I have seen a cross T-shirt with the line 'Wake me up when September ends' and it is just perfect. But I think I also need to take a 'blogg paus' since I realize that my writing is just full of complaints and nothing positive. I need to deal with this on my own. The MCK forum has details of our local races starting 28 aug which I will miss due to a conference and then 1 sept and so on. SCF also seems to be settled with the cross schedule now. I will try my best to be at something but I am making no promises.

Buying this car is the second biggest thing I have done in my life. Moving to Sweden was the first. In my view the downpayment is enormous and I now have 3 months left to save that much...I may very well end up living on havregryn and snabbmacaroni (which would, obviously, make me a faster cyclist). Once I get the car the monthly cost is perfectly within my normal range. But getting there is a battle. I want to buy cross stuff and go to every race. But if I do I am fcuked.

And I should keep all of this to myself because only I could actually end up in this kind of situation. Working at a university and living alone means less margin when it comes to money. But both my job and my apartment are great so I have no plan of changing either. It just complicates things.

So, see you eventually at a GöteborgsSuperprestige but for now I will shut up...

Sometimes I wonder if I have a brain at all. Seriously. Just because I have been running for awhile without any pain does not mean that I can jump on the Ridley I haven't ridden since January, ride with massive intensity and also have no pain. All morning I was limping around with a messed up left knee and my back also hurt. Things are better now though but this was not a great discovery to make.

I need to know whether it is my new shoes/clips or the seat height that is causing the problem so the only way to know is take a calm test ride with my old shoes. And it will be calm this time. I have a conference this weekend and I need to be able to walk. But after that I have absolutely nothing planned for any weekend in September. Then I can get serious show up to work dead every Monday.

Watching a brilliant show by Mustasch last night at Götaplatsen meant that I woke up this morning when the CX distanspass was supposed to start. I still felt kind of miserable but decided that Dr. Chris would prescribe a dose of CX to cure this cold. And I am Dr. Chris so I should listen to the advice.

Some quick adjustments and my Ridley X-Ride was ready for the first ride since January and with new shoes, semi-rusted pedals and my constant shoulder issues, this premiere could have gone horribly wrong. But it didn't. Within the first 10 minutes of messing around at Sävecrossen I was covered in mud and a massive smile. Oh how I have missed my Ridley.

Then I rode over to Skatås and 8:an just to get some km in my legs at higher cadence and it seems to be nollning week for those new university students. At 4 different parts there were groups of around 25 impressionable young students which were mostly female so probably they are nurses and I will see them at work. Nice. When I got close they all turned for a cheer which went 'Heeeejjjjj...CYKLA!!!' When one is dressed in MCK clothes one needs to react appropriately in situations like this. So I shot off in a massive sprint each time. =)

And back to the football fields I made the usual lap of hell which included 5 runs up the stairs while some guy on an MTB just stared at me. Which one of us has not discovered real cycling yet, I wonder... A quick wash of the bike and it was time to roll home because I was dead and my left knee started hurting (shoe/pedal issue, probably). But everything else was absolutely brilliant! Chris Cross is back!

I said earlier that you can have hydraulic disc brakes for your CX if you buy a TRP Parabox converter but that there still were not any suitable racing frames with mounting holes. I was wrong. The following pics are from EvaldsMTB but for Specialized I think CC Lasse at CykelCity could fix you up too.

This is the 2012 Focus Mares AX 2.0 Disc which has an acceptable Shimano 105 spec and carbon fork. With a Parabox and the new Shimano XT MTB brakes, this baby would be very dangerous!

And this is the Specialized CruX Comp Disc which is only Tiagra spec but the FSA BB30 vevparti and the carbon fork and colours make up for it a bit. So what is missing now are some tubular wheels with mounts for disc routers and that is something any quality wheelbuilder can fix for you without problem onto the standard Mavic Reflex rims.

