Introductions - Hello from Sweden!

Hi!

I have been a long time lurker, finally deciding to post some. I have not been able to find any forum on biking close to this forum and hope to contribute some.

I enjoy bike touring in Europe, and watching bike road racing (especially the hilly stages) when not on the bike myself.

/Erik C

Welcome Csson. Just wanted to extend a hello because last year I had the privilege of riding to the top of Mt. Ventoux with a couple of Swedish cyclists after running into one another at Le Chalet Reynard and making the final ascent to the top.
The couple were really strong and toured Europe on bike. Sounded like biking is really popular in Sweden.?
On top we celebrated with a small taste of some Swedish potato liqueur- Pautsch, I think? Sorry, all I had to share was my American Gatorade. They had lots of questions about cycling in California and enjoyed the exchange.

Welcome.

I spent some time with some Swedish fans at the final stage of the 1992 Tour de France. Very knowledgeable and nice guys/girls

Welcome to the forums.

What's day to day cycling in Sweden like? Is commuting popular?

Richard

Thanks!

Actually, I also had the pleasure to climb Mont Ventoux last year, on a tour from Barcelona to Venice. A really hard climb, and I certainly would prefer the Gatorade considering the descent :). It is quite popular to go on shorter tours in Sweden, like one week biking up to 300 kms, and also longer tours. Many have Gibraltar as a goal.

Biking as a sport is not a mainstream interest, and is only reported about in Swedish press during the Tour and events like the San Remo raid during the Giro. Those interested are therefore often more interested in the the sport than those only following mainstream sports.

Many people use bikes for short transports (< 10kms), and I don't think commuting longer distances than that is common. It is common with companies and organisations running campaigns to increase bike commuting among their employees, mostly with environmental arguments. A big event in Sweden is the Vätternrunda, a 300 km event around the second largest lake in Sweden. It usually attracts 17000 cyclists.

/Erik C