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!

I have chosen training over blogg inlägg lately and I think this has been a wise choice. My legs feel great and there is some kind of strength developing despite my 'max 3 hour' training philosophy. So here is a quick summary of my last 3 quality passes:

Saturday
This was a 29km of the high intensity sort with my usual Allum - Furulund - Kåsjön - Öjersjö - Delsjön with extra singletrack added in when appropriate. Heading back from Skatås ended a little strange though since I decided to take Bohusleden which somehow went directly over the top of what must be the highest freakin mountain in the whole area. The view was great but carrying my MTB up and down (far too rocky) this hill was slightly annoying. But, like most terrain around here it is impossible to ride all the way. So then I ended up at a local psycho running trail which is a blast on the bike and is good training for handling quick turns in grus. And then to round off the trip I took my premiere tour on the short trail over to Puketorp which is still perfection...  

Sunday
Despite considerable stiffness I took what ended up to be an even more intense 43km. I went over to Jonsered and up into Bokedalens naturreservat which has the potential for perfection even though cycling seems to be discouraged. Anyone who has looked at a map of these parts will see some strange road that goes back and forth north of Aspen in Lerum so the plan was just to find my way to that. After many missed turns, each with an accompanying massive hill, I found my way there. When they call that a road they are really stretching the definition a bit. At best it is a logging track covered in massive stones and each time it goes back and forth it climbs over a seriously nasty hill. Then it turns and repeats twice more. My legs were burning on the way up and I was terrified flying down. Don't need to go to Ludvika or Oslo to practice nasty downhills now. When I finally got to the bottom and could relax along the water at Aspen while watching rock climbers scale the cliff I just rode up on the bike I noticed how still the wind was. Inspiration time...ride over to Riddarsten and along the road over to Olofstorp to take a massive top speed hardest gear tempo ride all the way to the golf course. Vilken fart! ;) So naturally when I turned up the hill at Angereds kyrka and along Lexbydalsvägen it was time to say 'hallå' to Mr. Wall. I slowed for two minutes and was fine again and continued home.  

Tuesday
I was still stiff from the weekend so this was actually a calm ride. Well, sort of. I started with the Puketorp trail and a lap of the running track which is honestly hilly enough to be training alone. But my bike was filthy so I needed to visit Skatås for the water hose. I remembered a trail that connects over to Delsjön and, as usual, it started with a useless rock hill and lots of walking due to wooden planks and crap. My 2.2 tires fall through so some of these trails feel like a cross pass. But it got much better and there were some really fun parts which will make me return for more. And I could also celebrate my first proper vurpa of the year. I fell to the right (as always) but this time my calf muscle hit first and not my shoulder. You see, it is just so massive that it hits the ground first now. :D Anyway, after a serious clean the bike is spotless and shining in white.

All ready for Dalslands XC...

I have kind of stopped updating here since no one is actually visiting and obviously the links to my site are gone too. But that is fine. I am not exactly being all that supportive of Cykel Sverige at the moment. Most of my training is on hold since my mom is here visiting and we have been away on the weekends. I also have my new XT brakes to install which will probably mean no MTB for a couple of weeks while I discover all of the other problems that need fixing.

I do plan to race and for the most part I don't need a licence or club membership at all. Of course it should not be this way but it is. Here is my list at the moment and there are still some things I haven't decided on:
5 maj Dalslands XC
13 maj Dalslandsrundan 70km (LVG or CX in my case)
19 maj Långa Billingeracet
26 maj Karolinertrampet
2-3 juni Kattegattstouren (maybe)
5 juni Herrestadsfjällsloppet
16 juni Farrisrunden (N)
1 juli Ränneslättsturen
6-7 juli Trysilrittet + topprittet (N)
8 juli Mörksuggejakten
28 juli Sandefjordrittet (N)
29 juli Engelbrektsturen
18 aug Mera Lera 12hr
26 aug Finnmarksturen
1 sept Bockstensturen
8 sept Svenska Cykelspelen Falun

Yes, all this without giving SCF or anyone money. It just isn't right...

There is not much I can say about last weekend that you don't already know. Perfect weather. Pretty dry in the forest. What could possibly go wrong? And for once I made it through a weekend without breaking any parts on me or my MTB. On Saturday I did the rest of that Kåsjön runt trail and I have to say it was pretty useless for training on afterall. I define a 'good trail' as one where I can spend most of my time actually on the bike and moving. The section towards the western edge of the lake was just a repeated mess of rocky cliffs so about all I could do was run with the MTB. Not easy. Some parts were so crazy that they had installed ropes next to the trail for you to hang on to and pull yourself up. So again I had more upper body training than I would have liked.

There were some sections that were fantastic and others which would have worked if I were in better technical shape. But these parts were surrounded by too many walking bits so I unfortunately can't give this a top score for långlopp training. I need to be moving. But for those of you out in the forest for pure pleasure, this might be a fun one for you.

However, the first part from the beach over to where everyone has their canoes parked is heaven so that will soon form a nice part of my usual hill training route.

