Since I still have holidays leftover, why not take a Friday off and drive up to Falun during the day? Yep, with all the autumn colours, I have to say that this was a special drive. Anyway, I never did get a chance to test ride those CX Pro tires so even though it was actually snowing here and freakin' cold, I set off from the hotel with about an hour left of daylight.

I pumped the tires to an insane 4 bar because it says 'minimum 4 bar' but that is why I tried it now and not on the start line. The hill up to Lugnet from the centre is bigger than it looks so I was warm by the time I rolled up to the start field. Falu CKs people were hard at work setting up the track so I thought, why not, let's train the real course.

This is the map of the track you can see on the race site here. It starts in the famous Lugnet grusplan which is just as bumpy as always. Tip#1: Find the grove and stay in it. Then it goes up a little grass hill and out to a road part which is very fast. At the end of that are a couple of sharp grass corners so that will be interesting. After that it takes the straight up that gradual hill that hurts after a few laps. Tip#2: There are tons of little rocks in this part.

Then we get to the 'fun' part. They have two ways down the hill. One is gradual and nice and the other is a steep drop. I did the drop twice and it is wild. After that is the sand which worked fine since it was basically frozen but I still got stuck. I know...it's the tires.

If the course wasn't already fun enough, now comes the real fun. Slalom curves up and down a hill in the grass. Even with it hard and frozen I found myself braking a lot and taking the corners too wide. I think races will be decided in this section...especially since the löphinder is on the way up a hill which made dismounts interesting. Then it weaves its way around the usual things at Lugnet until the end of the lap which has a stair section that is pretty steep.

In summary, my two laps were heaven. 4 bar actually worked fantastic and my bike felt light and nice (no saddlebag). I know that tomorrow will be warmer and softer on the ground but at least I have had my test laps and can relax. My other conclusion...this course is perfect to start 2010 Merida Northwave CX Cupen. Come out and watch!