Perhaps some of you are wondering what is next for Chris Cross and the answer to that looks like CykelRallarn out in Jönköping. After last week at Karolinertrampet I wondered why there were not more races at cross-country ski facilities, especially ones like Ulricehamn. Well, obviously others have had the same idea. CykelRallarn is the MTB version of Rallarloppet which is a classic ski race in those parts between Ulricehamn and Jönköping. This race is already now on Saturday (2 juni) so I almost missed it. I can be thankful that the efteranmälning cost is only 100kr. So it looks like I will still get to avoid XC in favour of långlopp and try out this little 60km motion race.

Before I found this local race I was going to do Lida Loop for the third time but the weekend after that is Farrisrunden in Larvik so it was a bit too much travel. I also have Herrestadsfjällsloppet up in Uddevalla after work on 5 juni. This 30km will certainly be a nice way to increase träningsvärk for the holiday the day after, a holiday I will actually take. Already before June I have finished twice as many races as all of last season so 2012 is looking good.

Today it was time for another trip to Dalsland for some proper MTB. Karolinertrampet is a 30km around Kroppefjäll which should be the first clue that 30km would probably be tougher than it seems. But for 100kr and that even included lunch at the Kroppefjäll hotel so you can't lose with this concept.

I placed myself in the second start row because if I had the power to keep up with the leaders this would obviously be the best place to start from. And my start was excellent and I was wondering why half the pack was not passing me. Maybe I went out just a wee bit too hard. The thing was my body was not at all responding because it was over 20C and the oak pollen is at its peak and that is what kills me. But I kept a good pace and realized that the course had a lot of singletrack in the first bit and I was doing some wild and rapid dodging and direction changes. I knew some people were following behind too close (duh, this is not LVG) so my changes meant people were hitting things I was missing. But they never did want to pass.

The first 3km was trail and it was possible to ride so it was fine. I just took it quite slowly the other two laps. The middle section had some nice grus and double track and I felt like I had a pretty good pace. I was being too cautious in the downhills which were super fun with all their banked turns and perfect dirt. Cykelglädje time. The last half of the lap was easier technically except for a couple mud bits but it did have some nasty uphills. The first major one went fine but on my way downhill my water bottle fell off so I had to stop and get it. That cost me a few positions but there were others around to race, including some guy in a full-body cross country skiing outfit. In light blue.

Lap two was mostly just trying to concentrate and not make any mistakes and that was going fairly well. The one I was following did manage to lose me after I dismounted for a hill which I didn't even have to dismount for. But on the first lap everyone did. And of course every time I passed the start the speaker was saying some thing about Göteborg but I was too busy flying passed entertaining the kids. They had water and saft there but both times I didn't stop because I had my bottle and enough liquids/gels for a much longer race. Perhaps I should have used the gel. Not doing so made the last lap interesting...

Again I took it easy through the singletrack parts and could feel someone right behind me yet again. Despite lots of chances to pass he never did. There were two not far in front of me so on the grusväg part when they both started taking it easy I made my attack and broke up what was a fairly long string of maybe 5 guys. Two stayed with me and when things started uphill they took off and I was saying hello to Mr. Wall. For the rest of the race I was on my own but I did not want to fall apart so despite about 4km of zero energy and two of the biggest hills I kept on and sprinted across the line. For the second race of the season I have felt a fainting spell near and I was absolutely done.

So, a quick look at the Results shows that in my premiere for Göteborgs CK I came in with a time of 1:46:03 which is almost 17 km/h and well under my goal of 2 hours. And that, my friends, was good for place 31 out of 56 which is far from last place. Maybe I am actually improving afterall.

This was a fun race and a real test for your training effect. The singletrack was pretty typical långlopp style but the hills between made it more of a challenge and also really beautiful. So try it next year...you will like it!

As you can see I haven't been updating so much. The only readers at the moment seem to be people searching for things I did not write about but yet somehow I have used all the words in combination somewhere before. So here is a quick recap, mostly just so I remember later on.