Given the seemingly limitless cashflow of so many CX cyclists in this country, probably some of you are already entering your Visa number and awaiting the new toy. Even with the extra weight these two bikes could completely change the face of cross this season. You will go faster knowing that you can actually stop at the next corner. Even I would. My old Merida 4 suddenly becomes a commuter bike and my Ridley is certainly not going to get any part upgrades now. I am not spending any money on it unless something breaks.

So, do you think there will be some of these here on time for CX SM in November? I do.

Since I am such a giving person at this moment, I was wondering if anyone would like this cold? Maybe you have something planned this weekend which you don't really want to do? My gift will help you get out of it.

These days would have been perfect for getting a good start on CX training but apparently that is not going to happen. So some local GöteborgSuperprestige and a few key cup races (e.g. Sthlm, SM, our race) might be all that Chris Cross should even consider given that everything in 2011 has been against me. And I do need to save money for December when my new car arrives...

I am supposed to be on my way to Ålesund today but I need to save money for my car downpayment and trips to Norway do not save. But the holiday reporting system at work is crazy so I could not change my holidays which means, for insurance reasons, I can't go anywhere near the place. But the three hours I save on travel, lunch and fika time means I have three hours to do something else. The writing I have to do today and tomorrow is much easier at home where it is quiet and the coffee is better. Balconies are also good for thinking. But this will not be something that happens often. But working from home on Tuesdays would be very ideal. =)

Right...sooo...sore throat still there. But would a little itty bitty ride on the Ridley make that any worse? Nja.

Yesterday afternoon my body decided to remind me that I could quite easily fall over that delicate line and become sick. I felt absolutely horrible but after a bit more sleep last night I am winning again.

My stress is better now since I did finish two things and have set some more realistic goals for what I can achieve with research this fall. And Göteborgs Kulturkalaset on my way home is excellent for relaxation. I had one of my life's best fish&chips yesterday and I can't understand why or how. But perhaps that is what a fresh fish is supposed to taste like.

A little pryl gossip is always nice and the question on everyone's mind is probably when hydraulic disc brakes will be available for cyclocross. Well, to some extent the answer to that question is right now. TRP, makers of fine CX brakes like the EuroX, are about to release something called Parabox which is a bit of a quick fix until the proper technology is developed.

You can read all of the details in this CX Magazine review but essentially the box converts the movement from a normal road lever into hydraulic force needed to close a normal MTB brake. Smart...but pretty ugly also. The next problem is that your frame needs mounting holes for disc brakes and the only ones I can see so far are on very very cheap CX bikes meant for vinterpendling etc. No proper cross race geometry or carbon forks on those babies. The Stevens bike in the picture is of course an exception to that but I wonder why they run the wires down the tube instead of over the top? Have they never ridden cross before???

Today it became clear that this is not really Sveriges minsta cykelblogg anymore. A link of mine led a lot of you to see a site that you were not supposed to see just yet. Sorry for stressing people who are already stressed enough right now.

It is amazing how fast Google indexes what I write on this site. Within 2 hours of my Way Out West review I was getting lots of hits from people searching for Way Out West reviews. And it now seems like just as many are excited about the CX season.

I am quite stressed now and I have the coordinating of a grant application worth 60 million kr sitting on my head right now, among other things. My strategy to keep calm has been to think 'But soon it will be CX season!' I see clearly now that the more I get dumped on me the more I want cross season to start. Help.

It isn't even 09.00 on this Monday and I am making announcements/excuses already. Blä. I have told them at work that Tuesdays I will have training and I will take my friskvårdstimme and that is final. No more excuses. Tomorrow is the last time anyone is getting away with setting a meeting at 16.45 'because I am usually here anyway'. Jaja...but jobs are good when I have a new car to pay for so I should not complain.

I did take a quick look at my Merida yesterday and there are a pair of seriously rusted SPD pedals on it. Not fun. Looking at the Ridley I saw no pedals at all...hmm. They must be on the MTB. Honestly this week will be good just to actually get the bike in shape. But 23 aug I am psyched.

