All will agree that we have been way behind with introducing electronic chip timing in races here in Sweden. So when SCF posts that it is finally time, perhaps we should celebrate. But 1000kr??? The AMB chip used by Denmark's DCU only costs 750DKK. And I paid only 100DKK for the Lapio chip to race in the Danish CX-Cup. So why should it cost 1000kr for a chip here? Someone is winning on this deal and we deserve to see the numbers. With that price it feels like we cyclists are also paying to finance the system.

But more importantly let's now look at the cost for a motionär to try out licenced cycling in a race:
Club membership: 500kr
Club clothes: At least 1500kr
SCF licence: 700kr
SCF chip: 1000kr
That brings us to a total of 3700kr before you even pay any start fees. And that should kill any desire to give the sport a try, especially when there are other sports that are cheaper.

If my calculations are wrong then make a comment below. We have a right to know where all this money is going.

I know. I am not a very good Canadian at all. But I just can't take this cold weather. Winter has appeared too fast so my body has not adapted yet to a Göteborgsk -15C even though I have been trying all week. The clear message came on Thursday when I made superb 100m sprint, missed the spårvagn I was trying to catch and immediately had trouble breathing. This was at a time when I had twice as much clothes on as I would in a race situation and I had only been outside for about 5 minutes. This should not happen.

So I just didn't see the point is risking my health in Vårgårda, especially when I am not really even healthy. I read about a kikhosta explosion right now and my symptoms could be a mild form. To be honest I have no idea because I always react differently. I have been having an Actimel every morning for about 2 years now and that does help to prevent those little small colds. By the way any yoghurt will do the same thing, I just find it more convenient with the Actimel. But I still get the larger flu and colds yet I don't really feel as sick as I probably am. Training also tends to make me feel better if I am a little bit sick. But really this is all dangerous because I never really know when I am seriously sick anymore.

Since most of us are at the gubbe age we should be taking our health more seriously. While training helps to delay some problems they still come sooner or later. Earlier this year my father has a routine screening check for cancer and they found some and were able to remove it before it spread. He was very very lucky. But I know that he had high blood pressure for many years before they discovered it and that made it harder to treat with medication. So we really need to listen to what is going on inside of our bodies.

I know I have a reputation of DNSing and to be honest the majority of those before this year were money-related. I couldn't afford it and I realized that at the last minute. But this year's DNSs are all health (except Sunne) so I don't know whether to see that as positive or not. Anyway it has been a nice CX season and a lot of people should be thanked for that. And hopefully conditions will be a bit nicer for Luciacrossen next weekend.

Since Sunday I have been running around feeling all cheery because I feel normal again after my cold. And yet I have still been waking up with a sore throat and I still sneeze and cough at random intervals through the day. So I suppose I am not really healthy afterall but that does not seem to be bothering me. The bother of the week is obviously the weather. And normally I am all for snow but the timing now was not the best considering the races this weekend.

My biggest problem is the temperature because the forecast is looking like around -12C for Vårgårda and -20C on Friday. And to be honest the only clothes I have that can take these kind of temperatures are ski clothes. Yes, I now introduce the term byxvurpa...which is a fall that is caused by catching the crotch of your baggy ski pants on your seat during dismount. I already gave a preview of this at Introcross a few times. Which brings me to the next issue of how they are going to prepare the course. If they shovel/plough the course it will be slippery as hell all the time and those that happen to have a set of skis in the depå will be at a great advantage. In fact I wonder if covering my tires with Blue Extra would give me more grip? Or I guess -12C is getting into the Green or even Polar range of waxes.

I have paid my money mostly as a donation because Vårgårda CK was kind enough to arrange races when other clubs gave up and cancelled for no good reason. And that should be rewarded. But with the current weather conditions I will actually be faster and warmer if I carry the bike and run the whole course. Cross half-marathon anyone?

Yes, I know. The tanga joke is getting old now. And Tånga Hed in Vårgårda and Tångacrossen in general has nothing to do with a tanga...unless they turn the event into a julmarknad and sell them next to socks, salami and langos. But with the snow coming down and my cold basically over I am in my usual silly mood again. Yippee!

But I will freeze my ass off next week if there is any of it left after my brisk walk on the trails in Paradiset yesterday. Nice way to celebrate being almost healthy...a 90 min hike that left my face burning. It was a lovely walk though. I will have to see how I fix the problem with my leg warmers because the official GCK ones are too small while my old MCK ones fit perfectly. Hmm...style miss indeed. Then I might as well wear black socks, put a mud flap on the back and add some reflectors.

Anyway, next weekend may be the last I manage for this year because I am rapidly running out of money and that would make a Copenhagen weekend more complicated. But that doesn't matter.

The title above should be no surprise considering I have kind of disappeared from everything and everywhere. I can start with a positive thing...my stress level is way way down now. But that little revelation meant that I almost immediately welcomed in a flu virus and have been crap ever since. I am almost through it now but tomorrow in Copenhagen is not going to work and I don't know about Sunday in Skatås. It so happens that another stupid thing happened because my boots fell apart and I kept wearing them so I have a massive blister on my foot. This has stayed sore because I have new boots which are not worked in yet. Not sure how my cycling shoes will feel but that I can find out soon.

But I have changed my mind about Vårgårda and it is a shame that so few have signed up yet. So, mostly to help out Vårgårda CK, I think a double weekend is in my future. And since all this sickness stuff has meant that I have managed to finish all those little things I had to do, the etapplopp I mentioned before in Denmark is a possibility. It is great that they contacted CX Sweden too. 4 races...2 days in 2 of the best possible locations in Copenhagen...how could it go wrong?

Pretty much everyone has a stressful job now and the only way to keep floating is to have a nice recovery period. For most that means the weekend. I am happy with my job and that I have just been extended. But I have learned that I also have limits in terms of just how much I can do. So taking on two extra things at work was certainly a recipe for disaster. You have already heard me complain about the course I am taking and the point of this was to increase my teaching competence. Instead it has just left me even more stressed and has taken all of my weekend time.

With 4 weekends left before Christmas there is even more reason to stress. But CX itself is also a source of stress, even if the race is here. We lose a day for every race no matter if it is a cup thing or training. So we stress our way through the week and then stress our way off to yet another weekend of CX races. It should be no surprise to anyone that I reached a limit sometime last weekend when even my 'CX-free weekend' became a 'catching up from the other weekends' stress.

I have given the impression that the grass is greener on the other side of Öresundsbron and in many ways that is true. Even though they have a ton of races, only 4 of them are in the national cup. Yes, 4. Not 11. People have other things to do so why attempt to have so many races? To take an example, Långloppscupen is not that many races and they are usually a couple of weeks apart. This is what I like about it and why so many motionär also join in. It is fun in a stress-free and licence-free way without overdoing it. And most people today that use sport as a way to recover from stress would never need more than that. Keep it simple and don't get out of hand with race numbers. That will bring in the people. There are tons of other sports with stress-free 'prova på' sessions so why would anyone choose complicated and expensive cycling over something simple?

I want to give priority to the second race in the Danish CX-Cup next weekend and in order to do that I have to cancel this weekend in Copenhagen. What happens after that I have no idea. But what I really need is a weekend without stress or expectation. I just need a nice long walk in the forest to calm down a lot.

Yes, now I will continue spreading info on Denmark to those of you in CX Sweden. But after reading Björn's latest inlägg it is clear that I am not the only one slightly losing it. Or maybe that was some Göteborg's humour which will be quickly followed up by a nice report from Belgium? We will see.

So here are some races to keep you busy down south.

24/11 Hjertestarter-cross
How can you not be interested with a name like this? The route is just south of Helsingör.

25/11 Copenhagen Cyclocross Grand Prix
Yes, another race with a big-sounding name that has been around for a few years now.

1/12 CX-Cup Afd 2 - Kongelunden på Amager 
This is the second of the series I started doing last weekend. Amager is just south of the airport in case you were wondering.

Of course I started reading the rules on SCF and realized that most are copied directly from UCI which makes sense because that would require the least amount of effort. But their rule about svarttävlingar seems to apply to those in other countries too so CX-Cup in Denmark is also a no no. Lovely. And what is this crap about 'utlandstillstånd'? I can't find any info on that. Obviously I haven't bothered with that neither now nor a couple years back when I started doing långlopp races in Norway. I have always had my own insurance so it doesn't matter to me.

And finally, I do cyclocross because I like it, not because I am training for next season. And I like the fact that the Danish races are technically simple and not trying to kill us.

Yes, since this is the internet I can use things like OMFG to describe how I feel right now. I have not felt this much träningsvärk since my two super races in Dalsland at the start of the season. I mean seriously this is some serious shite. We all know that cross is great training but after yesterday's technically quite simple lap I was not expecting this. So obviously I am satisfied.

