And so after another hotel breakfast and 2 trips to the car with all my stuff it was time to roll off to Åstorp. I had never raced there before but I have heard a lot of good things about it...and they were all true! Today was the finest CX course of the year! There were approximately 4003 curves and most of it was grass but not wet and sucky like the last three times. There were still hills but they were not as steep so it was possible to keep on the bike and 'gasa på' if you happened to have legs for that.

Since seeding for the weekend was based on last week's points and many DNSed again I actually had Startled 1 next to Philip King (who later went on to a superb 3rd place!). The only time I have ever had front row is when they choose randomly or when CC Lasse reverses the order in Introcross. Anyway, no one was behind me because they knew and at the start I was actually fine but by the end of the start hill I was back to my usual last. This start was a massive shock to my body and I fought and fought to get back to the group and I did by the time the corners started. Okay, Patrik's wheel...nej, he jumped up a position. Who else? Hmm, by the time we reached one of the tight curves Lars E was the nearest in front again so I battled on until the slalom down to the mud hole part (which was fun with splashy splashy) and then he took off in grand style.

But this was a race of the unexpected because after I chickened out and ran down the drop (it had a hard-looking fence at the bottom) I saw someone from CK Master ahead of me carrying his bike. FIGHT!! So I accelerated and passed him at not the best point but if I had waited he would have blocked my way up the fun little bridge section. So I tried my best to get a good lead because the pit was just after that and he could change wheels So for a first lap this was quite lively. And then just at the start of the second lap I saw someone from CK CX also running with his bike so for the second time today I could say FIGHT!!! and pass someone else. So I continued to power my way through Lap 2 obviously not feeling near as sick as the last two races.

By the end of the start straight and into Lap 3 I was obviously feeling the aftermath of my attacks and I could sense company from behind. I held on about another quarter of a lap before being passed by Otto from CK Master but to make me feel better I looked forward and saw that I could see Lars E again and if I believed hard enough the gap was shrinking.

I had already calculated that it would be a 5 lap race and I would be doing 4 but since the day was going well and I actually finished 3 laps without a sign of anyone behind I decided to push on and see how long I could hold off. I was on the grass part heading back parallel to the grusväg start section and could see that they were coming like a bullet so I think I was somewhere around the löphinder when I started getting lapped. Still, 3.5 laps was not bad at all and I still decided to give it everything I had once I was lapped because it would be over soon. It is good to test myself when I am that tired and it shows that I am capable of it if I could just get a better start. That seems to be the missing link...

Anyway, since I was not passed by that guy from CK CX I assume I did not finish last so that is a wonderful end to a weekend that could have been a disaster. In fact I finished 22nd place which is way higher than the 42nd I started the year with. With all the points I will get from all the DNS I might just even visit the top 20 of the cup.

And so it was time to try out some cross in the deep south and Helsingborg is a good place for that. I was still partially sick this morning but my body felt better than a few days ago so I gave it a try. And from my two test laps I knew I had to start because they used everything the Dalhem park area had to offer and plenty of cross curves and almost 100% grass. Of course it was also the hardest track of the year so far which again may be evidence that my brain was not working exactly right.

Part of the challenge with cross season, especially when all the races are so close together, is to manage to stay healthy while the rest of the population is sick constantly. This is unfortunate for the coming Skåne weekend with the double blow of being the farthest away for most people and being in a sicky week with crazy weather. My own story started last Friday morning when I woke up with a sore throat. By the time I arrived in Norrköping I still had a sore throat. After a long sleep and a yummy buffet breakfast I seemed to do away with the sore throat and my race on Saturday went extremely well. Sunday was another story since my body had no energy to give. By Monday night I was losing my voice and Tuesday I was home feeling crap. But by the afternoon I felt better again and went out for a walk because it was sunny and 15C. But after that and all of yesterday I was sneezing and coughing. Normally this is a good sign that I am almost through it and today I have felt much better. But the coughing is still there and does not sound or feel very healthy. So with my plan to sleep in and work from home there is still hope for being reasonably healthy and I am sure I will go anyway. Of course the hope is that I can race both days because much less have signed up and even if I finish last I will get more cup points for my efforts. And then I am free to have the flu during the Karlstad weekend... But we all know that flu season is guaranteed to start in SM week this year. And one more thing...this season has been very bad when it comes to pictures of Chris Cross. I know people have taken pictures of me and I know I had something which was either a race face or a pain face. I would like to see these...

Okay, here comes a race report different from my usual ones just in case anyone was getting bored. Today Söderköping was rainy and very wet so things were not going my way at all. Johan started right next to me and I had a perfect start for once except Johan was way ahead. Huh? Already on the first sand part I had trouble clipping into my pedals so at the hill I had already lost a lot of ground. By the top I had caught up again and was there down the slippery grass slaloms down to the start area's hill of death. But this time the downhill was slippery and scary because it turned a bit at the bottom.

