A mixed nation team of 3 Brits and Swedes (Iron Woman, Commuter Missile and Old Man and the Bike) got together to ”plan” last week and decided to give it a try.
We started from the top of Hammarby at 08h12 yesterday 30th July and biked around the city clockwise in 8h50mins, ending up on Haga at 17h02, distance of approx 103km planned, but was in reality nearer 112km due to a couple of interesting navigational embarrassments en route.
Times (as far as we can recall)
Hammarby 08h12
Hogdalen 09h15
Flottsbro 10h15
Ekero 11h25
Islandstorget sandwich pause 12h30-13h00
Bruket 13h45
Vasjobacken 15h30
Haga 17h02
(Iron woman missed Hammarby and Hogdalen in the morning, so she looped by there on the way home to complete her round)
The time taken yesterday would have been about an hour or so quicker if it was’nt for the temptations of the toasted sandwiches at Islandstorget, a considerable detour around the fences and fumes of the waste plant at Hogdalen and then another unplanned and needless detour to inspect the back streets of Akalla. We missed one ferry by 2 minutes but only had to wait 12 minutes until the next one showed up.This trip was a “pure” style navigation trip with orientation by paper maps and no GPS “cheating” – except for one brief GPS position check deep in the urban wilds of Akalla, where every street has no name and every street looks the same. Weather was warm and humid and regular fluid “reloads” were needed from various 7-11 and petrol stations.
Bikes used were a pair of hardtail MTBs and one hybrid. We had planned to run up and down the “mountains” (the ascent phases) to give the trip a more mountain feel, but the temptations of freewheeling downhill got the better of us and some of the summits were “biked” with varying degrees of success and worn brakes. At no point were “sherpas” or supplementary oxygen used.
To make global 7 summit comparisons, Bruket could be Mt Vinson (isolation), Vasjobacken could be McKinley (way North), Flottsbro could be Kili (easy path to the top) and Haga could be Elbrus (empty vodka bottle spotted in bushes near the top) Any better suggestions?
No serious injuries to report, except that one team member arrived home with two bloodied knees and one other was attached by a ferocious sabre toothed “festing” in a very sensitve part of the body whilst attending to a call of nature in the thick vegetation near Vasjobacken…..its wild and tough jungle out there!
A big thank you to the Add Natur team for “creating” this new sport that does not involve expensive travel to faraway places or that things need to be taken toooo seriously…..whats the next challenge that will emerge? To do a “double” 7 summits? Two circuits in under 24 hours? A sponsored drinking round, with 1 beer to be consumed on each of the summits? Maybe a brewery could be persuaded to make a special ”7 summits” brew for the purpose -it would of course have to be a ”light ale” to be carried so far and fast……A winter circuit maybe ?(spiked tyres on the bikes, ski touring gear, sledges…?) An ‘alpine style” round, unsupported and carrying all food and water needed from the start? A dark round – night time – during hours of darkness only?
With best regards and looking forward to new ideas!
Old Man and the Bike
aka Tom
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