MCK had a visit last night from Anders Grönqvist and also I finally got my new uniform so you can expect this to be a modeblogg for the next couple of days. ;)

Anyway, Anders told us to use our dreams to guide and motivate us in our cycling. That is fine since anyone who reads this blog knows that I have a lot of crazy dreams. And I can easily work my way back to figure out what steps I need to take to get to my dreams. My biggest problem is that all of this takes time. So dreaming is fine for someone young with parents to support them or a rich wife so you can spend all your time training. But the rest of us have jobs that take a whole lot of time. Jobs which we need to eat, pay rent and afford cool bike parts. But still, I agree that it is good to make a plan and this advice is good for parents.

Then he started discussing rules and most of it was based around doping, everyone's favourite topic. Except he considers anything that is not 'traditional food' to be doping. Including gels, energy drinks and bars. I fully agree that in training and short races these things are not necessary. But for MTB marathons that last 4 hours, you have to eat something! How can we carry that many bananas? Is that a banana in your cykelbyxor? No, it is 10 bananas! =)

I have written before that in långlopp I drink water and an Enervitene liquid gel after around 40km plus a banana or bulle at the depå stops depending on how I feel. Sportdryck constantly on a hot sunny day messes up my stomach so the gel is my choice. Without that gel, I crash in terms of energy. This is the medical truth of it. What you eat has to be taken up quickly so you can use it but still most of your energy will come from fat after awhile. And this is why you need to train distance. So I am saying that energy products are needed but should be used in moderation.

I know his point is to deter young kids from using things other than their own strength to gain advantage. But constantly changing parts or wheels is the same thing. We are all trying to gain an advantage somehow. My job is actually involves drug addiction research and I can easily give a lecture on how the best cyclists are also the ones most likely to experiment with drugs. Rather than forbid everything, we need to recognize these things in kids and talk with them. It would be naive to assume that kids are not out drinking or trying drugs or gambling on the internet.

Naturally this will piss lots of you off so comment please. Let's discuss.