To be a true cross fan, I need to become a supporter. On the Men's side, that is tough to choose so I will start with the Women's instead. Daphny van den Brand of the Netherlands. You can read all about her at www.daphnyvandenbrand.nl, assuming you speak Dutch, of course. You may ask why I do not cheer for the current leader Marianne Vos? Well that would hardly be politically correct in Sweden. Besides, I think it is kind of cute with braided hair that you can actually see since most women hide all of their hair inside their helmets.


These are some shots from her victory December 20, 2009 in a snowy Kalmthout. (Pictures from her site).

VT4.be worked perfectly today so I could finish the weekend with another fine cross race, the Diegem superprestige. Bonus points for racing almost in the dark. It reminds me of our last MCK wednesday night training when I couldn't see anything and I had no brakes.

Today looked like quite the mudfest and it was nice to see a course full of every cross element instead of all sand or all mud. A good mix is fun to watch. But yesterday's race had more excitement value. Niels Albert won by quite a good marginal and Sven Nys had gear trouble on the last lap...again. Was it him that was running Shimano Di2 or? Oops.

My plan was to sit on the trainer and watch the Heusden-Zolder race today but it ended up way more exciting than I expected. I can train another day...

At first I thought it would be boring since the sun was shining but that mud was slippery and those lovely little mud hills certainly led to a few crashes. Nice to see Pauwels win but you just have to be impressed by Albert's attempt to catch up and good old Sven Nys taking over 3rd spot on the last lap. Wow! This was cross at its finest.

Hopefully VT4.be works tomorrow for more superprestige.

Canadians celebrate Christmas on 25 dec so my plans for today are probably not very traditional. And when some guy tells me he has 'dålig samveta när du springer förbi', perhaps running is not what I am supposed to do on this fine snowy morning.

This is the weather I have been waiting for...just above 0C, no wind, squishy snow everywhere in the forest. When you get this chance in Göteborg, Kalle Anka has to wait. I started with a nice 20 min warmup which took me up the massive hill a first time and conditions were fine. No slipping. It was time to throw in a few intervals to make the trip less of a gubbtur. First was a mini hill up to Björndammens terass...about 15s up. A good one to start with. So that was 2 times there.

Then I had to try the more serious hill which was a more gradual and steady climb of the type which kill me on the bike...almost a minute up this time.


The first 2 went well but I could feel my lack of training at the top of the second one. So my last was about 90s and a real bitch but who said interval training was supposed to be pleasant?

I ended with some terrain running which was fun but slow, then my spurt finish which was a fine finish to this 45 min.

Anyway, I just want to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas and I hope you will keep visiting next year.

Today is my birthday and that means I turn 34. Only 6 more years now until I am officially a gubbe. This also seems to mean that I am now in the 35-39 class since I will be 35 next year. That will help for Norway but changes nothing here.

Anyway, obviously I needed to buy myself a little present and Cyclecomponents has some great deals at the moment.
I wonder what this could be?

It seems to be an FSA Gossamer compact crankset! What a lovely present! =) This is the first part of my new cross and at half price, it was a bargain.

Things have been pretty quiet here on the blog the last few days. Not really much to talk about except that I am on a 'paus' from training now that it is freakin' cold here. Well, -7C isnt that cold but I don't have dubbdäck for my bike or proper shoes for running. I know that is no excuse since I can sit on the trainer or do some strength training. But it is coming. Christmas break means that I have more time for this stuff.

But if I still have any readers left, I can take this time to write a bit more about myself, my race goals and other fun things. And hopefully I will get my phone connected to this so I can send some pics live from my training trips out in the wonderful Göteborg nature.

It's been awhile since I have had the time to enjoy a nice beer but with a julfest coming tomorrow, it is best to remind my liver what it is supposed to do. =)

Today's featured beer is called Chimay, one of those Trappist dark ales of the 9% type. I have to admit that those monks have done a fine job with this one. It as quite a fantastic flavour with very little bitterness, sort of like a julöl but better. I think I will be taking this part of the tour again...

Two amazing photographers covered Luciacrossen on Saturday and I have to post these 3 pictures of myself. I will certainly get in contact for an enlargement or two. It is Christmas time afterall. =)

The first gallery (colour pictures) is by Patrik Stolt and the second gallery (svartvitt) is by Christer Hedberg.


This was Lap #1 with Peter right behind me...only seconds before the deciding hill.


And this is me running up that deciding hill on a later lap since that was the fastest way for me.


And this pic is fantastic! I finally have a race face! But no wonder since you can see Peter in the background just passing the football goal. No time for me to smile, in other words.

Öijer has taken a break from his new fjortis blog to update CX Cupen with a new picture gallery...Otur 2009. This was an obvious update choice because everyone loves a good crash. And I seem to have made this prestigious group for my adventures in the sand at Kumlacrossen. =)

In my own defence, this is my first season of cross with any actual cross-specific training and it was just this race where I learned the difference between playing in the sand (see above) and racing through it.


I was not alone in my otur though. Above you can see MCKs expert CX trainer instructing us on the 'ninja rull' method of cornering.


And Magnus Darvell also takes a fall now and then. So I am among some good company in this gallery...

And so it was time for the grand finale of the Göteborg series of CX races and this meant a trip to Mölnlycke instead of Skatås. And what awaited us there was a pleasant surprise...the ultimate cross course. It had a running hill with a tough left turn into it then another short hill which I will talk more about later. Then it was time for some rough grass/mud followed by the grus...so much grus. And corners...so many wonderful corners! And to top it off, we had to run up a short set of stairs, navigate through a sandbox and over some BMX hills before ending with the plank hinder of proper size. I probably used a bit too much energy before just riding around because I was having so much fun. But it was good for making strategy.

I am sure you are wondering how things went with the Superprestige race to avoid last place. Since there were quite a few beginners today, there was little chance of being last but Peter was still there and keen for a victory. We started next to each other but this was the world's most lugn start, mostly because of the sharp left turn almost immediately. Peter immediately pulled in behind me and I knew that his strategy for the day would be to wait for me to make a mistake. And on this course, that was the best choice.

There was a bit of traffic to deal with but by the asphalt part I could easily whizz passed all of the MTBs. The first run up the hill was good and I was able to get into the pedals quickly for the next part. Then came that short second hill I mentioned. I knew I would get stuck on it because it was immediately after a tough turn so the plan was to jump off the bike and run up. I did this and behind me I heard 'FFAAAANNNN!' which I assumed was Peter getting stuck on the hill. So that was my chance to get a gap but his daughter Kajsa was right in front of me (pre-arranged, I wonder?) but I made a bit of a risky pass in my eagerness to get away from Peter.