I am sure most of you have already felt it. There is someting magical about the first few rides of the MTB year. And since everything is quite dry I can jump right into the singletracks. This feeling is especially strong since I was sick last weekend and generally annoyed with most things.

The other day I had another of those express rides up to Kåsjön because I only had a limited amount of time. I found that I could spice things up a bit by heading directly down to the lake on a bumpy little grusväg and then join the end part of that Kåsjön runt trail I mentioned before. There are quite a few of those wood plank sections which are okay but not my favourite. And that became obvious when I fell through the gap between one with my front tire and took 2012's first vurpa. Very mild though...no injuries. My 2.2 Conti XKing super super race tires are not meant to ride on these boards so I will just have to get some running practice here and there. But it feels lovely to float along a nice trail letting Sid take care of the rough parts.

I should be getting my new brakes today but I think I will take another ride first before dismantling anything.

Ja ja, not much has been going on here in the life of Chris Cross. But I can report that the uniform for CK Chris looks a lot like the one for Mölndals CK except with more mud. So it matches my MTB right now.

Last week I was in Boston on a meeting and also to carb/fat load before, well, nothing. But since coming back I have made one trip to Jonsered and one wall-of-wind pass back from there. I had a nice feeling in my biceps while I was bent over in tempo position trying to be aerodynamic in the wind. It was quite effective compared to others out that had given up and were walking.

And tonight I took a sunset ride up the running trail to Kåsjön and even started on what will be my new favourite trail this year...Kåsjön runt. This trail starts out as a narrow grusväg walkway with enough tight turns to make anyone smile. But then it became a proper singletrack of the långlopp type. Given the size of the lake and the lack of sunlight I will have to explore the rest of this another day.

In other news I guess everyone has seen that GCK will have the first MTB pass of the year sön 18 mars. Sounds like a good start to the year.

I was not the only cyclist out this morning. Can anyone believe that it is not even March yet and we can already have an outdoor ride with sun and 7C? CK Chris definitely took advantage of this.

Okay, it was not superwarm riding towards Utby along Säveån and together with the wall of wind there was a couple km of tire sucking mud. But things got a little more encouraging at Gamlestaden where I could switch back to some small roads over to the Alelyckan road heading north. So this meant a wall of wind from my left side which, to be honest, is not really any better. But I kept on passed that store with the annoying commercials and finally up to the old railway path through Lärjedalen. I could regroup a bit there while preparing for the painfully slow climb up to Gunnilse which went a bit nicer with the tail wind.

That's when the challenge starts. Up the hills to 190 which actually were icy. Then up a nasty hill to Angereds kyrka or Muur-Kapellmuur if you prefer. During this demonstration of massive leg power I several times had to deal with jumping gears so I wonder if I should just upgrade the whole XT set anyway. So after that was supposed to be pure cykelglädje on Lexbyvägen but it was pretty muddy for the first bit and kind of wet for the rest so I couldn't really let loose entirely. But this classic route is good to start with while my Furulund hills are still icy.

I rushed home yesterday to get some training in before the sun set so it was time for a 2012 premier for my MTB. Yes, there is a ton of grus over every possible bike/walking path but that just meant I could train riding on a very slippery grusväg. The ride to Jonsered went quickly as always because when I turned around the wall of wind was still there ready to catch me. Actually it was gusting quite a bit so a few times I was losing balance. Anyway, this was a fine 45 minutes.

So now it seems like others have noticed Dalsands XC and it seems like no one really cares about the SCF licens rule. So I can feel stupid for actually signing up with the club CK Chris even though it is funny.

I also heard from Sven that Göteborgs CK is supposed to be focused on CX and MTB but this will not affect MTB SM which will be some kind of collaboration with MCK. But I am still not thrilled about this news because it would mean spending my MTB upgrade money on yet another set of cycling clothes. I just want to ride. No politics please.

I see now that we are all in for a moral dilemma before the 2012 season. It seems that Göteborgs CK has appeared all of a sudden. Probably not everyone will move over but still it messes up the nice little MCK family. With no more loyalty I could just as well go to CK Master because it is closer or even Partille CK which is a block away. Or why not throw out all of the loyalty and join Falu CK instead?

But then my next complaint is about SCF and their 700kr licensavgift. My issue is this:
1.2.019
En licensinnehavare får ej delta i tävling som ej finns upptagen på nationella, kontinent- eller världsprogrammet eller som ej är kända av nationsförbund, världsdelsorganisation eller UCI. SCF kan godkänna speciella undantag för tävlingar eller speciella arrangemang i sitt eget land.

I became aware of this rule from someone at MTB Täby and had to use it before the first Hammarby Hill XC race. When I contacted the race organizers they immediately did all the work to get SCF certified out of fear of losing everyone. And now this is an issue again. I give you Dalsland XC, a nice little 50km on 5 maj. A perfect start to the season. It is even a seednings race for Grenserittet so there will be Norwegians. But I see no SCF approval and it is not in the race calendar. So here we have a perfect start to the långlopp season which you can't do if you already fixed your licence.

