On The Pegs February 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 2 | Page 79

On The Pegs
VOL. 5 ISSUE 2 - FEBRUARY 2020
79
In 1927, Gunnar started on home turf in Malmö for the gruelling “reliability race
of November”. One of his main competitors, Erik Westerberg, had turned 30 the
day before departing, when fellow friends and foe saluted in honour with a loud
“ip, ip, hurrah!” accompanied by the noise from screw-drivers, air pumps and
other mechanical accessories.
54 competitors turned up at the start and Gunnar Kalén was one of them. Strad-
dling his latest factory Saroléa, prepared by importer Axel Löfström, he had the
best material possible for this adventure. Rider Ernst Ewaldsson on Husqvarna
obviously had a hunch that his light would fail him. As a backup, he equipped his
helmet with an extra source of light for the challenging night stretch. Many other
riders had installed “small tables” on their tanks in order to host the inevitable
map that would guide them through the stages. Gunnar Kalén was one of the
first riders to take off on his single-cylinder Belgian machine. Mind you, Kalén and
Westerberg were considered to be favourites by motoring experts. A 9-year old
boy had a different opinion on Erik, “I don’t think he’s in shape after having cel-
ebrated his 30th birthday yesterday...”