We are pleased that we have once again completed Trondheim-Oslo and the other races in the Styrkeprøven without any serious incidents. We are grateful to all the volunteers who put in a solid effort before, during and after the event.

We also congratulate all this year’s participants and welcome you back in 2025.

For many people, Styrkeprøven is the big goal that keeps their bodies going through the winter. In this sense, the race is an important pillar of Norwegian public health.

Quote from Lars-Harald Bergheim:
“Styrkeprøven as an event is an important institution that has been an important factor in driving cycling at the exercise level forward in Norway.”

It’s been a long winter since the race last year. Perhaps that’s why we at Styrkeprøven are overwhelmed and touched by all the support and positive feedback we’ve received from this year’s participants. Even before the start in Trondheim, several people came up to us and thanked us for organizing Styrkeprøven, which is so important to them. There was also a lot of engagement along the route, and at the finish line, people actually queued up at the secretariat to give us positive feedback and thank us for a well-run event.

Many people have a strong relationship with Styrkeprøven. In recent years, when these people have experienced that the race is in danger, it has resulted in a great positive commitment to the race.

This feedback from Erik Urdal is representative of the many people who had a great experience in Styrkeprøven this year:

“Thank you so much for a fantastic execution of the race. It was my first time and, like many others, I was very excited about how this was going to be. What I appreciated most was that there was enough food and drink for everyone at the food stations and not least how cheerful and welcoming the staff were. I think the route choices you have made differently than before were absolutely great. For me, who was not chasing a time, but wanted it as a trip, it was absolutely magical to spend as little time as possible on e6 and to experience the magical Venabygdfjellet. There were good signs and good people who guided us further. The only thing I missed is signs when I left a food station about how far it is to the next food station. If this is the only thing I missed, you as organizers can pat yourselves on the back for a well-executed race. I will definitely be back.”

Over Dovre there have always been caravans with people decorating with Norwegian flags, making some noise and cheering on the riders. Since we took off for Folldal at Hjerkinn this year, many of our regular spectators had moved to before the exit.

It was also great to see the commitment in Folldal, where this year we had a food station for the race after we changed the course. Folldal had decorated with Norwegian flags along the road through the village. There were also groups of spectators cheering as the riders passed.

The trail through Folldal was decorated with Norwegian flags welcoming the riders.

After Folldal, up the slopes to Venabygdsfjellet, there were also many spectators cheering the riders up the slopes.

This year’s event has been consistently good. There are always things that could have been changed or that need to be changed for later years, but overall this year’s event has been well planned and executed. At the same time, we believe that next year it will be possible to take the event up a few notches.

The application process

After last year’s evaluation meeting at SVV, the application process was changed. We had a good collaboration with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration ahead of the application, which was submitted as early as December last year.

We use Bikemaster as a planning tool for the application, which makes planning and documentation of the race much easier.

The new route

In 2024, the participants from Trondheim took a new route from Hjerkinn on Dovrefjell via Folldal and Venabygdsfjellet to Ringebu. The route via Folldal and Venabygdsfjell was chosen to avoid the E6 north of Gudbrandsdalen (Dombås to Sjoa) where there are several stretches where cycling is prohibited. In addition, there is normally a lot of traffic on the E6 in Gudbrandsdalen, while there is no corresponding traffic on the roads that run from Hjerkinn via Folldal to Ringebu.

The stretch from Hjerkinn to Ringebu is approx. 114 km. The first 80 km to Enden (in Sollia) are relatively easy to ride, but then come the climbs up to Venabygdsfjellet. There was some feedback from participants that these climbs were excessively hard. It’s very steep in several places (up to 12 percent gradient) and many chose to cycle zigzag up. However, there is so little other traffic in this area that this is perfectly fine.

It’s great over Venabygdsfjellet. This year, there were heavy clouds with some sunshine in between – and a headwind over the mountains. There was good asphalt on this stretch and very little other traffic.

