On The Pegs February 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 2 | Page 81

On The Pegs
VOL. 5 ISSUE 2 - FEBRUARY 2020
81
this fact to the competitors. However, Kalén has an eye for detecting hidden ob-
stacles. So, he prefers to go by the law on the transport stretches, to avoid getting
caught.
One of the Novemberkasan men has run out of gas as he approaches Ystad. It
takes him a full 45 minutes before he can find a fresh loaded tube, getting pen-
alties for being late. His efforts turn painstaking, when he runs out of gas again,
causing him to retire. The stage during darkness covers 372.2 kilometres while the
final day stage is 332.6 kilometres long. Tough, when you consider the tempera-
ture is well below the freezing point - you get cold! This fact influences the com-
petitors, where most of the riders have to give in for various reasons. Some have
punctures while others crash. Twenty men are missing by 10 o’clock on Sunday
morning.
At the “Holmeja station” on the very last stage before the finish, the boys are
sorted from real men as this is a decisive rider’s test. One of the first to arrive is
Kalén who comes in two minutes ahead of the stipulated time into the station -
an incredible margin. “Tricky, this last part,” is his comment.
A little later, Erik Westerberg turns up at “Holmeja” being a fantastic five min-
utes ahead of schedule. How does he do it? On top of everything, he has raced
the entire event without consulting a map. “I have it all up here,” he says smiling,
pointing at his head.
Sunday afternoon and a crowd estimated at 10,000 spectators has gathered at
the finish in Malmö. Three riders have travelled the 700 kilometres without set-
backs. Gunnar Kalén is one of them, taking home the overall victory while West-
erberg is fourth with one-and-a-half penalty points for missing a detail. 16 solo
riders make the finish while five sidecar carriages complete the race.
Kalén won his 5th Novemberkasan in 1930. He was aiming for his second over-
all Kasa trophy when he entered the Västeras event in 1933 on Husqvarna and it
was now that he put himself on the historical enduro map being the only man to
fulfil the event on his reliable machine. It had rained more than usual prior to this
race and conditions were severe to say the least. Only 13 competitors thought
of conquering these difficulties and came to the starting line. Retirements were
plentiful during the initial night stage. Eleven riders had to abandon the event for
different reasons. And the 12th man Sigurd Werner was not allowed to continue
his adventure as he was far too late at the finish after the gruelling night stretch.
So, Gunnar Kalén was the only remaining rider and won with 152 penalty points.
Consequently, after six overall wins, he now had two “Kasa” trophies, which is a
fantastic record. No one in history has won more “Kasa” events. n