Ride Type: Gravel Biking
Difficulty: Intermediate
Length/Elevation: 160km/1600m
Halland’s biggest gravel event, that is, until the UCI event comes to town in August, was a big success in 2022. Not only did more than 200 riders participate, but I actually finished after two DNF’s and 1 event cancelled due to corona!
The event was organized by Robin Söderholm and his team at Team Cyklamera. This year’s route began in Steninge and saw a mix of tarmac and gravel, with more tarmac in this years edition than in previous years. At first I was wondering why there was so much tarmac, but after about 100 km I was beginning to wonder why there was so much gravel!
The route was brilliant, lots of technical gravel, some really tough sharp climbs, broken up by some smooth quiet tarmac to let you gather your wits. The two rest stops were lovely, though I hit the problem of having dropped one of my water bottles on the very first gravel section, the temperature hit 17C, and I was struggling. The final rest-stop was 0% beer, and I ended up having to chug a few of them and pour another in my bottle to overcome the dehydration headache! Lesson learned, always bring a third in a pocket.
The halfway point of the route is Ullared, the home of Gekas, but also the home of a surprisingly large amount of restaurants, making it the perfect 1/2 way point for a long stop for lunch and refilling bottles.
Check out the next gravel event the Simlångdalen Epic, 95% gravel!
Total climbing: 1665 m