Nej. So for those of you who do not like reading long entries, I gave away the ending directly. Just like when I raced Lida Loop the second time, I was 3 minutes slower. 3:58 is still under 4 hours but I can't say I was all that thrilled to be slower. Just goes to show you that spending more on your bike does not make a whole lot of difference.

From the start I was with the pack until the Vidablick hill and even then I was still with everyone. The hill was not that bad but I probably should have used the easier gears. At the top I was welcomed by MCKs cheering section which was great. Then things fell apart in a muddy singletrack where I was sliding all over due to too much air and no treads left on the tires. But soon the gravel started and things were okay again. I am not really sure if the track is the same now as 2008 because that tough corner was gone.

Soon it was time for Nedre Gardsjö which is my favourite part of the course...a lovely little Dala village, some water, a bridge and Mörksuggan himself. The first 2 food stops I just grabbed two cups of Enervit and kept going. And that was dagens mistag.

It was 26C so I must have been dehydrated after this because I was slowing down. I stopped and had a gel at one of the few hills I had to walk up. This part of the course I remember from before...an endless singletrack winding up and down through the forest. Normally I would find this wonderful but today it just awoke the cramp monster in my right thigh. The Enervit doesn't have enough magnesium so I had to put up with this for the rest of the race. My shoes are also squeezing my toes so that was killing.

At Östbjörka I stopped and had a rest, another gel and a bunch of water. Then things were going well again and a few nice gravel roads brought my mood up again enough to survive the next singletrack which was tougher. One last drink stop with 15km to go and now time for some lovely Dala nature and that one psycho hill. Stort tack to the guy with the garden hose halfway up.

10km left and I knew a lot of singletrack remained. I was with a small group and going quite fast so energy was not a problem anymore and the cramp monster was happy again. I lost all of them on an uphill where they all didn't make it. This felt great since I was getting passed all day. 5km left and I was flying but I knew those sand hills were left. They went better than last time.

All that was left was the short hill up to the Jarlstugan field and once again I was cheered on by some MCKare. After a bit of a slow loop under the bridge and passed the crowd it was time to floor it and get over those 2 last hills. First one...great. Second one...pure pain. Then one hell of a spurt for the crowd although I was not racing anyone.

So, in summary, the combination of Enervit and Squeezy gel was good but I need more magnesium for the cramps. I honestly can't say Vitargo made any difference. Obviously I am not training enough singletrack, I need new tires and my shoes are killing my feet. And riding in 26C weather is a bitch when you haven't done it for a year. But still, Mörksuggejakten is a great race and the only one here with this much people watching and cheering us on...heja pojkar! ;)