Vätternrundan
June 22, 2013
Vätternrundan is an annual summer bicycling event in Sweden. The three hundred kilometer course goes all around the lake Vättern and sees participants numbering in several thousands, arriving from all parts of the world. This year, Vätternrundan started at 1930 hours on June 15 and Motala saw twenty three thousand people take the race start. To manage the huge group of bicyclists, they are launched in groups which are two minutes apart. The event, though grueling, is a non-competitive event and is more about celebrating life and fitness than being a dash to a finish line.
My colleagues Hamish Struthers and NSC Director Patrick Norman were participants in the race. While Hamish's 0300 start time was a trifle late for me to hang around for, Patrick was scheduled to start at 2256 hours. I had a couple of hours time to explore local sights, before coming back to try and spot him in the crowd to see him off. The lake itself, and the Motala Motor Museum in the next street were my obvious targets!
The lake was quite a lovely sight in the evening sunlight.
The Motala Motor Musuem where I saw a whole load of really interesting machines.
From this 1897 Husqvarna bicycle...
to this absolutely beautiful '78 Morgan +8
and this lovely Pininfarina Ferrari Testarossa!
It was almost time to try and find Patrick to wish him prior to his race start. Finding a guy in a bicycle helmet is not a difficult task at the local mall, but it's a very different proposition at the start of Vätternrundan! I knew his jersey number, but there were simply way too many people. As his start time started to creep closer, I moved closer to the start gates. I found that his group would start from the middle gate and stayed put near it. While I still couldn't spot his jersey number 8283, I was able to spot numbers 8282, 8284 and 8285 all lined up. Were they a team? I asked and sure enough, they were Patrick's friends! He arrived there and was fairly suprised to see me. I wished him luck, took a few more pictures and left back to Linköping, determined to come back the next year, as a participant.
Riders giving their bikes some final checks and doing minor last minute adjustments.
Patrick (#8283) and his friends.
I saw a great many riders coming into Motala with bikes strapped to their car roofs.
The port at Motala was very picturesque, with many sailboats lined up. Lake Vättern is connected to the sea by the 190 kilometer long Göta canal which was inaugurated on 26 September 1832. The advent of railways made this canal largely redundant for cargo movement, but it certainly made it possible for these sailboats to come into an inland lake!
I made it to the inauguration function. Before long, the race was on!
My colleagues Hamish Struthers and NSC Director Patrick Norman were participants in the race. While Hamish's 0300 start time was a trifle late for me to hang around for, Patrick was scheduled to start at 2256 hours. I had a couple of hours time to explore local sights, before coming back to try and spot him in the crowd to see him off. The lake itself, and the Motala Motor Museum in the next street were my obvious targets!
The lake was quite a lovely sight in the evening sunlight.
The Motala Motor Musuem where I saw a whole load of really interesting machines.
From this 1897 Husqvarna bicycle...
to this absolutely beautiful '78 Morgan +8
and this lovely Pininfarina Ferrari Testarossa!
It was almost time to try and find Patrick to wish him prior to his race start. Finding a guy in a bicycle helmet is not a difficult task at the local mall, but it's a very different proposition at the start of Vätternrundan! I knew his jersey number, but there were simply way too many people. As his start time started to creep closer, I moved closer to the start gates. I found that his group would start from the middle gate and stayed put near it. While I still couldn't spot his jersey number 8283, I was able to spot numbers 8282, 8284 and 8285 all lined up. Were they a team? I asked and sure enough, they were Patrick's friends! He arrived there and was fairly suprised to see me. I wished him luck, took a few more pictures and left back to Linköping, determined to come back the next year, as a participant.
Riders giving their bikes some final checks and doing minor last minute adjustments.
Patrick (#8283) and his friends.