5 minute read
Sisters on bikes
If you love cycling and unique adventures, WOW Cyclothon might be just the thing for you. A relay bike race around Iceland in 24-hour daylight is an experience that will be hard to top. Every year over one thousand avid cyclists take on this challenge making it one of the biggest ultra-cycling races in the world when it comes to the number of participants.
The winner of last year’s female B-category was Team Arctica Finance, a team of 10 women who met while triathlon training together in 2012. They all finished a ½ Ironman challenge later that year forming strong and lasting friendships and call themselves #hálfsystur (half-sisters).
A CYCLOTHON TO CELEBRATE
In 2013 one of the half-sisters, Karen Axelsdóttir, was badly injured, and at the beginning of 2017, she was slowly but surely coming back. “Us sisters decided to celebrate her recovery by taking part in the WOW cyclothon and creating more great memories,” says team member Lilja Birgisdóttir. It’s worth mentioning that for a long time Karen held the overall Icelandic time record in a whole Ironman challenge and didn’t lose that record to a male athlete until she was forced to quit competing in triathlons.
EXPERIENCE THE RACE
It’s safe to say that few teams have as much experience when it comes to WOW Cyclothon as the members of Team Arctica Finance, both as participants and planners of the event. Eight members of the team had previously participated in the race, many of them more than once and some more often than that. They also had in their team a former WOW Cyclothon race judge and race manager.
“WOW cyclothon is a race that’s ideal for team building. Friends and colleagues that have taken on this challenge together can all attest to this and of how great a challenge it is to create a good atmosphere, set a goal and encourage one another. This competition is first and foremost about having fun in the amazing Icelandic landscape, day and night. It brings groups together, and through the struggles, friends and colleagues get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Our goal was to ride, enjoy ourselves and support a good cause,” says Lilja.
BURGERS OVER TEAMMATES
The B category of WOW Cyclothon started the race at 7 PM on a Wednesday. “Hvalfjordur (Whale Fjord) was a lot of fun. We used four cyclists to get through it and our goal was to get out of there with good teams that we could work with on the road. WOW air’s TF-WOW team was with us there, and since we knew those guys well we really enjoyed working with them although they left us behind later in the competition,” the half-sisters tell us.
At Staðarskáli Gas Station the sisters split up and half the team drove straight to Varmahlíð to rest. The remaining five took on the hills and heaths, working with various teams along the way. “It rained quite a lot on this part of the route and the fabulous five were drenched once they met up with the rest of the team in Varmahlíð to take their well-deserved break.”
Now it was time for the fresh five to take over and just before they reached Akureyri they had formed a good working relationship with teams Advania and the Viking Lords. “At the N1 Gas Station in Akureyri, WOW air welcomed us with hamburgers and a little party. And there was a real bathroom which some of us were very glad to put to use. The festive atmosphere made us lose track of time so we didn’t meet up with Alma, whom we’d sent onwards on the bike, until she was about to tackle the hills of Víkurskarð. Not the greatest teammates!” the sisters say jokingly.
WITH A LITTLE HELP …
The weather in North Iceland was great and Team Arctica was still in great company having added team VÍS to their group. “When we reached Egilsstaðir we got news that the weather could cause problems in the competition and after we got through the Öxi Mountain Road a “refreshing” gale welcomed us head-on. Working together with the other teams has never been more important.”
At around 1 am on Friday morning one half of the team parked the RV about an hour from Skaftafell National Park so they could rest for an hour or so. When it was time to hit the road again to give the other half a break the RV refused, it’s backside was stuck and the girls were in trouble. After calling 112, the Icelandic emergency number, they were told that Bjössi, a nearby farmer, sometimes helped travelers in the vicinity if they got in trouble. “A short while later, Bjössi rescued us and we could go and meet up with the rest of the team. We would also like to thank the teams we were working with for taking care of our cyclists while we were stuck and for giving them something to eat.”
The half-sisters celebrated both at the finish line and at the WOW cyclothon after party.
When the RV had caught up to the working part of the team the rested half got to work and the RV went on ahead for another rest. “Our goal was to reach Selfoss before 10 am on Friday morning but right after our RV had gone ahead we got “the weather,” a strong gale blew straight in our face and the team’s speed dropped from 34 km/s to 20 km/s. Our pace slowed so much that we got a call from the race administration asking if we were ok.”
This was a trying part of the race where the team’s unity and strength really shone through. “We rode on whether our batteries were full or empty. We gave it our all and tackled the wind head on!”
PURE JOY TO THE FINISH LINE
After reaching Kleifarvatn Lake Team Arctinca Finance say they rode on pure joy with the teams they’d worked so well with during most of the race. “Team Advanina and the Viking Lords formed an amazing honor league behind us when we finally reached the finish line. It was an indescribable feeling (and yes, there were tears involved). We’d just finished this great race as a team and won the female B category.”