This year, the participants from both Trondheim and Lillehammer were to use the west side of Lake Mjøsa (Biri, Gjøvik, Skreia and Feiring). Before the pandemic, we used the western side of Lake Mjøsa for several years due to the extensive construction of the new E6 highway on the eastern side of Lake Mjøsa. After the completion of the 2023 edition of Styrkeprøven, we saw that the traffic situation on the eastern side of Lake Mjøsa has become more complex. Among other things, there has been an increase in the number of roundabouts through several of the smaller towns, as well as more traffic on local roads. Thus, the overall assessment was that it is better to cycle on the west side of Lake Mjøsa.

All participants (with starting points in Eidsvoll, Lillehammer and Trondheim) were given a new route this year from Frogner in Akershus. This year, the participants cycled from Frognerbakkene to Skedsmokorset and then via Slattum in Nittedal to Gjelleråsen. There are some ups and downs after Skedsmokorset, as well as a steep climb up to Rv4 at Slattum. As a result, some people, especially those who came from Trondheim, thought the new route was quite hard. We have received input from local people in the area that there are other solutions that may be better. We will consider this input in more detail ahead of next year’s event.

All in all, we as organizers are very pleased with these changes to the route. We believe the vast majority of participants are too. Especially since there is significantly less traffic on the roads that now make up the route.

In three places in particular, the condition of the road surface is such that it increases the likelihood of unwanted incidents:

• Parts of the section from Hjerkinn towards Folldal, approx. 15-20 km stretch: Many cracks and irregularities in the road surface.

• After Falkentunnelen (Skreia) to Feiring, approx. 15 km stretch: Lots of cracks, loose roadside, many irregularities in the road surface.

• After Eidsvoll on Finstadvegen to Dal, approx. 10 km stretch: Lots of cracks and many unevenness in the road surface.

The two locations at Hjerkinn and before Feiring are difficult to avoid without having to change the route quite significantly.

The stretch from Eidsvoll to Dal is very problematic when there is a lot of rain and it is very dark from early evening and through the night as it was this year. The road also has a very poor road surface, is very narrow, has a number of bends, no road markings or street lights, and no special lighting from residents/shops etc. We look at alternatives for this route for 2025.

The place where the participants were to turn off Rv4 and onto the pedestrian and cycle path where the time was stopped (around 650 meters after the last roundabout at Gjelleråsen) worked well during the day. As it got dark and rainy during the evening and especially in the middle of the night, this was a bad solution. There is too much light pollution around the exit to the pedestrian and bicycle path (see picture below) and the participants have to pass a center funnel that is partially broken and very difficult to see in the light chaos.

As a result, some cyclists made mistakes and one participant drove into the middle lane, resulting in a rollover. We are looking at alternatives to this for 2025.

The start in Trondheim

The timing of the start in Trondheim is crucial for how long we have participants on the E6 through Trøndelag. We started this year at 04:00. This means that we have riders on the E6 up to Hjerkinn all the way until noon. 13:30. In the last few hours, these are participants who ride slowly.

There are two measures that can be implemented to achieve more efficient traffic flow towards Oppdal and further up Drivdalen to Hjerkinn:

• First start at. 03:00. It’s sunrise in Trondheim at this time in mid-June. By moving the start to kl. At 03:00, participants will be out of E6 one hour earlier.

• Since the participants who today come last up Drivdalen to Hjerkinn are the ones who cycle the slowest, reintroducing a Friday evening start for those who spend the longest time would be a good measure to improve traffic flow. This will have positive effects on traffic flow throughout the route to Oslo.

This year was the first year that the traffic lights were not set to flashing yellow out of Trondheim. Previously, the local police have, on their own initiative, overridden the orders from Oslo and set the lights to flashing yellow. The choices made by the local police in the past have not only been good for getting the race off to a good start, but also for more efficient traffic management throughout the race.

Since this was the first time all the traffic lights were on, we got a few surprises. The first was that the light at the exit from the square in Trondheim was controlled by a sensor so that no green light was given for exiting unless there was a car waiting at the intersection. It wasn’t enough that there were lots of cyclists waiting for the green light. After a bit of a wait, we moved one of the service vehicles into Kongens gate so that it was in front of the intersection. The light then works as normal for around 15 minutes. Then it was permanently red again. A couple of the first groups were helped by a police officer to get across the crossing. Then the police left from the start. In previous years, the police have normally been present at the start. This year, everyone left from the starting area.