One explanation could be in the results list...the chip registered 16 laps and a race time of 63 minutes. That means 15 times running up those stairs. 16 löphinder. 16 times gradually uphill through the forest and against the wind. And 31 dismounts plus 31 remounts. Plus I also did 4 practice laps. OMFG indeed.

So that gave me 17th position out of 21 in H Prestige. The one that passed during my semi-collapse moment only finished 20 seconds ahead and then there was another 5 s to the next guy. In fact there was only 2 minutes separating the 6 of us on that lap. So there is room for improvement.

Another thing I noticed is that this course allowed me to have more strategy and to do several 'mean' things to keep people behind. Like once at the top of the stairs there was a guy on my left so I remounted and headed straight towards the left side which of course meant he couldn't get through without hitting the track tape. And in the forest I was Chris Crossing back and forth to miss the tree roots...this must have been very annoying.

Next race is 1 dec. You can also sign up for 1 race at a time for 100DKK and then the chip (which you keep and can use again) is another 100DKK. It is pretty close to Kastrup and would be a good way to keep up some form for Tångacrossen. Yes, try that one with a non-Swedish keyboard.

Again I will start this entry in an unusual way with a picture. This is from the very top of the stairs from today's race. It just screams mjölksyra eller hur? So today I made my debut at racing in Denmark and that makes this the 3rd country I have raced in this season. And this also was my debut in H Prestige because they only had a choice between H and H40 but it didn't matter because everyone would race 60 min + finish the lap they were on. No worries for lapped riders. You just do as many laps as you can.

The start was not very dramatic and the whole thing was kind of like Introcross except with chip timing. The course was marked with arrows but there was plenty of chances for corner cutting. I took it easy and just watched where everyone was going so I could follow the same line in later laps. My speed was fine and the Tufos at 2.5 bar were perfect today. My race plan was simple...just keep a steady pace until I meet Mr. Wall. And again the first two laps I was just trying to see where I could rest and where I could gain ground. There was no time for rest anywhere.

This was the lap...the long straight was slightly downhill and everyone was flying so I had to shift down and fly too. At the end of that down near the water it turned left onto a trail but most stayed high and went along the grass. This was a good place to gain time because most coasted here and I did the coasting in the next part, the left turn followed by a sharp right into the forest. This was a tricky part with stones and loose mud and was a place where a couple of guys had bike problems. So here I took it easy and that was a perfect strategy because I did the whole thing without flaw. In the forest it was kind of fun except for the fact that it was slowly uphill the whole time. But I kept at it and this also became a good spot for opening gaps. The next part was a rough grass field over to a right turn, after which was a gradual climb with the wind against you. Fan this hurt. Or, well, it hurt because this is precisely where I made my attack in every lap. That would pay later on. After that was a little 2m drop with a pile of mud at the bottom which became more slippery each lap. But I managed just fine. Then it was time for a double löphinder, again just after an uphill so I was basically stopped. After this we crossed the chip line and then head for the stairs. If you check the picture above you will see a very large brick circle and because I feared pedal vurpor and massive carnage I was already off the bike in the grass and was lifting it up over my shoulder while running up to the hill. This was pretty good. And then taking the stairs 2 at a time meant that this was another spot where I could open up gaps. At the top after I usually messed up my remount it was a slow downhill back to the start which was yet another good spot to attack.

So back to the race. Around Lap 3 my consistency strategy started to pay off because I could see someone 50m ahead and could close the gap and pass. I did this 3 times over the next few laps and felt like things were going great. Of course I was already lapped but I didn't care so much about that. Around 30 min in I could see a few cyclists that had given up so I would not be last even if Mr. Wall came for a visit. Those in front of me were getting more difficult and at least one was på rulle (like 10 m back) for at least a lap. Not so much was happening at this point because the next guy in front was very consistent.

I had no clue how much time has passed so stupidly I asked how much time was left (10 minutes) and this gave away my weakness so the guy I had passed beautifully with an attack in the wind part could sneak by on the stairs. That was my worst stairs of the day. So I figured 2 laps and tried to keep going but my body was weak. I think that was a slow lap because the guy in front of me was getting farther ahead. So then I heard last lap and pulled out all the energy I could find and it was perfect. Where did that energy come from??? So I made up some time and crossed the line and found the nearest muddy grass patch to collapse in. Fy fan. 60 minutes is da shit. And now I am a stiff MF indeed.

It was not exactly a folkfest but there were enough there to make it pretty good. And hearing Danes yell loudly when their bike falls apart is also fun. I think there will be a few pics of me too because one seemed to always be there with her camera on every part of the lap. The results are supposed to appear on Facebook and then on their website. I was not expecting much so we will see what happens. I did pass a few people and I even lapped a couple so that has to be good.

It seems like SCF is getting slightly annoyed and is laying on the penalties. Good thing my 'skita i Sthlm' attitude has taken me here to Roskilde in Denmark. Most of you will associate this lovely old city with a very muddy music festival so it seems right that the Danish CX-Cup should start here. Naturally the first place I had to visit was Roskilde Folkepark, the site of tomorrow's race. You can see the route here. And now for a change, here are some pictures.

The park starts here with some lovely autumn leaves and nice little hard packed dirt paths. These are the kinds of trails that leave the bike and the cyclists with a nice sandy coating after awhile. Lovely.
 

And then we get to what should be somewhere around the start area according to the map. The trained CX eye will see many signs of smygträning and what will probably be a couple of lovely curves.


And then the pièce de resistance, the amphitheatre! The track comes in from the right and goes straight up the stairs in the middle. And let me tell you...those are some serious stairs!


To the right of the theatre there is this grass hill and the track somehow comes passed here and around. The grass felt kind of wet but pretty stable.


And this is what you see from the top of the stairs. The track goes down this gradual hill off to the right in what looked like a path that was made especially for cross. And off in the distance is the water which makes this one of the finest settings for cross I have ever seen. You will also note that there are no crazy drops. Just grass, mud and stairs.

Of course when I went into one cycling shop I was surprised to hear that they did not know about the race. Now they know. And there is a bigger store that was closed when I got there so tomorrow I will drop by and let them know too. A folkfest in Folkepark tomorrow would be a dream! Almost as good as this Tuborg I am drinking.

I noticed from CX Sweden that others are not very amused with the current CX situation either. And obviously I think it is important to be critical or I wouldn't have bothered with my boycott. But we have to take these complaints and make them into something good. It was also mentioned that my boycott seems to be over. I have never been against cyclocross in general, I am just fed up with SCF. And that boycott is on until we can get some progress here.

Like I said yesterday I think it is time to see how things are going in Denmark. And what I found was CX-Cup, a little series of 5 races around Copenhagen. Unlike SCF, the Danish equivalent DCU does not force beginners to have a licence to try out the sport. And the CX-Cup I found is a set of 5 independent races which in this country would be called svarttävlingar. And I think it is positive for the sport to have some competition from smaller cups because then it means DCU can't get lazy and arrange a half-assed race. We could use the same thing here.

They have enough sponsors to keep the thing floating and will even use the Lapio electronic chip timers so there will be less argument over results lists. In fact, the whole website is automated so you can register, pay by credit card and then get your results direct to your iPhone or Facebook. And just for this alone I think it is worth the trip just to see how this all works.

The first race is this Saturday, November 10 in Roskilde, also known for a muddy music event. The setting is in Folkepark which is right in the middle of the city so this will certainly create some local interest. And a start time of 14.00 means no conflict with things like shopping.

Everyone starts at once and there are no rules about getting lapped. You just do as many laps as you can in an hour. Can it get any better than this? So far 34 people have signed up and they have a max limit set at 100. So all of you CX-tokig down in Skåne or southern Sweden still have a chance to join in the fun.

I personally have always chosen CPH over Sthlm...

Yesterday I had what I call the CM or Chris mästerskap in cyclocross because lately it has been a miracle that I have any time to get near a bike. So when I finally do it should be rewarded. And, unlike other M races, at the CM I get a nice medal-shaped object (pizza) for my efforts. The problem is my assignment for that course I wrote about before. This report is a neverending battle and is eating up all of my free time and even some work time. But after working on this the last 3 days it is kind of starting to take shape. So happily I could get out on my bike yesterday.

For those of you away from Göteborg, it has been raining all weekend. Yes, surprise surprise. But yesterday wasn't so one could get the idea that it would be nice and dry out. Nej nej. I have never seen the grass this wet over at my Sävecrossen spot. But with my taped Tufos and a pressure of between 2.4 and 2.5 bar things were actually pretty good. So it was time for the CM to start.

