As you can see I have been putting zero priority on writing here and 100% on actual training. And that led me to a fine time of just over 3 hours in Dalsland X-Country which gives me startled 15 in Grenserittet halfway through the field. So this season is going well.

But now for the real test of my Allebike Ipsum 26. The very first MTB race I did was Långa Lugnet the year it was in the World Cup. I had a Peak hybrid and no clue what it would be like nor any skill at all. After the first loop of 40km DNF was the only sane choice. Shortly after that I bought my Trek which was actually heavier than the Peak but still an actual MTB. It was 2008 when I tried Långa Lugnet again and I believe it was one year after Öijer's legend...wait for it...dary hopelessly difficult course. It wasn't much easier then and I was like 2nd last. The only one behind me was an american who was way back. I was even in contact with the motorcycle the follows at the back of the pack to check on everyone. But I finished the 65km in a truly pathetic 4:43:54.

So yesterday it was time again for Nya Långa Lugnet 61 km which was advertised as an easier variant on the past. Nja, not much easier if easier at all. This was part of Falun's new Scandinavian Outdoor Games which is a great concept. On Saturday I was in an MTB clinic on how to save time on långlopp races and Lars Bleckur guided us through some of the track with some tips here and there. We ended with the red downhill and everyone else in the group looked at me with my 26er and was shocked when I flew down the track full of confidence. What a freakin bike! So much better than my old one!

It was time for start and I was in HSport which is a silly class really but it got me just in front of the HMotion group. The start went around Lugnet and over to the first hill which is not exactly Mörksuggan like but it had many people stuck already. What the hell? It was a little speed bump compared to what was coming later. So the lefthand side and floated my way passed probably 50 or even more cyclists. The problem was I think I lost many of those positions shortly after that when the road turned to a very dusty gravel downhill and I couldn't see anything at all. The first loop went pretty fast but was also quite boring with all that grusväg. So I think that is how they made the race 'easier'. But I went out hard and would pay for that later on.

Back towards Lugnet there was an uphill singletrack I had seen before and it was a great one. There was also one point where someone was directing people to the left and there were all kinds of cyclists off their bikes. Öijer called this punkasten. So then it was down Mördarebacken on that useless slalom grusväg where I had zero grip and was basically stopped. I would see this one more time later. Then down to the ski stadium for a refill and a little drink of Squeezy gel.

Loop 2 was out towards north and was the shortest in actual distance plus I had already seen the first half the day before. But this is when it got pretty hilly and Falun hilly is even worse than Partille hilly once it gets going. Things were going well with the grusväg and the 26er but also during the 2nd loop the singletrack became longer and longer. There was one stretch that was like 2-3km and seriously tough. It was cracking me ever so slowly because this was what they call Dalateknisk with a lot of stones, roots and, in my case, off pist because I kept missing corners. So I was more than happy to finally roll down for the second and last food stop down at the ski stadium. I drank a lot of Squeezy gel this time but I left some just in case.

Loop 3 started with Lugnets blå/röd and a little sidetrack before the superb little hand-built trail which I had done twice the day before. Seriously it is wonderful! But after that it got serious and I remembered 2008. They called it VM-1993 spår and it is a nightmare of hills. Now...enter Allebike Ipsum 26...and Mr. Iskallt from Göteborgs CK. I don't think I made any friends at this point. Every single uphill I was passing people who were seriously dropping like flies in the last 15km. But I was getting even more iskall because, for once, I had no sign of leg cramp at all! There was one from Eskilstuna I was battling with for awhile because he was faster downhill but eventually he let me pass and gave up and I beat him by 6 minutes. There was also another group I had been with for awhile there and it was the same thing...I kept on going and left them behind. Now I was more confident on the singletracks so I kept my position fairly well give or take a couple. Then there was a sign saying '3 more hills to go' and I went mad and was even shifting down before I reached the top. After that was their other handbuilt trail which would have felt better if I hadn't already done the rest. So my upper body was dying and I felt the first sign of cramp. There was two på rulle and I knew what was coming so in an insane move I shifted down and attacked when we hit the grusväg and sprinted away as well as I could to get some space because I knew the slippery Mördarebacken was coming. This time it was okay and I flew down towards the stadium to go over their newly-built ski corner where one guy managed to get up the hill quick, I was useless and another was seriously high on adrenaline and actually fell off trying to miss me. =) So anyway I outsprinted him because he didn't even try and I could finish in grand style.

This 61km took 3:37:47 which is a whopping 1 hour faster than 2008 and yet I feel like I could do even better. If I had been in HMotion that would have placed me 149th of 223 which is a clear improvement.

The question remains how did this work when basically everyone else had 29er and were floating along downhill and on the singletracks??? Well, the time I lost going downhill I could make up when it became flat again. I proved this over and over. On the singletracks I could not do so much but it went way better than on my old bike. But I can slow people down here. So that leaves uphill. The time the 29ers were losing uphill was far more than what they won going down. I don't get it...but I like the result!