2016, the magic year

I had a goal of 15000km and a dream of 730h. Were never stressed about the distance but saw pretty fast the dreamtime would be impossible. I ride for fun after all.

It all started with Tour de Ötzi, 246km in winterweather and mostly alone. Not the funniest ride but good for mindtraining and to learn eat and drink even when it’s cold.

I have been doing 61 Le Peloton, a lot of Morningspins and Älgö Deluxe. Some Le Snooze. I’ve been cycling in Sweden, Norway, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Germany and Canada.

I have been riding a lot of Specialized bikes like Roubaix, Tarmac, Venge Vias, Crux, Diverge, Daily, Stumpjumper HT, Epic FSR, Stumpjumper FSR, Fatboy and Sequoia.

I have raced mtb and had a lot of fun going fast.

I have race TT that I never thought I would do and got 5th in men Elite.

I have joined Sumo Cycling and used the Gravity support 😉

I’ve been around new places, discovered new roads with great friends:

I have discovered the Aero Advantage and got a lot faster on Le Peloton:

But I also tried to survive with help of Ice Cream after the longest climb in my life:

In short it’s 4 people that helped me discover new places and roads. Emile has always been there and seen me from fast to slowest, from happy to just tired of his shortcuts, riding next to me on the 2nd picture. And Hagen, a friend I get a lot of inspiration from and is seen with me riding in the middle of nowhere on the 3rd picture. Next is Emil, been to different countries together and been seen riding different bikes in different conditions together, but all in all we just want to look good:

The last guy, Henrik who is always riding. Will never get as fast or ride as far as him but he is my best friend and we can’t come up with a single ride together in Sweden where we haven’t ridden some gravel:

Then there is many more I have ridden with that’s worth mentioning but it takes too much time here. Called a Social Butterfly on Strava and the reason I get so many miles is because I want to ride with all my friends, all the time 😉

Never thought this year would include so much fun and good rides. Never thought I was able to ride as fast as I’ve done. But I always thought that the motivation will continue.

So thanks to you all my friends that keep riding fun! Thanks to Specialized Concept Store Stockholm for helping me with the best bikes in the world! Thanks to Rapha for motivating ambassadors to make super Events! Thanks to Café du Cycliste to providing my favorite clothes with a superb fit no matter how long the rides are! Thanks to Isabelle/SCF for letting me help the best riders in Germany for a weekend. Thanks to Therese who showed me another cycling world!

So now we stop looking back and looking forward to a new year that can be even better 😀

As I’m blogging less I recommend you following Social medias to follow me:

Strava: Jonas

Instagram: @jonaslundb

Twitter: Cerrol

Facebook: Jonas

 

Dalsland runt

What a weekend we had. A weekend in the green forests of Sweden going hard on gravel and sprinting for countrysigns. 3 days of riding in Dalsland managed by Wenersborgs Racers Club in a way up for the riders to make it good.

We started on Friday in Vänersborg:

Over 100 cyclists rolled out together for an easy 104km spin up to Stora Strand where we should stay for the weekend. 3 cars handled the luggage.

It went fast, but was happy enough to sit pretty high so worked for about 65km where a group got dropped on a gravel section. We chased hard and in the chase I met a friend from Norway, Peter who is one of the strongest cyclists I know. We got back up and I managed to hang on the first group all the way to the place we stayed at:

Map and stats: Strava

Day 2 was 234km for the long one which we had to take to come to Norway 😉

Riders got ready but wasn’t so fast of leaving so we rode away easy me and my roommates Henrik, Tony and Anders.

After a while turning of the main road we stopped for a pi and a 2nd group of like 5 riders caught us including Emile and Magnus. Rode together and started the days first climb:

Tony and Henrik kept the speed high, with Anders in a breakaway:

But on a gravelclimb me and Emile ”attacked”:

Dalsland:

It rolled on pretty well until km 69 where Tony first punctured:

500m before the feed zone:

and then Christian punctured 500m after the feed zone.

That’s all the punctures we got while another group got over 10(!). The pace held high (at least for me) and after around 90-100km the group got split into two. I was in the first and even there the pace got slower except sprinting for the Norway sign and such things 😉 Really nice good people to ride with and great training to ride hard for a long time.

Until 135km where I died, or hit the hammer a bit and got slow for real. Got dropped for a little but Emile waited for me and dragged me to the lunch at 144km 🙂 the 2nd group got there two and we where a big group again. A nice lunch and then rolling for the ferry.