Even though we are paying for the police to have six resources on duty in Trondheim in connection with the event, we are not in control of what they will do, nor are we informed of their tasks except where they stand guard along the course to direct traffic.

When we realized that the light out of the square would not change to green, we asked the police for help to get the riders out from the start, but this was refused. After the police had left and the red light was once again permanent, one of our stationary guards had to assist the riders through the first traffic light.

On our way out of Trondheim, we quickly realized why the police had left in the first place. In three places they are located in the side streets of the traffic lights along the route. It’s something special that the police first deny the use of yellow lights in Trondheim and then show up to check whether any of the participants are cycling on red lights. Now there is no excuse for running red lights and we have repeatedly emphasized this to our participants. But if the police try to create situations that can then be cracked down on, there is a certain probability that they will succeed.

We are aware that a dozen fines were handed out for cycling on a red light in connection with a transport stage during a touring race in Oslo on a Sunday morning before 10:00 am. 9 a few weeks before Styrkeprøven. Thus, we assume that the same may have happened in our event and that the police will provide feedback on whether there were any and possibly how many people who ran red lights.

The formation of larger groups out of Trondheim later in the race is unfortunate for the general traffic flow since it is more difficult for other traffic to drive past larger groups than smaller groups. We see this especially on some stretches towards Berkåk, on the more winding parts of Drivdalen and in some areas of Toten. It is therefore important to avoid groups becoming too large from the outset.

A side comment here: Nye veier has started work on building a new highway on the stretch from Soknedal to Berkåk. This will run south of the river, parallel to the old road and be completed in 2027. We are looking forward to it.

The start in Lillehammer and Eidsvoll

There were no particular challenges in completing the start in Lillehammer. 11:15 (finished at 11:45) and in Eidsvoll at 14:00.

The participants from Lillehammer cycled calmly from Hammartun school and via Vingnesbrua. At Vingnes on Vingromsvegen the time started. This worked excellently and the participants got off to a good start in the direction of Oslo.

It can be added that the first participants from Trondheim did not catch up with the last starters from Lillehammer until after Skreia. Thus, the late start from Lillehammer has not contributed to increasing the traffic challenges on the stretch between Mjøsabrua and Gjøvik and between Gjøvik and Skreia by having both participants from Trondheim and Lillehammer in the area at the same time.

Food stations

We had two new food stations this year. The first was at Folldal. We were very pleased with how this station worked with toilets in the multi-purpose building in Folldal right behind the food station, just a few meters from the road. It’s a bit of a long way from Folldal to the next food station, as there are not many places between Folldal and Ringebu that are suitable for this farm. Nor is it a good solution to set up a food station in the middle of the mountain so that the riders get cold and frozen before the long and steep descent to Ringebu. Styrkeprøven has previously tried to have a food station at Hjerkinn. It was cold, wet and not a success.

The food station at Ringebu was also new. This also worked very well. It was partially staffed by one of our most experienced food station crews, who previously ran the food station at Kvam. In Ringebu, the food station was located next to Kiwi and there was a lot of activity at the station.

In the last few days before the race, we received around 250 extra participants, including many who were cycling from Trondheim. This gave us some extra challenges with ordering food. The food suppliers need some time, so we had to replenish several of the food stations during the race. We have an agreement with local Kiwi and Joker stores so that we can do this quickly, but for a while there was a shortage of bananas and drinks at a couple of stations.

Service cars

Follo SK had the main responsibility for our service vehicles again this year and provided a solid force to take care of this. This also worked perfectly this time. The cars are controlled from the end car that had the service phone and directed the cars to where they were needed.

This year it was also a bit special since there were some riders who were “taken out” because they did not manage the cut-off time. There were also some riders who chose to break away as it was obvious that they wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace into Oslo. It probably also helped that it was cold and rained hard through most of the night. Rainy clouds also make it quite dark in the middle of the night. Our minibuses were occasionally in full swing picking up riders who had broken.

Bag shipping and bag trucks

This year we had two trucks delivering the participants’ bags to selected food stations. In these bags, the participants have been able to carry extra clothes so that they will no longer need their own support vehicles.

