My bike is nice and clean and it works as good as it always does so now I can start thinking of energy again. The only pusselbit I have left to figure out is the carb loading thing. Last time I essentially ate two buffet meals the day before and was so stuffed that I could hardly move. That strategy can work but it is hard to achieve or afford in most hotels.

So now I will try Vitargo which is what CykelCity seems to suggest and what kosttillskottslagret.se could send me very quickly at a good price. The Vitargo theory is to eat normally (does that mean chips and burgers?) and have two servings of their powder the 3 last days before a race. One serving is supposed to equal 3 plates of pasta. But how big is their plate?

As a recovery drink it is of limited use since there are no vitamins, protein or anti-oxidants in it. And for loading itself, well, it tastes horrible. But my stomach does not feel enormous after drinking it so that is good. Will it work? Soon I will know...

Now I would like to talk about the best-tasting recovery drink I have ever had...YT restitusjonsdrikk. This milk drink with a mix of banana and strawberry is perfect so next time I am in Norway I need to buy a car load of this. Good thing my car is small.

Of course Gainomax is pretty similar and I have been using that for a couple of years now. YT has less sugar than Gainomax and the taste is more natural. So this is probably what I noticed. Other than that, the content is the same.

After long races, nothing beats Enervit R2 but for shorter training like I just did, YT would do just perfect.

I have spent quite a bit of time on this blog mentioning Enervit but I am not sponsored by them nor do I receive free products. So in the interest of being unbiased, here is an alternative...Squeezy Sports Nutrition. You can read more about their products on their main site or the Norwegian one. The first thing one notices is the rather appealing minimalistic package design. In a sport like cycling where image is important, this is a good start. And, like other companies from Germany, Squeezy products are cheaper than their equivalent from Enervit.

On the weekend, I tried the Squeezy Energy Gel and it was very nice to my stomach. I normally have a problem with gels so this was a nice discovery. They also have an Energy Super Gel version with caffeine and other nice things, just like Enervit's new Competition series. So I will try out this for my next race.

With some searching, you can find most of their products online here in Sweden. In Norway you just need to go to any sports store. Wouldn't it be nice if sports stores in Sweden sold things other than baggy pants?

While BP is busy trying to stop the leaking oil over in Texas, I am having my own energy crisis. I want to avoid my 55km energy crash for Raumerrittet because 55km is the highest point of the race and it is followed by a lovely downhill part which I hope to fly through.

So I went for advice again at CykelCity and they are probably getting fed up of my energy questions. But soon I will switch over to cross questions which are more fun.

Here is the new plan based again on Enervit products which I do not feel like taking pictures of tonight. On Friday night I will try and find some reasonably-priced food (good luck in Oslo) and eat about 4 of the yummy Pre-sport jellies. My start time is 11.40 which means I am free to have a monster of a hotel breakfast before start. I may also have another Pre-sport but I probably won't need it.

Just before start I will have a banana, mostly because this is a habit. During the race I will constantly drink their new G Sport Competition in a very dilute form so it does not mess up my stomach. This new one has the same stuff as their brilliant cramp pills and of course it is con caffeina. This will give 100 kcal per package and if I am not feeling horrible after drinking this, I will take care of 2 packages by the food stop in Råsjöen which is almost the highest point of the day. And then I will see how I feel. I will have extra G Sport Competition and also Enervitene liquid which is instant energy. Probably the liquid will come at Aas Gaard since there is about 20km left and I will want to fly.

Will this be a winning strategy? I can't wait to find out!

I am up pretty early this Sunday morning to run a very scientific test. Certainly you have seen this advertised...

Evervit Pre Sport is supposed to save us from eating 7kg of pasta before our long races. And when I first started with XC marathons, I really tried to eat a lot of pasta. Truth is it never made a difference on race day. So I thought I would give this a try before using it in a race situation.

This will not be a perfectly controlled study since I also ate a big bowl of fruit/nut musli. But on top of that, I had one package of Pre Sport. This is supposed to give me 25g of slow and fast sugars. It looks like Jello and is quite heavy so I have no idea.

Either my pass in an hour will be brilliant or my stomach will be terribly upset. Soon we will know...