The pace worked first but in the end it got too high for me and some others who got dropped but all together with some others who skipped the lunch at the ferry:

A big climb after the ferry where I tried to hang on but got dropped for real. We gathered a 2nd group who rode all the 70km left together. Pace on the limit but everyone did what they could and nice chatting. Stopped at Coop in Dals Långed for a refuel and then left for ”home”.

The end included the hardest climb of the day and the first time for me on 36-28 (easiest) gear to come up, was hard but nice. A cool descend afterwards where I thought it was pretty awesome to go 57km/h on gravel 😉

Back at the house we ended on the grass eating a bit, drinking a bit and talking about the magic day:

Map and stats: Strava

Day 3

Woke up to rain, a lot of it. The long distance 176km was out of the match and plans was 132 or 104km. The morning subject. After breakfast, packing, finding rainclothes and cleaning it didn’t rain as much. Decided to go for the shortest way in the last minute with heavy legs.

Me, Henrik, Christian and Jonas rode the day together. Passing some guys starting earlier and who took shortcuts. No one was so good (except Henrik maybe) but the pace was good and it all felt like a blur. The kilometers got on and we came closer and closer to Vänersborg. A puncture after 94km was the first and only stop:

Map and stats: Strava

It was maybe a bit too much people to have for such an event but KUDOS to Johan and WRC for arranging this. A weekend we will talk about for at least a year. And my Specialized Diverge with new Specialized Roubaix Pro 30/32mm tires worked flawless all weekend:

I you should have one bike, this is the bike to get. It may not be cheapest but it so awesome it’s worth ever penny 😀

XC pro style

Free from work today, was to expensive to fly to Bergen and celebrate 17th May, no fun cheap flights anywhere else, no fun place to go by train. Was thinking of riding a nice roadride and checked the map, didn’t find anything exciting enough alone.

So was happy when Marika talked about mtb. Decided to go north to Järvafältet to some new tracks 🙂 So rode to work (yes I was free) and borrowed a Specialized Epic Comp Carbon WC and went north. Took a singletrack in Hagaparken, rode wrong at Järva Krog but got to Bögs Gård where I was supposed to meet Marika way too early. Enjoyed the sun and relaxed for a while.

Then she came and we rode out on singletracks I missed. Real XC riding and not All Mountain like Hellas or just gravel. Great trails, great weather, great guide and a tempo that felt easy which was good after my crash.

It may be fun with 130+ travel, dropped posts and wide tires but faster trails with a proper light (could be) XCbike with an effective rear damper is the best. Haven’t thought about it so much before but that’s me 😉

Not so long ride together but descent and got up with some distance as I rode there and back too. First proper summer ride with a Brain damper too, so nice to not have to care or have to change setting 🙂

Stats and map: Strava

Back in Stockholm I stopped and took a picture of the great bike and great city:

Rapha Transfer Recon

Read an article some months ago about Multimodual rides. Taking the train or something else out from the city to be able to ride further and see new places that’s usually too far away.

Rapha calling it Transfer where you go out from your city and then riding back. There will be one from Stockholm in a couple of week and yesterday we did a recon. Instead of writing about how it was, how great my Diverge is and that Café du Cycliste got the best clothes I share some pictures from

me:

Camilla:

Emil:

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Thanks to Emil for the guiding, Emile for the paceholding, Camilla for holding the group at descent speed and to Jessica for our first Sub9 training 😉

 

gravel and ferries with a cap

I hope you understand that the Ironmanthing was a joke. Won’t happen.

But what has happened is that I rode gravel with one of my best friends this saturday 😀 and a group of others:

Awesome trails and great people. Was great until I lost 4 chainringbolts in Lindalen going up a climb. With help from my friend Björn I was on the track again and me, Henrik and Michael ended the ride properly. With a fika at Le Mond:

Today it was time for another ride. Haven’t suited before but today I managed to ride with the Basemilepeople. A bunch of good guys that rode together on Basemile Snowdown in January. Coffeestyle today with Cykelcafé Le Mond clothes and matchy Sako7 socks 😉

Did a ride around Vaxholm and with strong riders it went pretty fast. Faster than my legs liked but fun 😀 Even got a part of #sportgrus (gravel for roadbikes)

The saving after 100km was a nice lunch at Pizzeria Istanbul in Vallentuna before riding one of the nicest roads just north of Stockholm. Skålhamra.

