I take it all back: fast bikers, you rule!

Last night I witnessed one of the nicest, most inspiring, and incredibly touching pieces of sportsmanship. And it is all about biking!

Mind you, I am not in these pictures. This time it is not about me, but about my friends in the extended group of Fjellgeitene (mountain goats) who biked the Bergen-Voss race as a group, and finished the 165 km course just below 5 hours, exactly as planned.

So what is the big deal about this, you might ask. And I must admit that, although I have been following their training with great interest, I hadn't realized the big deal. Last night, as announced, I was at the after-race party with them, and as the evening progressed it became clear to me what a wonderful story the whole project had been. It needs to be told!

A few months ago, Lars the chief goat put out an opinion poll asking who would like to try to bike the Bergen-Voss race within 4 hours and 59 minutes. Many people immediately signed up, and they ended with a big group who would go for this goal altogether. Now this might insult some of my friends, but I thought in my naiveness that this was an attempt for a new record for all the people in the group.  Only yesterday I realized that about half of the around 45 bikers in the group had already biked Bergen-Voss with finish times in the rage of 4h:15 and 4h:30!

So the whole project has been about 18 faster bikers helping 25 friends to make it below 5 hours! Wow, I was so moved this became clear to me. It is difficult to reproduce how the whole story slowly was revealed during the party last night, but it can be compared to watching a movie when you suddenly realize at some point that the story is something quite different than what you thought it was from the beginning. Like The Truman Show, or The Matrix, or Vanilla Sky, if you're interested in movies. If you haven't watched those movies, do it without reading the plot first. Then you will know exactly what I mean.

While we were eating, I had the pleasure of listening to Emil, who turned out to be one of the "locks". At that point I had no idea what a lock was, but it was extremely entertaining to listen to him, and I understood at least that he had a key role in the group, a kind of a connection between a front troop and the rest, shouting to people at the back when they should speed up not to loose contact with the front, what is coming ahead, when they should drink, when they can take it easy, etc etc. Already at that point I was moved by this wonderful caring for the rest of the group.

Later in the evening, Lars explained to me how the group worked during the race. First of all, they bike in a long line with two and two bikers side by side. In the front of the group are 16 fast bikers. Just behind those 16 are the two "locks", and then behind them come the rest of the group, called the "bus". The 16 fast bikers in the front take turns to go in the front and pull the rest. They do this in a natural rolling cycle, where some slow down slightly to fall behind and others take the lead. The locks (Emil and Bjarne) are the connection between the front and the bus. They constantly communicate with the back to tell them what is coming ahead, so that people are prepared and do not fall behind. At the same time, they also communicate to the front when difficult situations arise so that they should stay in their positions and stop rolling to take the lead.

Later during the night I learned how the project started. Last year, when Lars and several of the faster bikers in the front group achieved wonderful finish times at the Bergen-Voss race, they decided that next time they would help others to make it below 5 hours rather than chase their own personal records. So when he opened the opinion poll, people were already prepared and signed up immediately. This motivated many others, who were perhaps just at the border of being able to make it below 5 hours, to sign up as well, and in this was they created the biggest group of mountain goats ever to do the Bergen-Voss together.

Of course I should have known. Had I been more interested in bike racing, I could have checked the finish times from previous years, and I would have known that many of these people can do it much faster than 5 hours. I would then understand how so many people dared to join the group, and following the big "mountain goat express" project would have been more enlightening. But then I wouldn't have had the OMG experience of last night, which is comparable to any Oscar winning movie. And the beauty of it: not once during this spring did any of these guys ever post anything that could indicate that they are actually faster than the group goal of 4:59.... In light of how competitive these guys are usually, this is an unbelievably lovely example of kindness and sportsmanship. And maybe it is not that uncommon among bikers to do this, what do I know? In any case, my complaining about fast bikers: I take it all back!

I could write a whole book about Lars :-) (Maybe I will one day ;-) ) He is one of the most motivating and caring people I know, and I am so grateful to him in so many ways. Just as an illustration, here is a picture he posted when I was complaining about my slow progress in feeling safe on a bike.

Here is how he looks now (definitely ready for the Tour):

Here is a much shorter and slower version of the mountain goat express:

I do not promise anything, but I can tell you: there is hope!