1.  Last Tuesday = clean
I decided to remove the pedal arm and everything just to clean it and put grease all over with hopes of finally getting rid of the annoying click sound. So after that it was too dark for a test drive so it would have to wait.

2. Work marathon
Despite holidays and luxury things like klämdagar, somehow I ended up working solid all three days for the entire day. Good news is that I only have one last deadline before summer and already life has become calm and peaceful. And that means more time for training after work and some socializing.

3. Drammen for a nice race?
I never did get out to test my bike so I had no clue what shape it was in. Then the organizers made the mistake of posting the entire race as a video on Youtube and one could see the kamikaze mission this would be if I actually were to improve my start position for Farrisrunden. Hairpin corners all the way down the slick grusväg road dropping 2-300m. Singletrack only wide enough for half a bike and on very rocky terrain. Imagine for yourself 700 eager cyclists flying towards Bohusleden...I would have done it if this was just for fun but I had a purpose and would have been massively disappointed.

4. Then why not Strupen?
Like I said I had not tested the bike at all so when I went out on Saturday it felt strange in the pedals and needed some adjusting. So I could have tried but the 3 overtime days at work killed my drive for cycling. And to my frustration my stupid bike is still making the same freaking clicking noises. I started to look more closely and can see that my chainrings are seriously worn even if the chain is fine. And I seem to have a shake in the back wheel so this thing is becoming a death trap.

5. New bike time?
So now all you 29er fans will be trying to sell me a new bike which I don't have the money for anyway. The problem is I am short and I actually like the fact that my 26er is superb on hills and takes off like a dream. Full Dynamix is Italian and it does share a lot in common with an Alfa Romeo. Beautiful to look at, fun to drive but parts fall off randomly for unknown reasons. So a re-build is coming very soon and it will cost a crap load. But at least Sid is still fine.

6. And the future?
I am signed up for Karolinertrampet this Saturday and that should be a nice little tour. I don't care what happens. I will just enjoy the nice weather. And I did end up in start group 11 of 16 in Farrisrunden anyway and that is about where I started last time. My plan was to take a nice week or so in Dalarna after Ränneslättsturen for their usual atmosphere and nice races but everything seems to be booked already and I refuse to pay 4000kr to rent a crappy little wooden shed in someone's backyard. So the summer is still confused.

7. But how am I doing anyway?
Actually, very good. With my little 45% after the winning time in Dalsland X-Country compared to my typical 75% after, I already feel like I have achieved the toughest goal of the season. So now I can sit back and have some cykelglädje. But I will race anyway and once I get started I know I will decide that I have to pass everyone in sight. It always happens...and that is why I am still not a motionär...

First I want to apologize to all those cyclists I am seeing everywhere. I am not dissing you if I don't join in. The fact is usually that I see people when I am near the end of my pass which is also when I am rather dead. I also only have enough food and water to complete the pass I planned and that is it. Plus, I am so focused on my MTB races now that I just don't want to deviate from my usual routine. It is working.

Yesterday I took a 'usual' climb up to Kåsjön and then left over to Tahult in Landvetter before heading out on that road that disappears into the forest. As I have mentioned before, along that road is another little grusväg that connects to one of those orange trails. This was extremely wet but I found that I could relatively easily get through these and managed to stay on my bike more than usual. There is only one part of this trail where I should have to get off. The rest should be possible. So I have something to train. Rather than do the whole thing I took a shortcut down to Knipavägen and headed back along and down to Jonsered where, for some reason, I chose to head up the hill again and then down to Kåhög. Burning muscles anyone?