We started with bagged freight two years ago and the arrangement has improved year on year. The bagging trucks followed a set schedule. There was some delay in the freight since most of the riders rode slower than expected. This year, the average speed of the fastest riders was less than 34 km/h, while the scheme assumed that the fastest riders maintained a speed of 37 km/h.

Bag shipping in practice at the food station in Oppdal. The bags are placed on numbered racks that are set up so that participants can quickly find their bag. After the participants have “used” their bag, it is placed on the tarpaulin in the foreground where the bag is picked up and transported to Oslo. The goal is for the bags to be inside before the riders. It is difficult to time this when the average speed of the riders deviates too much from what we have assumed.

Sometimes riders can’t find their bag at the food station it should have been at. That’s why we’ve made special tags to label the bags that participants receive with their start number. These are color-coded to make it easier to check the bag is placed on the right stand. For the participants, it can be a full crisis if you e.g. don’t get the bag of warmer clothes in Skreia or the bag of rainwear in Ringebu. Since the color-coded labels are not enough, we need to look at the systematics around the delivery of bags in Trondheim so that all the bags come on the right rack and thus are driven to the right food station.

Timeout zone down from Venabygdsfjellet

The timeout zone down from Venabygdsfjellet was a success. There were no reported incidents or accidents on this route. The section is a downhill slope with up to 11 percent drop. It invites high speed. A timeout zone has been introduced to take away any time pressure the participants may have to drive fast down to Ringebu. This could have led to some people making poor choices and driving too fast where there is poor asphalt, incorrect dosage, sharp bends, unclear junctions or where the road is too narrow to have a central reservation. All this can be found on the stretch from Trabelia to Ringebu. And all of this, combined with high speeds, can create dangerous situations and an increased likelihood of accidents.

Speed measurement in the timeout zone

In one of the steepest sections at the bottom towards Ringebu (almost at the end of the timeout zone), the police chose to carry out a speed measurement of the participants. The measurement was placed just after the start of a 40 km/h zone and was manned by a non-uniformed police officer.

If this is a particularly dangerous place, the police should probably have stood with a uniformed person and a visibly uniformed police motorcycle and asked the cyclists to reduce their speed. This would have been a positive action to draw attention to the need for participants to observe speed limits and thereby improve road safety. The implementation of the speed measurement and other measures mentioned above shows that the police probably want to document the number of “offenders” and thus be able – as in previous years – to conclude that cyclists generally do not respect speed limits and traffic rules.

Stationary guards

This year, Styrkeprøven was required to have 36 stationary guards, which we distributed among 49 approved stationary guards. In total, this amounts to around 300 working hours of security. We think it’s perfectly fine that we should, for example, have stationary guards where riders have to cross oncoming lanes on the E6. We are more critical of the use of stationary guards to solve pure trail guard tasks.

However, it is interesting to see how differently relatively similar races are treated in terms of security and policing requirements. Other similar races, which also take place on European roads, do not have nearly enough stationary guards and no expenses for security from the police.

This year, we were notified well in advance of how many guards the police would have, where they would stand and how long they would stand. It is therefore possible to plan security better than it was last year when the requirements for the number of guards were changed just a few days before the actual event. We therefore had relatively good control of the shifts this year. We have also arranged several courses that have given us all many new stationary guards.

This year, we had taken into account that we might lose some guards close to the race. This happened when NCF Road Safety canceled, but we had enough guards in reserve.

Following an order from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, this year we have increased the information to riders about the difference between stationary guards and trail guards. We have emphasized that stationary guards are tasked with directing traffic, while trail guards are tasked with showing the way. It is also illustrated in the race manual what kind of clothing the stationary guards wear so that the participants can clearly see the difference.

This has led some riders to expect stationary guards to actually direct traffic. So when the stationary guard just points the way, they get calls like, and this is a real example: “Are you going to stop it (the car), or are you just going to stand and watch?”. The participant expected that when there is a stationary guard at the intersection, it means that he will get a clear path.

This year we had many newly trained stationary guards. They ask us why the course teaches them that as stationary guards they should “stand with their backs to the riders and direct traffic”, while with us they are only tasked with showing the way and not directing traffic.

