Tóthová.
Thank you very much to everyone for your participation, help and support. We are donating a part of the collected entrance fee to support people affected by the tornado. Unfortunately, this also affected several riders who were supposed to come, so hopefully this will help a little. We also thank the Municipality of Tehov for supporting the event and lending the park and the city of Říčany.
A video from the event will follow and hopefully see you next year. Alternatively, you can see a short recording on Czech Television (we will inform you about the date).
The team of the MTB & TRIAL club Mraveniště Říčany and the organizers of Říčanské Šlapačky
http://ricanskeslapacky.cz/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Results_TRIAL-a-Pumptrack-2021.pdf