Over at Skatås there was something resembling a track on one of the fields so no one should complain about what we do to the grass. Still, Hästhagen was calling and there I could see evidence of tjuvträning for future GöteborgsSuperprestige races, several dogs and even a horse. My speed was good and the mud was clearing from my tires nicely. But I still slid massively in one corner and other grass/mud bits were pretty slippery in general so I now have to admit that I will slide no matter what tire I have. But yesterday I found a great balance between speed and grip and could feel the crossglädje coming back.

So after a bike wash I thought I would add a nice loop in around Delsjön and 8:an which led to Mr.Wall towards the end, a dirty bike yet again and a whole pile of muddy clothes. A good CM indeed!

This week will bring some late nights to get rid of this stupid assignment because next weekend it is time for Chris Cross to invade Denmark. More on that later...

I realize I said I would shut up until after SM in Sunne but my feeling is that this is not the forum to bring up these issues. There is no discussion and based on Google Analytics I can see that I am only really talking to the people that usually read this page. So I will now make my final point and then let my boycott speak for itself.

We can see that out in the big big world the aftermath of Circus Lance is having the expected effect. Most attention is around Hein Verbruggen and whether he was covering up for doping. But here in Sweden everything seems to have blown over and nothing has happened at all. Why? I have the answer.

After some searching on SCFs website one can find this document on Antidoping information. And many parts of this are in fact good but my problem is the contradiction that spoils the whole thing.

Under 'Vem är ansvarig?' you can read this:
Enligt dopinglagen är alltid idrottsutövaren själv ansvarig för vad han/hon stoppar i sig. Det åligger således honom/henne att förvissa sig om huruvida ett preparat han/hon intar är dopingklassat eller inte.
Även den som hjälper en idrottsutövare att dopa sig, kan bestraffas. Att hantera förbjudna
preparat är dessutom enligt svensk lag förbjudet och kan leda till fängelsestraff.

This we already know. But by placing all responsibility on the cyclist it means that SCF has nothing to lose if someone is doping. That is why they can sit there passively and why Ulf Näslund can call us all cheaters in DN. And that leads to the contradiction. The document starts with Dopingens 3 punkter, of which #3 is:

FÖRSTÖR
Doping skadar idrottsrörelsens trovärdighet och utgör därigenom ett allvarligt hot mot
idrotten som ungdomsorganisation och folkrörelse.

This we also already know. Cycling has a horrible reputation out there in the general public and any cyclist that has encountered an angry motorist or pedestrian knows that this is not getting any better. But this also means that we can't get any sponsors for our local clubs and that it becomes harder and harder to arrange races. Göteborgsgirot is going to have quite the battle on its hands, for example.

There has to be some responsibility or penalty for the club or team too because as things are now everyone can just look the other way and ignore the problem. This is precisely the same thing that happens for alcoholics. Many still say that it is their fault that they became an addict. And the fact that only 7% of those with alcohol problems in this country ever receive any care or ward for their problem is again a problem of responsibility. Although in the case of alcoholism I know that things are slowly changing for the better.

Maybe no one cares but for those of you that do I suggest starting locally. If a club or group can come up with a better way to deal with the doping issue or is willing to take responsibility for the actions of their cyclists then the idea might just spread.

My view on the issue will be represented by my DNS on Saturday.

And with this now said I can now return to the joys of cyclocross...

A visit to the CX Sweden website will tell you that cyclocross in this country is on the verge of greatness. CX was brought here by dedicated people with a passion for this wonderful sport and their continued effort really deserves some praise. Now people all over the country have taken their valuable time to arrange CX race series which manage to attract 40 or more cyclists. And the key to success is simple...exactly, keep it simple. A single start for everyone so that you can battle it out with your equal no matter what their age, gender, wallet size or licence status. This is cyclocross at its purist and I love every minute of it. And I look forward to the day when this spreads to MTB.

But wait. These races have results lists and some even have prizes. Uh oh. Svarttävling? I doubt that SCF has sanctioned these wonderful events. So that means most of the cyclists racing CX in this country should be fined för brott mot SCF:s tävlingsregler 1.2.019. Or does this only apply to races in Malmö? Or are these races actually träningstävlingar which are okay? I think my point is clear. If there is a way to sneak around a rule I see little point in having the rule at all. Svarttävling means no fee to SCF. I like.

So now I will keep quiet for a few days and let you all write about your preparations for SM in Sunne and your subtle ways to try and psyche out your competitors. And maybe the results list will be more accurate than the rest of the races this year.

My plans are to check out this Wåffelcrossen everyone is talking about. And next week I will boycott Sthlm and head to a true Danish classic in Kalundborg.

And so we enter Day 2 of my boycott of SCF and Dagens Nyheter has decided to continue their journalistic attacks on cycling with this article. How can you not react to an article that starts with the line 'Cykelsporten, där alla alltid bedyrar att de aldrig har dopat sig'??? How can SCF continue to not bother defending our beloved sport? Do they realize what it is like to have to defend cycling at work fika or any other place we go?

The only one who has said anything at all in defence of cycling is Jens Westergren. His comment is this...
Lämpligt att nämna cykelsporten i rubriken för att sedan sammanfatta dopingens historik i alla idrotter... Den som tror att det inte sett likadant ut i alla andra idrotter är naiv. Doping inom en idrott är direkt relaterat till idrottens omsättning, så där kan man ju se hur cykelsporten ligger till i den rankingen...

Extremely well put. If only SCF would make more of an effort...

I was not the first to start on this question. Andreas Lindén did a fine job with pointing out that doping may even exist in Sweden. But now it seems like all is well and back to normal on the SCF website. Ulf Näslund is happy with the apology from DN and another media storm is avoided. Do we really want a cycling union that covers up everything and hides from debate? I don't. Enough is enough.

What we want:
A cycling union should represent views of the cyclists. We do not need a group of politicians running SCF so it is time for some fresh faces and new ideas. If a cyclist points out an issue, SCF should respond. But, more importantly, they should take it seriously and be dynamic enough to adapt to the changing needs of cycling. And now is a good time to start this process.

The boycott:
The only way to get any change is to boycott SCF. Cutting off the money sends a clear message that we want change. Here are some ways to make this happen now:
1. I personally will not participate in any SCF-sanctioned races until something is done. Unfortunately that means missing CX in Sunne but I am not going to back down now that things are going...unless #3 happens.
2. Do not pay your licensavgift for next year. This is the most obvious source of income for SCF.
3. If you are a race organizer, do not pay SCF their portion of the race fee. Of all the options this is the best one because then the cyclists are not punished.

If you support me or want to leave a comment, do so below. Or you can email me if you want to be anonymous. Du kan skriver på svenska om du vill. I am not hiding from any discussion here. In fact, the more specific we can be with our demands the more likely a change will occur.

As you have already read this morning, DN has decided once again to diss cycling. And this time they used SCF's anti-doping representative Ulf Näslund to confirm their story. I could have just left this issue at that. Media always wants to focus on dirty stories. But when Ulf Näslund posted this response on the SCF website I lost it.

Yes, Ulf said that it was wrong to connect him with the amphetamine comment. But if he read the article he would see that that particular comment was connected to Fausto Coppi. Apparently Ulf does stand behind everything else in the article which essentially said that cyclists have spent the last 60 years trying to cheat and stay ahead of the doping tests. I said in my last post that I wonder just how many cyclists are cheating. But Ulf knows the answer to that. We all are. Yes, you. And me too.

We can't have a person like this in charge of anti-doping at SCF. Assuming everyone is guilty is the wrong strategy and I am not at all pleased that my 700kr licence fee and a part of every race fee goes to an organization like this. Enough is enough!

So, now to time to put my research knowledge to use. Let's address this amphetamine issue. Amphetamine is one of several drugs in the family called psychostimulants because they act on the brain and they increase your activity. Staying alert meant that it became popular among university students who needed to study a lot but discoveries that it also led to weight loss made it a favourite for those Stureplan celebrity types. But amphetamine produces one of the strongest addictions possible and it is extremely toxic to your brain so I can see why Ulf did not want that connected to him.

Chemists have given us many other drugs that are like amphetamine but not as strong. An example of this is methylphenidate or Ritalin if you prefer the brand name. If someone has ADHD they often have trouble concentrating or focusing on their work. The strange reality is that if a person with ADHD takes Ritalin they actually become calm and can focus and perform normally...in other words the complete opposite of the expected effect. The problem here is that psychiatrists may not bother to correctly diagnose the person with ADHD. The old saying went 'Are you giving my kid Ritalin because they are a pain in the ass or are they actually sick?' Because giving someone without ADHD a dose of Ritalin will lead to stimulance and probably dependence.