After standing at a festival for two days I should have took a nice relaxing bike trip. But I decided to run first and then consider the bike. I needed to tackle my hill route again.

At the bottom of the hill there was a group of 3 runners in a club which I tried to keep pace with but as soon as the steep bit started it was avhängd for me. I could still see them but they had the power uphill. They kept on the road but I headed over to the hill of death and my 5km löpspår for a truly horrific climb today. But this time I kept running and was still out of breath because just when I was almost back it was time for another hill. Even in the downhill part in the middle I was feeling alive and that was just in time for the next death hill up to the highest point of the lap.

I was barely managing this time but I did not stop, ever. Compared to last week I kept a decent pace downhill and that meant I had a nice vomitkänsla when it flattened out a bit but somehow I pushed on and kept up the pace to make a beautiful sprint. This was massive!

It is always a tough choice between CykelVasan and the best festival in the country. This year I chose Way Out West. Overall it was worth the money but it had some disappointments. Also it seems like if I am to be a proper musiknörd I need to grow a beard.

Friday
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Their hit Home was fantastic but the rest was what you can expect of a hippie band.
Christian Kjellvander - Great Pearl Jam voice but too slow for a festival.
Jenny Wilson - Less electronic since she brought along the Tensta Gospel Choir. But this was not so bad.
Janelle Monáe - The little girl with the big voice and a whole orchestra. Now we are getting somewhere. I am not much for soul/rnb normally but this put me in a better mood.
The Hives - Somehow I have never managed to see one of Sweden's best live bands live so I chose this over the clear indie choice of Explosions in the Sky. And Howling Pete and his attitude/stage talk was the clear winner. The day was getting better.
Fleet Foxes - And then the day was ruined again. Fan this was boring. Toakö and matkö instead during this hour of mellow mood music.
Robyn - Those in charge of the timetable should be shot because this took it up a notch again with a complete show of massive bass and video, so much that you wonder if it was all playback. But Robyn can sing. It seems the Swedes were saving this day.
Thåström - Videos of gears and machinery to emphasize just how tungt som fan this was. Brilliant.
Prince - By this point I was tired so I expected disappointment but instead got surprise. Prince is one of those artists I grew up with but never really had any opinion about...he was just there with hit after hit. So seeing him was a great memory test and the show itself was masterful. The two hours just disappeared and an otherwise tråkig festival day was saved at the last minute.

Saturday
I was tired so I hoped that the festival day would start better than Friday. It did.
Anna Järvinen - The Finn with the little voice gave a nice show in a style of music I generally like during Autumn/Winter. Good start.
Jayhawks - Fan. Country and gubbrock are two things I hate and this was both with an American accent. I wanted to rip my ears off.
Noah & the Whale - And then the festival was saved. Proper indie perfectly packaged for a festival with the right song order. Finally! GP gave this a 2 but they are idiots. This was the start of festival memories!
Säkert - Annika Norlin has always been a 'säkert kort' for her live voice and jokes between songs. And this was just a show of how much talent there is in värmlandska. The festival trajectory was going way up at this point.
Wiz Khalifa - Yo yo...I'm gonna f&uk your b#tch ho...this was silly. And the guy was a drug addiction poster. But my mood was still fine since I found some unusually yummy festival food.
Pulp - When they announced that Pulp would play I was decided. Britpop was when I was a teenager and while it was a reaction against shoegazer pop (my true love), Pulp somehow felt like more than Blur or Oasis. Jarvis Cocker and the rest are definitely getting old but the magic is there. So standing way closer than I normally stand I was swept away into some concert magic that I didn't think were possible in someone my age. And, yes, Common People was THAT good.
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - The name is as confused as them since they were playing every style at the same time in a single song. This could have worked but it didn't work at that point.
Tiesto - This was thumping away during Ariel. One DJ on a stage for over an hour served to turn all the kids into mad mental cases and I was ready to leave.
Kanye West - I stayed for the first two songs which were mostly stage show because he is not that strong a singer. But I could go to the ballet to see better dancing. The crowd was different and the place was full of police so I decided to leave. My second day was just fine so I could leave without feeling like I missed anything.