Who can forget this race in 2010...nothing is more epic than a super lap of wet mud that drops the average speed to slower than walking. Today was much drier but overall this track has a bit of everything that is CX. It had so much that I counted at least 3 things that could go wrong with my bike and decided to ride with my old Merida in the pit.

It felt good to finally get to race after covering most of the forest with my rake and taking care of so many leaves that I could change my name to match the Centerpartiet leader. So many leaves, nuts, rocks, glass and even a golf ball. But we cleaned it all and made an almost perfect track.

Day 1




So show precisely what Day 1 looked like here is a share of a great video by Åsa Erlandsson. If you look closely you will even see me with my rake in a grass corner up near the road section. But that was Friday and now I am sure you want to know how the race went. The random seeding put me kind of close to the back and after all the work with the track my body was completely dead. So the start went as expected and I was last instantly and struggling to keep up. It was fine at first but things spread out quickly and I changed my perfect race plan to the usual of trying not to be last.

Ahead of me was someone from Söderköpings SK although I didn't realize this because there was already a gap. But I caught up when he took 'my line' down the hill after Sven's super stairs of death and went kind of straight and was stopped. So I managed to slide passed and floored it. The next two laps was basically me giving it 120% trying to get away, mostly because I knew that I would mess up sooner or later. But the gap back was equal and I felt like this would just end with some kind of sneaky sprint. Then all of a sudden the gap was bigger and it grew and grew so I was safe. But forward I could not see anyone so the race ended this way. So that was 42nd out of 43 that started which was above expectations considering my muscle status. And I did a flawless race too...no mistakes.

Day 2

There was much less rake work the second day because we had prepared everything on Saturday and it was not windy. So after removing more leaves, glass, water bottle tops and all kinds of crap it was race time again. My seeding put me in the second last row which was fine because this start was insane as someone two rows ahead was sloppy and almost took us all out. I was last on the road straight but took a wide line and braked late and passed two people on the outside. The one from CK CX stayed behind and the other was the guy from Söderköpings SK again. But this time he seemed eager for revenge and passed me on the grass at the löphinder and I was behind him almost på rulle. He was doing very well and kind of forced me to take the bad line up the hill of death (immediately next to the stairs of death) but I was still på rulle down the other side. I made a move on the inside to pass but he did well in the outside line and I was again på rulle on the tricky part of the course with the slippery corners. And since I was putting the pressure on he fell in one of those corners and I kind of had to jump way up to the left to get passed. So now it was race time again just like Day 1. Around the forest corners and out on the road straight at my max ability and I had a gap. But just like yesterday it was not really growing much until the grass corners at the far end and then again at the hill of death. It hurt so jävla much on that hill and I am looking forward to seeing the pics of me where I know I have a race/attack face. And CC Lasse said that I actually opened up the gap a lot just in that hill. My body felt fine so I kept on at max for the rest of the time. But just like yesterday I could not even see the next guy up but I must have been getting closer. So again this was 42nd place but there were 2 behind and one DNF. Progress is good.

And so the fun continues next week in Söderköping where I suspect there will be some home advantage things playing in. Just think if it will be the same as last time...the most epic cross event I have ever done. So much wet grass...so slow...

And so it is the night before CX Cupen for 2013/14 and probably everyone is eating special food, studying every curve in the bankarta and planning when they will make that attack over last year's main competitor. Isn't it great? Cross is back again!

I can tell you that we have worked hard on the track and it is in superb shape. Actually we have never had it so dry and the grip in the corners is massive. It will certainly make for some speedway turns. I have been over most of the forest part with my rake and I know every part that is going to be fun once a few riders have been through. And most of the best riders in the country were already there tjuvträning. Darvell & co were very interested in our banked curve and kept trying different lines to see how it went. There is an inside and an outside track and there is a trick to it. A hint would be to think that this sport is called cross. We have this right next to Sven's stairway so all the action will be here on Saturday.

In terms of my own top form it is worse than ever. Every muscle in my body is dead from all the work and I suspect many leaves will be back again tomorrow morning so I will have to repeat. But we will all be there so it should go quickly and I think I have done more than enough.

CC Lasse and Björn have put together a wonderful track so come and watch or race. Missing this would be worse than missing CykelVasan...

With just over a week to go until the start of the finest cup series in all of Swedish sport we still only have 21 people signed up for Superklass for our premier races here in Göteborg. Then I started to worry that maybe this is partly my fault. I mean I have been very secretive about my month away in France and my race reports from Tidan and Vallen were a very clear sign that Chris Cross is in top form right now. And of course I can understand the potential humiliation it would cause to be beaten by a Chris Cross in top form. And this fear seems to have scared away every single rider from Dalarna.

I definitely am in top form but perhaps I should define it for everyone. The only top form I have had at the moment is that it is especially easy for the top riders to lap me. My top form was so complete that this lapping occurred 3 times in Tidan and twice at Vallen. So seriously, I have a very strong claim on last place and there is no risk for humiliation. Hopefully after this confession Darvell & co will join in on the fun and come to Sveriges framsida. I mean we even have a bridge in addition to Sven's stairs of death. You know you can't miss this...