Radek has been involved in sport for over 30 years – particularly in cycling. He started racing as a 13-year old junior,(his first Czechoslovakian National Title was achieved on the road).
Up until the age of 19, Radek participated in over 100 cycle races of all sorts - road and indoor and outdoor track - each year. Later on, upon joining the senior ranks, he was invited into the Czechoslovakian National Team as a track specialist. He then spent more than 10 seasons competing regularly in international events; feeling equally at home in the sprint, 1000-metre time trial, tandem, point score and even 6-Day racing. To this day, Radek still holds the Prague Velodrome tandem speed record of 10.56 seconds (200 metres), set with Pavel Martinek (a triple World Champion) in 1983.
Unfortunately, Radek’s success in earlier years was replaced with a major disappointment in 1984, when the mixing of sport and politics resulted in an Eastern bloc boycott of the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Although Radek was selected in the 1984 Czech Olympic Cycling Team, his Olympic dream was not realised. As a result of their Governments’ decision, Eastern bloc athletes did not get the chance to compete in Los Angeles.
The disappointment of 1984 caused Radek to re-assess his approach to cycling and his commitment to the Communist Czechoslovakia. Rather than trying to achieve sporting goals for his own satisfaction, Radek began to see cycling more as a job.
