The most epic bike event last year. Gravel, forest roads, mountain climbing, couch, and good vibes met the participants in our own event, Dirty No Man’s of Follo.
If you want something well done, you should do it yourself. Not that I would suggest it was a better organized event than any other, but I’ll feel confident to say it was one of the more adventurous I ever heard about.
In collaboration with the Nordic Gravel Series, I teamed up with my colleague Kent Erik Harridsleff and invited 50 riders to go on a 100 miles (160 km) ride on my favorite backroads in Follo.
Few people know how many hours I put down in exploring ridable and less ridable trails in this region. Finally I had a chance to show some of the highlights of what Follo can offer.
The start was set to Hvervenbukta at 7 AM, Sunday September 20th. The riders were divided into speed groups on their own choice, and went out on a long day on the saddle.
I was the head organizer, but it didn’t stop me from joining the event as a rider myself.
During the ride we fueled at feeding stops. Jon Otto helped out in Kråkstad, while Claes Henrik provided additional energy in Drøbak.
It wasn’t a proper race, and traffic rules applied. It was still fast up front and we were four riders left ahead approaching the finish line after 8 hours riding time and 3000 meter of elevation.
It was easy to spot all the smiles and catch the good atmosphere when we came back to Hvervenbukta. We finished off the great day with lamb sausages at Anne på Landet.
Such a long and brutal day, and some riders arrived after 14 tough hours on the saddle. On the contrary to the name of the event, all but two riders, who had technical issues, beat the DNF. 46 finishers of the amazing ride.
It was such an epic experience which truly gives a lot of inspiration to more challenging gravel rides both locally and on tour.
READ ALSO: This is Gravel
Thanks to all event partners:
Jon Otto Lien
Marius Bache Wold (photographer)
Co organizer, Kent Erik Harridsleff