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date: 26/08/09
Åre Extreme Challenge 2009 – Sweden
It’s amazing that a month has nearly passed since Elina
and I escaped the NZ winter and headed for the northern summer for some training
and racing. Finland has been a good base, all be it with a few more chilly days
than would have been preferred but for the past week summer has truly arrived.
The race starts at the highest waterfall in Sweden which
is a spectacular sight. The teams and women get a 40 minute head start on the
individual guys so it was great to watch the chaos and help Elina get sorted and
then relax before my race started.
Elina’s race looked like being a tough one with all the
top Swedish women on the start line. The favourite for the race was Viktoria
Wallin who had won in 2007 & 2008. Last year she won in impressive fashion by
over 10 minutes and had also been close to a new race record and also Kristen
Lundgren who had been 3rd in 2008.
In the men’s race I again had competition from John Anden
and Andreas Svanebo – 2nd and 3rd respectively last year and as usual there were
plenty of others who had been making big improvements from last year.
Seeing as the kayaking has been a bit on the back burner
recently I didn’t sprint for all I was worth at the start but I was still
surprised at how many people where lined up on the wash. The first few
kilometres are completely flat and it wasn’t until we hit the main rapid section
until I was able to pull away. I was in a different boat this year, the XOR
which is a similar style boat to the Sharp which was maybe a touch slower on the
flat but really came into its own in the white water.
At the first portage I still was holding a small gap and
feeling quite comfortable. We were already catching up the stragglers from the
first start and once through the first portage it isn’t far to the second one.
Coming in it was looking like a smooth grassy edge but just before the edge
hidden from view was a rock, which I managed to hit at full speed and take a
good chunk of the gel Coast off the nose – sorry Martin.
Back in the boat for the final 30 minutes I was suddenly
surprised to see a couple of boats pulling up alongside. I hadn’t figured I’d
been paddling slowly but apparently I’d lost a bit of time in a route before the
first portages and then again in each portage and had been a good carrot for
Jens and Johan to bury themselves and bridge up. Jen and Johan have both spent a
bit of time in NZ and competed in Coast to Coast and have really been improving
their paddling.
The 3 of us stayed together and Johan had a slightly
quicker transition to take the fastest kayak of the day.
Onto the run and first part of this run is quite brutal.
From the centre of town you climb straight away with almost no break all the way
to the peak which is at 1400 metres – almost 1100 metres higher than Åre town.
You are quickly off the roads and walkways and head straight up the mountain
following ski trails and lift lines for the first 400m of elevation gain. The
calf’s are really screaming by the end of this up you are then rewarded with
some slightly easier travel and spectacular views.
The weather was really hot this year and with it well into
the 20’s at the start of the run it was a relief to get up higher where a small
wind was keeping the temperature a bit more comfortable. I was able to keep
turning the legs over and arrived at the top about 4 minutes faster than last
year which was pleasing. The run down is really fun with a bit of scrambling
down through rocks at the top and then on to some big snow fields where you can
stride it out and do massive moon jumps like going down a sand dune or a scree
slope.
I was now starting to pass some of the better girls and it
was a good sign that I hadn’t come across Elina yet. What was even better though
was as I came through the MTB transition I passed Viktoria Wallin who we’d
expected to be Elina’s biggest competition.
A quick transition and some extra fluids and I was off on
the MTB. The first part is on some small double tracks and dirt roads which seem
to always climb ever so slightly just to punish the legs further. I had a time
check to second at about 10 minutes so wasn’t too stressed but also knew last
year the top 3 had all been within a minute or so on this last ride and I’d been
giving it everything then. There is a short section of swamp which you can ride
the majority of but it is super slow and as usual I managed to get almost
completely buried at one point – oh to be 60 kilos and to float over the top of
it!
Not long after I passed Kristen Lundgren who I had assumed
I must have already passed. I was now much further on than when I passed the
women’s leader the year before and still no sign of Elina. I was hoping I hadn’t
missed seeing her earlier!
Another time check before the final climb and got news my
lead was now about 7 minutes and yes Elina was still in front of me so that was
a good thing. The final climb is almost all on twisting single track which is
really fun riding and makes the climb fly by. About 2/3 of the way up I finally
saw Elina a few turns up and it seemed to take me an age to catch up to her
finally. She was looking strong and after a small chat I keep on at my pace, not
wanting to lose too much more time to the chasers in case of a puncture or
mechanical.
Once at the top it is some really fast tracks back down
towards Åre, interspersed with a couple of short climbs. On the last of these a
huge Moose and its calf wandered across the track only 50 metres in front. They
are massive animals!
Onto the final section which is about 4km back into town
there was a stiff headwind blowing now which made progress seem torturous but it
wasn’t long before I was in town and heading up the final climb to the finish.
I’d managed to take a few more minutes off my record form
last year and within 5 minutes Elina had also made it home, taking 8 minutes off
the women’s record.
In the men’s section Andreas Svanebo improved one place
from last year to second while Daniel Hansson came home third. John Anden who
was second last year had been having a great race, being only a couple of
minutes back in the kayak before having to withdraw after chest pains on the run
and he was taken to hospital. Hopefully it turns out to be nothing serious and
we see John racing again soon.
In the Women’s race Kristen Lundgren came home in 2nd, 9
minutes back but only 1 minute outside the old women’s record to improve a place
from last year and Viktoria Wallin came home in 3rd after a hard day at the
office.
It sounds as though her day had been going pretty smoothly
until the first portage. We had only paddled the first rapid section and so she
hadn’t seen the portages which are further down. She’d arrived slightly in front
of Viktoria but misjudged the landing and lost some time when we had flipped up
and subsequently had to empty her boat.
On the run she’d tagged along with Kristen Lundgren and
they caught Viktoria about halfway up the main climb before she was able to make
a small break on the downhill section and then kept extending that once she was
on the bike.
A huge thanks to Magnus Åkerblad and his team for a really
well run race. The level in Sweden is improving rapidly and this year also saw a
record number of competitors. There were lots of personal bests with several
people improving by over an hour on their times. Also thanks to Martin and
Martin for the kayaks and support during the race.
For more information about the race and some photos you
can follow the link below to get to race website in English.
http://www.areextremechallenge.se/haec_eng/ENGindex.asp
Up next is the Finnish Xterra Championships this Sunday
before we head down to Roth in Germany for the main focus of this trip – the
Challenge Roth Ironman on the 12th of July.
Thanks to all our sponsors and we have a new webpage due
to go live within the next few weeks. Thanks to Martin Bennett in Nelson who has
been designing the site and will manage the content for us it should mean it
remains more up to date. Check
www.adventuresportnz.com for the new site where you’ll be able to find
photos of the events, archived stories, plan’s for the year etc. (should be up
within the next week or so)
Sponsors:
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Geax tyres, High 5, Em’s Power Cookies, Speedplay pedals, Blue Seventy wetsuits,
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