So probably there are cyclists that have been prescribed Ritalin and are taking it. The question is whether they really have ADHD.

I have never really liked Dagens Nyheter and their article Den besudlade cykelsporten certainly hasn't changed that view.

Do you think Ulf Näslund, SCFs anti-doping person, really intended to give the view he did? What is the strategic point in confirming DN's view that doping has been a part of cycling for 60 years??? What's more worrying is when things like Dopingtråden appear on motionär forums like HappyMTB. So now journalists have SCF's view that all professional cyclists use some kind of doping and then HappyMTB gives the proof that hobby cyclists are also cheating. How does this help anyone's image of cycling?

I only use energy gels containing sugar. I am one of the slowest cyclists in every race. One has to wonder about the rest of the field.

If SCF wants to do something useful it should somehow reward cyclists for staying clean or reward clubs or trainers for promoting clean cycling right from the start. Having us do an online test is not going to help.

We had some visitors from Norway at work this week and we started talking about dialects. Then one mentioned this lovely clip from their TV show Uti Vår Hage. The first Dane has a punka on his bike and needs to fix it. So he heads into a shop but can't remember the word for cykelslang. So he tries a few words but the shop owner doesn't understand either. So the obvious moral of this story is that Danish cyclists should use tubular tires so they won't get a flat...

It seems like a helmet cam is 'Årets tidig julklapp' among Göteborg cyclists as you have seen from the CX Sweden page. But this one below from Björn F is beautiful!



Why? Well it is video proof that I managed to have a great start for once in my life. At 0:15 you can see I am på rulle with Laila who had a perfect start. By 0:29 I had made my attack in the tree allé. At 0:37 I am 3rd around the corner. And this whole sequence is great while I closed the gap in the grass. From 1:20 you can see my careful ride through the mud corners. But then after 1:40 things became worse. I remember now that Cecilia had slipped and I stopped and had my foot down. Then the rest of this sequence shows my realization that it would be pointless to remount so close to the drop so you get to see me running down the hill. And by 1:59 I am no longer in the picture. Yes, staying in front of Mr. Startraket himself for 2 minutes is a major achievement!

Right, so now to the injury update. Yesterday at work I talked to our local ergonom. who happens to also be a secret supertalang in MTB, skiing, marathon running and now triathlon. Yes, Stefan is the obvious first choice before any programs at SportRehab or appointments with a painkiller-crazy doctor. He said that my finger should be fine in a couple of days and was just swollen and pulled a bit. But throughout the day I could feel that my infamous shoulder injury was returning yet again. I managed a whole 2 months without pain but now it is back again. Fan. And then there is my ankle which looks more like a bear attack than a cycling scratch. This lovely work of art is also making me limp a bit when I walk. Gorey pictures are available if anyone is that interested...

Somehow today was not raining although it was every other day this week. So when I arrived at Slottsskogsvallen for the next GöteborgsSuperprestige battle I knew this would be a tough day for me. Of course the track would include the steep drop before the stairs. And of course it would have all those muddy corners which killed my confidence back when we had started training here a couple months ago.

We can skip over the intro part of Introcross since so much happened in the 4-lap race. I started in the 2nd group and had planned to follow Laila who was directly in front of me and then make a quick pass before the sharp corner. That strategy worked very well and after a perfect start Cecilia from Uddevalla was first, Laila second and me third at the corner and all down the allén part. I passed Laila somewhere here and entered the forest part for the first time and was already sliding all over. One of us fell already here and I know that my first time down the drop I could not turn at the bottom and ended up way off the track. People were starting to pass at this point but I was holding position quite well here. Then I missed in the second downhill and almost hit the statue. For those of you there you will certainly remember that the statue was nowhere near the track...

So now I was losing positions and Mike had flown passed but took a nasty fall on the left turn on the way into the grusplan. Over at the löphinder, which became a bunny hop because it was just a log, I made it up fine but slipped and fell in the corner and somehow I had managed to stick out my arm towards someone who was passing. I actually had my little finger wrapped around the spoke of his wheel and was lucky that I didn't lose a finger. Still, the pain was massive and I was slow for a few minutes after that...long enough to get back over to the forest again for Lap 2.

I fell quite a bit earlier this time in the slippery right turn but was back on the bike quick. The drop was fine this time although I was sliding everywhere. But I seem to remember falling somewhere up on the top part. To be honest I lost track of all the falls. I know I did better on the downhill this time but was still taking the 'statue line' way off the track. By Lap 3 I remembered that this was still a race and started to look around. I seemed to be leading a group of 3 of which the first passed on one of my mistakes. There was an MTB approaching (or UFO as CC Lasse calls them) and he was right behind me at the forest part and obviously had way more grip so he passed. I tried to do one of those cool CX tricks and ran down the drop and carried the bike and that kept me just behind the MTB. I  knew I could pass again after the forest if I could stay on my bike. Nej. Not today. I took the right line on the second downhill and managed for once to stay on the track but in the banked corner at the bottom I fell yet again and MTB was gone.

Three were close behind so I knew I needed to build up a gap in the fast grus parts. That I did quite well and by the time I was back to the forest I could be careful and concentrate. This was good. Finally I managed to stay on the bike for the whole first part and things were great until the second downhill again. I took the right line and made the banked turn but fell just after that anyway. Only I could manage a feat like this. I was pissed off now. So you can imagine I was even more pleased when I jumped on the bike and discovered my chain was off. Fan.

Someone passed me here. And Cecilia had apparently just went straight into the tree on the downhill and was later on the way to the hospital. And once I was on the bike and down on the grusplan I could here Laila shouting something like 'I am catching up!'. And she was. So I was keen on getting a lead again but obviously when in the last corner I could see Laila basically beside me, that was not going well either. The finish area was full so I had to actually go to the right side of the clock to avoid hitting people. This confusion meant that I just managed to beat Laila. But probably she would have won if we had had the space.

This was only the first race. And my confidence was zero so I decided to skita i the second race. Things would not have gotten better. So now I have managed to open up the sore on my leg from last week and add another couple next to it. But my finger is the problem. It is not broken but it feels like it has been pulled to the side and there is a constant dull pain. So that makes the '4 weeks 4 countries' decision easy. This may be the end of the season for Chris Cross.

To end this massive post I have to say that the Tufo mud tires are complete shite! Even if I still haven't found the right tire pressure they should not be this bad. Seriously. And the main design flaw was obvious after a few minutes in the grass/mud. The mud sticks to the side walls of the tires and is never cleared. So even if I had grip in the corners the mud stuck to the tires would have killed that anyway. This is something the Conti CycloXKings are great for. The mud clears directly so you always have grip. So no one should be surprised if I show up with clinchers again...

I have to sacrifice part of my weekend to finish an assignment for a pretty boring course I am taking at work. So, as you can expect, Spotify has been on all day, I have tackled my mountain of laundry and now I am writing this...

After more discussions about CX racing internationally I decided to search around to see how possible that actually was. And it would be surprisingly easy from Göteborg. Next weekend there is a race in Norway and the week after is SM in Sunne. And then off to Kalundborg in Denmark for a classic CX race course. And to round off the tour there is a race in Kiel, Germany the week after that. And once you are that far you can keep going with Denmark, Norway, Sweden and then Denmark again for a Lucia weekend.

My first response was 'COOOOOL! I have to do this!' But the realistic part of my brain that also makes me a slow cyclist soon pointed out all of those other things that need to be done before Christmas and just how much stress this would cause. But...but...Mr. Brain...this is cyclocross! You know that you like cyclocross as much as Mr. Liver appreciates a fine Belgian beer! You have to reconsider!

And with that internal conflict I should probably get back my my assignment.

I was happy about my picture the other day but now my smile is permanent. Erik Birgerson has taken a set of wonderful pics from Falun which you can see here. And despite clear instructions not to post separate pics I will anyway. To make up for this I nominate Erik for president.

First we have this action shot from the top of the first of the steep drops and hairpin curves. Check out the concentration and focus in my look. Maybe I could see the grill from here. You will also note that this was from Sunday's race since my leg is bleeding less. Yes, a lovely ad for Falun Lugnet...


But then check out this masterpiece! Look at the speed and the more aggressive race position. And doesn't the Ridley X-Ride look fantastic here? Yes, this pic was beautiful. To again make up for the separating the pics from their original source here is the link to Erik Birgerson again, in case you missed it.

And now to one of those fine moments that make a rainy day more manageable. On my way home I jumped off at Grönsakstorget and was walking behind a pretty typical tant carrying a shopping bag. Or? She was pointing at the övergångs markings on the road and that is when I saw one of those ever-present commuter cyclists that just kept going without slowing down. According to the rules this cyclist should have stopped. Our shopping tant knew this and kept walking. The cyclist narrowly squeezed by without a crash and to my surprise the shopping tant lifted up her bag and WHACK...slammed the cyclist in the back. Excellent. What a great scene!

