Since this is a cycling blog, I suppose it is expected for me to comment on Nicklas Axelsson and his positive doping test. But to be fair we should really wait for the B sample before saying anymore. Still, no matter what happens cykelsverige will have to put up with negative press, bad public opinion and stupid comments from TV4 reporters. I am from Canada and we have had a few high-profile doping cases over the years. But none of them have made a comeback because once you cheat and get caught, you are done. So no articles in Kadens, in other words.

So what about doping in Sweden. Finns det? When I first came here in 1999, everyone was convinced that Swedes never use hard drugs. They only stick to alcohol and snus. But everyones knows that Stureplan brats/celebs are getting high on something and the facts clearly say that Sweden was a leader in amphetamine use. Looking at the stats now, many teenagers are using anabolic steroids to help them with their weightlifting...clearly a case of doping. So how do we know that Swedish cyclists are not guilty of doping too? I have only once seen a doping test at an MTB race in this country. I strongly believe that it is good to paint a picture of the clean Swedish cyclist but we will look pretty stupid if that isn't true.

Although I don't think that doping would be all that common in cykelsverige. First, winning races here will not get you that much prize money. If winning a race would give you 50000kr, I can bet that there would be more doping.

Unfortunately, I think many have considered doping at some time. Some people are naturally more vulnerable to get stuck in an addiction and this is due to many factors including life conditions, family history or personality type. I am sure that we all know someone who just can't stand losing. And I am happily not one of those since I lose all the time. But we all need to pay attention to 'bad losers' because they may be tempted to cheat to finally win and feel good. Qualities like risk taking and fearlessness can make someone great at MTB or other extreme sports but the same qualities are risk factors for alcoholism and drug dependence. And if you don't believe me, I can give you hundreds of medical papers for proof. Studying this is my job, afterall.

What do I suggest then? Even more education about the dangers of doping and addiction in general. If I could get any research money for this, I would kickstart this myself. But money is always a problem. In the mean time, cykelsverige can hope for a major doping case in some other sport so we can keep some kind of reputation.

Finally, I have officially trained for the first time in 2010 and it feels great to be back at it.

This is my Tacx Satori trainer holding my all-to-familiar Merida cross bike. Is there anything I can't use this thing for? And the 70s-inspired futon in the background is naturally from IKEA.

This 30 min session was supposed to be a series of kort-kort intervals but because I had problems with tire slipping, I could not accelerate so fast. Instead, it was a gradual increase in speed and around 1 min instead. Have to fix this.

And then I went for a nice walk in the forest where I actually could have run since there was enough new snow to cover the ice. But sometimes I just need to take in the nature at a fast walking pace instead.

It has been a bit bildfattig here lately so here is a picture of my bike storage room.

Or is that actually a closet in my apartment? Since I live alone, I am quite free to convert closets to bike rooms. I thought it was a good solution for wheel storage...at least until you need to take one down.

Just how is it going with everyone's winter training? Mine is going crap, to be honest. At first I thought that it was okay to take a little jullov from training but this is getting out of hand. The temperature here in Göteborg is a constant -8C so running is not all that safe. I am tempted to just go buy some spiked shoes because then, by fate, it will be warm again and I will have no use for them.

Tonight there is a testcykel pass at MCK so if I had planned better I could have actually went. Still, there is no excuse now. I have my cross attached to a trainer, afterall. I would just rather be outside enjoying the nature.

Maybe tomorrow I will take a nice walk to compensate for having to train indoors. Yes, that sounds like a plan. Or should I dust off my skis which I haven't used for 3 years? Skiing would work if I had any technique...

Now seems to be the perfect time to look back on my bests and worsts of the 2009 cycling season.

MTB XC
Bäst Västgötacupen: Ymerracet Borås
Something was right on this day and I could control my sliding in a wet Borås. This was the first time of the year where I didn't finish last and I passed 4 people by running up a hill, a strategy I used many times in CX.

