Podium Complete!

We have a bouncing dot!

36 Hours In to the Race!

Welcome to Mother North!

Ole Bjørn Smisethjell

Øystein Bakken

Kristin Eidsheim Sønnesyn

Ivan Poiana

Marijn de Jonge

James Green

Giovanni Battista Picotti

Anthony Dillon

Manu Coltat

Eigil Lyng

Ole Einar Brækken

Leonardas Marozas

Vincent Dirkes

Henrik Mordal

Konsta Varonen

René Fischer

Otto Vik Mathisen

Alex Beattie

Guido Gazzaniga

Amedeo Dionisi

Tori Riemersma

Mauri Konttila

Jan Kaya Altinbas

Ruben Meersman

Rasmus Damgaard

Maya Christofori

Martin Aylward

Markus Stitz

Niki Wilms

Ryan McGlen

Heine Johan Melgaard

Maroje Tabakovic

Simon Michalowicz

Simon Vale

June Alm

Stefan Christiansen

Tobias Grunert

Lisa Weichert

Alessandro Stabilini

Tatiana Myk

Terje Johansen

Tejs Jansen

Rene Nestmann

Wolfgang Stemeseder

Florian Glaser

Edoardo Botti

Aslak Syversen Waage

Claudio Lima

Niccolò Rebellato

Luka Vaes

Anthony Carton

Max Aarts

Joe Bush

Lars Koch

Svenja König

Maxwell Linstra

Terhi Martikainen

Anne Palm

Peter Tonér

Ana Isabel Goncalves Pedro

Nuno Eduardo Simoes Borba

Per Egil Skåre

Ståle Høyem

Walter Montagu

Lucas Pinsent

Stefaniya Gutovska

Katarzyna Krolikiewicz

Pierfrancesco Santin

Giulia Balbinot

Clément Maza

Gauthier Maza

Ardin Corbijn van Willenswaard

Media - Bruno

Media - Arnau


![podium finishers](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/BcKX5s7fVMLk5lNcvKYGZ/827d54bf882a0a6ff6cc4abc7ad7bff9/podium_finishers.png)

Our podium was completed this morning with __Oystein__ and __Kristin__ finishing just a few minutes apart in the end. It as a very close call in the final stretch to Lillehammer and it looked like either could take the second place. Very strong riding from both, to complete the ride in just over 72 hours. It's really inspiring to see __Kristin__ smash around the course in such a fast time on her first ultra! Way to go!

![kristin](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4Yv4Y0Iw2yOI0PA3olSNJY/8c20e29e743b35c62611deb0d1317190/kristin.png)

A full Norwegian top 3 just shows how much local knowledge counts, and how fast these strong riders can get around the course. I’m excited to see what races these riders take on next! 

__Ivan__ finished up in 4th position just two hours later and was soon digging into a massive bowl of pasta to celebrate. You can take the man out of Italy…  

![Ivan](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2Xe3AGPFQBWjNFG57pzh29/b388e009de7b3d1a40ce075e58784cc2/Ivan.jpg)

I'm really proud of his effort here and how he was able to conquering his knee pain issues along the way!


![Screenshot 2024-08-13 215804](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/Fg2nhlENXf9Yibh39NFG9/b3340d49e997a7be2720032063f15efe/Screenshot_2024-08-13_215804.png)

__Ole is the first finisher at the inaugural Mother North race__
Finishing in an unbelievable time of just over 2 days 8hours, Ole rolled back in to Lillehammer to secure his first place finish, having led the race since the first day.

It seems he stopped only very briefly, once by the seaside, and finally in Finse, the last mountain section before the end of the route. On Followmychallenge his stopped time shows as only 2hours 40mins! Those figures are sometimes a little off, but needless to say, this was an incredible effort from Ole. 

__Kristin__ is pushing hard in third position and looks set to ride through the night to finish it off.

__Ivan___ has had some knee pain issues, a common complaint with the sustained climbing and long daily averages! But after some ibuprofen and coca cola, he's back rolling again and also has the finish in his sights. He also caught a glimpse of the northern lights last night so he's in good spirits despite the knee issues!
![northern lights](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4D3EDOkP0uB3uYECg4vMUT/2984a86263c8cee11efe291506d8da7b/northern_lights.png)

In the pairs race the Portuguese pair of __Ana __and Nuno____ continue to keep riding strong in first place, with the Italian pair around 40km behind at the time of writing.

