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.

Speaking of Continental CrossXKing tires, I noticed that their 2013 line-up includes a tubular version. Yes...give me now. I try. My guess is a tubular CrossXKing would pretty much take care of any tire choice dilemmas.

And then the schedule for Introcrossen has suddenly appeared in my Inbox. Nice nice. With this many races the motivation to get a tävlingslicens drops even more. So, Göteborg Superprestige lives on...

I realize that most of you out there would never dream of considering anything but tubulars for your cyclocross. And I also understand the benefits of tubulars and know the feeling of when things float along nicely. But Continental just released the CrossXKing tires which are the cyclocross version of the MTB tires that changed my life. On my MTB those things work in every condition and I was flying along effortlessly. Those tires have saved me many minutes in long races. So obviously I had to try the cross version.

The numbers look pretty good. Their RaceSport version is race-legal 32 mm and 3 pli/180tpi is certainly comparable to the Vittorias and Tufos I have tried before. But their suggestion of 3 bar will probably turn off most of you immediately.

After the sliding incidents back in the 2010/2011 season I chose to get a very serious mud tire and use it all the time. The name CX Pro was obviously just a name because these had the steel wire to keep them in shape and treads the size of BMX tires. The grip was amazing even if it felt like 2kg on each wheel. But that was the snow season when organizers made every track into MTB so I needed grip. I threw on the CrossXKings on the only other clincher wheelset I have, the very non-cross Shimano RS20s. But still it was guaranteed to feel better than the bomb-proof rims from my old Merida and the 2kg tires.

Better? Oh yes. Having ridden yesterday with the old tires and today with the new I can definitely feel the difference. And I also know that they have least grip at first and just get better after a few weeks of use. The best thing is that they have a nice line of treads right on the edge of the tire and for the first time ever I was able to lean way down in the corners without any sign of slipping. The wet grass was also quite positive. I could constantly sustain my pedalling 2-3 gears lower than yesterday with the old tires. This was exactly the same improvement as when I first tried my Tufo Prestige tubulars.

But we will have to wait until Wednesday and the 'real-world' testing at Slottsskogsvallen...

So now the day is here and we get all this info about CX Cupen that we have been eagerly awaiting for. So there is plenty to read at SCF, CX Sweden and Facebook. Since CX Cupen is no longer a kind of dictatorship there are not really any drastic changes. Drastic changes are impossible in a democracy and would lead to another 89 comments on Facebook.

I find it interesting how no one is just directly pointing out the real problem. People who are fast are racing Superklass and they always win. And we could all give a list of the names of these 'people' because it is pretty obvious which cyclists are always at the top. So I think it is great that the varvnings rule is gone in Prestige but I still think someone has to kick a few Superklass winners up to Prestige. It should be enough to win two races in Super to be banned from it. So I fully support the testing of some kind of A/B points system because that is perhaps a more polite way to kick people.

In terms of my racing it is not looking great. I still have no tävlingslicens and to waste 700kr for only a couple of races is not my idea of fun. The fact that I have been able to do 4 top-quality MTB marathons without a licence demonstrates the flaw in the system. Either everyone should have a licence or no one should. If there is a way around the system everyone will start to use it. And they do.

Open Sport Mix is still 30 minutes and that I can do with engångslicens but it will mean that I probably only do one weekend of the Cup. I can see that there is some bitterness since tradition is broken. Falun is not starting the Cup and Sthlm has taken the finale from Göteborg. So I smell a bit of a southern revolt and a few lovely weekends in Copenhagen. I won't need a licence there and I can race 50 minutes.

There still seems to be nothing posted about CX Cupen for the year so my plans of getting a tävlingslicens are pretty much zero at the moment. It is also a sign that GCK's webpage now also has the link to the race schedule in Denmark. The enthusiasm for long-distance travel does not seem to be there this year.

Meanwhile, in Denmark I can take Motion class, race 50 min + 1 lap and pay roughly 50DKK for the experience. No licence. No problems. And one should point out that you can drive to CPH twice for the same cost as once to Branäs and if you stay in Malmö it is even cheaper for hotels.

Not to mention the reasonably-priced tasty beer options. De er dejlig!