Sämst Västgötacupen: Dynamitracet Uddevalla
Wet course...fell three times and I only had to do two laps. Most of the problem was that I could not find the place so I was too late to try the course.

Improvements for 2010:
I will still see these races as teknikträning and I will probably move up to Senior class to avoid starting with 40 people in Sport.

MTB Marathon
Bäst långlopp: MTB SM/Bjursåsbiken Falun
For the first time I had a great start and was keeping up with many along the grusvägar. At the halfway point I was in the middle of the battle between the leaders of D30 class until I had to stop for a drink (they had people to hand them stuff). If only I hadn't run completely out of energy around 55km. Still, 68km is the right length for me and this race proved that I do have the potential.

Sämst långlopp: Långa Billingeracet and Grenserittet
Neither of these were really horrible but because of my revbensfraktur I could only do three races. Billingen was worst because I was simply not trained well enough for it. But I did have a great finish and was not last place in H30. And Grenserittet gave me a taste for more Norwegian MTB races and was my first attempt at starting fast. But a hell of a cramp in the middle meant that I had to slow down. I also did not realize that the last 20km were essentially flat so I could have went faster. My last 10 km was impressive.

Improvements for 2010:
More races and more Norway are key parts of my långlopp strategy next year. Better training will also help. I also need to spend more time adjusting my bike so I can be more stable in tougher terrain and on the grusväg downhills.

CX
Bäst CX Cupen: Valhallcrossen Stockholm
My worst race in 2008 was this one but 2009 it was my best by far. For the first time I had the energy for the 40 min and I could battle away with others at the back of the field. This was the first cross race of this year where I knew that this is my sport and this is what I will emphasize most 2010. That kind of feeling is priceless.

Sämst CX Cupen: Allecrossen
I was sick for this and probably never should have started. Things went much better on this course at CRC CX1 in my first cross race of the season.

Bäst Göteborgserien: CRC CX6
How could I possibly close that much of a gap up to Peter and then manage to build up an equal gap in front of him in only 4 laps? This was magical.

Improvements for 2010:
Start training cross sooner is a major improvement. By the time my shape was coming, CX Cupen was over. But the main improvement will be a Ridley X-Ride frame in combination with the components I want rather than what the stock bike has. My Merida can be my second bike.

Other cycling:
I did a bit of other cycling in Göteborgserien so I got to try a few things I would not normally try.

Bäst LVG moment: DM at Fjärås
Even if I was actually lapped, the GP-style course was a great one and gave me a nice sense of speed.

Sämst LVG moment: Orust Runt
I pretended to be a motionär for this race just to test the rumour that it is much easier to ride in a group. I found a group which planned to average 30km/h for 80km, something I could never manage on my own. In a group this was a joke. I was basically coasting around. It was only out of kindness that I didn't spurt away from them for the last 5km.

Surprising LVG moment: The three tempo races in GBGserien
The bergstempot at Brudaremossen basically gave me an asthma attack. The second in Kungälv actually proved that I could push myself through the pain and managed over 40km/h on my 10kg cross bike! And in Landvetter I also had a respectable performance. In fact, after these races I felt stronger and had more confidence. Yes, interval training can be useful.

Once I have thought a bit more, I will list out my goals for 2010. But 2009 was certainly a year of great improvements and I owe that all to a truly great cycling club...Mölndals CK.

I can tell that the cycling season is on a break because my visit statistics have dropped way off this passed week. I have only had Google Analytics running since 21 nov so I missed the real peak of visitors I had after the link from Öijer and the MCK page. But I thought I would share some numbers anyway:

Visits: 285
Absolute unique visitors: 105 (great considering the number of people I know)
Page views: 654
Average time on the site: 2:46

Looking at the origin of the visits the toplist is:
Sweden: 252 (majority from Mölnlycke, Göteborg, Borås and Kinna)
United States: 6
Canada: 5
United Kingdom: 4
Belgium: 2 (excellent!)