Many riders are feeling the effects of the long days in the saddle, but the spectacular views keep coming in, and surely must motivate the riders to keep going to the end.

Good evening Dotwatchers,

It’s been a very fast day for the riders of Mother North. With some cold temperatures overnight there have been a few scratches from the race coming in through the day. The pictures show how epic the race is and the beauty of the Norwegian gravel.

Here’s a quick summary of the leaderboard right now:

__Ole__ has held on to his strong lead and now has over 700km completed of the track. 

__Kirsten__ has been riding very strong and has significantly closed the gap to second placed Oystein. Both have stopped times of around 1hr 30mins at just over 36hours into the race. Incredible!

My good friend __Ivan__ is in 4th position. He stopped for a longer rest last night, so let’s see if he able to close the gap on the podium riders over the next day.

In the pairs race, Portuguese pair __Ana__ and __Nuno__ hold a small lead over __Pierfrancesco__ and __Giuglia__. 

There has been a puncture for the media car which required a tow truck to the middle of nowhere!

![ANV01927-Enhanced-NR](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2qdKVkI4oLFkmNECOaIdrx/b46e51472df01eb58662d6f1b53391fa/ANV01927-Enhanced-NR.jpg)

I’ll check in tomorrow with the next update! 

__Bikes of Mother North__
Don't forget to check out the Bikes Of feature to get an idea of the setups riders are using!
[https://dotwatcher.cc/feature/bikes-of-mother-north-2024](https://dotwatcher.cc/feature/bikes-of-mother-north-2024)

Hi and welcome to the Dotwatcher commentary for the inaugural Mother North bikepacking race in Norway!
My name is Marcus Nicolson, I’m a keen ultracyclist, and have completed race director Bruno’s Seven Serpents, and Quick Bite, events in the last couple of years.

I’ve known race director Bruno for a few years now and I’m looking forward to see how the riders get on with this brand new Norwegian route. I’ve been told it is full of ‘champagne gravel’. I never totally trust Bruno when he says this, as I know that he loves hike-a-bike just as much as me!

A quick overview of the route:
The route covers 950 kilometres and includes 16000 m of elevation gain. It starts from Lillehammer and heads north to Grimsdalen before looping back down south and west. 
__
Who’s riding?__

It looks like there are 59 solo riders and 7 pairs ready setting off on Sunday morning. There are a few riders I recognize on the start list that I think have a good chance of doing well in the race, so I’ll highlight those quickly.

Maya Christofori was this year’s winner of Seven Serpents after a tough performance and is a rider to watch out for in the race.

Niccolo Rebellato is another rider I’m familiar with, who is from Bassana del Grappa. He finished first in the pairs race at Seven Serpents in May. 

In the pairs race, Pierfrancisco and Giuglia are two experienced riders who have a good chance of doing well. 

As always, there is plenty of space for new riders to put in a great performance, and I look forward t following this ride!

__Review of Day 1__

![Screenshot 2024-08-12 093041](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7sp0DLtaUifj1j575IMYYx/cea566783b33d69e5d9904feaa5614a5/Screenshot_2024-08-12_093041.png)

After holding a strong lead in the overall competition through much of the first day, Aslak Syversen Waage took some much needed rest as night fell. A number of riders continued through the night, with Ole Bjørn Smisethjell now finding himself in first place. Ole has completed nearly 500km with just an hour of stopped time, he is approaching the halfway mark of the race. It's worth noting that he finished both The Traka and The Rift with very good results.

Meanwhile, Kristin Eidheim Sønnesyn is leading the women’s category, as she approaches the iconic Mjølkevagen. She was all smiles when we saw her last near Grimsdalen, and is showing no signs of slowing down. She rode through the night without stopping.

![2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2dsXnaoQHnJDp95e91SOix/e63b546f3c844fcb8965fb6a23ef003d/2.png)

Check out this video taken from the Grimsdalen section of the race! Champagne gravel!!!
[Grimsdalen video](https://www.instagram.com/p/C-jurTKImU3/)

Marcus Nicolson

Mother North 2024 Norway gravel bikepacking race: Unsupported Bikepacking Adventure in the Norwegian lands through remote trails, ancient forests, and pristine fjords all under the magic of the midnight sun.

Mother North 2024 Tracking Norway gravel bikepacking race

Unsupported Bikepacking Adventure in the Norwegian lands through remote trails, ancient forests, and pristine fjords all under the magic of the midnight sun.

Mother North 2024

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Mother North 2024

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