CX is everywhere lately. Kadens had a few pages on cross bikes and the dates for CX Cupen. And just today a forum for CX stuff (training etc) appeared on MCKs website. Bookmark here for future reference.

So plans must be underway for the season which is why I ask, or rather I beg that the 'pulled lapped rider' or 80% rule will not be used for veteran or sport classes. Last season most races followed this but not all. Interest comes to this sport from people trying out and if they have fun they will come back. That is how I got hooked. But in a class which is a mix of H30, H40 and H50 it will never be a fair race. I know I am not the only one who feels this way.

Once again, let us gubbar have our 30 min + 2 laps even if that takes 50 or 60 min. Especially those driving halfway across the country to race. Especially those who have just spent a hell of a lot of money on a new cross to improve a little bit. Because if not, those gubbar will be forced to sport class to be lapped by people on MTBs or forced to go to Denmark where they don't use the lapped rider rule in any class.

This is Day 3 of my cold now and last night was full of coughing fits. Not fun. But at least I don't have to worry about finding time for training.

Then there is this thing about which races give the most credibility among average Swedes. Over the last few days I have been collecting many comments and CykelVasan still has zero cred compared to Vasaloppet or VätternRundan. So even though everyone is calling this a great step forward for MTB, there is a long way to go. And the fact is still that advertising in Norway really brought the numbers up. But the organization was superb and the classes were simple...either Tävling or Motion. No 'Hsport' this or that like every other race.

I have already written here about doing Vasaloppet and about the triple races in Norway but am I willing to sacrifice CX season for that? Nja...not exactly.

Now the start lists have been updated and I have Pulje 54 for Birkebeinerrittet with start time of 11:25. That sounds a lot better than the 73 they gave me originally. So now I will be finished in time to see the elite finish.

Of course my latest time in CykelVasan probably qualifies me for an even better pulje but changing it will cost me 250NOK which is just mad. So now all I need to figure out is what to carry in my backpack to make it 3.5kg.

Oh, and a search yesterday asked the question of which tire to use for Birken? My vote is definitely for Continental Race King and the 2.2 width for eventual mud.

I had to get up at an insane 04.45 just to get the bus from Mora to the start in Sälen so I was pretty asleep on the bus. I had been drinking Vitargo twice a day from Thursday but I switched to an Enervit PreSport on the bus plus two bananas and the sportgryn from 05.00. So by the time the race started at 09.00, I was tired but not hungry.

The pace was fast from the start and the first hill was long but certainly not the worst thing I have seen. Smågan appeared after no time and I heard someone say that we had done 30km/h for the first 11km...not bad on an MTB and grusväg. Not much happened up to Mångsbodarna since I was trying to ride behind people as much as possible to save the wind and when things were slowing down I would pass and join the next group up. Of course this is mean but in MTB the strongest wins. No one waits till the end to make their move.

The first 2 stops were a 'splash and dash' since I just grabbed a cup and kept going. But things became risig near Risberg after a short km of wet gravel that just sucked my tires down. On the road part after that my legs were dead and I needed to stop at Risberg for a gel and a break. I actually felt that I would never make it which is unusual for so early on. But then came a nice long road part to get my confidence back and keep up the speed.

I knew that the last half would be all Vasaloppspåret so I pushed on through the road parts all the way to Evertsberg where I had to stop again for another gel. Then came the downhill and boy did that feel great! At the bottom of that came the hardest part of the race in terms of technical stuff. There were some muddy singletracks and more sucking grass and rocky bits but it was better than I expected.

Oxberg has a fantastic view so I stopped a bit while they filled up my bottle with more Enervit sportdryck. At this point I was going through a pretty tough mental battle because I could not remember how much was left and there were no more km signs at this point. There was a bitch of a hill up to Hökberg and after that I had no idea how far was left. I could see small signs saying distances to Eldris but I thought there was one more stop after that. My toes were killing from the shoes and my arms were completely numb but my legs kept on moving.

