As you can see I haven't exactly been ending every training pass with a blog entry and that is probably a good thing because they are mostly the same. Since picking up my Allebike Ipsum 26 I have been adjusting and perfecting what I now see is an absolute masterpiece of a bike! My first full carbon frame works just perfect with Sid and it is actually front heavy which keeps the wheel on the ground going uphill. I am just flying up the Kåsjön hill and I have about 7 easy gears I haven't even needed yet. A slightly smaller frame is precisely what I needed to regain confidence in the technical parts of the forest and I have already tried trails I would never have dared on my old bike. More on that later...

This is the 3rd weekend in a row now where I have had a tough and quite mixed pass on both days. And I should be able to add in a Tuesday training with GCK or the Göteborgsserien races which start up soon also. Dalsland X-Country is two weeks away so I am doing what I can to get in some kind of form.

The terrain is pretty muddy now and I was looking into the course for GöteborgsGirot MTB. I wasn't entirely thrilled to mind my lovely Puketorp trail there and today it was certainly full of tire tracks from the 100 cyclists that tested the track last weekend. I had already been out on Saturday so I didn't feel like it Sunday also. I like the idea of a race in my backyard and I am giving it a chance. But after the grusväg that heads south towards the golfcourse the trail heads off towards Ugglemossen which is a serious mess. The mud today was horrible and even without mud this is a tough trail. And I think it is brave of me to even try this trail with a 26" hardtail, tires from last year that are worn out, a shorter travel length on Sid and tires that are only 2.2" wide. The last part means I can't ride on any of the wooden bridge sections which I personally think are wrong for a race. In fact I thought I was on the wrong trail because it is marked with IFK colours and GAIS is behind this race.

GöteborgsGirot will be a long XC race, not a marathon. That distinction has to be clear. From what I have seen there will be many people walking and it will be wet and frustrating. Which is fine if you like XC. But this is no motionslopp in any way. If they want something more like a marathon they should be up in the Partille/Landvetter forest part and over into Lerum if needed. No cars...no problems. So as much as I would really like to support this race I am going to have to choose Billingeracet the day before up in Skövde which, actually, is cheaper and 75km instead. That race has some great trails that are in fact possible. And I bought this particular bike just so I could race on a course like Billingen or Mörksuggan.