# VatternRundan? 300 Km in Sweden? Have You Hit That?



## Scott in MD (Jun 24, 2008)

I work for an international company that has a lot of hard charging Vikings in it. Last time my boss visited I hooked him and two other colleagues up with demo bikes from the local Spesh shop and we did about 40 miles per day for three days after work. They were stoked and to return favor signed me up for VatternRundan, a 300 KM supported tour around some lake in Sweden. Last year there were about 30something thousand riders. My boss in his mid-60's went 9h21m so these are pretty serious riders. 

My question: has anybody ridden this? Can you hook me up with some logistics tips ie how far from Stockholm hotels? What is race support like? Is it flat? I have sort of checked this out on Internet, and I get rider info emails every few weeks ... But all in Swedish! At least I think it's Swedish. 

I race a half-iron triathlon every year, and am a 3h50 marathoner, but have some training to do to get ready for this ride in June! 

Any info or training tips or personal experiences is appreciated.


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## mmoose (Apr 2, 2004)

I have been to Sweden, and rode my bike there. But not this ride. Looks nice though. 

Some generalities, 
1) if you're riding around a lake or following a river, it should be pretty flat. There are exceptions. Lake Tahoe has some significant up and down...but that is really a pocket between mountains
2) Google maps, hit the topology, doesn't look very hilly to me. More interesting terrain on the north end of the lake, but everything else seems flat. (If you find Stockholm, look about 130 miles SE. The skinny lake that mostly runs north/south is Vattern)
3) website had an english version. But no real map there.
4) 4000 paid volunteers providing support for the ride, cool! 
5) If I were riding, I'd be tempted to look up some old friends in Boras, that's were I stayed.
6) if the start/stop is Motala, (from website, looks like it's on the nw section of the lake), then I'd be looking for hotels in Linkoping or Norrkoping. But better yet, the guys who signed you up, ask them for this!
7) 300K (180mi) is a serious distance. But it's not a race. Expect to take all day and enjoy it. I'd train to do a solo century in about 5:30 hours or so. Also, shoot for a weekend where you can ride a century Saturday and Sunday, but maybe more like 6-6:30 for each. It's more about pace and raw time on the bike. Being comfortable in the saddle and bars is different from a 2 hour ride to a 9 hour ride. And don't underestimate the mental aspect.

Hopefully, someone will jump in with experience on this specific ride.

But if you're doing half ironman, that's a 60 something solo ride. So you should be able to transition to longer rides pretty easily. What is your longest ride and how did that go?


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## Chocolatebike (Feb 28, 2011)