I leave you with this...

I was starting to wonder if I came up with some kind of stealth coating for my Ridley which made it impossible to take a picture of me. I have been very invisible lately.



Since changing to Göteborgs CK I have only seen one picture of me. This beauty from Farrisrunden is a good one and the fact that it is so blurry shows that I did not slow down to pose. But what about a nice CX picture. I know many have taken pictures of me but I have yet to see any posted. Is my 'race face' a bit too much for the internet?





And then this picture came along on Jonte Stark's blog and I was quite happy despite the vampire white skin. This was Lap 1 from my story before things started to fall apart. This was just after the top of segbacken when I was in pursuit of a J Lindeberg cyclist.


To be specific, this is the cyclist I was chasing. And this is precisely the kind of 'race face' I thought I had. =) Too bad I made so many mistakes and missed the chance to end this in a spurt. But there will be other chances. We will meet again...

I saw that Öijer changed my result to read 40th instead of DNS so that made me Mr. Gladgubbe. And I was also glad that I could enjoy a peaceful hotel breakfast after the chaos of all the sports teams there during the weekend. Then I read the newspapers which you have already heard about from various sources. Falu Kuriren gave about a third of a page to CX and the rest to the orienteering. Dala Demokraten had a rather controversial half a page about the guys with no mention of Lisa Ström at all. Obviously this reaction appeared. Yes, the same Lisa who was hit by a bus two weeks ago. This was a very newsworthy comeback story. So newsworthy that I am pointing it out a second time. Sadly, it seems that my blabbering here gives more coverage to Dam Prestige cyclocross in this country than any other media source.

And so I get to the actual point of this inlägg and the thing I have been thinking about on the whole drive back to Gbg. Where are the cross fans? They used to be there. What cyclist could forget the roar of the crowd and the Flanders flag at the top of the famous steps at the Gbg cup races at Slottsskogsvallen? Or why not look way back to the year when the Sthlm race was at Bosön and the whole event felt about as Belgian as possible this far north.

One simple explanation is that all those wonderful cross fans bought a bike and are now racing. This is certainly the case for many and is naturally great for the sport. But I find it remarkable that with over 75 cyclists starting there is basically no interest from anyone. It is hard for cyclists to cheer on each other because of the scheduling and race prep. And that leaves it very empty around the track. The media itself is not helping cycling with all those 'mamil' articles. It just seems like people see cycling as a sport that you do, not a sport that you watch.

Björn F has been writing before about a 'huvudstadstrippeln' and even though Oslo hasn't caught on yet there is a 'scandinavian triple' chance already now. So for the sake of CX in this country I will venture out into the unknown on a mission to see if our neighbours have figured things out. Norway is mad about cycling but their CX experience is just starting. Read about their cup here. And in Denmark they have raced cross for many years. Here is the link to their cross page and this is their race schedule. Do they have more fans? I will find out soon...

I was going to make this a nice little tail of courage and how I fought through the race in Falun today despite having a completely shite day. But then I saw the results on Oscar's blogg which listed me as DNS so now I have to be Mr. Surgubbe. I mean he even talked about me while I was passing once so obviously I was there. Even the women's list is wrong too so probably there are mistakes everywhere else too. How hard can it be to keep track of the race? Sorry but this should not happen. I hope everyone that reads this checks their own result because this kills my motivation to continue with CX Cupen at all.

Right, so what about that race which I officially did not even seem to start? Well, I took two practice laps and was using 2.6 bar instead of 2.7 but since there was a light rain the whole day my change seemed to have zero effect on my grip. I was sliding all over. So with SM in mind and trying out the first ever H30 championship I decided to take it easy.

I started in Led 3 again and had an okay start and was with everyone until the top of the start hill when someone fell in front of me and I had to swerve and go away from my perfect line. He was quick on his bike but this cost me about 10m behind. I could close the gap by the end of the straight and then it was time for the Chris Curve which I name after myself after yesterday's nasty crash. Things were slow through here but since everyone was bunched together I was still in the game. I was behind two from that J Lindeberg club and immediately thought how cool it would be if we had a guest designer for our GCK uniforms. But the classic Gbg brands like Elvine or Velour would probably put us in some kind of lumberjack shirt and boy would that lead to many Canadian jokes...

I didn't seem to have any energy in segbacken today and those in front were far more eager that I was. So things were looking bad for Chris Cross already. I had a hell of a time on the first corner after the uphill from the pit/sand and somewhere here Angelica passed followed by Åsa på rulle. And by the time I was at the start straight Lisa went flying passed also. So it was time to just concentrate on finishing and not breaking anything. That didn't go very well.

Second time down Mördarbacken I slid at the top but managed to put my foot down instead of falling. So I clipped in and slid the rest of the way down until the bottom when I turned and fell immediately. The mud was soft so this was nice. But back on the bike I realized that my chain was off so I had to put that back on. This went fine now that I removed that stupid chainguard thing. By the way, thanks for the cheers here. It helped.

So then I was passed by Ida and I actually think it may have been her I was battling positions with last Saturday in Kumla. This pass happened after the löphinder because I couldn't get my shoe into the pedal because it was now full of mud, sand and small stones. Things were looking shite this lap but I really tried to keep some kind of pace and accelerate along the long straights. By the next lap I had caught up to Ida again who seemed to be slowing down on the straights and resting. There were two laps to go but I could see that I would be lapped soon so now it was time to hold on as long as I could and make this a hell of a lap.

I had caught Ida in the start hill but didn't feel like passing on the fast downhill section so I planned my corner near the start area for maximum crowd pleasing effect. No one seemed to care but I thought it was lovely. I slowed down a bit more, took a different line, ended up on the inside of the corner and accelerated passed as fast as I could and had a decent gap by the time I reached the Chris Curve and the rest of the grass curves of death. Of course it also helps when you are racing against someone who is not racing you. I had a comfortable gap up segbacken which went brilliant except for the fact that I was lapped here.

So I played smart here and just concentrated on not messing up while also moving out of people's way. And naturally I could not get my shoe in the pedal yet again so I was happy to be almost done. I decided for fun to not let the last guy pass in the final straight and see if I could win a spurt. I didn't do too bad because he only did pass in the last couple of metres because I was being told to stop. Yes, you. You who told me to stop. You much have been keeping track if you knew that I was lapped. Why didn't I get my 40th place???

Well, the good news is that I can continue cycling because once again I did not manage to have a perfect race in Falun. But it wasn't my worst performance here so I am making some progress. Somehow I was given Startled 3 which means there were a lot of people behind me so in the start I was not instantly last. I was still in it by the end of the hill up to the pit but when I took the curve too wide I did end up last down out of the stadium area. Things became close again in the grass curvy part and I passed the guy from Ludvika right away this time and went after the next group that was still within reach by segbacken. That part was fine but my cautious descent in the muddy bottom part of Mördarbacken meant they could take off quite a bit. I was still battling down towards the sand and someone from CK Master missed on one of the fun little springbacke slalom things so I could pass and continue quite well.

Around this point the women had caught up and I guess I could have focused on my own race but I decided to be a gentleman and give Åsa lots of room in the start corner and then also let Angelica pass easily in another grass corner. It was a tough day for many because somewhere here Tomas went flying passed and then his bike fell apart. And there was someone lying in the muddy hill the first time I passed. But I was surprised when Lisa passed me on this same hill by taking the left line. You can't get any tougher than this. Get hit by a bus one week and jump on a cross soon after. Respect.

But I think I also deserve a bit of respect at this point because I was fast approaching someone from Borlänge. I was doing extremely well on the long straights and before I knew it I passed him. But he stayed with me for a bit until segbacken when I opened up a pretty nice lead. Excellent. So my confidence was massive and I was flying along the last straight out of the stadium and up to the grass. The first corner went fine but the next right didn't. Boom. Slipped and went crashing down on my right side. My first feeling was 'Holy fcuk what is under that grass...it is jävla hård assoshit'. And that feeling stayed as I cautiously went through the rest of the corners which, naturally, meant I was passed by the guy. I knew it was 2 laps to go and I tried to not fall apart completely. In the back of my mind I was wondering why no one had lapped me yet so perhaps that would happen soon. But after getting up segbacken and down muddy hill I was ignoring the pain and made a pretty good second half of the lap.