And then we get to the most entertaining...which search phrases have led someone to visit this page. These are great!
ballet for cyclists (1)
bomnyckel (1)
belgian cyclist cock (1)
cyclist cock (1)
bilden beers (1)
extreme headache during svinflu (1)
canadians in goteborg (1)
fjortisar (2)

So to get my visitor numbers up, I will use this off season to fill my blog with what the people want...ballet, beer and medical information.

Thankfully, there was also one visit to my page following a search for 'MCK Elit 2010'. I can only wish... =)

I don't know about everyone else but when I have a bit of money to spend, my first choice is Copenhagen. That city has everything for design and cool clothes and last week things were even on sale. Copenhagen is also a true cycling city as you can see from this picture at the centre of it all.

In Denmark it is also quite okay to drive over people who walk on the bike path. I only wish I could do that here in Sweden.

You can read more about cycling at Copenhagen Cycle Chic, a site which has some political details, links to local info and quite a few pictures of women riding bikes in dresses. Have to give the people what they want, I suppose. Although the section on people carrying Christmas trees on their bike is fun also.

To be a true cross fan, I need to become a supporter. On the Men's side, that is tough to choose so I will start with the Women's instead. Daphny van den Brand of the Netherlands. You can read all about her at www.daphnyvandenbrand.nl, assuming you speak Dutch, of course. You may ask why I do not cheer for the current leader Marianne Vos? Well that would hardly be politically correct in Sweden. Besides, I think it is kind of cute with braided hair that you can actually see since most women hide all of their hair inside their helmets.


These are some shots from her victory December 20, 2009 in a snowy Kalmthout. (Pictures from her site).

VT4.be worked perfectly today so I could finish the weekend with another fine cross race, the Diegem superprestige. Bonus points for racing almost in the dark. It reminds me of our last MCK wednesday night training when I couldn't see anything and I had no brakes.

Today looked like quite the mudfest and it was nice to see a course full of every cross element instead of all sand or all mud. A good mix is fun to watch. But yesterday's race had more excitement value. Niels Albert won by quite a good marginal and Sven Nys had gear trouble on the last lap...again. Was it him that was running Shimano Di2 or? Oops.

My plan was to sit on the trainer and watch the Heusden-Zolder race today but it ended up way more exciting than I expected. I can train another day...

At first I thought it would be boring since the sun was shining but that mud was slippery and those lovely little mud hills certainly led to a few crashes. Nice to see Pauwels win but you just have to be impressed by Albert's attempt to catch up and good old Sven Nys taking over 3rd spot on the last lap. Wow! This was cross at its finest.

Hopefully VT4.be works tomorrow for more superprestige.

Canadians celebrate Christmas on 25 dec so my plans for today are probably not very traditional. And when some guy tells me he has 'dålig samveta när du springer förbi', perhaps running is not what I am supposed to do on this fine snowy morning.

This is the weather I have been waiting for...just above 0C, no wind, squishy snow everywhere in the forest. When you get this chance in Göteborg, Kalle Anka has to wait. I started with a nice 20 min warmup which took me up the massive hill a first time and conditions were fine. No slipping. It was time to throw in a few intervals to make the trip less of a gubbtur. First was a mini hill up to Björndammens terass...about 15s up. A good one to start with. So that was 2 times there.

Then I had to try the more serious hill which was a more gradual and steady climb of the type which kill me on the bike...almost a minute up this time.


The first 2 went well but I could feel my lack of training at the top of the second one. So my last was about 90s and a real bitch but who said interval training was supposed to be pleasant?

I ended with some terrain running which was fun but slow, then my spurt finish which was a fine finish to this 45 min.

Anyway, I just want to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas and I hope you will keep visiting next year.

Today is my birthday and that means I turn 34. Only 6 more years now until I am officially a gubbe. This also seems to mean that I am now in the 35-39 class since I will be 35 next year. That will help for Norway but changes nothing here.