Well, talk about a completely different situation compared to last CX training with GCK. It still started with half a day of rain but that managed to stop by the time we started. It seemed to be 'snabba pojkar' day as the best in Göteborg's cycling all converged to remind me than I am not quite so fast as I might think or sound when I write here. But great training it was and certainly a nice reunion.

This time (luckily) we stayed at Slottsskogsvallen and I had more control over my bike in the forest parts...so much so that it became superkul to take all the banked corners and little hill parts. Good good. But I also remembered that I never train at night so my body was screaming 'Ehh...e du go eller?' for the entire time. Have to work on that.

Some highlights were the sprint to the end of the grusplan followed by panic braking, jumping off the bike and running around the corner before remount and sprint back. This is something I have been training for weeks but at high speed and with dirt sticking in the pedals it just did not work. Fair enough. One thing that did work is my front brake since I was close to taking a handlebar vurpa in grand style.

Once we got to a lap we started with a bit of lagtempo with Patrik leading first. The stairs felt fine, the remount after was sådär and the one-shoe-out hill slide got easier with time. But on this first lap I misread a mud corner and took a fairly typical vurpa and did not hit my shoulder. That has to be a first. Anyway, upp på cykel and continue on the grass/grus/grus/grass/grus part until it was my turn to lead the lap. I did my best to do this at full speed and I also did my best to hit every possible water puddle and get completely soaked. Very fun. By the time we did the actual race I was dead so I just took my 5 laps at my pace, making sure to take the stairs each time (it was optional...but why skip the best part?). I also didn't get lapped which is a victory in its own right.

I tried to get some details from CC Lasse and the others but no one seems to know much about CX Cupen, the classes and even if/when Introcross will start. There were a couple positive comments about racing in Denmark and some will do the entire Swedish cup. But things should be more clear soon. For now I have a week of meetings and guest entertaining here but next Thursday I will be back in training business. Although first I need to clean my bike so a träningsvärk Skatås trip is looming...

On my first trip out towards Tahult I stopped at the bus shelter to check my map and I saw a note that is more true than ever..."This note has more readers than your blog". Funny enough this particular bus shelter was in the middle of nowhere so even this note could not have had that many readers. Yet it is still true. The cykelblogg trend is over now that everyone has a cykelblogg. When I first started with this I figured that no one would bother reading about my cycling and training. And yet people did. But now I only get readers searching for Ridley X-Ride.

By the way, the 2013 Ridley X-Ride can have disc brakes and I do not have one of these. So I would be more than happy to test ride one and promote it everywhere I go. I also read that Ridley will have newly-designed mountainbikes. Me want.

Anyway, the weekend started with my usual CX pass except this time in some proper sucking wet grass. Then it was Kulturkalaset followed by sleeping in on Sunday which led me to miss CX training. Blä. So instead I felt like a drive and that inspiration took me all the way to Dalsland to see their canal and other various beautiful lakes. Nice drive indeed.

Then tomorrow it is time for some CX training with GCK and I am definitely going because I already know I will not be able to train much for the next week. Just a few too many meetings/conferences all scheduled at the same time. But this is temporary. I will be the master of Introcross. =)

As you know I need a new MTB frame that is the correct size and with Eurobike in a couple of weeks there are plenty of things to google at the moment. If you are a tekniknörd with a wallet to support it, 2013 is looking to be the year for you.

I like a good comparison test and this one at MountainBikeAction caught my attention. And what worries me is that basically every company that has leaked their 2013 lineup seemed to be 100% 29er. But according to the test the 29er is slow to get rolling, harder to stop and means that you can get away with bad technique when the trail gets rough. I got the feeling that 29ers were for fat lazy people that did not really care about skill and did not want too much excitement. Kind of like the people who buy Korean cars. This test was all for 27.5er while the good old 26er came last. It said that you have to be talented to go fast on a 26er.

There is basically no complete 27.5er on the market yet unless you can squish bigger tires on your 26er and probably Eurobike will show us a whole pile of new options. But it will cost. The first production year is always expensive because trend sets the price and not reality. Kind of like how an Autumn 2012 pair of jeans costs 1400kr yet an almost identical pair of jeans from last year would cost 700kr at an outlet. I don't think I can jump on the 27.5er trend in the first year unless it can work with the components I have.