The gap was about 20 m but I could always see him close behind. But this course was not meant for taking off on people since the corners were so tough. I decided to try and gain time on the stairs and the planks and I have to say that I have never gone into these things with so much speed and aggression. I was jumping off the bike at the last minute with quite speed but it did work.

After this there was not much left to say. The distance between those in front of me and those behind me stayed pretty much the same. And the last lap was time for a duell again with David who tried to lose me on a straight but didnt. =) And if I had known that the race would be finished after the last straight, I could have ended the season with a cool spurt. But I am very satisfied anyway.

So today I did get to njut a bit but this was about as tough as it gets. Overall, it was the perfect race to end the season with. This was exactly the day I needed to keep my motivation up for next year's cross season.

Thanks to all the organizers for fixing a great day and also thanks to those watching. It does help to hear people cheering me on. And there should be at least 4 pictures of me so I hope to see them also. =)

Cycling season is officially over tomorrow and I have to admit that this year has been very long. But I can look back and be fairly satisfied with my achievements this year and for learning three things:
1. Cross is my thing and I should emphasize this most next year.
2. Norwegian MTB långlopp suit me quite nicely.
3. Tempo is a good way to interval train but without the cool helmet and the special wheels, one looks a bit silly.

So 'njut' will be the word of the day tomorrow. Somehow I doubt that will be possible with a 1C temperature, a frozen car, questionable brakes/tires, a completely new course to learn and a certain rider quite eager to crush me. But I will try my best to njut anyway...

Last night was the kickoff for MCKs new focus on bringing more elit to MTB. And I am ganska nöjd with the benefits this program will bring to me too.

The first difference is that Karlsson will help us with individual plans for our training based on which goals we have for next season. And I assume that this will also mean extra training for me to start bridging the gap between my level and the others in 'H Sport'.

One message was quite clear...during the winter it is better to spend time on styrkträning and alternative activities like running or skiing instead of cycling all winter. I am not planning to entirely stop cycling but it is nice to know that if I ride once a week it will be enough providing that I keep up other training forms. It is also nice that I can do most of this at home so I will not need to worry about my stupid car freezing all the time.

As expected, the summer training will be focused on XC which is not really my thing but I should be able to pick up some better technical skills on Monday/Thursday. I think Karin's question about a women's group was a bit misunderstood since what is still missing is a 'långlopps' group that trains distance with lots of grusväg. So I predict that 'MTB andra klungan' will also make its premiere next season for at least 5 of us.

Maybe I am wrong about my training but for my långlopp times of 4-5 hours, I need to train my body to get through that 'collapse' feeling I always have after 3 hours. And I do not see how interval training will help me with that.

In order to be truly great at cross, I need to sound like I come from Belgium. So from now on my name will be Chris van den Hout. =)

And the performance enhancement of my new name alone should give me an excuse to skip training tonight. I finally got my svinis vaccine today so it is probably not the best night to go mad with intervals on the trainer. But tomorrow...just you wait...

In an attempt to keep my training up, I have booked myself a hotel for Ronde van Vlaanderen, otherwise known as the Tour of Flanders down in Belgium.

Naturally, I will be racing on April 3rd which is the day before the real race and I will try the 140km race which includes all of the hills and stones but not the first 120km which seems to be flat and boring. That part isn't even televised.

And what will this race cost? 15€!!! Seriously. A whole race for the price of a normal CX cupen race here. Of course it will cost to actually drive there but this is a chance of a lifetime in my opinion. Let's see how my fancy new MCK uniform, my cross and my muscles compare to some real Belgian wielertoerister. =)

At the MCK julfest last night I was quite surprised to find out that I won the KM (club championship) in MTB in H30 class so I got a nice medal. If I remember correctly, that was the race hosted by MCK behind our clubhouse which was no easy race.

Then the surprises continued because they brought the things I won from the Göteborg series which I couldnt get because of my little svinflu thing. So I happily accepted a silver medal for the H30 DM (district championship) in both MTB (Kungälv, which was a race I was very happy with) and LVG (Fjärås, which was painful in every way).

And for my patience in showing up to almost every Göteborg series race this year and racing all kinds of disciplines I have never tried before (e.g. tempo, sprint, even LVG was new) I was awarded my first actual sports trophy for 2nd place overall in H30. And that was way better than the 4 pieces of paper I got for suffering 6 years through the PhD program.

After the race of my life in the morning, this was a lovely finish to the day...

And so it was time again to visit a grey and wet Skatås for the 6th race in the Göteborg cross series. That also meant time for another round of battle for us in 'andra klungan'. Since the battle to avoid last place is extremely serious, I will name this 'Göteborg Superprestige'. Sounds good eller hur? And the Göteborg Superprestige was pleased to welcome a cyclist from Sävedalen CK.

Since it was wet, the grus corners were better this week so I managed to avoid any falling. My start went pretty okay but by the end of the first asphalt stretch Peter passed me with quite the load of determination. So his lead became 25m quite quickly and I was already getting quite worried. But this is cross and anything can happen over 5 laps. On the second lap I made a mess of the sand part and was passed by the guy from Sävedalen CK which triggered the start of the first battle. I stayed with him for the rest of the 2nd lap and I can't remember exactly what happened but he fell and I took off and that was the end of that.

The nice thing about Battle #1 was that it got me quite close to Peter so the 3rd lap was spent closing that gap. I made up most of the time at the stairs because after 15 min of this, no one wants to run up stairs. Right after jumping over the cement pipe, Peter then fell while jumping on his bike, probably because I was stressing him. =) So I passed but he was right on my tail through the finish stretch. This was lap 4 and I felt pretty okay so after one corner I pedalled as fast as I could and managed to get a gap. That little 'spurt' also meant that I caught up to David who was probably not thrilled to see me go flying passed on the grass. He did pass me again on the next corner but I was motivated to get away from Peter so I passed again and tried to make my best of the long asphalt bit before the stairs. And that was it...no more Peter. No more David either. With one lap to go, I was in good shape to take this Superprestige race. And I did after a cautious but fast lap.

With my current lead of 3-1, I could technically just roll around next week for Luciacrossen. But the two classes start separately so there could be more people to watch our battle and that is always nice. All I can say is that I love cross. This is cykelglädje for me! Thanks to everyone I am racing with for making it worth training in this very dark month.