By now you have all completely studied the preliminary schedule for CX Cupen 2011/2012. But for those of you in a cave or for those few that don't get all giddy as as a schoolgirl when cross season approaches, here is a link to catch up.

Things I like are:
1. The start early October. The snow and ice half of last season was not terribly fun.
2. We can choose 9 instead of every race. Then I can chicken out in Jkpg and Lund again and it won't matter.
3. Ludvika and Söderköping are on the list. Of the ones I raced last year, these two had all the CX elements.
4. MCK is last in the cup. So we can fix the party!

Things I wonder about:
1. In Kolmården will we need to keep ahead of hungry animals? If so, I need more training.
2. Sunne is sort of close to Torsby...does that mean we race around the Skitunnel? How about a winter triathlon Sven?

What does everyone think of this? Is anyone planning to race the whole thing or will you pick and choose close ones? I have no life and no wife so I could do the whole thing if I had my bloody new car. I might have it for the last weekend.

I arrived at work today to see an email about Kanskecross tonight at 18.00 at Slottskogsvallen. Bit of a surprise there. So I showed up without bike for the usual 'snacka skit' bit of this sport. But it became boule-shit since they had taken over everywhere. I don't think Cross Patrik or CC Lasse really expected anyone to show up but I did and Sven was also there with a LVG.

The CX race schedule is coming very soon and apparently there are too many organizers and not enough weekends. So we can have some choice of where to go. But it sounds like everything starts the second week of October. Things are not really set for training days since it obviously conflicts with MTB and most weekends there are still other races. But I don't mind the extra training. I will have to ride to work and then head directly over which means an extra 28km of riding for free. I should be in super shape soon...

I was going to post this entry before but given the tragedy I decided the timing was wrong. Just a week before I was running around Oslo enjoying a really beautiful city that is perfect for us cyclists. And I still think it is worth a visit, particularly to Holmenkollen...the perfect site for a CX race.

You will recognize this from the skiing VM earlier this year. You know, the one where they named a hill after Hellner? This perfect facility is going to waste just sitting there in the summer. So why not do some cycling? Norwegians love MTB and the VM skiing course is one hell of a grusväg up and down so I can't think of a better place for some cycling.

This shot is from the base of the jump tower...Norway's #1 tourist attraction. So a CX race here would be guaranteed a bunch of bonus people just passing by. Having a race on a Sunday when the country is closed would even bring in all the hikers. Plus, all those bridges mean that there are no road crossings so it would be very easy to arrange.

I know I am dreaming but Holmenkollen would be superb for CX. So hopefully someone will Google Oslo sykkelcross cykelcross cyclocross Norway race superklass Mölndals CK ultimate CX club Göteborg etc etc etc and we can get the ball rolling. Google likes this site.

I guess I do usually hit my toppform in August because Friday's run still did not succeed in giving me any massive träningsvärk. But I still need to work on it so that I sprint the first 15 min and then see how I respond for the remaining 45 min of the hour.

What remains is my bad technique on the actual bike. I need some remount training and I may change the vevparti on the Ridley to a proper CX one instead of the compact 50/34 but really that is not going to make so much difference. Of course there is a risk that my arm/shoulder is not healed enough such that lifting my bike will be painful. Then I have a problem...

Finally after enough thought I just went ahead and took up Renault on their car squishy deal. So this is what I bought. It is a Clio with a cool blue/grey colour and 5d instead of the 3d in this pic. Since I wanted an automatic I got their 'Exception' level which essentially is loaded with every option you can get except navigation. So the LM-fälgar are included too. Nice nice. The engine is a 1.6L with a nice 112hp but not terribly good fuel efficiency but it will be fun anyway.

