Explore Sweden
A Swedish 1-2 finish in the making
Susan McKenzie / 17.05.2005
A hard wind is blowing nasty wet snow down the valley and into Cross Sportswear as the quartet pushes its pushbikes up a small hill. The veteran Swedish team of Mats Andersson, Natasha Westling, Anders Widegren and Per Vestling is only a few hours away from its first AR World Series victory, and its first major adventure race win. The team’s kickbike style isn’t what you would call “smooth,� (especially compared to its effortless cross country skiing) and from a distance Mats Andersson, who is well over six feet, looks like he’s pushing a child’s scooter up the road.
An hour behind their compatriots, Team Lundhags glides out of the bush, ready to swap poles and skis for tires and brakes. While Cross used shorter Salomon skis on the cross country ski section, Lundhags used more traditional longer skis.
“It was a good choice,� says Mikael Andersson, with his trademark rolling laugh. “We skated the whole time on the section, so we went very fast.�
After a snack of Red Bull and Pringles (both race sponsors) Hanna Wikberg walks over to where the kick bikes are lined up in a row. A Finnish invention, a kickbike has one large fat tire in the front, a smaller fat tire (with fender) in the back, linked with a foot platform much like a scooter. Wikberg squeezes first the front then the back tire, before jumping on it with some hesitation, looking back to ensure her skis are not hitting the back tire. She laughs as she wobbles at first, behind her one of her teammates tests his bike bell. See All Event Posts
