On Saturday 6th June I will be participating in the 170 km long Bergen-Voss cycle road race with my Norwegian friend Cecilie.The route follows the old road between Bergen and Voss and as shown in the profile below it is mostly a series of ups and downs. The most gruelling climbs occur up to Gullbotn and Kvamskogen, then the route follows much gentler terrain along the picturesque Hardangerfjord but still maintains the theme of ''up and down''. There follows one final tough climb up to Skjervet and then it's downhill all the way to finish at Voss.
Participation in the race has for many years has been only local but it has recently gained huge popularity. In 2008 there were 2500 partcipants - almost double of the previous year.
The ladies record is held by Elin Steinsbø Fylkesnes with a time of 4hr 43.min.16sec in 2005. The men's is held by 2 men, I assume they tied, Bo Andre Namtvedt and Vegard Øverås Lid with a time of 4hr.02.min.01sec from 1995.
I have no expectations on how long it is going to take me but I do know that I only have 2 months left to train and learn how to slipstream.. Saying that though I have only 2 weeks left to train for the Skarverennet, a 38km cross-country ski race but I'll write about that another evening.
hey,
ReplyDeletei have just come to bergen and found out about this race today and was thinking of doing it next year. would you be able to tell me how difficult you found it and did you think it was well organised. i.e. did you think there was enough food stops etc.
cheers
This is the only bike race I have participated in but in comparison to other organised events I thought it really well done. Starting times are organised into time bins (according to your estimated completion time) so you are cycling with people of a similar pace. I can't remember how many food stops there were but the ones I do remember were stocked with biscuits, jam and bread, sports drinks etc and I remember people being at the side of the roads handing out bananas.
ReplyDeleteDifficulty will depend on your cycling ability. If you are not a cyclist but want to do it for the scenery then you can start really early in the morning and take the whole day but would still need to get out and train for the distance. There are three big hills but its the smaller ones inbetween that you are unprepared for that are tiring. A whole spectrum of abilities participate.
I was aiming to finish under 7 hours but actually pulled out about 3/4 of the way through with a busted knee. I called the emergency number on the info pack and I was picked up in a minibus with my bike and driven to the finishing line. At Voss there is a big food hall and busses to return you and your bike to Bergen (but have to be prebooked).
Next year the race is on 11 June and you have to enter through their website. I had heard that this year the race sold out within minutes of them opening the site you have to be prepared.
Here is an English summary of their site:
http://www.bergenck.no/defaultBV.aspx?pageId=118
Good Luck !