Anyway, obviously I needed to buy myself a little present and Cyclecomponents has some great deals at the moment.
I wonder what this could be?

It seems to be an FSA Gossamer compact crankset! What a lovely present! =) This is the first part of my new cross and at half price, it was a bargain.

Things have been pretty quiet here on the blog the last few days. Not really much to talk about except that I am on a 'paus' from training now that it is freakin' cold here. Well, -7C isnt that cold but I don't have dubbdäck for my bike or proper shoes for running. I know that is no excuse since I can sit on the trainer or do some strength training. But it is coming. Christmas break means that I have more time for this stuff.

But if I still have any readers left, I can take this time to write a bit more about myself, my race goals and other fun things. And hopefully I will get my phone connected to this so I can send some pics live from my training trips out in the wonderful Göteborg nature.

It's been awhile since I have had the time to enjoy a nice beer but with a julfest coming tomorrow, it is best to remind my liver what it is supposed to do. =)

Today's featured beer is called Chimay, one of those Trappist dark ales of the 9% type. I have to admit that those monks have done a fine job with this one. It as quite a fantastic flavour with very little bitterness, sort of like a julöl but better. I think I will be taking this part of the tour again...

Two amazing photographers covered Luciacrossen on Saturday and I have to post these 3 pictures of myself. I will certainly get in contact for an enlargement or two. It is Christmas time afterall. =)

The first gallery (colour pictures) is by Patrik Stolt and the second gallery (svartvitt) is by Christer Hedberg.


This was Lap #1 with Peter right behind me...only seconds before the deciding hill.


And this is me running up that deciding hill on a later lap since that was the fastest way for me.


And this pic is fantastic! I finally have a race face! But no wonder since you can see Peter in the background just passing the football goal. No time for me to smile, in other words.

Öijer has taken a break from his new fjortis blog to update CX Cupen with a new picture gallery...Otur 2009. This was an obvious update choice because everyone loves a good crash. And I seem to have made this prestigious group for my adventures in the sand at Kumlacrossen. =)

In my own defence, this is my first season of cross with any actual cross-specific training and it was just this race where I learned the difference between playing in the sand (see above) and racing through it.


I was not alone in my otur though. Above you can see MCKs expert CX trainer instructing us on the 'ninja rull' method of cornering.


And Magnus Darvell also takes a fall now and then. So I am among some good company in this gallery...

And so it was time for the grand finale of the Göteborg series of CX races and this meant a trip to Mölnlycke instead of Skatås. And what awaited us there was a pleasant surprise...the ultimate cross course. It had a running hill with a tough left turn into it then another short hill which I will talk more about later. Then it was time for some rough grass/mud followed by the grus...so much grus. And corners...so many wonderful corners! And to top it off, we had to run up a short set of stairs, navigate through a sandbox and over some BMX hills before ending with the plank hinder of proper size. I probably used a bit too much energy before just riding around because I was having so much fun. But it was good for making strategy.

I am sure you are wondering how things went with the Superprestige race to avoid last place. Since there were quite a few beginners today, there was little chance of being last but Peter was still there and keen for a victory. We started next to each other but this was the world's most lugn start, mostly because of the sharp left turn almost immediately. Peter immediately pulled in behind me and I knew that his strategy for the day would be to wait for me to make a mistake. And on this course, that was the best choice.

There was a bit of traffic to deal with but by the asphalt part I could easily whizz passed all of the MTBs. The first run up the hill was good and I was able to get into the pedals quickly for the next part. Then came that short second hill I mentioned. I knew I would get stuck on it because it was immediately after a tough turn so the plan was to jump off the bike and run up. I did this and behind me I heard 'FFAAAANNNN!' which I assumed was Peter getting stuck on the hill. So that was my chance to get a gap but his daughter Kajsa was right in front of me (pre-arranged, I wonder?) but I made a bit of a risky pass in my eagerness to get away from Peter.