So it looks like I will be continuing on a 26er if I can still find a frame in that size. I have the fork and the components already so this is the cheapest option until 27.5ers are available here and all the bugs are fixed. And while I am doing so I can pass 29ers going uphill, I can crush them in a final sprint and I can claim to have superb technical abilities for riding it through singletrack without falling. Plus, I get more training out of the whole deal. Yes, give me a 26er again.

To be honest there has not been very much cross in Chris Cross these last few days. Way Out West left me humming German songs and extremely tired so my Sunday morning trip on the Ridley was not terribly fast. But I did tackle the grass hills at Kviberg again so my muscles did get some benefit. And the tempo riding along the path beside Säveån was great for handling at high speeds.

Since then Göteborgs Kulturkalaset has occupied my time and also filled my stomach with yet more junk food. But I am still trying to keep up the training so I have the routine up before I get piles of work again.

I also seem to have taken a big axe to SCF on Facebook under the CX discussions because I really do believe that no beginner in cycling will ever agree to pay a pile of money just to race a few motionslopp now and again. And the lack of incentive means we have piles of excellent cyclists that are outside of the system. I work with several of them. Maybe I am just a bit sensitive tonight since my TV box is busted and now I will have to go and yell at Telia and probably get stuck buying a new one. But it just seems to me like things are very messed up in a sport that could potentially be great for so many people. In only their second year Dalslands X-Country had over 500 cyclists and they had nothing to do with SCF.

Just make a good race. Don't complicate things with rules because people will lose interest.

Once again those at Vasaloppet have placed CykelVasan on the same weekend as the only music festival worth going to, Way Out West. And after finding out that Blur and Feist were on the list for one of these two events it was again an easy choice. Of course CykelVasan was already sold out by then so I suppose 'choice' is the wrong word. But I did choose anyway and paid a pile of cash.

And how is a festival like CykelVasan you might ask? Well, it is a lot like MTB marathon training because it lasts so long and you are in the same position for most of that time. After the first two hours your upper body gets all stiff and you start to get cramps in your legs. And when you feel hungry you stop at a strange looking tent and get something which is sort of food but mostly is just designed to get you to the next food stop. Then there is the dehydration risk which they have also solved by having some dodgy tap water stations. Both have their sprint sections where your pulse rises for 3-4 minutes but mostly you just enjoy the sights and keep going.

Sure, there are also disadvantages with WoW like getting marinated in cigarette smoke but things like crowding are just as common in MTB as festivals. And, just like MTB, you can always take it easy and go to the back where you can run your own race. At the end of the race you can have a medal while the festival equivalent is a T-shirt. Both can be used to bragg and make your colleagues feel like they missed the greatest event ever. And your colleagues will not understand and you will be forever labelled musiknörd, cykelnörd or some other nörd depending what is most trendy.

Or why not be ambitious and check out the proper races in Belgium? Here is a link to the CX schedule for the season 2012-13. Any race with a D - C - B on it would be open for us Veteran. Well, at least D class anyway...

I also found a blog called Dr. Funk's Belgian Cyclocross Experience which seems to be by a fellow Canadian that also caught the CX bug and had to try it out for real.

Hmmm....

Here is something for you cross riders down in Skåne...the preliminary CX schedule for Denmark. Check here for details. While Sweden decides to reduce the number of cup races they are basically running every weekend across the bridge. But their Post Cup seems to be the equivalent of our CX Cup, except that it has been around a lot longer.

Things that caught my eye were 24-25 nov and this CX Fix Etapeløb which sounds very unique. Their promo video here seems like fun. And I am assuming that everything with Sjælland will be fairly close to CPH so it would be easy to fill in those extra gaps in the schedule.

I still don't even have a competition licence for this year so it would be great if someone could post some details about the classes in CX Cup. If I can race in sport and get a few points while not having to get a licence it would be perfect.