And then we have today which featured Jonsered again after a similarly stupid climb up from Kåhög and then down the wrong trail back to the station. It was fun though. The plan this time was to find Torpet Freden via a little offshoot of Bohusleden and this was superb! Even if I did have to top a couple spots due to wet rocks, this should be a perfect trail in a few weeks. So the point of this was to find that crazy lumber road again on the way to Lerum and train those psycho grusväg downhills followed by nasty uphills. Finally I could stop for a banana down at the little pier at Aspen. And then I just rode back all the way around Aspen on the Lerum - Jonsered road. 'Just' is maybe the wrong word given the massive headwind. Patrik & co looked like they were enjoying going the other way... =)

Already after the first race of the year I am changing my plans so this explains why my name has not appeared on the startlist for Billingeracet. Instead I will race Montebellorittet in Drammen, Norway which is a fine little 42km sprint race. And why would I choose something farther away and much more expensive? Let me explain...

A couple years back I did Farrisrunden in Larvik and this 67km of 'joy' took me 04:29:00 to do. It was an absolute disaster in every way. I was using an energy gel with caffeine which meant that I had to stop and pee at least 3 times during this race. It was the first race where it was seriously raining and I was having trouble with basically everything. I even managed to fall into an electric fence. The only part that went well was the last 10km but it should have went much much better. There was nothing technically difficult about it and the hills were pretty fair also. So I have to do this again and what I needed is a good time in another race for seeding to a better start group. My old time will put me basically at the end.

So Montebellorittet is just that seedning race I need to get a better start time for Farrisrunden. And in away I think that has become my first goal of the season...to smash my old time for Farrisrunden.

Yesterday was a day of many firsts at Dalsland X-Country. Most importantly it was my first race of 2012 and the first race in awhile where nothing was preventing me from getting there. This was the first time my MTB was in my new car and it went it nicely. It was also my first race under my fake club CK Chris although that was kind of silly given the number of SCF licenced cyclists there at this 'svart tävling'. But with 500 people starting it is already one of the largest races in the country so SCF will pay attention soon.

But most importantly this is the first race where I tried a different strategy...actually racing full out. At only 50km I felt like an all-out 'crash-and-burn' attempt could work, at least until I crashed and burned. I started in Grupp 2 and, like everyone else, ignored the fact that we were not supposed to pass anyone until after the centre. I had a good position and was wondering why everyone was taking it easy. This is a race eller? So rather than fall into a routine I passed anyone I could until reaching a group which had a pace I could manage. This was smart.

After quite a light ride down to Billingfors it was time for the first singletrack and things kind of stopped dead briefly. A sarcastic brit from Uddevalla CK said 'Why did people stop for that???' and it was true. There was nothing at all to slow down for. Just perfect trail. After that things were flying along nicely and getting spread out enough to prevent any crowding. I was still passing people up until 20km and on any road section I was stora klingan and jumping up to the next group where I would sit and let someone else take the wind. I was not last in the group but, hell, in MTB no one rides together so I can be selfish.

At the food stop at 25km I knew I needed a Squeezy gel and a quick drink but because I know I lose so much time in these stops I really was quick. And that little break helped. Within a few minutes I had caught up again to those I was riding with. What was going on with my legs? When did I get so strong??? Of course somewhere around 30km the cramp monster was awakening and I had actually changed strategy a bit at this point anyway so it was fine. Now that I was with a good group I was starting to think of how to in fact outsmart them. It was time to start reading those around me to see what I was up against. Many were in pain but many were also very good. Some were masters of downhill but useless uphill.

My cramp monster was complaining so at a gå-backa I decided to take another Squeezy gel in preparation for the final 10km. I remember from the map that there was some sort of major last hill around 5km so I was not quite so 'on fire' as I usually am. But my mind was fixed on the fact that I was almost done and that calmed the cramp monster a bit. At this point people were dropping off quite a bit and I did one of those 'iskallt' attacks on a hill to pass 3 people, one of which followed.