This is when I realized that for the first time in CX Cupen history I would not be lapped. In fact, I had at least 3 full straights to spare. Wow! That has to be a worthy goal. So to celebrate actually managing to do every lap of the race I decided to make the last one a good one. After a bit cautiously taking the grass corners I could see that the guy from Borlänge was having a tough time on segbacken. So by making an insane attack I could actually get within a possible distance of him. I tried to not lose so much time on the muddy hill and the downhill after but by the sand it was looking like the distance was too far. Still, I had to make a final sprint anyway just for my own sake. It was a beauty.

So what did I think about my Tufo Flexus Cubus? Well, the bike did feel lighter but I can't say the corner grip was any better that the Conti CycloXKings. Maybe it will take some time to wear them in a bit. But probably my pressure is still too high. I am sure I have written about pressure here before so maybe I was using less even with the tape. Either way, 2.7 bar was not right. Tomorrow I will try less.

Overall I was surprised that I enjoyed the track today. On the map it looks pretty boring with all those long straights. But what was between those was pretty fun and it seems like I needed the long straights.

Today's performance left me in 42nd place, ahead of two people who were lapped and then at least 3 DNFs. And I know that many people took pictures of me today so hopefully I can put them up here later. 

I am looking out the window here towards Lugnet getting psyched for start. I have said many times now that if I ever do well at a race in Falun I would retire from cycling because I would end on a high note. But luckily this never seems to happen. Maybe this is the weekend?

Race goals is maybe silly to say. Obviously I will go all in tomorrow and then crash and burn on Sunday. The track looks pretty much the same as what I did two years ago which probably means I will be left long behind by the time we hit segbacken the first time. But my tubdäck might just give me a better start. So that is really my only goal...to get a better start and try and be in the match for as long as I can.

Well, okay, maybe I can try for a bit more than that. This track looks a lot like our Introcross track with lots of fast parts so maybe I can make a few crowd-pleasing passes also. And I still have no pics of myself this season so that also has to change...

I think I have managed to take the term 'fusklim' to new levels because I just used the Tufo tape to glue my tubdäck. And after some stretching they went on without trouble. So this Thursday night was much nicer than my stressful Thursday last week when everything went wrong. I just had a quick test ride and it feels completely different but then again I did inflate to 3 bar just to be sure the glue sticks well at first. I also noticed that my gears seem to be adjusted perfectly for this wheelset so that solves last week's shifting crisis. Good thing because I remember 'segbacke' is just as bad as Mördarbacken.

Okay Falun...bring it on!!!

Now that the muscle pain is over for this week I can start to think of important things...like shopping. But does my Ridley X-Ride really need anything or is it me that is the problem? I mentioned before that I am running a 50-34 vevparti which is pretty useless for cross. And I could have one of the new Shimano sets for 2-3000kr depending on which level I choose. But considering I am usually sitting on the middle of the cassette with 34 front do I really need 36 yet? Yes, this is the advice from the logical side of my brain.

But the part of my brain that tends to be involved in these decisions is saying 'BUY IT NOW...YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!!!' and this is why I tend to run out of cash long before CX Cupen is finished. If I buy now I will have to cut Sthlm from my schedule. And Sthlm is where I seem to have more people at my level to race. Yes, this is the message from the 3rd side of my brain...the side which likes passing people.

And so it was time for Day 2 of torturing my body and covering myself in mud...gotta love it! The twist with today's course was the reversed direction in the park section which I have to say was WAY more fun. And of course the obstacle was the Stairway to hell/Bridge of death. It did look this bad and the hairpin turn at the bottom of the hill meant a whole lot of braking. How nice that I discovered just before start that my front brakes were basically gone.

My less than superb finish yesterday meant I was still starting last and the women started after so I really was last down the start straight. Again it was a story of me and around 4 guys and things were quite close together at first through the even muddier grass section and through the windy bit. I passed the guy from Ludvika in the wind because there was space and I put a good gap in up until my favourite little start hill bit. Speaker Oskar even told the crowd I had fine technique at this point. But those in front of me were gone now and I was on my own. It was around here that Åsa and Angelica passed and it looked like they were having a serious battle.

First time down the Bridge of death went okay except that I had the wrong foot clipped in and made a pretty nice slide in the corner at the bottom but it was fine. Somewhere in this lap there was a guy stopped so I passed him but he passed me again later on. Then I could see Lars ahead of me at a reasonable distance so I pushed on and tried to close the gap. That was going perfectly until the next time I took on the Bridge of death. My pedal hit the bridge and I didn't have either foot clipped in and when I started to pedal at the bottom is was going way too easy. Fan. Chain is off. I had this happen in Sthlm and just like then I could not get the chain passed the silly plastic thing I have to prevent the chain from falling off. Yep, fcukload of good that did. I lost an eternity but finally it was back on and I could power away through the sand.

By the time I was over to the muddy grass I saw the guy from Ludvika again so apparently I had built up a good lead before. But he had to be passed again and I did that and took off yet again knowing full well I could mess up again. This lap was great and nothing major happened but I had lost time so it was time to be lapped now. They held a '2 laps' sign for me but I knew I would be passed quickly and I could see that the Gbg clubs were 2nd-4th at that point. I considered closing the gap after that but there was no gap to close since people were flying passed. But just when I was going down the hill into the sand part I heard 'Hup!' and had to look quick to see skier Adam Steen flying passed on my left. This led me down the wrong line and into the right side of the sand which was almost enough to send me flying. A 'vänster' would have been more helpful.

Anyway, that was it and I ended up 2nd last of those that finished but with more starting today I get even less points. Still, this was a fun day and considering I did not expect to do well at all in Kumla I have to say this weekend has been beyond expectations. But now I have to calm down and prepare for a week of meetings and other non-CX things...

I am sitting on the 11th floor at Eurostop's Quality Hotel after managing to get a fine deal. It is a unique design because I could enjoy the view of Örebro while I took my shower after today's race. And with some major fire at a heating plant this was certainly special.

So, this was my 3rd time starting in Kumla and the last two times I seemed to remember the course as pure hell. But today it felt way better. Superklass was massive as usual and unlike the local races I started dead last. They were supposed to start Dam Prestige 2 minutes after but decided to just let everyone start at once. Now there are more of them so in fact many were behind me except for one from Ludvika who started beside me. The start was panic as always and I was out to the side and just taking it easy because that was the plan for today. I was right behind the one from Ludvika but I passed her and was right on the tail of a group of 3 guys. Good, something to work on.

The latest problem with my bike is that I can have it in the easiest gear but then I have to shift down 3 because the chain jumps on everything between. That made the hill section after the forest kind of strange because I didn't need the easiest gear to get up but my other choice was too hard for Lap 1. This became the spot I seemed to lose time. Well, also the jumps, the hill after and the stairs which were slippery as hell.

Surprisingly the 'grassy mud of death' part over behind the parking lot went extremely well and I didn't lose any time. In fact I caught up to the 3 and passed the first one. On the second lap there was a guy from CK Valhall that seemed to be having a rough day so I could pass him in the grass part behind the red houses before that part with the hill up to the start area. That actually went perfectly today.

Then the rest of the race became a mind battle with Jessica from Alingsås. I was kind of på rulle through the muddy grass which explains why I finally managed to get mud on the front of me. She slowed down on the grusväg section so I passed and she was following me instead. I was strong in the forest section but my lead was gone by the hill because of my stupid gear and cadence of 2000. I was gaining on someone else and I am sure I passed someone else although someone passed me too. Then at the top of the stairs I was slow so Jessica passed again and had a bit of a lead through the finish area when the '2 laps to go' sign was up.

Time to get serious. Probably she had tons of strength left and I was going to kill myself with an attack but one has to try. Again while she was resting on the grusväg part I decided to pass and keep at the harder gear as long as I could. She was again right there but I managed the perfect approach to the start area hill and flew along nicely which gave me a great gap. Steady pace through the forest making sure not to make any mistakes. Up the hill on the harder gear as long as I could. Not enough of a lead. And then I saw Axel who was leading and realized that if he passed me I would not have to do the last lap while Jessica would.

So I could afford to make a final push, let Axel pass me at the bottom of that 2nd park hill and then do my best not to fall in the sand or mess up the jumps and stairs. It went perfectly and I could stay ahead!

I was 3rd last in Superklass after all this fun so maybe I should say 4th in Dam Prestige instead after this battle. Honestly, when CX is like this I don't care if I am competing against someone in another class. This is cycling at its most fun!

Okay, tubular tape is a great thing but I forgot the most painful part of this process. I have just spent about an hour trying to get the fcuking Tufo tire onto my rim and it just won't go. The last set of tires I had from them went on without any trouble but this one was a nightmare. I actually didn't even open the package for the second one because I am all but ready to return it and save myself the trouble. The way I was pulling it was not good so I suspect the tire is busted already and my rim is bent. One should not need THAT much force to put on a tire.

