#rapha12hills

A rare two-week streak of blue skies and warmth peaked on last Saturday, perfectly in time for the grand get-together of the Swedish road and sportgrus lovers. Jönköping based cycling club La Lepre Stanca invited to scavenger-hunt for twelve locally and nationally famous climbs: the Rapha 12 Hills ride.

A mass start blended the 42 teams of two, which were supposed to collect a dozen stamps - one on each of the major hillcrests. The happy cyclist mingling was over as soon as the group reached the first ascent and a handful of twosomes forged a breakaway. Fuelled by adrenaline we almost forgot to get out the brevet cards to mark our accomplishment at Col Sandseryd. Luckily someone yelled "Checkpoint!" and we got the start right. It soon got pretty crowded around this first stamp site and so a small group went on to chase the fastest time to finish. Riding at its best is what followed for the next few hours, full of good team efforts, freaking steep ramps and fast descents. And some wrong turns for us non-locals of course...

After the highly appreciated fika break our group somehow separated and so David and I found ourselves facing the wind alone with some 70km and three hills left on the agenda. We conquered the last stamps and set sails for a tail wind finish, wondering if we could still catch up with those guys who left road-tire trails on the gravel climbs. Very soon though the only thing we wondered about was whether we were super hungry or simply wanted to throw up. The classic cyclist dilemma!

Rapha 12 Hills pt. 2