In other news, MTB-pro Åsa Erlandsson stopped by to try out CRC CX6 but she had a flat tire early on. And I will be nice and not point out that by finishing, our Superprestige group actually beat her. No no...that would be mean. No link to her website either since my virus scanner went nuts after clicking on it. Someone should probably fix that.

So now it is time for MCKs julfest and I am in charge of bringing bread. Should I bake it myself or just buy some? Silly question...

Should I reveal my secret training program? A win tomorrow will be enough for me to win the war for second last place with Peter. Assuming we forget about Borås. In fact, a year ago I was still living in a rather bad part of Borås so I would like to forget that.

Okay, my secret training of the day was moving the last of my things. All those little things like my sofa and tables. However, this stress was worth it because I had the chance to drive a big truck.

So Friday night will be very slow and hopefully I can get my brakes adjusted without too much frustration. Because tomorrow it is time...

Since monday it has been enough below 0C that everything is pretty frozen. So running was out of the question and I have no dubbdäck for the bike. So winter is here and I celebrated with a TC session on the trainer.

And this was quite a festival of sweat if I may say so...
10 min warmup
10 min of 1+1 min intervals on increasing resistance (last was 2 min)
5 min of jumps on a count of 4
5 min cool down followed by complete exhaustion.
Yes, I need more training. A bit of food may have helped also.

Next spring I will need a new landsväg bike since my CX is not really that useful on the road. My first crazy goal of the 2010 season will be the motionär version of Ronde van Vlaanderen in April down in Belgium. Then later on after my MTB långlopp races I hope to race tempo since that was perfect preparation for my cross season.

So which bike to choose...tough call indeed. I have narrowed it down to these two:

The first is the new Cervélo S1, a fine Canadian bike which can make me feel a bit patriotic to my home country.


And the second is the Ridley Phaeton R which will certainly be more accepted in Belgium.

Both are the new Ultegra and the wheels are the same. Both claim to have special aerodynamic frames but I have never tested either so I have no idea. Which would you suggest?

I started my rest with a bit of work and then a visit to CykelCity for a break...or should I say brake? Oj oj, what a silly joke even for me. I have managed to burn my original brake pads in not very many races so it is time to switch to some quality from SwissStop. I had these on my first set of CX brakes and they lasted quite awhile. So tomorrow I will get back to the frustration that is brake adjustment.

Then to spoil my vilodag I continued moving some of my heaviest boxes. How can one accumulate so much junk over 10 years? I will sleep well tonight after this...

Yesterday was the UCI world cup race in Koksijde, Belgium and you can practice your dutch at their website here. And I found out that you can buy a subscription at cycling.tv for $20 and get the live feeds plus all of the old races. So I think that was worth the price. The Koksijde course was basically all sand which did not seem to bother these pros as much as it bothers me. Quel surpris?

And then today it was Superprestige in Gieten, Netherlands which seems to have this website. And this course was basically muddy grass, something I like better than sand. But the question of the day is which Swede started at the back?

Since it was nice out today and my entire body aches from yesterday, I thought I would take one of those nice motionär rides and enjoy the nature...or why not a pensionär ride and really take it easy!

Then I realized I only had 1 hour until Superprestige started and this week my computer could access sites from Belgium. So this MTB pass became a screamer instead. 53 min and only 18.8km but with the number of people out enjoy the weather around Skatås, this became 53 min of stopping, rolling passed the dogs and then accelerating som fan to get speed again, all in quite a tough gear. I need more of these 'quality' passes.

If only I were less paralyzed now. A vilodag or 3 is what I need now.

And so it was time again for the famous Göteborg series of cyclocross at Skatås. Since I did not have a Friday night glue party yesterday, I was not sure that my red tires would actually stay on. And my brakes are horribly unadjusted so I only had contact on one side of the pad. But I just hoped for the best and tried not to brake. =)

Today's course was reverse to what we usually ride and included some new things like a trail called 'punka stig'. On an MTB it would be nothing but the stones were a bit big for cross. And then there were the grus corners, one I fell in and two I was damn close. In other words, a course full of technical challenges. In other words, skitkul!

And skit describes the start I had plus I managed to fall in the little 10m bit of sand on the first and second lap. I suddenly realized that I was behind the wrong Alriksson rider so I had to pass her and then there was that all-to-familiar bit of empty space. No, wait...Peter was about 100m ahead. Catching him today was going to hurt. Passing him on the stairs hurt even more. Being passed while I slid in the corner was expected but passing him again and going full out on the last lap really hurt. But I am glad that it hurt because this will make me stronger so I hope to continue this story the remaining two races. And even if these races are supposed to be 'for fun', I will still say that it is 2-1 for me. =)

Tomorrow it is time for CRC CX-Cupen #5 or if you prefer Göteborgscrossen #5, once again at Skatås. Since I live nearby now, I could actually ride there. But with rain in the forecast and my memory of the condition of my bike after last time (i.e. more sand than a beach in Stockholm), I will take the car.

Hopefully Peter will be there so we can continue our prestige battle at the back of sportklass. It is 1-1 right now with 3 races left. And maybe Sven will be tired of resting after his ryggskada and ready to join the battle. Or maybe it will be raining and no one will show up so I can get double points.

Soon we shall see...

I suppose I should not be surprised. Running 9km on the hills here without any preparation is bound to give one nice dose of träningsvärk. So like after all good running passes, I am like a slow gubbe when it comes to stairs.

My genomtänkt training plan says that I should repeat the same run again today. But now I think I will stay inside and take a few intervals on the trainer. Maybe I might even try a few pushups if I feel for it.

Of course someone will search for pictures from the Cykelgalan in Jkpg last weekend. So why not give the readers what they want! Unfortunately I missed this too because I was supposed to be racing in Denmark.

Once again I will link to jahn ekman and the site media.namke.se. And it deserves another link for the endless supply of great pictures! There are also quite a few Martin Stenmark pics so maybe he won the 'Best MTB singer' prize.

Just thought I would include this pic of the MTB winners since I hardly recognize anyone without their cykelkläder. And since this is a blog, I should comment on fashion. Looove the dalahästar on Alexandra Engen's dress. It's like sooo 2009! They totally match Emil Lindgren's ubercool pink shirt!

You can find a list of the winners at Svenska Cykeldagarna and more pictures are promised.

I am trying to find some way to keep some form for CX without actually riding my CX. It is too dark by the time I get home so I chose running because it is about the only exercise I know that leaves me as dead as cross.