So I am back to my Conti CrossXKings before I even left them. And honestly that is just fine with me. They are great tires and I am not exactly at the front of the pack so it doesn't matter. Lasting 40 minutes is the limiting factor at the moment...not the tires.

I am pretty sure the average age of my readers is older than me so if I mention mix tapes and the 80s it will bring back fine memories of those crazy pre-internet days when if you wanted to steal music you had to sit and wait for the song to come on the radio and be quick with the Record button. Actually, all this has nothing to with what I will write now but anyway my topic is tape...the sticky kind.

My Tufo Flexus Cubus arrived along with a load of their tubular gluing tape. It seems like Cyclecomponents is one of the last places still carrying it. A couple years ago when I was concerned, I emailed Tufo and asked why they no longer sold their cyclocross tape and their response was that I should not use tape for CX at all. But since then they have released MTB tires and gluing tape for those and that also involves mud and wet. So I was delighted to open the tires and see instructions inside for how to use their gluing tape. So I see no point in opening any glue tubes this year again.

I never had any trouble with the tape before but of course I am not using extremely low tire pressures. I was always around 2.7 bar which is certainly better than the 3 bar I have with the clinchers. There is always a tradeoff sooner or later so I will stick with what works for me. The last time I use tubes was in Sthlm 2 years ago and the tape is still holding. I just remember how fast the Ridley was that weekend. Yes...bring on some speed.

When my so-called leg cramp seemed to stick around for awhile I started to realize that it was more likely a pulled muscle of some sort. Great. Yesterday's walking around (in the rain getting soaked) was pretty good since this morning it feels better. But there is still a bit of pain walking up stairs.

I take this as a warning sign that I need to in fact start changing gears on hills rather than just assuming I can fly up singlespeed style. It was that grass section with the bunny hops behind the buildings that put too much strain on my muscles and also the mud/wind in general. I will still race in Kumla but I see it mostly as quality training because obviously I need more training. Besides, the track in Kumla is notorious for being as tough as it gets. I don't want to be injured for my nice long weekend in Falun.

I hadn't been on my bike for 2 weeks so I really had no idea what to expect out of training today. But to prevent a chill and getting sick again I decided for the full arm and leg warmers today plus even my ski pants over because the zipper on my warm-up pants broke. And there was no chill in the air at all so this was overkill. The warm-up was fine after a less than thrilling ride over to Skatås. In the wet grass the Conti XKings still amazed me because I seemed to have loads of grip and a nice steady speed. I am starting to wonder why I just ordered a pair of Tufo Flexus Cubus but I know it will be even better with tubes and the lighter wheels. So then it was time for a race up in the usual spot but with a new track which had my mind spinning for awhile. The difference today was the massive wind that would gust up unexpectedly, usually when I just started on the long gravel sections.

I was kind of squished in the start as usual and CC  Lasse had set up a rather nasty corner just after so I was way off the line and basically lost a ton of positions. But after that tricky grass section full of holes and the triple bunny hop on the uphill part followed by yet another down and up section I could then see where I was in relation to everyone else. Hmm. Not great. I passed Anki and one of the kids before the long gravel part where I could see three riding kind of together. They must be passed!

I kind of took it easy the first lap but then after the first part it was time to pass the first on a nice acceleration after a grass corner. One down. The next guy was riding the same MTB I have so obviously he had to be passed. I waited until the horse track and actually got both of them on one straight but it cost me a lot of energy. The next in front was Lasse and he was pretty far ahead so this would be tough. And I could also see that one of the guys I passed was still there behind me. Oh, I forgot to mention that I took a nice slide in one of the grass corners because I didn't slow down and that distracted the guy behind. I also heard him make some mistake on the bunny hop part so he was gone for awhile. Lasse was also slowing down so I tried to close the gap and was actually pretty close. Then I fell apart.

Yes...I am not a superhuman. Chris Cross has a limit. My usual strategy of going full out from the start seemed to have collapsed in what ended up to be the last lap. If I had known this I would have pushed myself harder but my leg cramp came on fast and by the time I was at the end of the horse straight I was ready to faint. Lasse was gone and the two behind passed and I was left saying hello to Mr. Wall. I managed to keep together enough so that I wasn't so far behind those two which is what is annoying considering it was the last lap.

From now on I will ride without the leg warmers because that is probably what caused my cramp. And I see the weekend in Kumla as a training weekend because they have the toughest track in the Cup in my opinion. Today was only 30 min too. Aj.

Well, the curse seems to have returned. Yesterday morning a Klass III headache moved into my brain and I was feeling very bläää all day at work. I took my temperature at home and it said 35.5 C which only means that my thermometer is broken and/or cheap because I know a fever when I get one.

Today is not much better so I have already cancelled my night in Karlstad and will have to see how I feel tomorrow morning and whether a pre-race 6 hour drive is going to be possible or not. Two years ago I would have just raced anyway but since this is for fun I have a different view now.

So we shall see what the day brings for Chris Cross.

I suppose many of you are wondering what my excuse was this time for missing practice. And probably there is some speculation about secret plans and special training in preparation for Branäs. And that is kind of true.

Sooner or later those of us lost to CX start to realize that a race weekend requires two bikes because if you trash the bike the first day you are left watching on the Sunday. I started with my Merida Cross 4 which I bought at CykelCity Sthlm quite a few years back and this was enough to get me hooked on the sport. But I soon realized that to fit in here in Gbg one had to have a Ridley and building my X-Ride was the start of a new era of cycling experiences. The point of this story is that tonight I had to get both bikes in race shape.

This is the first time I have ridden both back to back and what an incredible difference. The Merida felt like it was 20kg and was slow starting and had a geometry that was all wrong. Maybe this is what a 29er would feel like for me? But after a few minutes it felt okay and things were in top shape so it was time to switch. Yes, I made the right choice indeed. Ridley X-Ride is da shit. The difference was absolutely incredible! And the good news is I fixed my bottom bracket noise so now it is race ready.

The moral of this story is that I need another Ridley X-Ride and when I do get one my Merida Cross 4 will be retired to being a commuter bike...

It is always nice with positive surprises on a very dull Monday morning. Unfortunately it was not an email from Ridley offering me a bike for all the promotion and hits for X-Ride here. And it also wasn't the bank to say that I deserve a free house for being such a good customer. Okay, actually the news wasn't all that exciting but it did the trick anyway.

I wonder who will get the task of keeping track of everyone in H30 and H40 class scattered across Super and Prestige? Either way, this is great news for me because finishing 45th is not exactly great for points. But something around 20th could be possible given that H30 has always been the smallest class.

My last minute interest in Branäs has meant a bit of shopping for some extra brake pads. And now I see that I am out of chain oil and my gloves are not in top shape either. There will be no time to look at my tubdäck because I now need to make sure both the Ridley and the Merida are in running order. I am not exactly sure about my bottom bracket fix yesterday and I am starting to realize that I am pretty shite at repairs in general. But I try.

Anyway, it looks like the track is full of corners and that is great for me. But I wonder just how far up the ski hill it goes. I hope we are not in for a Lund thing all over again.

So it was time again for the highlight of the weekend and another CX race. Yesterday I was out for a bit of tjuvträning and testing the XT pedals I had moved over from my MTB. It was pretty wet everywhere so I saw pretty quickly that the XKing tires are not absolutely perfect when there is mud. But I did learn a bit more about how to handle the bike. On my way home I felt my vevparti coming loose so I tightened that up and this morning on my ride over to Skatås everything was clunking away making a hell of a noise. That brought me down as much as my lack of sleep. Later on I found out it was because I had the arm too tight against the bottom bracket so I think it is fixed now. But I should probably change the bottom bracket anyway.

Warm-up was some corners in a little sand field and that was also going very wrong. The starts went better this week since I just concentrated on pedalling rather than waiting till my shoe was clicked in. They click in sooner or later just automatically. Still, my starts were going very well.

For the first 'race' we did a tempo lap around a portion of the track and the fastest would get to wear a leader jersey (Hisingens CK shirt). Björn did not seem to be so thrilled to wear that but ya gotta love the Gbg humour. I nailed my start and accelerated well along the back straight even though I instantly felt sick. It is tempo so that is the right feeling. Things were going superb and my dismount and run up the hill were great but on my remount I slipped on the pedal and lost 2 seconds so I had to put in a serious sprint to come in at 1:16. The fastest was 1:06 and correcting for the 2s meant I was only off by 8 seconds. Not bad.