GF and I did this in 2009 and it was fantastic.
There are drawbacks, the major one for us (living in the UK) being the logistics. In the end we did it as part of a 2 week holiday with the ride in the middle. We took the bikes on the back of the car and caught the ferry across to Denmark.
Motala is a relatively small town so accommodation is booked out for miles around. The web-site can help find you somewhere to stay. We ended up in an apartment with a Swedish family using one of their bedrooms. Another couple (Dutch I think) were using one of the other bedrooms and the Swedes seemed to be camped in one room. We stayed there two nights and, if/when we do the ride again, I'd get in touch directly and stay again. The other couple had already stayed several times with the same family.
Motala is several hundred km from Stockholm (or Copenhagen) and I'm not sure if you can take a bike on the trains to get there. I'm sure your Swedish colleagues can advise you. If you hire a car to drive to Motala, just be aware that the police don't allow you drive within ~5 hours of finishing the ride. Apparently there were several accidents caused by drivers falling asleep on the way home. We saw a fair number of police cars when we were heading back into Motala and some private cars had been pulled over.
We found the ride itself to be fantastically well organised. We had an 00.24 start time (that's right, just after midnight) and it was cold, wet and windy when we set off. Groups of about 20 are started at intervals (2 minutes ? I can't remember) and each group is escorted out of town by Hell's Angels/accountants on Harleys.
There is a food/drinks stop every ~50km, most with a bike mechanic and some with 1st aid/medical help. The food varies between snacks (honey flavoured buns, bananas, gherkins stick in my mind) and more substantial meals such as lasagne, hot dogs and porridge. Each stop has large containers of sports drink so you can fill up your bottles. I also remember blueberry soup which was a great cycling food ! All of the refreshments are included in the (high) entry fee.
Compared to the UK, the Swedish road surfaces are excellent which made a big difference to our cycling comfort. There are no major hills, just some long drags on the Western side of the lake and a few short, sharp rises near the end.
We took around 17.5 hours but we made full use of all the stops en-route and, since I'd talked my GF into doing the ride, I did it at her speed. I'm sure she could easily knock 6 hours off that time now she knows what's involved. It was 100km longer than her previous longest ride.
One hazard is the large number of cycling club pelotons that form and come sweeping past, sometimes without leaving a lot of space for slower riders. These groups also have support vehicles, one of which almost took me out by pulling into a layby directly in front of me. Words were exchanged and I may not have been entirely polite..........
The upside of the pelotons is that it is possible to leach onto the back of them and get a good tow. At one stage I stopped to examine the hedge and I told my GF to carry on and I would catch her up. After 5 minutes flat out at 18mph, a peloton came sweeping past. I managed to get into the group and suddenly I was doing 22mph with a bit of coasting thrown in. What would have happened if wheels had touched doesn't bear thinking about but it was a hoot while it happened. Many of the cycling clubs go for early morning starts so they don't have to carry lights; the ride takes place around mid-summer and the nights are quite short.
I'd recommend doing this ride if you possibly can. If it was easier and cheaper to get to, I'd do it year after year and I'm still thinking that I can go under 10 hours.
If you've any more questions, just ask and I'll try to help.
Some pictures:-


09-06-12 Vatternrundan start 2 by Chocolatebike1, on Flickr


P6130309 by Chocolatebike1, on Flickr


09-06-13 Vatternrundan 50km to go by Chocolatebike1, on Flickr


09-06-13 Mini moose Vatternrundan by Chocolatebike1, on Flickr


09-06-13 Vatternrundan- Hjo by Chocolatebike1, on Flickr


P6130316 by Chocolatebike1, on Flickr


09-06-13 Vatternrundan finish by Chocolatebike1, on Flickr


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## Scott in MD (Jun 24, 2008)

Thanks! Thanks for the great info. we got a local basement reserved for the overnight. And we start at 3am! I'll hit you back in June with ride report.


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## BertineC (Apr 1, 2012)

If you stay an extra week you can experience Midsommar in Sweden which is its own bit of interesting!

Biking in Sweden is a very nice experience, but definitely use the rest stops because there aren't any little shops really to run into if you need food or water (or at least anything handy like a 7-11 in the US - especially when you get into the boonies). Maybe a Statoil or similar petrol station, but the shops tend to be small or not open at all outside major town centers. 

Be prepared for cool showers at that time of year. Also - the sun in Sweden will be more intense and feel very warm even if the air temperature isn't necessarily hot. Pack accordingly!

Also - there is a map on the website. Click on Vatternruden on the left and The Route comes up under there.


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## Scott in MD (Jun 24, 2008)

Thanks for the info - Scott


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## pennycomins (Feb 24, 2013)

Hi,

Did you ride the event and enjoy it? I would be interested in hearing from you on the event and possibly a story about it.

Kind regards,

Penny


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## Scott in MD (Jun 24, 2008)

I Just saw this from last year. Last year's ride was tough for me. I was not prepared for near-freezing cold rain. I did not have the right gear or warm kit. This combined with 2:30 am start time, jet lag, and international flight home the next morning got into my head and ... DNF after 150km in the pouring rain. Nevertheless, the whole vibe was awesome. I'm back again this year. I'll get a ride report up after (hopefully) finishing strong. 

I packed my bike in an EVOC case and that worked well. No extra charge$ from airline on the way over. I hope my luck holds for the rest of the trip. 

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