And boy did I find a knee-buster of a course. After about 1 km, the trail was uphill for 2km, levelled off for 500m and then continued up for another km. Beautiful, in other words. And downhill was ganska jobbigt also but for different muscles.

So this was 54 min of fun which is fine for someone who hasn't been running very much without my bike. This also gets a few bonus points for the surrealistic light off my pannlampa and the perfectly quiet forest.

Since someone has found my blog by searching for pictures from Allecrossen, I thought I would give them what they wanted.

Jahn Ekman was one of several great photographers at the race. All of these pictures are © jahn ekman and many more can be found at the site media.namke.se.


So here is the start and I am (as usual) the slowest MCKare in this pic.


And this is the nasty downhill where I was using no brakes. As you can see by the smile on my face, this was roligt.


But at this point I am starting to look as sick as I was.

Thanks for the great pictures!

With a race name like Cock's Bollekescross, how can I miss it? Hamme-Zogge is maybe a better name for it but the real one will get me a few bonus hits from Google.

But my day was ruined because the computer I was using seemed to be blocking all websites from Belgium. This is a problem which could only happen to me.


Just look at this track map I found from the race website www.cocksbollekescross.be. Cross can't get any better than this.

I have to see a race live.

Since I am about 90% healthy and that is about all I can expect at this time of year, it was time to start training again. And today was a lovely day for it. My goal was to just find my way to motioncentralen at Skatås and that was fairly easy since they have something called Turiststråket which goes right through it.

Of course before I found the marked bike trail, I winded my way through a few very muddy stretches which made the ride more exciting for a few minutes. Since I could not find the famous MTB course, I just ended up following this 'highway' all the way over to the 40. So this was not very fast since this is the same trail for running, rullskidor, walking and sometimes horses. Even when I slow down to almost a stop, the horse people yell. Could this be yet another reason why so few ride MTB?

Anyway, this was 90 min of fun which I really needed after being sick.

To continue the trend of this week, I have cancelled my trip this weekend. So no wet and slow grass in Helsingör and no grass/grus/road combo for me at the CPH CX Grand Prix. More info here if you are interested...DCU cyklecross

I am pretty much healthy now so technically I would be fine for Saturday. But I just have no drive right now. For CX you really need the motivation to push to the max and fight the fatigue. I just do not have that right now.

So I will wait for 5/12 and 6/12 for their next Öresund double race weekend and take care of some Christmas shopping at the same time. That gives me 2 weeks to get the spirit back...

Tonight is the prize ceremony for Göteborgs Cykelförbund and I was looking forward to this for many reasons. Emil Lindgren was scheduled to talk MTB and the pro life and then I actually finished 2nd overall in H30 class.

Some call the Göteborg Series just an advertising or propaganda thing to attract new people to cycling. And there were not so many in H30 class to compete with. But this is still big for me. This series let me try many different styles of racing (LVG, tempo, sprint) other than my usual MTB and all of this has helped me to become a better cyclist. Without a doubt, 2009 has been the year that I have improved the most. So naturally, I deserve a prize for this.

However, I have been home sick all day with this bloody swine flu thing so out of respect for those healthy people in the club, I will stay away.

I have no idea what the prize is but even a certificate is great for me! So if someone reads this, could they do me the favour of finding out how I can get the prize? And I will do you the favour of not infecting you with this flu...

My 'cold' continues yet another day but I think I may be through the worst of it now. My garlic lunch yesterday seemed to upset Mr Virus because I felt like there was certainly a battle going on inside of me. And all I can do is sit and watch TV, have soup and wait it out.

And speaking of TV, Paradise Hotel is finally back! Expressing my love for this show on Facebook yesterday led to more comments than I have ever had before. This show divides the population in two. Why do I like it?
1) All of the characters are from Sthlm and I like making fun of people from Sthlm.
2) It is so silly that it empties my mind of all thoughts which is perfect after a long work day.
3) It reminds me of good old Melrose Place, the finest soap every made!

But now it is soup and sleep time so I can get rid of this stupid cold...

So, it was time for the final of CX Cupen and for my club MCK to make us proud. And the MCK supporter section kept us warm with some wonderful soup and the dance was, as expected, street. And everyone did stay around to make a lot of noise so for one very small part of the course, we had a wonderful CX publikfest.

I probably should not have started because I was sick still and I felt that directly from the start. I was with the group at the first hill which was a tough drop that was muddy but with my 'no brakes, just kör' technique I managed quite nicely. Right after that, though, I was sliding all over so by the first lopphinder I was already quite far behind. And that was about it for me. Mud was everywhere but my red tubdäck were keeping me sort of stable. (By the way, red tires were everywhere! Was it me or the CykelCity sale that started that trend?) Then came the slow grass uphill which killed me back in september when we raced here...aj it was painful. But then it was time to enjoy the cheers of the crowd while running up the hill. Thanks everyone for the cheers! Maybe it was the bare legs. ;)

(Photo: Tina Dahlman)

But now I will have to be a 'sur gubbe'. By lap 3 I had a routine and I was about half a lap behind Björn and Tomas but that gap was constant. This is normal since I have a crap start but keep a fairly consistent pace the rest of the race. At the horrible grass hill I was lapped by Hans Mård who was way ahead of the rest and in my opinion should be in Prestige. So the next time I passed the finish line they pulled me off the course. It was decided that this year in the CX-Cupen Veteran class they would not do this so all could get their 40 min of pain. That is why I registered for this class and not 'sport' which happened to be going at the same time and for the same length(???). So I was quite pissed off about this. I was not in anyone's way and I do not see the problem with racing to have fun. If this kind of thing always happens, it is no wonder why there are so few cyclists in this country. Nej...this did not leave me in the happiest of moods.

So now I will try to get healthy and then it is off to Denmark next weekend for two CX races. In Denmark they never remove lapped riders. They also have a much better system of class divisions to equals race against together. Let the CX season continue!

As a few of you noticed, I was not in Borås for the CX veteran 'SM'. I decided to sleep instead because I felt quite crappy. Could it be the dreaded svinflu? Probably. It did feel more like a flu than a cold.

Anyway, after sleeping I felt fairly okay so I went for a walk here in Sävedalen. I found a nice motionspår which is basically uphill for about 2km so that will be perfect for intervals when I get healthy again. I also found a rather nice CX field with some wet grass and mud...things we love.

Hmm...so now the headache is gone but my throat is sore and dry. So I will probably be kinda okay tomorrow with a nice long sleep. Sunday should be better.

Soon we shall see...

Let's just run down the checklist and make sure I am ready for the races this weekend.

