Pavel Vršecký

“Well, that was my greatest dilemma. Because I had been wowed by the flat. I also got it within two months - in Černý Most. I came out in front of the boys; Kocek, Doležal, Vačkář were there. Kocek was placed third in the worlds, Vačkář was the runner-up. I was an average cyclist who raced in all the categories but excelled in none. So that was a big dilemma. I loved cycling; from that time on I cycled with them on all the training runs, until 1980, the Olympics. In the first phase, I pushed in the direction I was taught by Mr Cihlář. General fitness, team. I took advice from Doležal, Kocek, and Vačkář, whom I had a lot of disputes with. I wasn’t the type to say something would be like this or like this. I always worked things out somehow. I got the hang of it in time. Personally, I don’t remember a single case in my whole career when a racer would refuse to listen to me or would tell me I was a dick.”

“I can always remember that because it was a roadster, an English bike - you can see one occasionally on footage from England - it had handlebars pointing up. It was a utility bike, so I had to make it into a racing one. They only had Favorits back then, but they were difficult to come by. So I bought components - handlebars, a saddle - and I rebuilt the bike so I could ride on it. That was good in that I learnt a lot through it. I gained a connection to it. I even sewed up my own tubs [tubular tyres - trans.]. The connection was really close. I still feel it, and I think that it gave me a good foundation.”