I mentioned this last year also because I find it very silly that one can race any of the Långloppscupen races as motionär with no licence or no club. But if you want to start a few minutes before, pay more and do the exact same race then get a licence.

At the moment I have not paid any club membership or licence fees. So for now it is CK Chris...

I love it when things are like this. The second I buy ice spikes for my running shoes it goes up to 6C and everything melts. Gotta love it! So, your welcome Göteborg for this little glimpse of spring. I claim full responsibility! Maybe I will actually take out the MTB or even the cross this weekend?

This morning I tried out my new ice spikes from Intersport and they were certainly a pain to stretch onto the shoe in the first place. Of course that was a hint that they would in fact stay on shoe no matter what I did. +1 Chris approval point.

I was making a hell of a noise on the road...so much that an old lady turned to me and asked if those ones were good. -1 Chris approval point. Hitting the pavement with these things just killed so against all of my better judgement I started running on the pure ice instead.

+50 Chris approval points! This was such a surreal experience. My brain was telling me to avoid the ice which meant I was sliding in the snow. But when I ran directly on the ice it was absolutely perfect. Running almost 12km on solid ice and I only very slightly slipped once. Amazing!

One has to ask the question of whether dubbdäck for bikes work this well. I seriously doubt it...

Yesterday morning I made the foolish attempt of trying to run on solid ice in normal running shoes. After the 4th slip and a total distance of about 400m I confirmed that this was definitely silly. Yes, interval training.

So after a long search I found my pedals and borrowed the quick release from my Tacx workstand and it was trainer time at Casa di Chris. My clock also happens to be a thermometer so I can report that my 30 min workout raises the temperature of the room by 2.5C. Not bad.

I just did a 10 min warmup followed by 5st 1+1 min intervals which obviously hurt in my state of unfit. Then I did a couple of minutes alternating between sitting and attack position with more resistance. This whole standing sprint thing is just never used in MTB but cross season is coming in 7 months...

Good good is the summary of this. But now this morning I will in fact run with my newly-bought ice spikes.

Well, it is almost feeling like winter is over for the year. Now we have to deal with this whole thaw-freeze thing every day and risk breaking legs on every trip outside of home. But what would life be without a little adventure?

As for my TC training, it was not quite that I could just jump on the Merida cross and start right away. I had to change tires and wheels because none of my rims had the right combination. Now that I have finished that, I still need to find the Tacx quick release to actually put the wheel on the trainer. I would also like to find the extra set of pedals I had so I can keep the Ridley in working order in case I have a cross urge. It is surprising how easily one can lose these things in a very small room with only a few boxes. Still, the room is ready for some TC and so am I.

I have been looking through the race schedules and I should manage a lagom mix of marathon and XC. Already on 5 maj there is a 50km MTB race I have never seen before so that is good practice before the shock of Långa Billingeracet.

I see that Philip has requested a blog entry so I think it is time to have an entry. It's important to keep the reader happy or the reader may get tempted to just look at silly YouTube clips instead.

At this point I would love to reveal that I have spent the last few weeks on some top-secret training program and that I am superstrong and ready for MTB 2012. But all I have managed in the fury of work that has followed me until last week is one run per weekend. Those runs have been respectful anyway, especially the 12km terrain on that day when it was -13C. And I can manage that distance without trouble or 3 days of träningsvärk. Still, compared to the form I had this time last year from all the skiing, things look bad. But I have not given up because I know that I can get to MTB training with my car now.

I will be giving a lot more priority to training now that things are under control at work. And there is no reason why I can't do some TC at home. Even if it does piss off my neighbour below it would only be for around 30 min a couple times a week. Others are not exactly quiet so why should I set an example.

So...let's start some discussion.
1. What upgrades are you planning before MTB 2012?
2. Have you already bought your 29" and what is the deal with those anyway?
3. Which races are on your schedule for 2012?

After a long work week of answering typical questions of whether Canadians say aboot (no), wear lumberjack shirts (sometimes) or apologize when you run into them (very much so, yes), it was time for a relaxing weekend watching the snow. But enough is enough. I need to run. Last year at this time I was in superb shape from all the skiing and today I could hardly make it up the Furulund hill. Aj. This is supposed to be Super Year 2012!

I took a break around the 5km point where they have some styrkträning bars and stuff which is basically all useless. The one over in Lerum is better. Still, they had the series of chin-up bars so I made an effort at some full body weight ones on the lowest bar (about 15 cm over my head). I did 5 of the bicep curls right away but when I switched to the other way it was 2. Again my shoulders and upper back/neck have no strength at all. I managed to get to 5 anyway and a few more biceps for confidence before finishing off the run. More work is needed as we say.

Anyway, conditions were perfect out today with the fluffy snow and it was not wet or anything. Despite the total lack of cardio or any sort of form whatsoever it was nice to be out...