On The Pegs January 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 1 | Page 107

On The Pegs
Vol. 4 Issue 1 - January 2019
P 107
to ride with care. The engines tended to overheat as they were used to the limit.
In the end the Swedish Husky team came home third in the result sheets - after
England and Switzerland.
The Swedish top performance was respected by the international sports crowd
and when they applied for organizing this gruelling event in 1923, England were
generous to let the Swedes have the race. It was then approved by the interna-
tional motorcycle federation – FIM. This year, the event took place in the first
week of August and was not only run on Swedish turf, but also included a trip
over to the neighbouring country of Norway. There was a total of 94 participants
from seven nations that set off from the Swedish Stadium at the departure. Here,
the Olympics had been held a little over a decade before and it was only ap-
propriate that this important race should start with status and fanfare. It was an
impressive sight to watch all the riders take off towards the city of Västerås, which
lay a mere 100km away. There were three teams fighting for the Trophy while
fourteen participants competed for the brand award.
But first, a few words on the ISDT rules of the roaring 20s. The riders had 15
minutes of service each morning before the start. It was used for maintaining the
machinery and competitors were not allowed to start their engines before their
start time. Then there was a lunch-break scheduled for half an hour, but now the