kitzblitz' long and hard ride

Where I’m from

Part II: Pretend fast riding

 

After a few years back in Sweden, during which my wife and I played around a bit on our mountainbikes, but didn’t really think about it much, I suddenly got this wild and crazy idea to ride Vätternrundan, all 300 km of it! I got a cheapish, 10,000 kr roadbike (Monti) but didn’t have a clue what to do. So I googled. And of course got an answer in http://happymtb.org/forum/list.php/1 first. Since that day I have happymtb to thank for pretty much everything I have done in cycling. Especially the inclusion in Sweden’s best cycling club, KBCK (just don’t ever ask what it stands for). You can google pretty much anything and happymtb is likely to come up. I once wanted to know what the plastic bags were called that really drunk people at the Oktoberfest in München were transported in. Google gave me happymtb as an answer!

In 2007 I joined happy’s sub10 hours group for VR and it was quite easy (I ended up alone but rode in 9:30 hours I think). After that I continued in happymtb’s very own Leo’s first Finax-sponsored, then Continental sponsored groups at VR. Our times have been: 8:05, 7:34, 7:28, 7:12 (then I missed their 7:08 in 2012).

Taking a turn at the front in the Continental Test Team at Vätternrundan 2011
(photo Natasja Jovic)

In 2013 I was for the first time involved in a serious effort to ride under 7 hours (about 43 km/h average over 300 km). But the wind killed us and in the end we realized it wasn’t going to work and came in in 7:17.

CTT 2013, me 4th from right, front row
(photo Natasja Jovic)

I’m not registered for Vätternrundan 2014. But who knows what will happen…

During these years I started to realize I could ride pretty fast and played around in some recreational races. I generally came in in the first group and started feeling a bit cocky about the whole thing.  

Riding solo after a puncture to come 4th in the Sörmlandstrampet 2007

Wheelsucking in 5th place in theTrosatrampet 2009 (3^rd )

Of course I started to realize that I was nowhere near properly fast. There are some amazingly strong cyclists, even of my age, out there! At the same time the magical KBCK influence washed my brain with Belgian beer and forced me into more and more longer rides...

Watch this space for what happened next J

/Toni