Peter Kán wins the CK BB Championships in cross country skiing
As the winter season has been really great in term of snow conditions, and does not seem to cease any soon this year, some of our riders decided to take advantage of a cross-country race organized in a neighbouring village of Králiky
Four members of our team participated in the National Championships in cross-country skiing to be more precise. Kán, Fraňo, Debnár and Longauer competed in their respective age groups. They took the very same course as the elite men and women did earlier that day. All of them were challenged by a bet between Fraňo-Kán and Fraňo-Debnár. Martin Fraňo bet 50 Budvar beers he would win over the former pro cross country skier Peter Kán and additional 20 beers he would win over Miro Debnár. The battle was to be resolved in the Sunday free style technique in one joint mass start of all the masters categories. A classic style race on Saturday preceded the Sunday free technique, only Ladislav Longauer and Peter Kán took part in this race though.
Laco Longauer finished 6th in his age group, barely escaping the everlasting star of all classic style races, Mrs.Staroňová, aged 64. Peter performed really well and finished 3rd, bringing the first cross-country medal from the National Championships to our team.
„Race course in Králiky is one one the toughest ones, but I had my skis very well prepared. I'm not in my top form, but I took advantage of my experience from youth ages and I am capable to do the inevitable, to suffer for a while. I'm already looking forward to our tomorrow's bet with the team manager, it will be lots of fun.“ smiled Peter in the finish.
„I didn't plan to start in the National Championships in Cross country skiing this year. Martin challenged me by making bet with Peter and Miro. So I told to myself there's not much to it in running 5km in classic style, besides the weather is still bad, so I am not going to miss out on my cycling training anyway. I know the race course in Králiky very well, it's extremelly hard with short and steep up and down sections, no flat areas. Due to short skiing training this year I didn't really have any particular goals in my mind like reaching one of the medals. Of course I thought of it, there's allways this “what if“coming to one's mind. But no “what if“ happened and I was left behind by the later medalists from the very beginning. I must sadly admit my time difference to the winner was 4 minutes. But I will take my chances tomorrow again!“ said Laco, exhausted after the race.
National Championships followed by a free technique race on Sunday. The D-Day for our guys bets. Bets like these are always the seasoning of races such as this one, and are very challenging especially in sports which are only additional to cycling. CK BB was devided into two teams for this race, Fraňo and Longauer forming one waxing team and Kán along with Debnár forming another one. The later one had undoubtedly a big advantage of Peter's waxing experience with the Slovak Olympic Team.
„I didn't fear Martin at all. I am well aware of my cross country skiing background and my good technique. I was slightly worried of the hilly course, where Martin could take advantage of his better stamina, but 10km was short enough for me to secure my win. I fully deserve my 50 Budvar beers I won.“ said the unofficial Champion of CK BB, Peter Kán. He finished 6th in his age group.
„It only was my second cross-country skiing race in my life, Biela stopa being the first experience. I fell shortly after the start and had to make my way up through all the starting field. I was fighting really hard and when I saw Martin in the distance with only some 3km to go, I played all on one card. I almost experienced coma when crossing the finish line, but the beers I won were surely worth it.“ smiled Miro Debnár shortly after the race.
„All this betting comes from my initiative. Some may still recall the bet we had couple months ago with Laco, „the Labadáš show“. This time Laco was on my team though. I knew from the very beginning it's almost impossible to face Peter since he is an ex-cross country skier. But I hoped he would lack the form and be slowed down by the extra kilos he put on in the past years. To be honest, I only had one fan, everybody else, including myself were reluctant to hope I could win this bet. My bet with Miro was more fair, even the race itself proved it. I had a really good start, but fell in the very first descent. Peter was only about one minute ahead of me all throughout the race, but when Miro passed me with some 2km to go, I resigned completely and literally walked to the finish. Even though I lost the 70 beers, I do plan to continue in this betting activity throughout the season. It's always lots of fun.“ said Martin Fraňo in the finish.
„Today was just a repetition of yesterday's script, only the technique changed from classic to free one. I finished 6th again, losing 2:50 to the winner.“ said Laco Longauer in the finish. He again had only a 5km long race in his age group.
