For the 4^th year running a group from the club made a trip to Sweden last weekend for the Vätternrundan.  This year's team was Sarah, Magnus, Dave B and me.

This year we flew into Stockholm rather than Göteborg which had the advantage of Magnus waiting for us at the airport with car and trailer.  Also rather than camping, Magnus had arranged for us to all stay in a church hall rather than camping which was much more pleasant, particularly given the weather. 

It was also much closer to the start which meant we had plenty of time to register, eat pasta, put our bikes together, relax and make our way to the start (and even have enough time for some, err, last minute adjustments just before we set off at 21:40).

As riders are set off at 2 minute intervals it took some time for groups to form on the road.  However when it did it soon reminded me about what I love about this ride.  Rolling along in a group of 20 riders on perfectly smooth, flat roads as the sun sets with minimal traffic and marshals waving you on at every corner is a great experience.  That doesn’t mean you can totally relax though and approaching one piece of road furniture our group contracted and someone behind us toppled over.  Before long darkness fell and, probably my favourite bit, rolling along through the forest in the dark with just a seemingly endless stream of red bike lights guiding the way ahead of you. 

Having said hello to Magnus’s brother who was waiting by the side of the road to greet us, we reached the first major food stop at about 100km.  This was meatballs and mashed potatoes eaten in the middle of an ice rink (without the ice!). 

At the top of what is one of the longest hills on the route we met Magnus’s parents and their dog who had also waited up until 2:00am to see us.  Fortunately it was still dry for them.  For the previous 3 years the weather had been great, but this year we had nervously been watching the forecasts which had predicted various amounts of rain overnight.  It wasn’t until about 4:00am that the rain hit us, but it was a downpour!  At least it by now it the sun had risen and it stopped after about 45 minutes, but it did leave us very wet and cold.  Fortunately we could sit inside a large tent at the second large food stop where we enjoyed cereal and lasagne.

At around 200km we made the, by now traditional, decision to then make our own way to the finish rather than carrying on all regrouping at each stop.  Sarah and I pushed on but the relative lack of cycling we had both done and a wind that seemed to be constantly against us meant the going was tough.  Nevertheless we carried on with just one more stop finally reaching the outskirts of finishing town Motala after what seemed an endless and very undulating last few kilometres.  Then after 298km I spotted something I hadn’t seen all night – my first pothole!  Yes the roads really are that good!  It was a great relief to see the fountain that meant the finish was just around the corner and we arrived exhausted but happy with a total time of 13h 45m.  Dave B and Magnus followrd in 15h 36m.  Times were slower than previous years but the wind and rain had meant conditions were tougher.

As always I can’t recommend the trip highly enough.  It was a great weekend and all made a lot easier thanks to Magnus’s hospitality.  Yes 300km is a very long way, but this is a great way to do it.  Now did Sarah and I really agree to ride a 400km Audax with Heather in a couple of week’s time?  Oh well, Essex looked fairly flat when we flew back over it on Sunday afternoon!