With exactly a week until Mörksuggejakten, I thought it was time to get some race-specific training. We all know that this starts with a climb up to Vidablick which locals call the most beautiful view in Sweden. And the view does make the 190m vertical a bit more pleasurable. I don't really remember the hill being so bad when I raced in 2008 but later on my legs were not happy at all when it came to the other big hill.

So I started towards Jonsered with a pair of legs that felt strong enough to take on any TdF star (sound familiar) but when I got to the feared hill, realism kicked in. I saw a police car up the road a bit but there was no risk of being stopped for speeding...this hill is tough. 1 km steadily up the whole way. I had about 3 easier gears plus the whole small ring left so I could have made it easier. But making it up the hill in my bike's middle gear is better for muscle building.

I reached the top and turned immediately to roll down and then up again with no break. The second time was getting slow near the top but that was only 150m. So I went down again for a 3rd time and my legs were a lovely red colour but I was almost getting used to the hill. Strange. After the 3rd time I kept going because now everything I did would be after 225m of climbing...race-specific training in other words.

I took a right on Knipavägen which was a gravel road at first and then switched over to a very bumpy tractor road. The first part was a nice downhill but then it turned up again for a painful couple of km. The end of this becomes Vildmarksleden which is definitely singletrack since the grass was so overgrown that you could hardly even fit one bike through. This part was okay but quite rocky. I think Lida Loop had a couple of sections with this theme. It got a bit easier/wider after that and was some pretty okay MTB. This comes out onto a gravel road which you can use to reach Landvettervägen quickly but the trail actually turns and heads up another rocky hill which I walked considering the strange noises still coming from my silly bike. It must be the pedals since everything else is tight.

After that it became a beautiful little trail which was fun and rideable and came out at Kåsjöbadet after a nasty steep gravel hill. Then it was clear sailing down my usual trails back home. But these usual trails felt entirely different after 3 times up that hill...