The gap was about 20 m but I could always see him close behind. But this course was not meant for taking off on people since the corners were so tough. I decided to try and gain time on the stairs and the planks and I have to say that I have never gone into these things with so much speed and aggression. I was jumping off the bike at the last minute with quite speed but it did work.

After this there was not much left to say. The distance between those in front of me and those behind me stayed pretty much the same. And the last lap was time for a duell again with David who tried to lose me on a straight but didnt. =) And if I had known that the race would be finished after the last straight, I could have ended the season with a cool spurt. But I am very satisfied anyway.

So today I did get to njut a bit but this was about as tough as it gets. Overall, it was the perfect race to end the season with. This was exactly the day I needed to keep my motivation up for next year's cross season.

Thanks to all the organizers for fixing a great day and also thanks to those watching. It does help to hear people cheering me on. And there should be at least 4 pictures of me so I hope to see them also. =)

Cycling season is officially over tomorrow and I have to admit that this year has been very long. But I can look back and be fairly satisfied with my achievements this year and for learning three things:
1. Cross is my thing and I should emphasize this most next year.
2. Norwegian MTB långlopp suit me quite nicely.
3. Tempo is a good way to interval train but without the cool helmet and the special wheels, one looks a bit silly.

So 'njut' will be the word of the day tomorrow. Somehow I doubt that will be possible with a 1C temperature, a frozen car, questionable brakes/tires, a completely new course to learn and a certain rider quite eager to crush me. But I will try my best to njut anyway...

Last night was the kickoff for MCKs new focus on bringing more elit to MTB. And I am ganska nöjd with the benefits this program will bring to me too.

The first difference is that Karlsson will help us with individual plans for our training based on which goals we have for next season. And I assume that this will also mean extra training for me to start bridging the gap between my level and the others in 'H Sport'.

One message was quite clear...during the winter it is better to spend time on styrkträning and alternative activities like running or skiing instead of cycling all winter. I am not planning to entirely stop cycling but it is nice to know that if I ride once a week it will be enough providing that I keep up other training forms. It is also nice that I can do most of this at home so I will not need to worry about my stupid car freezing all the time.

As expected, the summer training will be focused on XC which is not really my thing but I should be able to pick up some better technical skills on Monday/Thursday. I think Karin's question about a women's group was a bit misunderstood since what is still missing is a 'långlopps' group that trains distance with lots of grusväg. So I predict that 'MTB andra klungan' will also make its premiere next season for at least 5 of us.

Maybe I am wrong about my training but for my långlopp times of 4-5 hours, I need to train my body to get through that 'collapse' feeling I always have after 3 hours. And I do not see how interval training will help me with that.

In order to be truly great at cross, I need to sound like I come from Belgium. So from now on my name will be Chris van den Hout. =)

And the performance enhancement of my new name alone should give me an excuse to skip training tonight. I finally got my svinis vaccine today so it is probably not the best night to go mad with intervals on the trainer. But tomorrow...just you wait...

In an attempt to keep my training up, I have booked myself a hotel for Ronde van Vlaanderen, otherwise known as the Tour of Flanders down in Belgium.

Naturally, I will be racing on April 3rd which is the day before the real race and I will try the 140km race which includes all of the hills and stones but not the first 120km which seems to be flat and boring. That part isn't even televised.

And what will this race cost? 15€!!! Seriously. A whole race for the price of a normal CX cupen race here. Of course it will cost to actually drive there but this is a chance of a lifetime in my opinion. Let's see how my fancy new MCK uniform, my cross and my muscles compare to some real Belgian wielertoerister. =)

At the MCK julfest last night I was quite surprised to find out that I won the KM (club championship) in MTB in H30 class so I got a nice medal. If I remember correctly, that was the race hosted by MCK behind our clubhouse which was no easy race.

