Sweden is another country

[GrasB]

I showed this thread to a Swede friend & from a Swede's POV cycling is a lot harder in Cambridge than in Sweden, less tolerance from motorists & far less provision for securing a bike properly. Out of town apparently we have nicer roads to cycle along & better views with quaint little villages.

Note in the video not a glimmer of lycra or bling

My friend also raised an interesting point on this comment. There are plenty of cyclists who cycle in lycra & have expensive bikes & equipment, aka cycling enthusiasts, probably about the same % of total the population are in this group in the UK & Sweden. The reason the enthusiast group stand out more in the UK is that this group is a much higher proportion of the UK cycling population.

 

[mattybain]

Lund is chilly! Below freezing for 6 months of the year, it makes you happy to be temperate in comparison.

Actually that's not quite true, in fact Lund is probably the mildest place in Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lund#Climate no month has an average high of below 0

Average high °C

J F M A M J J A S O N D
3 3 6 12 17 19 22 22 18 12 8 4

It's also a big student town it has a population of 72,000 and Lund University has 42,000 students (although not all live in Lund), so probably more like Cambridge than your average UK city.

 

[mattybain]

. When I was walking in London, people used to think me barmy if I suggested walking more than about 100 yards.

Have you ever tried walking to the office in the US, I was in Wilmington, Delaware for work and walked 3 miles to the office. Not only did people think I was insane I even got stopped by the police to see what was wrong!!

 

[joolsybools]

Yes Sweden is the way forward, we visited Gothenburg last month and it had loads of cycle routes, parking and more importantly RESPECT and courtesey from other people.

Compare this with going to Newcastle on business a few weeks earlier and it being suggested to me to "get a cab" from the train station to the hotel (a 300 metre walk, max).

Shocking! And we wonder why we have an obesity problem.

 

[Norm]

Have you ever tried walking to the office in the US, I was in Wilmington, Delaware for work and walked 3 miles to the office. Not only did people think I was insane I even got stopped by the police to see what was wrong!!

I had similar issues when I was working for Adobe in San Jose. I wanted to go to the local mall, only about 1.5 miles away so I thought I'd walk it. Not only was it really tough to cross most of the junctions, when I got there, there was no pedestrian access. I walked through the car exit barriers to get in.

On the bright side, it was a bus which stopped for me rather than a police car but the driver looked amazed when I said that I was only walking back to the hotel.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Actually that's not quite true, in fact Lund is probably the mildest place in Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lund#Climate no month has an average high of below 0

Average high °C

J F M A M J J A S O N D
3 3 6 12 17 19 22 22 18 12 8 4

It's also a big student town it has a population of 72,000 and Lund University has 42,000 students (although not all live in Lund), so probably more like Cambridge than your average UK city.

I'd go with that too. Lived for 2 years in Helsingborg up the road and arriving in Lund it's immediately clear that the University and other research/academia facilities significantly skews the population distribution. Cars are very expensive in Sweden and students are more likely to ride bikes there out of necessity as well.
Climate is not too harsh either, end of December, Jan and into Feb we'd see occasional snows and the Oresund occasionally froze over, but in general not much different to say living in Newcastle or Edinburgh weatherwise.

But good-on the Swedes. Always liked their common-sense approach to life.... it would never happen here.

 

[mattybain]

But good-on the Swedes. Always liked their common-sense approach to life.... it would never happen here.

Yes +1 on that, wasn't trying to undermine what the Swedes have achieved. Stockholm and Malmo have cycling / public transport rates that put the whole of the UK to shame and the daylight hours / weather in Stockholm is much worse!!

 

[Bollo]

There's hope for us yet.



Thinking about doing that next year. How long did it take you? I wont be breaking any records myself.

There's, also, the Birkebeiner and Nordsjørittet in Norway lined up for me. So its going to be a busy year.

I had an email a couple of weeks ago about it being full for 2010, but there were still some places for non-Swedes. Might be worth checking out.

Have a look at the later posts of this thread for some match reports and pictures. Zoom is officially very handy on a bike!

It took me a few minutes over 12 hours, which I was very pleased with given the weather (p1ssing down and a slight head wind all the way -yes it changed direction!!!) and as I wasn't riding as part of a team. With a better idea of terrain and a tracker to find my bike at the busier rest stops, I could have probably got this down to 11:15-11:45. Don't worry about the apparently high attrition rate (25% dropped out in 2009), the weather had a lot to do with it and there was a very broad range of cyclists; its not like a sportive. Also, you can find yourself riding in some very large groups (100+) which is an experience.

 

[Norm]

Actually that's not quite true

Oops! The downside of going with the first site I found. I spent 6 months living in Copenhagen, so I should have known better. But I've only been going Helsingborg (same place as Fab Foodie mentions) for a few months so I just did a quick search.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Oops! The downside of going with the first site I found. I spent 6 months living in Copenhagen, so I should have known better. But I've only been going Helsingborg (same place as Fab Foodie mentions) for a few months so I just did a quick search.

May I enquire what takes yopu to lovely Helsingborg? I used to work for FMC-Frigoscandia head-office there.

 

[Norm]

May I enquire what takes yopu to lovely Helsingborg? I used to work for FMC-Frigoscandia head-office there.

You can, although it's only bean-counter of one of the many software companies there so not nearly as exciting as Frigoscandia.

 

[Fab Foodie]

You can, although it's only bean-counter of one of the many software companies there so not nearly as exciting as Frigoscandia. :?:

Ahh, the Glas-huset (Glass house). They were happy times, we lived just a few miles down the coast. Frigo was the big 'local' sucess story, so working there had a certain cachet. It's a nice if unspectacular town, quiet, good resteraunts, a few good nightclubs and plenty fishing!
Say hello for me next time you're there!

 

[Norm]

It's a nice if unspectacular town, quiet, good resteraunts, a few good nightclubs and plenty fishing!
Say hello for me next time you're there!

I look wistfully along the coast to Copenhagen each time I visit. Sweden is a great country but I'd choose Denmark.

I'll offer a Fab Foodie wave when I'm over next.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I look wistfully along the coast to Copenhagen each time I visit. Sweden is a great country but I'd choose Denmark.

I'll offer a Fab Foodie wave when I'm over next.

Cheers Norm!

 

[Stephenite]

I had an email a couple of weeks ago about it being full for 2010, but there were still some places for non-Swedes. Might be worth checking out.

Have a look at the later posts of this thread for some match reports and pictures. Zoom is officially very handy on a bike!

It took me a few minutes over 12 hours, which I was very pleased with given the weather (p1ssing down and a slight head wind all the way -yes it changed direction!!!) and as I wasn't riding as part of a team. With a better idea of terrain and a tracker to find my bike at the busier rest stops, I could have probably got this down to 11:15-11:45. Don't worry about the apparently high attrition rate (25% dropped out in 2009), the weather had a lot to do with it and there was a very broad range of cyclists; its not like a sportive. Also, you can find yourself riding in some very large groups (100+) which is an experience.

Thanks for that. Will take a look later. Going t'pub to watch footy.

Regarding entry places: If Vatternrunden is anything like large biking events in Norway there'll be plenty of entry tickets available towards the start of the ride due to cry-offs. Birkebeinerrittet had 7000 partakers last time but about 850 IIRC didnt show. Banking on something similar next year. These events are sold out within minutes (or more likely seconds) of the tickets being available.

ps. If i get as good a time as you i'll be very pleased.