- Race plan and fighting instinct? Check!
- Enervit products from CykelCity so I can have fighting instinct? Check!
- Functioning brakes? Looks good, check!
- Glued red tires? They seem to be solid, check!
- Clean uniform and special SM socks? Check!
- Headache, fatigue and general slow feeling? Check! Oh, wait...crap.

I hope I will be fit enough to race anyway. It seems like my Sthlm/Uppsala trip has had some after effects.

I thought it would be fun to reflect on which races I have done this year. It seems like I have gone under the strategy of 'training by racing' instead of training a lot for a few key races. Maybe I should change that...

Running
22/3 GöteborgsVarvet Seedningslopp 10.55km
25/4 LerumLoppet 10km
3/5 GranitLoppet 14km
16/5 GöteborgsVarvet 21km

LVG
31/5 Orust runt

MTB
24/5 Långa Billingeracet
13/6 Ymerracet XC
14/6 Borås CA race XC
16/7 MTB SM Falun - tempo
17/7 MTB SM Falun - XC (DNF)
30/7 Grenserittet seedning
1/8 Grenserittet
15/8 Vårgårda MTB XC
16/8 Dynamitracet XC
12/9 MTB SM Marathon Falun

Cross
17/10 Gruvcrossen
18/10 Kumlacrossen
31/10 Valhallcrossen
14/11 Ymercrossen DNS (sick)
15/11 Allecrossen

Local cycling series
6/5 GBGseries 1 - MTB
13/5 GBGseries 2 - LVG Kvibergs GP
27/5 GBGSeries 3 - LVG bergstempo
16/6 GBGSeries 4 - MTB sprint
12/8 GBGSeries 5 - LVG
26/8 GBGSeries 6 - Diserödstempo
2/9 GBGSeries 7 - tempo
9/9 GBGSeries 9 - MTB
19/9 GBGSeries 10 - MTB
20/9 CRC CX1 - Alingsås
27/9 CRC CX2 - Skatås
4/10 CRC CX3 - Skatås
25/10 CRC CX4 - Skatås
28/11 CRC CX5 - Skatås
5/12 CRC CX6 - Skatås
12/12 CRC CX7 - Mölnlycke Luciacrossen

Hmm...now that I see it listed like this, I have been pretty active. Good season, in other words.

I guess by now you can see that I have many cultural interests which do not seem to fit with my cycling. But all of these things are so accessible in Sweden so I enjoy what I can whenever I have time.

Last night I saw Anna Ternheim at Pustervik. This was not the first time I have seen her in concert but it was certainly the most impressive. No band. No support. Just a guitar/piano and her alone. And while most artists fail miserably 'unplugged' and leave you longing for the rest of the band to make up for all of their mistakes, Anna was absolute perfection! So I suggest supporting your singer/songwriters and forget this Idol crap. Anna deserves it.

So if you are lucky enough to have tickets to one of her remaining shows, you are in for a treat. If not, by her special edition CD with the live tracks. Njut. Do it now...

The first start lists for the CX races in Borås and Alingsås were disappointing with only 13 starting in veteran class. But the latest lists are over 20 so things are looking slightly better.

Naturally, I would prefer starting with 40 or 50 because then there is a greater chance I will find someone at my level to race with. And I need this because the start in Borås is uphill and the first thing you hit in Alingsås after start is one of those bumpy downhills where you lose your chain. So it will be 'catch up' for me for the whole race.

It would be very nice if I could take these next few days to work on some CX skills but there is too much happening at work now. Both tracks are quite tough so it would have been nice with some extra training. At the moment it looks like saturday and sunday will be 'fun races' for me. But I still have my red tires. =)

The PM for MCKs CX race Allecrossen is out now and we are promised publikfest and dansuppvisning. Dance? I agree that the way some people ride CX is poetic and I can actually picture a 'pas de deux' from Swan Lake being performed next to where we will be dismounting and gracefully running up a hill. I can picture a lot of strange things after Dali. Yet somehow I doubt this is what they have planned.

My bet is streetdance or maybe Alingsås has a cheerleading team? That would be nice so long as they cheer for the right rider (me) in veteranklass.

Sounds like we are in for a great day.

This just in from the Birkebeinerrittet website...
'Rittet fulltegnet på 41 sek'
Yes, 17500 participants in an MTB race and it is sold out in less than a minute. They have also sold out the 6000 places for the 'fun race' on the Friday the day before.

What is Sweden doing wrong when it comes to MTB? Why can't we have a långlopp race that is this popular? Answer the survey question or suggest new ideas yourself.

So how does one spend a sunday when they have a slight bit of a hangover? Go to Moderna Museet, of course. I have never seen that many people there. But you can't beat an exhibition by Salvador Dali when your body is not really back to normal yet. Surrealism at it's finest.

With my new inspiration for twisted reality, I thought I should take some surrealistic pictures of Sthlm. I am very happy with them. What do you think?




Anyway, now it is CX time again. Mid-season break is finished. Let's race.

I have always found Finland quite fun and their language has many gems. The one of most relevance this morning is their word for hangover which is 'krapula'. It's just perfect. I can't think of a better word to describe what I feel at the moment.

Luckily, this hotel had eggs and bacon so I am in fairly good shape now. Last night was a nice dinner/party with a bit too much alcohol around. But this is Uppsala and we were at a student nation so none of this was a surprise.

My strange behaviours this time included singing along to every word of the 80s songs and also speaking skånska because it was so 'rrowleeet'. A good time, in other words.

I am still in Uppsala a bit longer. Sadia from the group I used to work in did a fine job of defending her thesis today. So now it is time to celebrate that there is one more Dr in this country. And that requires a suit. Since I almost never wear a suit, I had to take a picture...

Suit: Whyred, Shirt: Day, Supercool socks: Paul Smith

If I am going to write about cyclocross, I can hardly ignore a very important part of this sport. Well, an important part if you are belgian and are watching.

Of course I mean beer! Tonight I have decided to start my tour of belgian beers with a Duvel which is a fine choice. Despite the 8.5%, the taste is smooth and nice. Certainly nothing like those beers from here with swedish flags and things which are just normal pilsner with extra alcohol.

But rather than turning into that TV4 wine guy or the ladies I saw at 09.30 this morning with their glasses of wine, I will end this and let you try the beer for yourself.

What is your favourite belgian beer? Write a comment if you want!

I had time for a quick trip to the Östasiatiska museum which had an exhibit on japanese traditional and modern fashion. It was okay but could have been better.