Then the surprises continued because they brought the things I won from the Göteborg series which I couldnt get because of my little svinflu thing. So I happily accepted a silver medal for the H30 DM (district championship) in both MTB (Kungälv, which was a race I was very happy with) and LVG (Fjärås, which was painful in every way).

And for my patience in showing up to almost every Göteborg series race this year and racing all kinds of disciplines I have never tried before (e.g. tempo, sprint, even LVG was new) I was awarded my first actual sports trophy for 2nd place overall in H30. And that was way better than the 4 pieces of paper I got for suffering 6 years through the PhD program.

After the race of my life in the morning, this was a lovely finish to the day...

And so it was time again to visit a grey and wet Skatås for the 6th race in the Göteborg cross series. That also meant time for another round of battle for us in 'andra klungan'. Since the battle to avoid last place is extremely serious, I will name this 'Göteborg Superprestige'. Sounds good eller hur? And the Göteborg Superprestige was pleased to welcome a cyclist from Sävedalen CK.

Since it was wet, the grus corners were better this week so I managed to avoid any falling. My start went pretty okay but by the end of the first asphalt stretch Peter passed me with quite the load of determination. So his lead became 25m quite quickly and I was already getting quite worried. But this is cross and anything can happen over 5 laps. On the second lap I made a mess of the sand part and was passed by the guy from Sävedalen CK which triggered the start of the first battle. I stayed with him for the rest of the 2nd lap and I can't remember exactly what happened but he fell and I took off and that was the end of that.

The nice thing about Battle #1 was that it got me quite close to Peter so the 3rd lap was spent closing that gap. I made up most of the time at the stairs because after 15 min of this, no one wants to run up stairs. Right after jumping over the cement pipe, Peter then fell while jumping on his bike, probably because I was stressing him. =) So I passed but he was right on my tail through the finish stretch. This was lap 4 and I felt pretty okay so after one corner I pedalled as fast as I could and managed to get a gap. That little 'spurt' also meant that I caught up to David who was probably not thrilled to see me go flying passed on the grass. He did pass me again on the next corner but I was motivated to get away from Peter so I passed again and tried to make my best of the long asphalt bit before the stairs. And that was it...no more Peter. No more David either. With one lap to go, I was in good shape to take this Superprestige race. And I did after a cautious but fast lap.

With my current lead of 3-1, I could technically just roll around next week for Luciacrossen. But the two classes start separately so there could be more people to watch our battle and that is always nice. All I can say is that I love cross. This is cykelglädje for me! Thanks to everyone I am racing with for making it worth training in this very dark month.

In other news, MTB-pro Åsa Erlandsson stopped by to try out CRC CX6 but she had a flat tire early on. And I will be nice and not point out that by finishing, our Superprestige group actually beat her. No no...that would be mean. No link to her website either since my virus scanner went nuts after clicking on it. Someone should probably fix that.

So now it is time for MCKs julfest and I am in charge of bringing bread. Should I bake it myself or just buy some? Silly question...

Should I reveal my secret training program? A win tomorrow will be enough for me to win the war for second last place with Peter. Assuming we forget about Borås. In fact, a year ago I was still living in a rather bad part of Borås so I would like to forget that.

Okay, my secret training of the day was moving the last of my things. All those little things like my sofa and tables. However, this stress was worth it because I had the chance to drive a big truck.

So Friday night will be very slow and hopefully I can get my brakes adjusted without too much frustration. Because tomorrow it is time...

Since monday it has been enough below 0C that everything is pretty frozen. So running was out of the question and I have no dubbdäck for the bike. So winter is here and I celebrated with a TC session on the trainer.

And this was quite a festival of sweat if I may say so...
10 min warmup
10 min of 1+1 min intervals on increasing resistance (last was 2 min)
5 min of jumps on a count of 4
5 min cool down followed by complete exhaustion.
Yes, I need more training. A bit of food may have helped also.