Halvvättern 2012

[sulis]

Hej Hej

I love Sweden and have wanted to ride Vätternrundan for several years now. I have family and friends living in Sweden, but unfortunately none that ride and none that are interested in taking on the task. I very much want to sign up for Halvvättern for next year. But since it looks like I will be going it alone, I wanted to reach out and see if anyone had any experience with this ride. I only know my experiences with riding in my local area.

Is the course well marked and can it be easily navigated by someone unfamiliar with the area? (I am studying Swedish but definitely won't be fluent. I know many speak English but since I'll be on a bike and following road signs, well they will be in Swedish)

I am also interested in hearing general experiences of the ride from anyone who has participated in any of the distances in the previous years. What did you like? what didn't you like? What is the course like? Is it hard to enjoy the ride with so many other riders? Or is the lapsed leave time enough to clear the roads so you can still enjoy the scenery and towns around Vättern?

And lastly, if anyone is signed up or will be signing up that wants a riding partner I would love to hear from you to. I'm not a speed demon but not the slowest either.

[lph]

Hi Sulis,

I don't think TE has any Swedish members, at least I haven't noticed any that post regularly. I'm in Norway and may be the nearest one.

I haven't ridden Vättern myself but I have friends who have. I can ask them and see if they have any answers to your questions. I have the impression that it's a very friendly event.

[lph]

Hi again Sulis,

most Scandinavians speak passable English, so I think your best bet might be to ask directly on the Swedish forum:

These are the official Vättern pages, in English:
http://www.vatternrundan.se/Default.aspx?module=4&content=12&lang=SV&fwsite=2

This is the forum they link to from the Swedish site (let me know if you need help signing up):
http://www.cykla.se/

There also seems to be an English-speaking forum, but it also seems to be quite dead:
http://forum.vatternrundan.se/

[sulis]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this forum. Thanks so much for the wonderful info.
Since my original post I decided to be brave and signed up for the tjejvattern. I wanted to do the 1/2 but the dates will not work for me.
I will check out the forums. Thanks again!