Vaetterrundan and the last pioneer

[David Dermott]

Vätternrundan in Sweden is the largest bicycle ride in the world (15000
riders x 300km). It is called a "motion-lopp" in Swedish ; basically the
same as a "cyclo-sportive"


The first VR was in 1966 with 350 riders. This year was the 60th running
(the 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic)

From the Smithsonian Magazine:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-swedens-vatternrundan-became-the-biggest-recreational-bike-ride-on-the-planet-180986794/

The original riders from 1966 were called the "pioneers". When I rode
the VR in 1994 there were about 20 pioneers riding it. In 2025 there is only
one pioneer- Stig Johansson (age 79) who has finished all 60 rides.
Short article about the last pioneer:
https://swedenherald.com/article/stig-johanssons-legendary-vattern-round-journey-continues

Note: when people in Sweden and Norway give distances in "miles",
they mean "Nordic Mile" or "mil" = 10 km.


Video of Stig Johansson finishing VR#60 on Jun 14 2025:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20rVivm0Wv8

Yes he rides on a old "clunker" bike- but he has fun!

And yes, there is a feature film on Netflix. it was released
just before the 60th running of the event. It is more of a "soap opera"
but there are some nice riding scenes. the English title is "Off Track 2"

--

David Dermott , Wolfville Ridge, Nova Scotia, Canada
WWW pages: http://www.dermott.ca/index.html