Finally at Eldris I saw the 9km sign and had a burst of energy. That didn't last so long because everyone knows about those small little hills in the last 9km. Up and down all the way in. But with 5km left I had nothing to lose and again, unusually for me, I was up on the stora klingan flying along. The Conti Race Kings were superb in the nice gravel/hardpack dirt and soon I was passing under the bridge which leads to Mora camping. There was only one real uphill at this point and I nailed that with only a slight gear change. Somewhere I heard someone say 'Bra jobbat Chris!' and I could not see who it was with my quick glance back. Sorry about that.

When I saw the church I knew it was time to unleash the big guns and push myself to collapse. I wrote earlier about the 'förvarning' timing mat so I can see that my last push was 1:11. It felt so wonderful to go flying along Mora's main street towards the most famous finish line in Sweden, passing someone in the last 20m.

Finally, a race went according to plans. The energy worked. I was finally over 20km/h in a race. This race, my 5th MTB marathon of the year which is a record on its own. This was pretty much the race of my life so far. And when I recover from the cold I now have, I will celebrate!

Other blogs have already listed who won CykelVasan but this is the results list if you want to look up someone you know.

Here are my split times:
00:56:38 Mångsbodarna
01:58:39 Evertsberg
03:20:57 Hökberg
04:11:57 'Förvarning'
04:13:08 Mål

The förvarning was for the SMS service so that family and friends would know when someone was finishing. But it is also a measure of my massive final spurt which was certainly worthy of respect.

So in Tävlingsklass I finished 560th out of 597 which is a miracle since I usually finish last in this by quite a bit. Taking motionsklass into this as well, in H30 I was 446th out of 832. Then overall for all men I finished 1487th out of 3058.

This, my friends, was my race of the year! Full race report later tonight.

I finished CykelVasan but it was tough. It took 4:13:08 which is just fine. That was good enough for 556th in competition class and that was not last for a change. Full report tomorrow.

Here is Sweden's most famous finish line which is my goal tomorrow. But I need to get up insanely early to get the bus so it is bedtime for me now.

In Kristinehamn for lunch. The 26 is full of cars loaded with MTB which is odd. CykelVasan is that big i guess. Mot skogen!

There is no need to post any höjdprofil pictures because everyone knows about Vasaloppet. But CykelVasan doesn't really follow the actual trail. It starts with 'the hill' but that is less than 200m vertical so the Norwegians will think it is a speed bump. And then there is the 100m hill before Risberg...that's it. The first 45km are mostly road/grus and the last half is on the trail but I don't know if that mud/dirt is hardpacked or soft. So on paper it looks very reasonable.

The secret race plan is pretty logical...steady pace up the hill and klungkörning at least until Mångsbodarna. Probably I will stop at Risberg for a Squeezy gel and maybe Oxberg for another. It depends how I feel. But I expect the second half to be harder since it will be more trail/mud.

This is the kind of race where I am certain to start too hard and then fall apart at the end. But finishing a race in the centre of Mora is very motivational. And since I am still having problems with my toes in the shoes, I need motivation.

So this weekend I will experiment with posting from my Samsung android phone...just to warn you for strange changes in layout.

Just got back from a quick ride to Skatås and 8:an to make sure the bike is ready for battle. I didn't want to do any nasty hills for fear of messing up my legs or something so this was just a 'trampa' tour trying not to piss off any runners. And today everyone was happy there.

So I gave the bike a rinse and then headed home quite pleased with the Continental Race Kings this time. So they work on road, packed gravel and in loose gravel when going straight. I still expect a few wet spots on the way to Mora on Saturday.

Once again it is a good thing I did not book my bus ticket yet for Birkebeinerrittet. Now I seem to have Pulje 0. There are 18000 names in the startlist Excel file so they have a bit to take care of during the next two weeks.

