It was a nice afternoon, and the first competitors of the new edition of the Prague Flyer began to appear on the field in front of the train station in Střešovice. I greeted those I knew from previous years and tried to welcome new faces at least with a few words, but I know that I was not successful in all cases. The time that passed normally after the third hour soon sped up and then outright sped up, at least that’s how I perceived it. However, I managed to negotiate with the driver of our tram on the route and when the doors closed behind us and I saw that everyone managed to get on, I breathed a sigh of relief, I was afraid that we would not all fit in there.
The tram started and the tension grew. The bonus stop slips were handed out and the players began to think about their routes, but they were still missing one important spot on their map where they would be getting off. When the tram turned towards Prague Castle above Chotkové sady, the competitors started talking about the Dlabačov turnpike and I knew they were at the right address.
The approach to the said turnpike convinced even the last waver. Before long, our photographer came out to capture the real start of our competition. The doors of the tram opened and the competitors scattered into the surroundings, I enjoyed the incredible comfort in the empty tram on the way back, while the players began to experience the first successes and disappointments of failed plans, failed transfers and delayed connections.
As the end of the race approached, I eagerly looked out for the first returners. A total of 54 competitors or racing teams went to the start. In the end, 52 of them reached the finish line, which is an excellent result. Many arrived with a greater or lesser loss of time, because the trams to the depot run almost together and then there is a longer gap when nothing runs at all. The last competitor in the Scottish skirt came with such a distance that the deduction of penalty points almost zeroed out his entire race, he simply thought that the goal was again at Dlabačov. But he took it with a smile, and I liked that.
I said goodbye to the competitors and headed to Masaryk station with a group of enumerators, where we started evaluating the competition sheets. Here we were joined by Liev, who was unable to return to the depot in time due to the delay, but did not miss the count.
The announcement of the results took place on the morning of the second day at the Střešovice depot. Prizes were presented here to awardees with a transport and Foglar theme, and our Beaver footprints were also presented to the younger attendees. For those of you who were not there, I will explain the game tactics of the four award-winning competitors.
Matej, first place. After reading the bonus tickets, he followed the route of the tram and when he found out that it was going towards the western turnstiles of Prague 6, he decided to immediately attack the first bonus ticket that would be closest, i.e. to Prague – Ruzyna. Here he boarded an express train, reached Hostivice, which got him to the first radial. However, he immediately returned to Prague by private car and via Veleslavín took the metro to the mandatory Vyšehrad bonus ticket. Here he ran down to Nuslí, took the trams to the second light bonus train, Orionka. He took other trams with many transfers to get to the bonus line 31. He also added a trolleybus in Libni and was already returning to the public transport museum by trams. Easy, right? 308 points.
Foxes, second place. They were 32 points behind the winner. Their journey was also excellent, they lacked one extra bonus card to fight with Matej for first place. From Dlabačov, they crossed the Strahov hill with transfers, did not allow themselves to be tempted by the cable car and went down, and after many tram transfers they reached the Smíchov railway station, where they took a train to the main railway station. They quickly took the metro to Vyšehrad and immediately headed back to the center and through Prague 3 with transfers to the Orionka bonus. The next direction was Libeň, where they got 31 points with a nice transfer between bonus line 31 and the trolleybus. This was followed by their return through Karlín and the center of the city to Vozovna Střešovice. 276 points.
Vitaly, third place. The difference between 3rd and 7th place was minimal, only 9 points, so coincidences, surprising transfers, but also inaccuracies were decisive. Vitalij ran between stops, so in the vast majority of the boarding and exiting stops were unique, i.e. scored. In addition, he added 3 bonus cards and a bonus line. From Dlabačov, he immediately took the tram to the center and then the metro to Vyšehrad. Here he turned it around, returned to the center and then took the trams to Orionka. This was followed by Libeň and bonus line 31. Although he was in the last third of the race, he took a risk and went to Běchovice by train and took a bus to a very lonely bonus stop in the area of research institutes in Běchovice. After a longer run, he returned to the center stop and managed to get back to the city in a passenger car of another line. Finishing time was approaching, so he opted for quick transfers by metro, shared bike and tram to reach his destination. He ran in two minutes later, but even after deducting 20 points, he reached 267 points and 3rd place.
For the record, I would like to add that Tom Galon achieved the same result in 4th place. However, he made a mistake when filling out the route table, and this mistake cost him a place on the crate.
The best result among the juniors was achieved by the duo Tramvaj41 and Šotouš17, who together scored a really decent 235.1 points. From Malovanka, they took trams to IPPavlova and took the metro to the obligatory Vyšehrad. From there they ran down to Nuslí and through Eden they got to Orionka. Then they took other trams to Výtoň, where they were transported twice by ferries to get back to the left bank of the Vltava. As Dvorecký most has not yet been completed, they returned by tram to Karlovo náměstí. The end was near, so they had better take the subway. It was the 17th place in the absolute ranking.
Year 12 is over. The whole race was nice, we thank the transport company and the City Council of Prague 6 for their significant support, without which we would not have had the facilities in the attached tram, we would not have been able to move to the Dlabačov turnpike with our own train and we would not have had such nice prizes for the winners. I smile at the enthusiasm of supporters and competitors and I look forward to the next start again!
Author: Marek S. – Winoga
Photo: MČ Prague 6
