On The Pegs June 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 6 | Page 101
On The Pegs
Vol. 4 Issue 6 - June 2019
101
The parties started early in the week and were held within the old City Walls -
defensive 3.4-kilometre walls from the 13th and 14th centuries. Visby is the best-
preserved medieval city in Scandinavia. The riders did the cultural walk during
the day and visited the local bars and restaurants after sunset. The most indulg-
ing food and drink venues were gathered near the ‘Gunpowder Tower’, which
was erected by the harbour in the 12th century. So, no calm on the Savannah!
The track was a 16-kilometre circuit on ordinary roads, which were only closed
off during race day. But during the practice sessions, the riders had to take the
risk of encountering traffic as the organisers took no consideration to formalities
such as safety or risks. Mind you, officially, practice was not allowed, but who
could afford not to learn this 10-mile circuit in advance?
The island of Gotland consists mainly of limestone and consequently the roads
were full of dust from lime deposits. The track was sometimes dusty as a true
smokescreen, which hampered the riders’ visibility. It is also important to men-
tion that the deposits from limestone were an effective power-source killer as
the material tended to clog the breathing of engines. Consequently, it would
be of great importance to be among the leaders when the flag dropped. The