I have always been fascinated by Japan and that is first on my list if I ever can start saving money. Everything is so high-tech yet their architecture is a lot like the miminalism of scandinavia. And more contrast is obvious from their TV shows and fashion. There is just something so interesting about that place.

Anyway, enough dreaming. I am in Uppsala now and will drop by my old workplace.

Malmö Aviation was my choice as usual for making the trip up to Sthlm for the second weekend in a row. But this was the first time that they were delayed since they had to change a tire. And anyone who owns a car knows it is high season for changing tires now.

But everything was fine...de hade ett plan. And what was that? Byt planet. I thought that this was ett underbart plan because that gave me some time for a little photography. I am like a little kid when it comes to planes.


So after a reasonable delay it was time to enjoy the gourmet sandwich, wonderful coffee and warm towels that this 45 minute flight always has. Amazing! Like the good old days when flying was lux.

My CX withdrawal continues and I will not make it to Lidköping this weekend which is a shame because the track sounds great. I am going to Uppsala for a friend's thesis defence and it is great to see that she has finished after all the negative results and delays with articles. Science is usually like this, unfortunately.

So while the rest of you are hopefully taking a nice bath in the mud stream coming off of the rider in front of you, I will be hungover. But it is 'game on' for Borås and Alingsås!

I saw a gammal tant riding her bike up a hill today. It wasn't going all that well for her. Clearly it would have been faster if she had put the bike over her shoulder and ran up the hill...

If she had done that, I would have even offered to help pick up her groceries which would have went flying out of her basket.

With my many moves over the years, I have a lot of experience with moving but I would never call myself an expert. Every move is different but I am happy to say that this is one of the better ones. I managed to get a bomnyckel and one of those kärra things with wheels so unloading the car is a breeze! Yes, I am moving with my car at first although I will get a truck for a few hours to get the big stuff.

I almost never move everything in one day due to lack of time to pack everything or problems getting enough help when I need it. So today, on this wonderful autumn day, I am packing things, moving them and then arranging things right away in the new place. Brilliant eller hur? So then I know exactly where everything is when I am done.

Of course my plan is failing miserably since my apartment has become the definition of chaos.

People who can move without chaos are also those who can always keep a perfectly arranged desk at work no matter what the level of stress. I will never manage that...

Here is an inspirational CX video from Holland. Just check out that wonderful mud!
"Why do they change them sir?"
"Cos it's muddy eh!!!"

By popular demand, you want me to write about fjortisar. When I think about this age group, there is always a bit of hatkärlek. How do you feel about them? Skriv gärna din åsikt.

We can start with the 'hat' side although there are too many things to list here. While there are many things wrong with typical fjortis clothes, the see-through leggings are a bit much. It seems like most believe that leggings are like pants so it is perfectly okay to walk around town only wearing a t-shirt and leggings or to sit and wait for buses in unladylike positions. Do us a favour and check these things out! I mean we all know that some cykelbyxor are see-through so then the exposure choice is up to the cyclist. But fjortisar don't seem to realize.

And then we can check the short list of things on the 'kärlek' side. Over my years in this country, I have been told many times that I look exactly like someone else. The first couple of times it was fine but this became jobbigt when everyone said it. At these times I would look for ways to change my look and be less 'common'. An example would be to buy a shirt that no one would expect me to wear. My autumn 2007 idea was to grow sideburns like Filmkrönikan Orvar. And while that was fet dissade by most people, fjortisar thought it was hot. So in a very strange way, fjortisar gave my ego a boost. Crazy but true.

Next time I will tell you how fjortisar can improve our fine sport of cycling. To be continued...

Well this morning is one of those days I really feel like a gubbe. My back is killing and I have a headache. Lovely start to my work week.

Did everyone enjoy Halloween with a little Rocky Horror Picture Show? Nothing is more Halloween in Canada than watching Janet and the others. =)

By an overwhelming majority, it seems that you want me to talk about fjortisar and then about myself. So häng med for my opinions on this all too visible part of the population...

I was looking for things to keep me training throughout the winter and I found the Polar Night Halvmara up in Tromsö, Norway. It is January 9th which would mean running on ice/snow and would almost certainly lead to injury but there is something fantastic about that city. The thought of running in complete darkness next to water, mountains and probably a bit of northern lights sounds like the spiritual experience of a lifetime. Should I do this?

I also managed to get a start position for Birkebeinerittet next year which was quite a pain.

Those who know me from Stockholm will remember that I moved to different apartments a lot. But that is unfortunately the reality for people who rent in this country.

A year ago I moved to a temporary place in Borås and under two months later I moved to this house because it seemed like a fun idea for a change.

The view from the window is fantastic (Vättlefjället).


And you can't possibly get closer to local wildlife than this...

So 'vad fan gör jag?' is a question I have asked myself a lot today with all this extra weight lifting. And the answer is simple...having no savings at all is not quite the same adrenaline rush I get from riding MTB. So moving is my best move. (sorry, that was silly) On a positive side, now I will be able to buy more cycling stuff. I will also be living near Skatås.

Back from Stockholm now and IFK seems to have lost. Yep, time to clear the city and bring out the riot police. Having lived in Solna for 3 years, it was hard to choose a winner today. But either way I win anyway since now that football is over I can get on to following some proper sports like hockey.

Honestly, my weekly CX-withdrawal is already kicking in. I am thinking of an invasion of Denmark since their season keeps going until January. Then I think it is time for a Belgium trip to watch the masters in action. Yes, then I can delay my withdrawal until March. Good good.

I guess my reader is probably wondering how things went with the red tires and whether that made me look like a goof. Well, two others in my class also had the same red tires so my 'trendsetter' attempt failed. Although I can say that the others had too many other colours in their clothes and on their bike so I still succeeded a bit. Black, red and white do work perfectly together. Add blue to that and you get a bit american.

Unfortunately, all of our feeble style attempts were beaten by a guy in Super Speczial class (sport class). Picture this...silver singlespeed bike and a guy dressed in cycling clothes completely in black (no sponsors or anything, just pure black) and with one of those black BMX helmets. He also had some kind of special dismount technique that was quite spectacular. Yep, this was style!

So I guess strange-coloured socks is the way to go to attract attention. Any suggestions?

Despite the lack of royal visitors, Valhallcrossen was quite the success. I had to fix my brakes yet again before the start so that was a bit of stress I could have done without.

Since I have been having energy problems after 30 min of maxpuls (duh, wonder why???), I did an experiment and took one of those Enervit enervitene liquid gels after my test lap but before starting. This is what they suggest to drink after about 45 min of activity but I thought why not take it a wee bit early. And that strategy was a success!