Anyway, first on the agenda is CykelVasan. I have had that 'new adventure' feeling all day so I am psyched for the trip no matter what happens. And SMHI has now removed all the rain from their forecast for the next few days which is nice. Mora here we come.

The startlist for Birkebeinerrittet was released today so I could finally find out when I will start. Pulje 73 is the answer. And for those of you not use to Norwegian cycling language, pulje=fålla. And both sound pretty damn funny to me.

Anyway, 73 is crap. 73 is for people with no seeding results. Obviously my struggle through Raumerrittet and Farrisrundan meant absolutely nothing. This kills my race plan since the pace of everyone around me will be wrong. I know I am stronger uphill than many but it is so easy to just fall into pace with those around you. This means I will have to try this race a second time because this first time will probably just be for learning what not to do. That defines every race I have had this year. I learned what not to do.

So I guess it is time to start with that nasty sticky Vitargo again although CykelVasan's height curve looks pretty tame compared to most races.

Obviously yesterday night I should have enjoyed the sun and went for a nice ride on my bike. But instead I was at Göteborgs Kulturkalaset which is the fancy name for when half the city goes to Avenyn and wanders around. I saw Jose Gonzalez, Timo Räisänen and donkeyboy. That should be enough smoke and germs for me for this year. I have chosen CykelVasan over Way Out West which is fine for this year. I have missed a lot of things because of my MTB marathons. But that was my choice.

So, the weather forecast says rain in Mora on Saturday. Lovely. But I expected that.

Now that I am back to work again I will have to cut back on my training a bit...or entirely. I will take one more quick ride on my MTB to be sure it is ready for CykelVasan next weekend. Is anyone else from down here racing the largest MTB race in Swedish history?

I have to say that I am really looking forward to this one. I will push myself if I can but I am not going to be disappointed with a crap time. There is so much tradition behind this even for a non-Swede like me. This is the same feeling I have about Mörksuggejakten. And then I will round off the season with the world's largest MTB race Birkebeinerittet before a lovely season of CX and races under an hour.

So here is my beautiful Ridley X-Ride frame all ready for construction with my Merida behind it so I might have some clue what to do. It didn't take long before the bottom bracket and FSA Gossamer crankset were installed and ready to go. Although I do see what they mean in the instructions about being careful when you push through the shaft. That could have ended badly.

Unfortunately, progress has stopped there. I can't, with any means Clas Ohlson has, get the bearing cups pushed into the frame to install the fork. And I am not very eager to buy the proper tool for 600kr. Can someone help me with this?

This afternoon I was a stormchaser...except in the opposite direction since I was trying to get away from the nasty grey clouds. Oddly enough, it never did rain. But by the time I realized that, I had already driven to Lerum and finished my run.

Stavlöpning is the formal name for the hell I went through. It was only 5km but it hurt. The running was slow motion really since I had to concentrate on the poles. My coordination was off for the first km but eventually I got the rhythm but I was out of breath the entire time. Maybe this is the best way to simulate a 40-minute cross race at max intensity.

I did a bit of cultural stuff to wait out the rain but it was still wet tonight on the gravel. The Race Kings certainly felt different but it is hard to say if they are faster than my Speed Kings. Next week I will know. What I did notice is what I feared...zero grip in the corners on wet gravel/mud. But it will get better once I learn which pressure to use.

My new XT pedals were also on and I am still hearing noises in the crankset when going uphill which messes up my theory that it was cheap pedals. But I have 2 bikes for my remaining 2 långlopp if things fall apart on the way to Mora.

Actually, now I am quite pissed that I could not do Grenserittet.

Continental's Race King is the official tire of CykelVasan and is also the best choice for the race I will miss tomorrow. It is 'snabb som fan' on the gravel roads but pretty useless in the forest. I bought the 'Protection' version since any time gained by the lighter 'Supersonic' will be lost fixing flats. And I also have the 2.2" width since that was the widest they had. Why? Because these are suicide tires when it is wet and muddy.