Then it was time for the real 5-lap race where once again I got to start at the front. I was next to Sven and he pretty much took me out in the start because I had nowhere to ride but I got a start anyway and was pretty far from last. I passed Lasse at this first part and was right on the tail of a group of around 5 riders. It was kind of crowded still so I was kind of calm and just concentrated on not running into anyone. At the end of lap 1 I was behind a woman from Uddevalla CK and I passed on one of the straights near the finish line to see who was next in front. Next was Anton, the man with the greatest race face in the business. But there was some kind of race yesterday so when he hit something on the first part of the singletrack I could pass in a pretty aggressive way. A bit farther along when the long grusväg part started he passed me again but I was not ready to give up. So I tried to sit på rulle and on the straight after the mud puddle I attacked and got ahead. I just kept consistent and the more I looked back the more farther ahead I was getting. Good good.

So then in front of me I could see an MCK jersey and this felt like a repeat of last week with Sven. So I thought I would try again because with every straight I was gaining a little bit. Peter could see me coming at the parts where the course turned back on itself and I could see that he was getting a bit slow. Maybe this could work. Time again for a super last lap. By the end of the long straight he was less than 20 m ahead and I did my best to fly through the grass and over to the tree section. The way out of that was rough so I couldn't really get the attack I wanted but at the finish line I had closed the gap to around 5 m. Almost.

If I can keep up this steady pace for 40 minutes I think the real races will be pretty nice.

When your boss is suddenly very happy to see you it does not take a genius to predict that a pile of work is on the way. But in my case that same boss is also the one that approves my vacation days. So I was willing to sacrifice training today for some key days off in October. I have also been sneezing all week and I have to teach some med students tomorrow so there were lots of obstacles today.

Anyway, I finally made the proper choice and sent in my tävlingslicens application. So bring on CX Cupen! I doubt I can get everything fixed by Branäs so the plan is to make my cup premiere in Kumla, one of the classics. They have everything but it is a rough way to start the season given the serious hills and the sucking grass in the park. But actually that is perfect training for Falun the week after. Tanumshede is obviously close but there is a Norwegian alternative and I am keen on a 3-country season. And they always draw a huge crowd over there. I have never seen the tracks in Sunne so there is a definite and Sthlm is the place I always find someone to battle against since there are so many people starting. And by then the Danes will be going so I can end the season in CPH with a race or two. Yes. Now I am psyched!

And so it was finally time to finish the week in the best possible way...with cyclocross! My roll over to Skatås from home was anything but superb despite being the time that I always train. But the more I rolled the more I woke up. After rounding up people who were scattered all over it was time to give Lisebergs camping a taste of CX. We started with dismount training and starts before heading over to take a few trips through the sand in front of thousands of fotball-playing kids. But this is all boring compared to the race so let's jump right to that.

Two races at 15 min each is good since not much tends to happen after the group gets spread out and plus I assume we will get points for both races. I was given #5 which is probably the closest I will get to the top of anything so why not. Startled 1 as always. Everyone passed me at the start, as always. But I did keep up all the way until after the obstacle and grass hill climb. I seemed to be sitting behind Lasse (I think that is the name, if not I fix later) and kind of rode a third of a lap behind but I realized it was better to just pass and take off since I was certain to make a mistake. Besides, Åsa Erlandsson was in front of him. And this made no sense because she is actually fast so I thought, wait, could this be my chance to pass someone who has actually won CX SM??? My non-cycling friends would like to hear this. So it was time to unleash the extra horses and give this a shot.

I was being 'Fixie Chris' again and sticking with the same gear but I did have two more down before I was maxed on the 34. But this really worked well because I could accelerate enough to close the gap up to Åsa. And then she fell in the grass corner which was kind of sloped downhill at the finish so I asked if she was okay and then took off as fast as I could. I passed! But she was still there and I then realized I didn't really know where I was going so I led us the wrong way a couple of times. But then I missed a whole section and had to turn back so Åsa and Lasse had passed and I was starting again with a lap to go. Crap. I was på rulle with Lasse just at the start of the singletrack section and he seemed keen to stay ahead so I had to skip over the braking part in the tree corner and could fly passed and see what Åsa was up to. Hmm...need those extra two gears now. I did a massive sprint down the last long grusväg part and went into that fun grass corner at top speed (superb tires, I say!) and had caught Åsa. And then she fell again on the same hill and I could roll pass and be the winner of Dam Elit class. =)

Race #2 was entirely different because I had killed myself in the first race. So my Startled 1 was again wasted although I made an effort and I think I could keep up with better utväxling. Åsa was way ahead this time since she let some air out of her tires so this race was uneventful. I passed Lasse again on the first lap and then there wasn't anyone else in any close range. I could see Sven around 75m ahead so I thought I would try and basically did the rest of the race flat out. I might have gained a bit at first but Sven could see me and had things under control. Either way, this was an excellent day for Chris Cross.

Honestly, why am I even considering skipping CX Cupen? I have the car. I have vacation days left. I even have the money. Branäs is already out but the rest are still open. Hmmm...

Since this blog is only text it might be nice with some questions. When I am training I rarely stop so there is just no time for pics. And my guess is that you would rather see pics of someone else. So, what kind of questions are there in this lovely pre-CX period?

1. Will there be a Focus Cross Race this year in Tidan? It is usually in September and was a blast when I tried it 2 years ago. They also have a very large Sportklass so I would have many to race against. If anyone knows anything just post a comment.

2. Will I manage to get a deal on a tävlingslicens? CX races are considered 2013 so why can't I get a licence for now and use it next year too? Of course making that change would screw over everyone else so I don't expect much support for that idea. Still, I have emailed SCF and will see what I get for reply.

3. Why am I not busy gluing my tubdäck? Yes, exactly. Why not? I do have a set of Vittora XM which have been sitting here since late 2010.

4. Why is it sunny this weekend? Göteborgs Superprestige needs a bit of wet grass and mud if you ask me.

5. Why have I not ordered a 46-36 crankset yet? How many times do I need to be shown that 50-34 is wrong because I end up always on 34 with a cadence of 2000.

6. And finally, which CX Cup races will you be doing? Add a comment below. If I am stuck with engångslicens and Sportklass I will do the Falun weekend (for tradition) and the Tanumshede weekend because it sounds nice. And then two weekends in Denmark depending on where around CPH they are. So 4 weekends + the local races is just fine. And if the licence works out I would add Sunne to my list and probably Kumla.

Last night it was time for the real world test of my new Continental CrossXKing tires at CX training...now with even more snabba pojkar. I was a bit late with the driving so I was iskallt when it was time for the first exercise of the night which was 'not a race'. Or perhaps we can call it 'stafett of death' now that it is a reoccuring event. Yes, start sprint down to the end of the grusplan, dismount while panic braking, remount and then sprint back again...first on your own and then in a group of two. Nope, no racing here. Being iskallt meant that everything here went entirely wrong. But I did get warmed up.

Next was some stair training which I suppose Philip did not enjoy given a nasty fall right away. Hope your back is okay. This was my first feeling of 'race stress' because obviously I am not use to riding with a whole bunch of others around. But I managed to get around and be able to get some feel for the tires. I would not say that the grip was superb because I was still slipping a bit in the loose gravel/dirt and the faster I went the worse the slipping became. But I think the difference is that I can actually go faster with these tires and so once I train at higher speeds these issues will disappear. But the RS20 wheels feel completely unstable and fragile so I guess there is no way around a new wheelset.

Tomas announced that he will do teknikträning on Thursdays and to give a taste of this we tried an example. Run 50 m with your bike at max speed and then jump on without any hesitation. Yikes. I am not sure what the teknik was here but 'tripping over the bike' is one possibility and naturally there are many other outcomes when one jumps on a bike seat and misses. Anyway, I did not plan for 2 sessions this week so I doubt I will make it today. But next week is better.

Yes, and then there was that race which was not an actual race. CC Lasse decided again that we should try and keep together to practice riding with others (good thought). So the first lap us slow people were allowed to skip over the stairs and get a head start so the others would be chasing us. One other idea was that anyone who got a 50 m lead should have to brake. Or my idea that they should have a 'straffrunda' and have to take the stairs 3 times. None of this really helped and we still all ended up spread out. Oddly enough many people disappeared after the start...that was quite the lead! The track was fast and pretty flat so I could keep the same gear all the way. I was experimenting with utväxling and was up on my 50 klingan for the last 2 laps. When it is dry I should certainly be able to manage this but a 46-36 is also likely in my future.

Anyway, Sunday is the first Introcross and it will be at Skatås kl 10. There was some confusion about the name since there never seem to be any new people showing up anymore. So Outrocross was a new name suggestion. But I will always call it Göteborgs Superprestige. A whole pile of points were also promised since some MTB people would be racing in Uddevalla that day and since 'this is not a race' there is no reason to be that honest with points and things. We should also bring 20kr but I assume that bringing more will be good for more points.