On the final hill, which was a beauty by the way, I decided to just take it easy since no one else was in any hurry. Naturally I won this little game because I was fresh and ready to take off after the hill while others were recovering. The cramp was killing but I didn't care and tried to make the best finish possible. Every person ahead of me became a target and for the most part I was catching them and passing. I had one or two guys right behind that were also eager and in a stupid missed turn they both passed just at the last downhill. Stora klingan sprint time. And it was a long sprint on my part. The entire centre of Bengtsfors actually. I picked off one on the final stretch and the other at the finish line (despite what the result list says). Yes, photo finish please. I want to protest.

I could hardly get off my bike and both legs were a massive cramp. In fact I had to leave the area and find a place to sit down pretty fast because I was ready to collapse and feeling weak. I had taken out every last bit of energy I had. And what was the result for this 50km? A massive 02:31:21! So close to the magic 20km/h that I could not believe it! And if my protest is heard that means #100 out of 278!

What we have here my friends is the top cycling performance of my life! Even better than Grenserittet 2009 or CykelVasan 2010. And the best part of this is the nature. So many beautiful lakes in one place. And throughout the course people were out cheering the cyclists along like they do in Dalarna. Dalsland X-Country is a true gem and is precisely what MTB långlopp should be. No fuss or trouble and no prestige. Just a bunch of people that enjoy cycling. Just like Focus Cross Race in Tidan.

Go next year! You will love it!

I have chosen training over blogg inlägg lately and I think this has been a wise choice. My legs feel great and there is some kind of strength developing despite my 'max 3 hour' training philosophy. So here is a quick summary of my last 3 quality passes:

Saturday
This was a 29km of the high intensity sort with my usual Allum - Furulund - Kåsjön - Öjersjö - Delsjön with extra singletrack added in when appropriate. Heading back from Skatås ended a little strange though since I decided to take Bohusleden which somehow went directly over the top of what must be the highest freakin mountain in the whole area. The view was great but carrying my MTB up and down (far too rocky) this hill was slightly annoying. But, like most terrain around here it is impossible to ride all the way. So then I ended up at a local psycho running trail which is a blast on the bike and is good training for handling quick turns in grus. And then to round off the trip I took my premiere tour on the short trail over to Puketorp which is still perfection...  

Sunday
Despite considerable stiffness I took what ended up to be an even more intense 43km. I went over to Jonsered and up into Bokedalens naturreservat which has the potential for perfection even though cycling seems to be discouraged. Anyone who has looked at a map of these parts will see some strange road that goes back and forth north of Aspen in Lerum so the plan was just to find my way to that. After many missed turns, each with an accompanying massive hill, I found my way there. When they call that a road they are really stretching the definition a bit. At best it is a logging track covered in massive stones and each time it goes back and forth it climbs over a seriously nasty hill. Then it turns and repeats twice more. My legs were burning on the way up and I was terrified flying down. Don't need to go to Ludvika or Oslo to practice nasty downhills now. When I finally got to the bottom and could relax along the water at Aspen while watching rock climbers scale the cliff I just rode up on the bike I noticed how still the wind was. Inspiration time...ride over to Riddarsten and along the road over to Olofstorp to take a massive top speed hardest gear tempo ride all the way to the golf course. Vilken fart! ;) So naturally when I turned up the hill at Angereds kyrka and along Lexbydalsvägen it was time to say 'hallå' to Mr. Wall. I slowed for two minutes and was fine again and continued home.  

Tuesday
I was still stiff from the weekend so this was actually a calm ride. Well, sort of. I started with the Puketorp trail and a lap of the running track which is honestly hilly enough to be training alone. But my bike was filthy so I needed to visit Skatås for the water hose. I remembered a trail that connects over to Delsjön and, as usual, it started with a useless rock hill and lots of walking due to wooden planks and crap. My 2.2 tires fall through so some of these trails feel like a cross pass. But it got much better and there were some really fun parts which will make me return for more. And I could also celebrate my first proper vurpa of the year. I fell to the right (as always) but this time my calf muscle hit first and not my shoulder. You see, it is just so massive that it hits the ground first now. :D Anyway, after a serious clean the bike is spotless and shining in white.

All ready for Dalslands XC...