And what is it doing on my second day off? Why yes...raining. But I need to work them in a bit before Mora so I guess I will get wet again.

I had the day off today but it was one of those wild weather days so I had to find some alternative training. That meant a quick trip to Sportlife for some upper body training. I also did 7.5 min on the ski machine which felt quite bad. The rowing machine was much better.

So now I am assembling my bike assembly stand (huh?) which I had found at Allebike in Alingsås. At the moment I have time to start on my cross since I have basically everything I need. Except space. My 50 m2 is covered with bike parts and there really isn't any space for the stand. And people wonder why I want to rent a 3 room apartment...Chris needs a bike room.

We can start with Dagens Mektips...always make sure your cassette is tightened. Your response to that is 'Duhh!!!' and you would be right. ;) Apparently back in the winter when I put on the cassette and tires, I didn't think I would ever use the wheel. Anyway, now my commute machine should behave a bit better.

And then we have financial chaos. I don't really want to talk about this because I look stupid for buying all my cross parts now and I had to cancel my Grenserittet plans. CykelVasan is still on though because I have paid for everything already.

Finally, rest. After 4 days of training in a row, I took the bus to work. It felt so slow. But I needed a break and now I will have the next 2 days off. It won't really be off because I have to do something about my newly-started business. You see, at the moment I have no job after December so I need to make some changes.

After another solid 32-minute ride home via Skatås, my body is feeling quite dead. Which is too bad since MCKs MTB training starts up again tonight after the SM break.

My bike is already starting to make noises so I will have to take a look at that. But it feels like tomorrow will be a bus day. Then I can head out on my usually hilly route on Thursday on my real bike.

This morning the commute took only 35 minutes which is massive, epic and whatever other cool word MTB riders used to describe a good ride. And how did I set a new PB by 2 minutes over yesterday? Easy. Other cyclists.

Other cyclists must be passed...simple as that. If you see someone 200m ahead, you speed up because everyone must be passed as soon as possible. Now don't get me wrong here because I am still following all of the rules of the road so there is no reckless riding happening. I pass in places I can pass. And this morning that meant 7 people. Only 1 of those was any real challenge though so my PB can improve still.

As promised, here is a picture of the Trek. It has the world's loudest bell on it now and I know I will use it a lot once school starts. And the reflectors are coming once I get a few screws. These things were not meant for an MTB but I don't want to get stopped. I can't afford that kind of thing.

My way home was a blistering 35 minutes and I went via Chalmers, Götaplatsen, Liseberg and then home through Skatås. This really is the most direct way in terms of distance but would hurt in the morning because of all the hills. But on the way home this will do very nicely.

I have also decided that it is best to only commute 3 days per week to allow my body some kind of återhämtning. I am pushing myself a lot.

As I said yesterday, I found a more appropriate bike for my work commute. And I will fix some pictures of this beauty because I am sure you will all want one just like it. I revived my Trek 6500 which is from 2005 and is the finest 13.5kg of metal one can buy. It even has a Shimano XT back gear while the rest of it is a collection of extremely cheap parts which fool non-cyclists into buying it. Americans are clever like that. Although I did upgrade it with my the Mavic CrossRide wheels I won at Lida Loop in 2008 so in fact it felt pretty okay.

This morning with slightly less wind against me it took 37 minutes. Yes, 1 minute faster than it took riding my cross which is 3.5 kg lighter and way faster. It makes me think yet again whether it makes any major difference upgrading bikes. In this case your speed is more determined by traffic lights than strength.

It was a shame yesterday to use my cross for riding on roads to work. But now that I revived an old friend built for things like a work commute, I can use my cross for cross.

The theme of today was wet grass...everywhere. So I spent some quality time riding in grass up and down hills. Extremely effective training if you ask me and also an extremely efficient way to get wet. I tried a few gravel turns and that I need to work on. My dismounts were perfection but my remounts were tragic. But it is 1 aug so I have time.