Sunday 18 May 2014

Barkarby 400 km.

On Friday it was finally time for what I know everybody has been shivering an shaking in anticipation for: KBCK's first 400 km brevet! Not only would it finish in our clubhouse Lilla Barkarby, but the novelty was that it also started there at 11 pm. The main reason for this brilliant plan was that we counted backwards so that the fastest riders would finish just in time for Lilla Barkarby to open on Saturday for well earned after bike beers. Pretty smart, huh?

36 registered was great and really shows what a solid group of randonneurs is building up in Stockholm. I got alot of comments on whether only short pants and shirt were a particularly intelligent choice for a night ride, but even on this point I had a well thought out sly plan, the wisdom of which was at this stage however unsure... We rolled out of Stockholm in the middle of the night and a big group of about 20 riders navigated a slightly chaotic route out of town. Even the bit to Uppsala was a bit messy, but we all kept together until the first control there. The km's rolled along nicely. We discovered that surprisingly(!?) KBCK's planning had a few glitches and two out of the five controls on the route didn't have anything open for confirmation. 

Tierp by night and nowhere to get a stamp in the brevet-card. At least that meant the stops were short and efficient!


Fantastic photo of short sleeves in 7 degrees, a full moon over my shoulder and a bunch of idiots riding through a night.

After this we settled down, it was never really dark and we rode on open, wide roads as straight, big and free of traffic as an airport runway. This would have been irritatingly boring during the day but suited us perfectly at night. A well working group, tailwind and often flying along at 40 km/h, this part was magic. There were a few problems with mental tiredness, but with some chatting between us I think we all managed to stay more or less awake until the halfway, turning point in Gävle.

Halfway. In the illustrious company of the boss, nypan. How he manages to keep his hair perfect and generally look so immaculous after 200 km in the night is beyond me.

If you have had tailwind in one direction and then turn around you don't have tailwind anymore. So from Gävle back was far more selective. The group split up along the way but the sun had come up and there were some beautiful areas, especially the roaring, thunderous rivers to cross just after Sandviken. So the mood was good. The megalopolis Överfarnabo was of course shut, but by now a few in the group were getting tired and decided to lie around on the ground a bit so I had nothing better to do than to take a selfie...

 Looking good in Överfarnabo.

By this stage we realised that there was a serious risk that we would finish before Lilla Barkarby opened with the catastrophic consequence that we would be sitting there without being able to order beers. So to waste a bit of time, we had an extra stop in a sunny kiosk a bit later instead. A great opportunity for some serious energy replenishing.

KBCK's chairman, bigmollo looking fresh with a big, melting icecream on a beautiful morning. That kiosk has never sold as many icecreams and coca colas that early on a Saturday morning before.

The head wind started blowing more and more riders off the back of our group while I started feeling better and better. Bigmollo, Stephan and I took longer and longer turns at the front and I really enjoyed finding a sweet spot in my pulse where I could just keep churning consistently. In Uppsala we were only about 7 left, most of which wanted a bit of a longer break, so we stopped for a last intake of energy to attack the last 70 km's with.

A crap photo of me eating a sausage. (Photo courtesy of bigmollo).

After Uppsala I took more and more responsibility with my rides at the front and there were more and more problems behind me. Even bigmollo's legs forgot what they were supposed to be doing in the continuing headwind, which wasn't extreme but after 350 km's felt brutal. Stephan and me rotated a bit at the front and then we could suddenly smell the beers in Barkarby and all cheered up until we rolled into the finish 18 minutes after Lilla Barkarby opened. 18 minutes of missed drinking time! We will have to optimise the finishing time next time :-)

Ahhhhh.... I wonder if the Brevet Gods in Paris will accept that card with all the missing stamps?

Oh yes. Then there was the clothing question. My plan worked perfectly: I realised that I might be cold for a while at the start, but the plan was that I would be the most appropriately dressed when it got hot during the day! Maybe I got the time-ratio a bit wrong though; the freezing bit was about 10 hours and the warm bit about 4. However, during and after the warm bit you forget the cold bit so I think it must have been successful?!

What shorts on a sunny day do to you. Thanks legs for a good ride!

We sat a while outside Lilla Barkarby talking rubbish, eating a big hamburger, drinking a couple of beers and watching small disintegrated groups of more or less exhausted riders dropping in. Then a train home to my family, some more food and a glas of wine in the sofa and finally a Beautiful, welcming bed.
 
Thanks all that I rode with and thanks KBCK for a memorable 400 km's!
 
/Toni
 

5 comments:

  1. Fan, det var ju en rätt kil 40 milare när man tänker efter.
    Bra väder och riktigt kul att rulla in för en öl efter att ha cyklat genom både natt och motvind.
    Men på allvar: I need a haircut!
    /The boss? ( var fick du det ifrån? )

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  2. Den var riktig kul. The Boss kändes som en självklarhet :-)

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  3. Starkt kört! Jag hade gärna suttit med i klungan. Känns surt att missa vad som troligtvis var den bästa breveten i år.

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  4. Markus - 60-milaren blir minst lika kul ;-)

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  5. Tack själv. Det där var riktigt kul. På 60-milaren ska jag ha benen påkopplade hela vägen.
    /BIG

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