My first experience with a Clio was my halkbana training and it is a peppy little thing compared to the S40 I was training with at the driving school. So I am quite confident that this was a good choice. And the price is unbeatable with their 30000kr discount!

But now the bad news...I won't get it until December. The Japanese factory that sends them electronics for the car is in that earthquake zone so they haven't caught up yet. For my own finances this is good. And locking the interest rate now is also good considering the Americans and their effect on us. But that leaves me without a car for CX season. I can keep the one I have until delivery but it needs inspection at the end of September and I don't want to spend anything on it. And this is why I was reluctant to squish at all.

Lovely rainy weather this morning. Perhaps not the best for terrain. So I took my 'old classic' route instead with just the 5km yellow löpspår at Furulund and then the 2.5km up to it to round out the mil of death. I made things worse by starting right at the bottom in Sävedalen to take the full 1.5km of climbing and the expected massive stomach cramp when I finally did reach the top at the start of the 5km trail.

Most of the rolling hills after that were a display of grace and agility equal to that of a cow but things finally calmed down and I could start hill sprinting again just to push me back into the uncomfort zone. Then I had to run all the way down the hill and that was worse since my calves were screaming (sorry for the cow pun).

As a simulation of a cross race, I guess this could work. I need to really take the first hills at max and then just try and flop my way around the rest. It felt like I was heading in that direction today but I can do better.

I just found a tick on my leg and that bugger had to go immediately even if it involved a walk to the pharmacy to buy the tool. I have had far too much bad luck this year so the last thing I need is TBE.

Of course this is the main disadvantage with my chosen terrain running trail. There are a few spots which are swamp with long grass and my running in shorts makes it easier for bugs to jump over. So when I get home from work I will have to do a more serious inspection.

Welcome to August...month of bug hell.

Today I am actually not stiff so the body is responding well to the running. And a quick Eniro measurement tells me that my route is almost exactly 10km. Good good.

But to help push my car decision, last night I received the next insurance bill. Keep in mind that the dealers said my car is worth 5000kr. The latest quote to insure my prized possession is 4500kr/year and that is also with a självrisk of 4000kr. Where is the logic in that? So if the thing is totalled I might be able to use the insurance money to buy 1 tubdäck for my CX. What the hell???

Definitely in a squishing mood now...

Since I can't 'untake' holidays I was off yesterday anyway despite no Engelbrektsturen. But the blog world seems to be dissing this race a lot. Was it that bad?

Anyway, I thought I would make another attempt at this car situation. I have known of Renault's skrotbilspremie but I was treated like crap both times I was at Bilia in Sävedalen so I gave up on that idea. But Hedin Bil in Mölndal also has Renault and they are much nicer.

The deal is that they lower the price by 30000kr if you buy a new Renault and squish your old car which is more than 10 years old. Since mine is a fjortis, it fits the deal. But this deal is not without some complications so I need to think a couple of days.

The almost complete lack of träningsvärk from running on Saturday made me realize some changes were needed. First, backwards running. I don't mean actually running backwards but rather that I took my normal route in the reverse direction. Today was warmer, more humid and my muscles did have the faint sign of pain plus blisters on my feet but other than that it felt very much the same.

The advantage of starting with the Puketorp hill is that it gets those annoying road 1.5km out of the way first plus it could very well be used to induce some vomit feeling directly at the start. Training that would help my useless CX starts. The blue trail is the same in either direction but Bohusleden had steeper uphills in this direction. I had taken an extra part on the green/white trail but it got to the point where I was just in a groove without too much breathing and in that state I can continue forever. I ended up being out for 100 minutes since I added an extra lap of the running trail to make sure I was stiff this time. Each attack of the rolling hills left me more and more out of breath and then things were becoming effective.

So I think what I will do is continue in this backwards direction but shorten it to somewhere between 45-60 minutes, the length of a CX race. Next run I will time the route and that will mean PB. =) And hopefully I will continue to improve this over the month.