Bengaluru boys in Sweden's Vätternrundan

[Prashanth Chengi]

Last October, a bunch of Bengaluru riders led by Satish Addanki and Chethan Ram (Cadence90) came up with the idea of registering for the 2024 edition of the world's largest non-competitive bike ride, Sweden's Vätternrundan.  I was also roped in as a member in a team that was nine strong.

As the days closed in though, members dropped off due to various logistical hurdles. Phaneesh's visa application took longer than expected, Jaisimha's connection was delayed and ended up arriving in Stockholm too close to the start time to be able to make the start. I too had to call off my ride just hours before the start as my son had a viral fever that got worse, leaving only 3 who'd start the ride: Chethan Ram, Supreeth Garla, and Vishal Rajani. 

I was told that all three riders were interviewed by the local press who found out that they'd traveled all the way from India for the ride, and they got a heartwarming round of applause from the crowd.  With over 25000 starters, just the start procedure takes several hours to complete, and our trio started at 2044 hrs local time. 

This June has been uncharacteristically cold, and with night temperatures dipping into low single digits, our riders had an extremely challenging ride. All made it to the full service checkpoint at Jönköping, which had hot food on offer for our tired and chilled riders. Chethan Ram decided not to ride further from Jönköping, 103 km from the start, while Vishal and Supreeth continued after a 30 minute power nap. 

The temperature is expected to get warmer during the day, which should help our riders. Do send them your positive vibes. 

You can use the rider search facility here to search for our riders by name, to get information about the last ping of the timing chips on their helmets. 

https://search.vatternrundan.se/search/vr#search

Do send them your positive vibes and wish them luck! 

Regards 

Prashanth 

[Prashanth Chengi]

Supreeth and Vishal have powered themselves through the second and final hot food station at Hjo (pronounced 'You'). Hopefully the hot lasagna pepped them up for the ride ahead. They've now ridden past the halfway point, and the temperature is expected to rise to more comfortable levels now (14-17 degrees).

Regards
Prashanth

[Prashanth Chengi]

Here's a screen grab showing the depot locations and their distances from the start. Vishal has now crossed 200 km, crossing the Karlsborg station. Supreeth is yet to arrive in Karlsborg. I hope he's still pushing on at a slower pace, and hasn't stopped the ride.

Regards

Prashanth

[Prashanth Chengi]

Supreeth's chip has now also pinged at Karlsborg, so he's also crossed the 200 km mark. While a 200 or 300 km ride isn't a big deal for many members here, these guys need a special shout out as they have no experience whatsoever of riding in single digit temperatures, which they've now done and overcome. The temperatures are now much more pleasant. Here's wishing them a smooth ride to the finish, preferably before the temperature starts to decline again in the late evening.

Regards
Prashanth

[Prashanth Chengi]

Just spoke with Vishal who is some 10km away from the Askersund control at 256 km. He seems to be in good spirits. Supreeth is a little way behind and continuing to roll I think. 

Regards 

Prashanth 

[Prashanth Chengi]

Both Supreeth and Vishal overcame some curveballs from the weather gods, braving 40+km/hr wind gusts and even some really cold rain in the finishing stages of the ride, to cross over the finish line, earning their medals.

Chethan, you didn't finish, but kudos to you too. Would have truly been an honor to ride along with all of you. We should make that happen next year!

Regards 

Prashanth

[Parag Patankar]

Thanks Prashanth for keeping us updated throughout the ride, hope your son is recovering now.

Kudos to all the bravehearts who were at the start line, and a few plucky (lucky too) ones to managed to finish.

Hoping to see more riders in the next event , we have seen a lot more participants in LEEL and PBP also in recent times.

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[Gourav Sengupta]

This is super duper exciting, I miss all of you, best of luck to everyone :) 

Regards,

Gourav 

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