Another weekend and that means another 2 passes on the CX. Yesterday was TvättaCrossen since the only real goal with the pass was to ride over to Skatås and use the hose to wash off the remains of PanicCrossen. But the wet grass all over Sävedalen meant a whole pile of spontaneous tree slaloms, grass hills and some hill running before taking 8:an and the other grusväg around Delsjön to eventually reach Skatås. I had to take a few laps around the small field next to the fenced football fields since it is famous for slippery gravel and I suck at corners there. The wet made it not quite as slippery but I tried a few corners with my shoe unclipped to try and really slide my way around. Need a bit more work at that.

And then this morning it was TempoCrossen which started at the grass field next to Allum where I did a few dismounts/stairs. Then over to Säveån where there are some nice little hills and tree slaloms but there was not so much to entertain a CX rider. So I decided on tempo to Jonsered to see if I could find anything there. Nope. Just a nice lake and a stop for a banana. So it was tempo back again via Kåhög and the famous wind stretch which not-surprisingly is a lot easier on the CX.

A lot of my training is just on basic CX technique because in my case I can gain just as much time with better technique as I can with better muscles. And my improvements this season suggest that my muscles are doing just fine. My bike remounts are much better already and I am working on corners. My acceleration is great and I am learning what my brakes can do and how the Ridley behaves. All this will save me minutes. Riding at max will still need training but GbgSuperPrestige will help with that.

People are starting to discuss CX Cupen already which is encouraging but before I decide on anything I am wondering about the cup rules. When you are like me at the bottom end of Superklassen the points do not really matter...even if I can place well in the cup by doing every race. I thought the point this year was to have less cup races and more local series. Other than GbgSuperPrestige I would not mind heading to Borås, Jkpg or Skåne sometimes too. So for example Branäs is of no interest at all for me. Instead I could go to Skåne or Denmark two other weekends and not end up driving any farther. But maybe I might change my mind if they come up with some smart points system. The rest of the weekends fit with my plans and to make my guess at the secret location for the Sthlm weekend I vote for Hammarby or that general area towards Hellasgården. I also vote for a rematch at Frescati. But I hope they are not thinking about Tullinge where Lida Loop starts because that is nowhere near anything.

The other day's Göteborgs CK posting by Sven sounded very urgent. In Sthlm they are already training CX. Oh no. And now I read on Öijer's blog that they will conclude CX-Cupen and give extra points to make sure everyone shows up. So I can see that the pride of Göteborg in the CX world was at risk. We must train...PanicCrossen!

This is the first club training I have done in more than a year so I overestimated the driving time to get to Slottsskogsvallen and was sitting there for about 40 min. During that time one hell of a thunderstorm had passed but things looked okay at 18.30. CC Lasse decided for what I thought of as untraditional CX training over at Änggården so my first job was to see if I could keep up with those in the upper side of Superklassen. I made it halfway up the hill before I had to give up the fight but that was satisfying.

But my brain kicked in with the rain and I started to chicken out everywhere. On my MTB wet rocks means a nasty fall over 50% of the time so seeing wet rocks was not making me happy. Even if I had plenty of grip and was not sliding, my brain would not let go. It wasn't so bad at the top and there were some nice chances for attacking hills and trying to catch people but when the rain really started and we began to roll back downhill my glasses had 'permafog' and I couldn't see anything, plus my brakes were not working plus, again, the wet rocks.

After this I was not so enthusiastic back down in the forest part at Vallen so instead I decided to run up the famous stairs a few times and roll around the grusplan and slide there. But I will be back even if next week is Way Out West and the week after I will probably also be festivalling.

For some reason I decided to check my visit stats and I have succeeded in grand style. Indeed this is Sveriges minsta cykelblogg. In fact no one in Sweden is reading it at all. The only visits I have are Google hits for my review of my fantastic Ridley X-Ride. In fact I deserve a discount or a free one for all this fine publicity...

So I could write about my new CX-etapplopp SlalomCrossen which I completed today. Obviously my Chris Cross name came from my enthusiasm for riding slalom between trees at training passes and certainly not my hiphop skills. And SlalomCrossen is definite proof of that. Yesterday some guy stopped walking his dog to look in fascination (or disgust) at me ride lap after lap around a set of 8 well-placed trees. And slalom is king when you get to 8:an and other nice grusväg parts around Delsjön. The great thing about cross training is that I can keep myself thoroughly amused without having to go anywhere else. For långlopp training I have to go far and spend a long time. Anything I do on my CX will make me breathe heavily. Interval is da shit.

