Vatternrundan

zoomcp

Anyone doing it / done it before? I've entered the 300, it's a shame it's a different weekend to the HalfVattern as my friend won't be up for the whole ride.

Planning on flying to Arlanda and riding alond the main road :shock:

www.vatternrundan.se

nicklouse

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ternrundan

i would not be cycling from Arlanda to Motala, coach or Train.

this may be of interest http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12589651

GeorgeShaw

Did it this year, fortunately I had a friend there who'd done it 9 times before to babysit me.

It's a flat ride, only two hills of any length. So you should train for length, I did a couple of 250km rides in the couple of months beforehand. This will help you with handling your feeding and liquid as well.

Most important will be some strategic decisions. Magnus told me about this beforehand, but it was more true than he said. The first decision is your target time. When I first talked to him, I was thinking that breaking 12 hours would be a good target. Then he started talking about the advantage of getting into groups, so I thought 11 hours could be possible. In the end we did it in 10 hours 8 minutes (damn those 8 minutes :evil: ). And I'm 54 and only started cycling properly a couple of years ago ... :shock:

If you want to go fast, then you want to start after 0200, as the fast groups start after then. The first 70km will be balls out, as it will be fast, and the groups not so big, so any gaps have to be closed. After that it settles down and the groups get bigger, so the intensity is less. Losing a group isn't a problem, as there's another one along in a couple of minutes ...

The last third is the most difficult, as the groups become more sparse, and you will be more tired, so it is psychologically more difficult, and your feeding quality will be under more stress. We missed out here, and had to cycle on our own for longer periods.

The companion decision here is about the feed stops. We only stopped 4 times, mainly for water and bananas. We missed the main feed stops - stopping for the full meal at Hjo will cost you 40 minutes in waiting time, for example. The really fast people carry 4 bottles and only stop at an unofficial stop at the top of the second hill.

Of course if you want to do it in 12+ hours, then you can ride at a more relaxed pace, and you will always have plenty of small groups as companions. It's a really friendly event.

Arlanda to Motala is a long way, unless you have plenty of time - although you won't need main roads. Sweden is full of big clean direct cycle paths, and very quiet country roads. Get the train/coach to Stockholm and change there for Motala.

zoomcp

thanks for the info; the CFC sounds well organised but I can't justify that; going for a time sounds the best plan (my fastest 300 Audax was 14.15 so I hope to improve significantly on that, maybe 12hr)

from Swedish Railways website they claim bikes can only be taken July- August or something like that. I'm happy to ride all the way if need be and have allowed a couple of days either side; I want to see the country

TomBombadil

Hi all,

I have done this ride the last three years. It is a really great experience. I tend to try and get an early start which means no large groups to ride with and inevitably a slower ride. This year it was a virtual solo effort and I managed to get in in the first 60 riders back. Knowing there were 16000 riders behine me.

Starting early means you are unlikely to get in a group unless you catch one going past. I only had the chance to catch one when I was 40km from Motala and they sailed past as at that point I was pretty tired and looking at their start times they had been working together and shadowing me from the start rather than my solo effort.

I managed the 186 miles in 10:50, which for a solo effort and including two fair rest stops, I felt wasn't bad. At the rest stops there was no one else there - just the organisers waiting for the thousands of riders to come. I was also soaked after an hour after torrential rain for an hour. Most riders starting after 10 missed this. As said if you just want to go around as fast as possible start with the really fast group that starts at about 4 in the morning - but the Sun will be up and the experience will be completely different.

For me the delight of this ride is ridng through the night and the fantastic organisation - it brings me back year after year. There is a certain madness to riding through the night which appeals to me and reminds me of how wonderful life can be.

The roads are good and watching the sun go down and then come up again over the lake and pushing on through the forest at the far side of the lake in the dark is truly fantastic.

Tom