A specific feedback from a guard standing at Slattum:
“This post could have been held by a trail warden as it doesn’t involve directing traffic, but is really just a supplement to the duty to give way sign. I sometimes found that being a stationary guard had the opposite effect as many cyclists associate stationary guards with having a clear lane and expect me to stop cars for them.”

The order to use stationary guards is a decision that cannot be appealed. We find it remarkable that the Norwegian government can make decisions that cannot be appealed. That’s why Styrkeprøven AS sent a letter to the Norwegian Police Directorate (POD) last spring about these orders to use stationary guards to perform tasks defined as trail guard tasks.

What we found most interesting in the response from the POD was that they emphasized that the decision on guarding should be made locally and that those who refer to themselves as “the Police Directorate’s representative” should only have a coordinating role.

Below is an excerpt from POD’s response to our inquiry:
“At the same time, the POD emphasizes that the responsibility for following up section 4 of the regulations always lies with each individual police district, which means that all assessments and decisions in relation to planning, police tactical and police operational implementation lie with the local police district. This responsibility cannot be delegated or taken over by the coordinating police district, but will always be the responsibility of the police district where the incident or event takes place.”

If this understanding of the regulations has been followed before this year’s race, it means that all the local police districts along the route must have asked the coordinator to ensure that all guards in their district are staffed with stationary guards, even if the tasks of these guards are only to show the way for the participants.

We don’t know how this communication is carried out, but we see that the result is uniform across the applicable regulations. It would therefore not surprise us if the police coordinator has discussed guarding with the local district in such a way that they have in practice taken over responsibility for the assessments that the POD says can neither be delegated to nor taken over by them.

Since we don’t receive any specific assessments from other police districts, we have to use what we have. It is from Oslo and shows the police’s assessment of the use of stationary guards at the traffic lights between Ragnhild Schibbyes vei and Rv4. This guard stands after the timekeeping is stopped. The participants came down a hill on a pedestrian and bicycle lane. At the bottom, they must stop and wait for a green light before walking or cycling across a pedestrian crossing and then on towards the finish area. The police write, and this is a non-appealable decision:

“The intersection where Ragnhild Schibbyes vei meets Rv 4 has a marked crossing guard, who will ensure that participants pass over the pedestrian crossing when other traffic has a red light. We share the organizer’s view that this is an important task, but this is also traffic regulation. The marshals at this point must therefore also be replaced with stationary marshals.”

This is not actually routing traffic. It is the traffic light that directs the traffic. The guard’s only task is to inform the participants that this is where they need to cross the road. If the police believe that all marshals in practice direct traffic by showing riders which way to go and therefore need to be replaced by stationary marshals, this means that the regulation is wrong and there should be no marshals in cycling races. Then you have to change the regulation.

Until the regulation is changed to match the police’s desired practice, the police should loyally follow the regulations we have and not systematically violate them. When the police have been given a mandate that cannot be appealed, it is disrespectful both to the legislator and to those subjected to the decisions that the police systematically violate the regulations. This contributes to undermining respect for the police, also in the assessments the police otherwise make.

More about the police in the race

This year, for the first time in several years, we experienced that the police also actively contributed to a better traffic flow by getting the riders into a row where the participants created unnecessary traffic jams or in other ways helped traffic behind the riders. This is how the police have traditionally worked in Styrkeprøven, and it is very positive that the police have also worked in this way this year. In this way, the police are “on the same team” as the participants and other traffic.

This is in sharp contrast to the “police exercising control” and “police looking for mistakes” that one can sometimes get the impression have been the main reason why there should be so many police during the event. When the police can deploy 20 people to monitor the race – all paid for by Styrkeprøven – it would be very strange if no errors were found.

We mentioned earlier that the police used their resources at the start in Trondheim to check for red light running. At several roundabouts on the stretch from Tretten to Totenvika, police officers on motorcycles were observed standing partially concealed on side roads/courtyards/fields in connection with roundabouts. It was clear that these officials wanted to check whether the participants were following the correct route through the roundabouts.