Then I have written the word confessions in the title above...oooh...what kind of saucy secret will I tell now, you might wonder. But, nej, nothing like that. I just have to confess that my MTB from Full Dynamix is complete crap and it always has been crap. I have kept tolerating it because, like many Italian things, it looks fantastic and it cost a lot of money. First off the frame has always been too big for me and many have told me this. It is fine for långlopp with simple terrain but it is a rolling death trap in proper singletrack. I improved this a bit with Sid because the Recon on it was a hopeless shock. But the singlemost explanation for my problem in singletrack is the bike size. The second problem you all know very well...the clicking noise when I pedal. And I have still not managed to find the source of this despite taking everything off. And why have I not just put on the new XT group I bought? Well, the bottom bracket seems to be rusted on. Not to mention a worrying wiggle in the frame which I was noticing in Mörksuggejakten. I was slow in the downhills for a reason. So the whole bike is showing many signs of low quality and I could be so much better if I could only trust the material. My Ridley lets me hit speeds I would never dare to on my MTB. It is quality right through.

So when I keep cancelling races (like this weekend) or decide to not do any XC races there is a whole more behind it. I have to get rid of this rolling death trap of an MTB...and soon I will.

The ever-dependable SMHI had a Klass I warning for heavy rain and lightning this morning and there actually were some nasty dark clouds so their forecast might be true. To me it just sounded like absolutely perfect weather to jump on the Ridley and have a nice wet grass session.

My theory that you have to be a proper athlete to actually train in such crap weather was proven true because the only person I saw was runner Mustafa Mohamed. Okay, I also saw a guy on a LVG who looked very pissed off in the rain. To help him feel better I decided to pass him on the grass. I am so kind.

It looks like I need to vary my locations quite a bit because on this my 5th pass I can see a nice trail. Luckily Sävedalen is full of so many little grass hills that I can spread out my tracks and perhaps hide under the disguise of different cycling clubs. But after seeing what horses can do to trails in Jonsered I don't feel too bad about actually churning up some wild grass here and there. Over at Kviberg around the old military building there are also some very nice grass hills for strength sessions.

It wasn't quite wet enough today to get that proper sucking grass but my pass tomorrow after all this rain should be lovely...

I work with many people who think that 15C is not summer weather. If that is the case summer is over and it's time for CX season. I have had two passes already...what about you?

Of course this is partially because I finally started to fix my noisy MTB. I started with the obvious and changed the chain but that did not fix any noise and actually put all the gear adjustments out of whack so it felt like I was back on my old Trek 6500 again (dropped chain every time there was a hill). But when I started fiddling with the gears I saw that the wires were useless also. I have bought the new XT groupset and was planning to save it for a nice new frame and then just use this bike as my cykelglädje spare. But now it looks like the best bet is to put the XT set on this one and see if that is good enough for the type of race I do. I am in no hurry to do that because if I will I am going to do things right and that means properly cleaning the old frame and actually checking for problems. For all I know there could be a crack somewhere. To be honest Mörksuggejakten was a fine way to end an excellent spring season.

Right, so I mentioned 2 attempts to revive Sävecrossen, my own local variant of the infamous Hondacrossen grass hell. Once again I have to start by praising my Ridley X-Ride because it just feels superb in every way! Much more superb than my unused back muscles in this particle bike position. Here there are plenty of little grass sections with small hills and obstacles so I could take around 5 laps and then move on to the next spot and experience pretty much everything I will see in a CX race (except fast cyclists, of course).

Training now is not at all a bad idea given that the first CX Cup race is mid-September and certainly all those local Kanskecrossen and Introcrossen things will want to be started long before the cup premiere. So maybe this is a good time to take an MTB break. I might actually be good at CX this season with some practice...

After trying out the perfect MTB trails at Lugnet in Falun (see Biking Dalarna) it was time for my 3rd Mörksuggejakten. This race still has it all so I am happy to see that over 1000 people started. If anyone asks me which XC marathon they should try first, the answer is always Mörksuggan.