There were 39 people starting in the veteran class which was quite amazing. The start went pretty much as usual and most took off but by the first hill (the only one, actually) there was a group of 5 of us still together. This course was mostly grass but my red tires worked perfectly in this. In fact, my dismount and jumping over the two obstacles was textbook. And running in the sand was much better than riding today since the sand was long and had a hairpin curve.

(Picture: Henrik Öijer www.cxcupen.se)

So what about those other 4 riders. One I took care of quickly but with the other 3 it was fight all the way. We were jumping positions all the time but I never let them get too far away. To catch them all I needed was a bit of a sprint in the grass. I was passed in the sand once and also in the slalom bit that was up and down a small hill in the field. But in the other parts I could pass and that felt great!

How did it finish, you say? Did my tire fall off? Actually, it didn't. With two laps to go we were getting lapped and I did a bit of a sneaky move and just pretended I was with the faster group. =) The guy realized but by then I had taken off. And the next had no energy left so he was gone. I also had no energy but I saw that they were stopping everyone so we wouldn't need to do the extra lap. So I could give it everything I had now and still finish. I realized this a bit late to pass the next guy but I was pretty damn close.

So, for the first time in CX veteran class I did not finish last among those who actually did finish! 36th place is just fine for me. I am satisfied...

Valhallcrossen is being held on an island near Drottningholm which, of course, is the home of the swedish royal family and is also a lovely place to have an autumn walk.

So now I have to put on a good show for Kungen et al. The problem is that I have a feeling my race will be cut short by one of the following things:
1) My red tires fall off the rims just after I pass the pit area so I will have to run the entire lap to change my wheel.
2) I lose a brake pad and then can't stop which means I fly off the track and into the water.
3) I catch my shorts on something during a dismount which leads to the display of my family jewels. Can I charge admission for this? =)

No matter what happens, I am here for the fun.

I am back now from the centre and there are a few new things but mostly same old same old. And once again I notice that no one will give you any space when walking and no one is paying any attention to where they are going. It is nowhere near this bad in Göteborg...unless you are a fjortis in Nordstan.

Anyway, the only stores that really had anything were Bengans (which is better in Götet) and Pub for their designer departments. Most of the designers I like are from Denmark so coming here for shopping instead of CPH is silly. But to defend Sthlm a bit, it does have some nice parts. But I didn't happen to get to any of those today.

Fredagsmys for me has been a nice sandwich and a cake plus Idol on TV4. Maybe not quite as exciting as gluing but it will do.

It feels a bit strange to drive to Stockholm. After 7 years of living here and driving away from it all the time, even staying in a hotel feels strange. I chose Scandic Foresta which is next to Millesgården on Liiiidiiiingö because the price was great and last year's CX race was close to here. This year they moved the location but this view makes it worthwhile.


So now I am off to the centre to see what has changed since last year. I already know that the traffic is still just as bad and the constant battle between buses and little cars like mine live on...

Although what I should really do is enjoy the gorgeous sunny day and just take a walk along the water instead.

Last night there was a Mölndals CK member meeting and this one was quite lively. Why? Well, we are in the process of designing new uniforms and no one can really make up their mind. Most of the LVG people want completely white uniforms but that doesnt work for anyone in MTB or CX because one muddy race = no more white uniform. So a black option was pushed through with some other kinda cool stripes in MCK colours. Once people stop arguing, I think it will look pretty good since they are designing the whole outfit and not just the shirt.

And some more good news...a plan for setting up a program for MTB since less people are interested in this fine sport for some reason. Maybe it is the white uniforms? Anyway, the proposed plan was to focus on all levels (including old slow adults like me) so maybe I might even have a rival to race in MTB also. At the same time, I hope that this also encourages people to race in their own class and not 'Sportclass' which is still supposed to be for beginners.

Anyway, tonight it is time for another glue party then it is off to Stockholm for CX.

Metro reported that experts fear Volvo will lose its reputation if bought by the Chinese company Geely. It seems that Geely makes cars for bönder.

But what cars to bönder in Sweden drive? Precis...a styled Volvo 740. It sounds like Geely have done their research.

My question is what reputation do they want Volvo to have? In Canada we saw Volvo as a luxury line equal with Audi or Mercedes. But here Volvo is the first choice for families. No matter who buys Volvo, they are already having an identity crisis depending on the market.

After work today I will drop by CykelCity again and buy another red tire. I think if I want to follow proper style rules, both tires need to be red. That is another fun thing about CX because you can get away with these attention-grabbing things. It is a chance to let your personality run free. Falu CK is great for this with one rider wearing wild-coloured socks and another with a bell attached to their seat. So now I will take the brave jump into the trend-setting world of cycle fashion and ride at Valhallcrossen in Stockholm with very red tires.

I may finish last but I hope to look damn good doing so...

Just got back from Skatås where we had the Criterium Race Coffee CX Cup Race #4 which is a damn impressive way of naming our local Göteborg series.

We started with the 1 hour intro and this time got some tips from cycle legend Emil Lindgren. The nice thing about CX is that you do have to think because there are different strategies to quickly run up stairs or get through sand and one can win a race by choosing correctly. And these are the kind of things I can train because my muscle strength is not likely to increase over the next 2 weeks.

So then it was race time and my rival from CRC CX1 was back which made me very happy. It is difficult to find someone at the same level as me but when I do I get to have that feeling of race. I also find that I dare to take a tougher gear or push myself harder if I know that my rival is right behind me chasing.

The start went well and I left behind most of the kids right away which is a nice change. My rival was strong but he made a mistake of riding through the first sand and got stuck so I caught up by running through instead. The second sand was possible to make it through by going full speed and then holding on and doing this made a hell of a nice show of flying dirt, most of which ended up on my face and in my mouth. So by the end of the first lap I had passed him but no matter what I did I could not get away from him. I was chased basically the whole race and that was tough because my glasses were fogged up and I couldnt see anything. Then it was time for my mistake in a muddy corner where I suddenly had no grip going uphill. So he could finally pass me and managed a fairly good lead while I messed around with the gears. Unfortunately, that was the last lap so I didnt have a chance to catch up again. But I was very happy with my performance and I actually lapped two people and that never happens.

My brakes actually worked and there was only one comment about the red tire. Well, a few of the women seemed to look and smile a bit. If that is how I can get attention, I might as well put a red one on the front too.