Just Awesome, except my legs. Also got a new cycling cap this weekend, Café du Cycliste to match all of my white Specialized helmets 🙂

The ride today: Strava

Trying to look fast instead of being :p

Sun, pancakes and good company

Best way to spend this Monday. Me and some old and new friends rode to Ösmo in mostly descent tempo 🙂 Was some attacks, I tried to kill myself on Dalarövägen and after Ösmo we got some more company. And more attacks before we ended easy. Felt ok in my body but the weather was awesome. Finally:

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And of course, fika:

Awesome 🙂 Creds to Linda who took the fika-picture and to Camilla who took the ones with me on distance.

Map and stats: Strava

Back on the road

After having a cold and not been riding since Tuesday last week today was finally the day 🙂

Met up with Emil and Stefan at 6(!) at Urban Deli this morning and got a hard ride out to Älgö where we had a stop. So Emil could fix his puncture:

I’m trying Garmin’s radar lamp now, it can warn for cars coming from behind but not for punctures:

It felt a bit better after the stop but it was clear I hadn’t been riding properly for a while. It all ended back at Vivels where we had a nice breakfast, I couldn’t resist the cake of the week 😉

Was really nice to be back and even while my Diverge wasn’t the fastest with me on it felt so good:

Map and stats: Strava

And as the weather got better over the day I decided to ride without shoecovers on my way home. Trying a pair of new long socks today, really nice with some color:

Nice to be back on the blog too, even while it’s not about the new Sram Eagle 1×12 groupset.

I <3 cycling

Except the way from work yesterday today was the test of my new roadbike:

Maybe the cleanest bike I’ve built for myself, Specialized S-Works Tarmac Disc with the name: Pink Spur. 28mm Specialized All Condition Armadillo Elite tires on to skip punctures in the spring 🙂

It’s the first bike I’ve built, set up and went out riding without fixing a single thing on, the seat position feels just right from the start 😀

Today I met up with a great group of people from Bikecafé Le Mond to ride to Ösmo and back. The spring ride where people are different and where people attacks, wait and attack again, just pure fun magic. Looked like this on the road down:

And a picture from Adam:

Where some parts we went full speed and it was fun even though I’m not the fastest or the strongest. But I rode on my dreambike and it felt good 🙂 And quiet, strange to change from a noisy Tune Kong hub to a quiet Roval CLX40.

Had a great fika at Ösmo with panncakes for me, picture by Kalle:

Usually half of the group take the train home from there but today everyone rode 😀

Heavy legs in the end but all in all a great ride. And my Tarmac worked flawless. Didn’t make so much notice and felt smooth but when I attacked it responded great and the wheels may not be super in any way but they are just what you want when you want all 🙂 The quality feel was there so I look forward to many many kilometers on this bike 😀

Map and stats: Strava

Specialized LEVO

There are things I don’t understand. Electrical mountainbikes is such a thing. Until we got this to work yesterday:

Specialized Turbo LEVO FSR Expert 6Fattie. Specialized’s like long names and like good bikes. It’s a doped Stumpjumper at just 22,9kg with pedals.

So how is it to ride a electrical mtb that is 10kg heavier than usual but with 250W extra up to 25km/h? 

First climb you probably could hear my laughter all over Sickla. 3″ tires with endless of grip and a bike that is just pushing and pushing with suspension eating all big obstacles. Massive is the word. Going downhill felt as regular good FSR bike as long as you didn’t want to jump.

Med up with Fredrich and his Camber:

He rode faster than me on the descents (I haven’t been mtbiking since last summer) but on the climbs I caught him, sitting 😀

Going up on roots, rocks and small obstacles that usually slows you down went without problems. The LEVO is the solution for getting dropped on climbs. Climbs got as flowy as the flats and the geometry made the bike low and stable downhill.

So is the bike just good?

The downsides are if you want to jump over an obstacle it’s heavy, when you loose the grip it’s a lot of weight to stop. It can spin in corners (don’t know if it’s a bad thing or just great fun ;).

But it’s a trailbike with parts made for singletracks and technical cycling. Going on gravel was just boring, you spin out at 25km/h and the bike just feel boring. So keep it on the nice singletracks 😀

A bike for laughter, for training your arms and towards goals you never thought of before.

Maps and some stats (no e-bike segments 😦 Strava

First Tuesdayride 2016

It’s a bit strange but true. Haven’t ridden a bike a Tuesday this year. Starting easy but now it’s spring 😀

Rode out to Älgö with Emil this morning, a magic morning and a perfect Divergeride:

A bit cold but the last part out on Älgö is so nice and we had a good pace today. Not to high, not to low. And time to take a picture or two with four green colours 🙂

When Emil rode to work I ended up with a coffee at Vivels:

A great morning and start of my cyclingweek. Map and stats: Strava