I decided to start in Group 5 and apparently every motionär chose the same group. It was a bit of a panic with 400 all at once and people were cutting in and out all over the place through central Rättvik. The famous hill was also crowded so I had to shove my way through to be able to go the speed I wanted. Honestly it is not that bad. I stayed on middle klingan and passed a ton of people because the hill was no worse than what I ride up in Partille all the time.

As promised, the next part was muddy but my tires were so much better so I was pretty stable. Already here there were many in a hurry to get passed and I had already decided that I was racing against myself and not anyone else this time. My body was not feeling super strong after a crappy sleep in a useless Tällberg hotel. Back on the grusväg downhill section I was cautious as usual and I just don't get why people choose to sit 'på rulle' behind me on these parts. I did use my brakes because the rain had just started and it was slippery.

The first food stop was quite early on so I just grabbed an Enervit cup and didn't stop. By this point the track had already passed through pretty much everything one can expect from a race...and that is only the beginning. About all I remember from this part was that a lot of people passed me. I wondered if anyone was still back there but I suppose I really did pass a lot of people on the first hill. These races are always strange because you end up riding on your own and yet there are lots behind you. Strange.

And then it was time for Nedre Gärdsjö which is where you remember that this is Dalarna, land of red houses and cycling supporters who even brave the rain to cheer on everyone. Here I did stop for a Squeezy gel and I had put the equivalent of 5 gels into their little bottle which saved me loads of time. Shortly after this Mörksuggan tried to hitch a ride but I just politely waved and sped off to the famous bridge over the small lake and the start of the best part of the race.

The next 15-20km is basically all singletrack. It was here in 2010 when my dehydration kicked in and my shrunken shoes started pinching my toes so that every bump was pure pain. And again this time I could see that my body needed more singletrack training because this did start to hurt towards the end. My strategy was to just take it easy and not make any mistakes because it was wet and slippery. That meant a queue was building up behind me and also that several took spectacular falls when they did try to pass. I was not trying to get in the way but I was not going to just stop and let people pass either. This is how I run my race. And this also allowed me to enjoy the fantastic nature and get through with only a couple of minor slips. This is also when it becomes obvious that full suspension could be a good idea.

There is a climb up to Östbjörka but I never seem to remember it. After racing in Norway this particular climb was nothing to worry about. The rain had really started here so after a quick refill including the 'joy' of having Enervit dumped all over my hand (sticky? Oh yes) I was still kind of cautious since it was getting more and more slippery. So again it was slow and steady on the trails and careful on the little uphills and this time I was leaving the queue behind me. Consistency is a winning concept. Finally it was time for the two last climbs and actually these are the worst. Perfect for 15km from the finish and this was the only time I felt a slight hint of a cramp.

So the worst was done. Or? Actually no. The last 7km is quite tough and I admire that they dare to end this way. Many races choose to just make it easier and easier but this is a proper finish. Problem was I could not see anything because my glasses were fogged up and I couldn't clean them properly. So I did my most cautious downhill of the day pretty much blind.

Last 5km and time for my final sprint attempt. I managed to get my glasses clear enough to psychotically plow through lots of rough trail until a muddy downhill when my front tire went wild and I almost flew off. After that was those lovely little 'springbacka' as the skiers call them. Just a serious of pointless but fun little hills to see who has a cramp.

Then the finish. The extra little loop in the stadium was fun although no one was even looking at the cyclists. I was surprised to see that no one was making any effort here. The finish is in sight...WHY are you relaxing??? I passed 5 people here in grand style and rolled across the line in a semi-dead state. Good good.

I only had a rough idea of my time and it looked like I beat my old times by a little bit. So I had to wait until the next morning to see that my 2012 time was a satisfying 3:44:54 which placed me 311th of 405. That is almost 14 minutes faster than 2010 on the same bike! But better still that is 10 minutes faster than 2008 when conditions were perfect. So crushing my old times in the rain on a slippery course is wonderful. Now I can officially declare that I am improving...