It seems that MTB superstar Emil Lindgren will visit our CX race in Skatås tomorrow. Racing in the same class as him would be an honour. So I guess I have no choice but to re-glue my silly tire so it faces the right way. Skål och välkomna to Day 2 of my glue party!

I took off on my mountainbike and it is a nice change to have wide tires and good brakes. This hour was mostly to get out and roll around a bit since tomorrow it is CX race day again.


What is wrong with this picture? Hopefully you guessed the mud. 'Twas not a dry day in lilla London but Vättlefjället is really beautiful this time of year even in the rain.

God morgon to anyone who actually might be reading this. I am unfortunately not up in Falun for the race today because it was a bit too much travelling for one month. But lycka till to those there...looks like no snow this year.

I am quite proud of myself for managing to adjust my brakes. Yes, they are gold because a little bling bling never hurt anyone.



Of course now you can also see my very red Tufo Prestige tire which is all I could find at CykelCity for what I wanted to spend. So what do the style police say about this? My uniform is red also.

You may also notice that I have stupidly glued it on backwards. The MCK guys will just love this mistake...

I certainly know how to spend a Friday night. I am sort of getting the hang of gluing the tubular tires to the rims. It is still a bit strange to think that pros do this all the time but I know that it makes a world of difference when riding. So bring on the glue!

And my new TRP Eurox brakes are on but I will leave adjusting the front set until tomorrow. It takes a wee bit more patience than I have at the moment.

So someone out there should have a beer for me because I am off to bed now...

I read yesterday that Nokia will sue Apple over 10 cases of stolen patented technology when they were developing the iPhone. And I think that it is about time. I used to be so 'pro-Apple' before as an alternative to Windows but lately I am just fed up with them.

My iMac had a hard drive crash almost directly and my MacBook had its crash after just over 1 year. And the current state of that computer is hopelessly unreliable. My iPod, however, did not have a memory crash but its battery life is half of what it used to be. So when I read stories of iPods spontaneously exploding and how Apple tries to cover it up, I know that I am not the only one.

If you look at the Nokia 5800, it is smaller than iPhone and has basically all of the same features. It is also almost half the price of the iPhone. So why not buy that instead and use your leftover money for something else? Like a new hard drive if you happen to own a Mac.

Sure, one could argue for design but in my opinion you need to have a decent product first before you can start saying that it looks good. Take a look at GM. Sure, maybe the re-designed a few cars but they still suck and no one buys them because of that. So why buy iPhone?

Last night was probably the last wednesday night training we will have this year because, well, the 'night' part is a bit too true. Of course I do need some practice with riding CX blindfolded but this seems like one of those advanced skills that a motionär like me would never use.

Anyway, my fun from the weekend had a few undesirable effects on my bike. First, I decided not to ride with my tubulars because of the bump in the tire. So I put on the old tires which are crap. So training started with me sliding all over since I had no grip at all. Because of the sliding, I tried to overcompensate with more braking but apparently I had worn off the pads so after about 10 minutes I had no brakes at all. I knew that I had to re-adjust them anyway but now everything is way off.

So while the others were racing on this course in Eklanda that we improvised, I was riding slalom in some grass because there I would not need brakes. That was also very effective training because riding on grass with old tires is just painful.

After a disappointing session, I went back to my car and found out that the adjustment thing on my shoe was busted so now I have to buy a replacement. Crap. Looks like I have to visit CykelCity now and hope that I can fix these problems and be racing again soon.

Yes, I went to Kumla and they let me leave...
Because I had to be there to test ride the course before 09.00 and I was staying in Örebro, this was an early morning. And I woke up feeling stiff in every muscle of my body. Then to add to my joy my car was frozen so I had to scrape windows and that kind of stuff.

Once I took a lap around the course and saw how fun it was, I knew that I had to start this race despite my paralysis. There was seedning based on yesterdays results and they put me in start group #2 of 3...uh...but I was last. Fine, so after the start I was back to last place and things seems right again. I chickened out a bit on the start because it was a fast downhill and then a tight and slippery hairpin curve. The first stretch was deep and wet grass which was a pain but still okay. I was on pace until a grusväg part when they took off. Something was funny with my back tire (tubdäck had a 'small' bump around the air valve, okay, it was a large bump) but I kept going.
Next came a fun forest slalom part which went quite quickly until the first tough hill. The whole course went slalom up and down that hill about 4 times. Ouch.


This was waiting for me at the top of one of those hills. Note to reader...I am supposed to be running here...

Then came a hole series of hills and corners and finally the stairs. I decided after my test lap that the fastest thing would be to put the bike over my shoulder and run up the stairs, around the corner and up the next hill. It was a good plan if I had actually been in the race. They were long gone by then. So what do you do when you are that far off? Well, just have fun with it.


For example, lets just ride through the toughest part of the sand and feel that back wheel kick out...


Or lets see what happens when the front wheel starts going sideways as well. Hmm...looks like a setup for 'dagens vurpa' to me. =)

Anyway, I had to do the extra lap this time and I made sure to do that a bit faster so their time schedule would not be messed up. So, today's finish was 25th with 4 DNFs this time.

I have some training to do...

Bilder: Henrik Öijer

First national race of the year and I promised myself that I would race in Veteran class because I am a gubbe and sportklass is usually MTB profs. The start went well and for once I managed to get my shoe in the pedal right away. Of course that became difficult later when I was covered in mud.



The first part was some grass up to a 'springbacke' followed by a slalom bit through some more mud. Lots of sliding here but things were still fun and I was keeping up.




And then we got to the 'fun part' which was a giant water-filled hole almost half a metre deep. Yep, 5C and hitting this...then I was awake. Surprisingly I was fine on the deeper part but got stuck coming back the other way. Still, I was not too far off yet.



Then came a fast downhill part. Check out my fine downhill position...

After that came a longer grusväg part and then a road bit passed my car and down to a really slippery football field. It was slalom time again and then another springbacke but not before it was time for 'dagens vurpa'. Actually, that was on the 3rd or 4th lap I think. I am not really sure what happened but by then I had lost a lot of distance and was getting tired as hell. So soon it was +1 varv for me and I was fairly happy that I didnt have to do the extra lap because I was absolutely dead. This was a tough premiere...



Could this be a winning smile? Well, I was soaked, freezing and completely dead. But I finished (23rd) which means I beat the 6 DNFs. So a smile was appropriate.




Do you think I should wash my bike now? Or maybe I should take another trip through that mud hole first...

Bilder: 1-3, 5-7 from Sven Abrahamsson, 4 from Henrik Öijer