We have received some feedback from volunteers who worked at the food stations during the event, about a behavior from the police that they thought was something special. On several occasions, the police stopped at the food stations at a distance and kept a close eye on what was going on. In the cases where our volunteers contacted the police to ask what was going on and/or offer them food, the police were dismissive.

The use of resources from the police

This year, Styrkeprøven has paid more than NOK 430,000 for police security. As always, the expenses for the police were paid in advance by the deadline. This cost is far above what would be sustainable for such an event over time when the number of participants is no more than around 1,100.

Police district	Number of hours	Cost in NOK
Trøndelag	30	41 550
Inland	32	44 416
Oslo, Norway	240	333 120
Hotel accommodation		14 083
Total expenses		433 169

It must be permissible to question whether there is a disproportionate use of resources by police officers in connection with Styrkeprøven. We will be required to pay for two motorcycles to drive from Oslo to Trondheim to assist local police in Trøndelag (with overnight stay in Trondheim), as well as six motorcycles to drive between Hjerkinn and Oslo (where everyone must drive up to Dombås on Friday with overnight stay). This means that there are eight police motorcycles on the Trondheim to Oslo route. In addition, there are four police motorcycles that patrolled between Lillehammer and Oslo. Then there are local police who will be available on the stretch Trondheim – Hjerkinn (two patrols), as well as three points through Innlandet (Hjerkinn and two places in Gjøvik).

Guarding until the last participant has passed

The last participants pass on Sunday morning and the order that we have to keep watch until the last rider has passed means that we have to cut participants who could otherwise have completed the race. Some of these chose to finish without a start number on their back, but far too many chose to quit.

There are people cycling on these roads every single day and most of them are cycling in much heavier traffic than our participants experience on an early Sunday morning. Those who reach the finish line last ride calmly and confidently. They’re not chasing any records, but they’ve put in a lot of hard work over the winter to be able to ride Styrkeprøven.

Then it becomes somewhat incomprehensible to us that it should not be possible for these participants to be allowed to finish and ride the last part of the race without us manning all the required posts with stationary guards until the last rider has passed. It will be around 20 riders per hour.

On a normal day, many times as many people cycle through these intersections or walk across the pedestrian crossing in question, without there being any guards there at all.

“When we can’t have an evening start and we can’t have shifts out longer than we had this year, we lose these participants. The fact that this causes us a financial loss is immaterial. The big loser is simply public health by removing the incentive for a large group of potential participants to exercise and stay fit through the winter. For every participant we have, there are many who think about and want to participate and train for this without ending up signing up and participating.

Signage in the race

In order for the signage of the race to be as close to the event as possible, the signage was divided into two, south and north of Lillehammer. There are several hundred signs to be erected and the work takes a long time. Once again this year, we have received good feedback on the signage in the race.

Target area Tokerudhallen

The finish area this year was in Tokerudhallen. The race is now too small to be at Valhall and we needed a finish area in Groruddalen. Tokerudhallen had all the necessary facilities and easy access. There were both showers and toilets, as well as the opportunity to eat and rest under a roof. The arena was also the right size for the number of participants. We also laid 800 m2 of carpet in the hall to protect the floor as much as possible.

We got access to free parking in the schoolyard of Tokerud school, but it’s a bit challenging access and a bit confusing and not enough capacity.

The participants received a varied offer from Nordic Lunch throughout the period. Cold juice during the day and hot juice at night. We served hot food from 19:00 with vegetarian options, but we lacked a gluten-free alternative. We also sold hot dogs, waffles, soft drinks and coffee.

The luggage and bag handling worked smoothly. This is an arduous process that requires many man-hours and heavy lifting. Even though everything is sorted by number series and starting point, there is still a lot of searching.

Dugnad in the hall was carried out by Sangam sports team. They did a great job, were hospitable, generous and had an incredibly positive attitude.

Conclusion

We are very pleased with our event this year. As previously written, there were many satisfied participants.

There are always areas that we can improve, and we will of course also listen to the feedback that the road authorities will provide in their evaluations. After the event in 2024, we will probably have found a new route that will work for many years, but there will probably be a need for a few adjustments in some places.

Ride date for 2025

We will also be applying for a date for the event in 2025 just after the summer. It is important for us to set a date as early as possible due to bookings, reservations and information to our participants.