Result: 14th place overall
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| Me on a spång |
Göteborgsgirot MTB
I drove up to Gothenburg in the morning to try this race, sort of, for the first time. I actually did ride it the first time they ever organized the race, back in 2013. But the course had changed since then so this still felt like the first time.
Back in 2013 the terrain that they chose for the race was crazy technical and dangerous. Back then I wasn't a good mountain biker, I'll admit that. Still, when the girlfriend and I decided to try the race we knew it was open for all riders (including non-licensed) and so we thought: "How bad can it be? They won't want to kill people... right??" It turned out to be REALLY bad at that time. Sandra crashed out of the race early and had to retire. I remember getting off my bike and walking several sections because they were just too dangerous.
I wasn't expecting that kind of technical terrain this time around.
The track is 50km long. It starts of quite centrally in Gothenburg so you have a police motorbike escort the first 4km out of town, until they let the field go. The weather was dry, sunny but cold.
Getting out of Gothenburg
I lined up on the grid next to my old racing pal Robert Eliasson. I don't know how many marathons we've done together. He's a local guy and has done this race many times. He told me before the race that it usually ends in one of two ways: A puncture or failed navigation. After the race I understood exactly why.
Two good things:
1. Car parking is right next to the start of the race. Litterally meters away.
2. You can get a good position in the start grid.
The first four kilometers of the race went through Gothenburg, on (narrow) bicycle paths, with police motorcycles in front controlling the (slow) pace. There was a lot of braking, some swearing, and a lot of bunching up. Some cyclists took shortcuts. The whole situation was mildly annoying. I didn't know exactly when they were going to let the race start so I had to try to keep a good position in the field. I saw cyclists around me who were clearly not of the "quick kind" but who were very eager and so quite aggressive.
Release the riders!
We left town and got to an area with jogging paths and here the field was released. I was not in the best position (as so often) and slow to start (quite common too) but I gradually made my way to the lead group of about 15 riders. Robert Eliasson was there, and some really quick elite guys. This first part went mostly on wide jogging paths and the pace was quick. There were a lot of quick and short climbs. Actually this whole race is full of climbs and descents and has few flat areas.
The bi-polar race
After a few kilometers of this quick and non-technical riding on paths we got into the rough stuff. My immediate reaction was that I was surprised by how rough the rough stuff really was. If you made the wrong choice of path over the rocky terrain you could easily end up going over a 1 meter drop.
There were also lots of (high) roots. Lots of roots and stones! Knowing the terrain, and which route to take around the obstacles, was a BIG advantage here.
Also, "spång"/"spänger"... a LOT of them. If you're Swedish you know this word: It's a small and narrow bridge. You can see one on the photo above from the race. That particular "spång" is really really wide, most of them are just three planks wide... some are two planks.
So what happened? Well, not knowing the terrain I took it easy. I got overtaken by some 4 or 5 of guys who seemed to really know the terrain because they really flew past me.
Then on the next climb I caught the same guys and went around them... really quickly. And then repeat on the next downhill with them going past me. After I while I felt I had to apologize for my riding: "Sorry guys, this is the first time I ride in this terrain. Just go past me!"
And, yeah, that was the bi-polar nature of this race: It's either really easy terrain; asphalt or gravel road, or it's oh-no-I'm-going-to-die terrain.
Poorly marked course
There's one major point I need to bring up about this course. You may remember what I wrote at the beginning about Robert's verdict of the race (it either ends in him taking the wrong turn or in a puncture). The course is really poorly marked out. The arrows come too late, typically when you're going downhill at 40km/h and suddenly you see an arrow pointing left exactly where you're supposed to turn. There should be some forewarning of a turn. There are also long sections with no arrows which led me to worry if I was still on the course. I didn't go wrong anywhere, but there were places where I went past the turn-off point and hade to double back.
In many intersections they had officials standing but very few of theses people actually pointed to where the course continued to. I could come to an intersection, with a guy standing there, and just look at him and ask him: Where do I go now?? And THEN he would point.
In many intersections they had officials standing but very few of theses people actually pointed to where the course continued to. I could come to an intersection, with a guy standing there, and just look at him and ask him: Where do I go now?? And THEN he would point.
The chaotic return to Gothenburg
Approaching the last 10km of the race, as we were nearing Gothenburg again, I had caught up with most of the guys that had overtaken me in the rough terrain. The last part was quite easy and I really wanted to show the guys (the *real* mountain bikers), who had sped past me in the rough, who the road king was (me).
I had three guys on my wheel and there were some short climbs: I sprinted up them and managed to lose them one by one.
However, then we got back to town... And the roads were NOT closed off! I was weaving through traffic, overtaking cars, trying to stay clear of the riders chasing me. It was really exciting!
With the last kilometer approaching and the stadium area where the finish one just ahead of me I had a quick look back. I didn't expect to see anyone as I thought I had handled the traffic quite well. But to my surprise there were two riders approaching just 10-20 meters behind.
The last few hundred meters was a loooong straight bicycle lane that led up to the finish line. It was stressful and I crossed the finish line with the highest heart rate of the race. The guy behind me just one second after.
Stats (excluding the master start):
Max heart rate: 187 bpm
Average power: 220W
Weighted average power: 250W
I'm starting to wonder if my new Stages is giving me good results as they seem rather low. However, with the terrain being what it was, it was hard to put down good power in the rough stuff. Good max H/R however!