After a series of problems which had me ready to just cancel the whole crap (knee pain, bike problems, etc etc) I just decided to go to Larvik anyway since I had already paid for everything. Whatever happens is fine. Of course I was not expecting such a rough boat trip across Oslofjorden but I did manage to keep my buffet inside rather than all over the taxfree shop. Good thing.

The weather was supposed to be just fine and when I woke up to see pouring rain on Saturday morning I decided to just roll around and go for pure cykelglädje. The weather got a bit better but it was actually worse than the last time I did this race. Hard to believe that was possible. Once I got into my Göteborgs CK uniform and started to hear how happy people were to see someone come from 'so far away' I felt like it was time to be mascot for Sweden. Good thing the GCK uniform has a big lion on the front.

The masterstart was with an actual Farrisrunden car and things were absolutely insane for the first couple km. People were flying along and I was just trying to keep upright. Funny enough my bike made no noises at all because it was so freakin' wet. Luckily a bit farther along people just sort of started to relax when it switched to the first grusväg and started going slowly uphill. But this was far too relaxed for me so suddenly the good old racing instinct kicked in and I started to pass people. Those in my startgroup were crap uphill but superb downhill so whatever time I lost down I could catch up easily.

The first trail comes after around 15km and there people slowed down to basically nothing. But I did not remember any major problems in these 3 sections in the first half of the race and I also did not see the electric fence this time. So by staying on the bike through most this part I managed to save a massive amount of time and was starting to see people from startgroup 10 which was the one that started 5 min ahead of mine. Good good.

At Kvelde it was Squeezy gel time plus a refill of sportdrykke before the 10km road section of which the first half was a massive display of speed from my side. Then starts the 200m vertical climb and the toughest hill of the day which I just flew up without even switching to the small front gear. This was not bad at all. At the top of that hill is another rest place which I just went passed since there was another shortly after at the bottom of the most psychotic part of the day...the downhill singletrack of Skolapperåsen. It was so wet that I didn't even try to ride down. Taking from my cross experience I just ran and in a lot of cases I was not losing any time at all. Running downhill is not a big deal and I think this little change of motion prevented me from leg cramps. Brilliant tip.


So then it was time for another short road section before the next food and gel stop. It felt like things were going much faster so I decided that, fine, maybe I should try for a good time afterall. That was naturally when the next nasty uphill started at Oklungen and people were seriously dropping off all over. Most races get easier towards the end but not Farrisrunden. But, to the joy of the people watching, my legs were superb and I was again floating up the hill although this time granny gear was used just to prevent cramps. I only had a very slight feeling of cramp a bit after this but I solved it quick on the lovely serpentine road downhill section.

And then from Kjose, just like last time, I got very frustrated at the Kringlemyr singletrack section which was purely unrideable and just a solid mess of mud that was about 10cm deep. I had to stop several times because my wheels would not turn due to the massive piles of mud stuck in them. It was absolutely horrible. And it is this section that sort of kills the whole race for me because it is just pointless. Finally, on the bike again, I managed to get it moving to tackle the last massive uphill of the day although now I was having pedal trouble so I had to actually run down the last little trail hill because I had zero control of the bike or my shoes.

All that remained now was the road section along Farris and since I had been walking I was full of energy and passed many here while I cruised along on the hardest gear. There was still another hill but when you are 5km from the finish these things don't matter anymore. Max speed. Pass everyone. And then came the very last hill up to the sports field and this is nasty. But this is where everyone is watching and they have a camera so I granny geared it and had to tell people to get out of the way since they were walking up. All the way up on the bike, beautiful feeling. Of course that meant I could only manage a rather feeble little finish line sprint but I had actually managed 20 seconds lead on those I was riding up the hill with. And we all know from cross how easy it is to lose 20 seconds and how hard it is to make it up again.

Yes...3:59:47 was my total time. My hill sprint gave me the time under 4 hours. And how long did it take last time? 4:27. Crushing my former time by almost 30 minutes is massive in every way... This was good for 210th out of 294 in the Men 35-39 class and 1172th out of 1700 overall.

My goal is complete now with Farrisrunden because I was just so disappointed last time. There were also some lows this time but I proved that I can, in fact, get a good time in Larvik. And a little international premier in Göteborgs CK clothes doesn't hurt either...

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!