Trick or Gravel

Selfiegame went strong on todays ride. 3-4h gravel for everyone from Le Mond was announced. Started like this:

Then we hit the gravel with smiles like if it was dry and the spring came

Awesome weather and with some fast and some slower sections, sometimes we had to get off or just wait for friends:

We also rode into the mist before coming to the gunfire with big guns.

mostly riding nice gravelroads in the sun:

Turning around before Häringe slott back to Stockholm, got up some speed to Västerhaninge and then it all went into pieces. People started to long home and the group got split into 3 groups riding and 1 group taking the train. I rode with David who got to see a very tired and low on energy Jonas. Had to take a gel with less than 5km to go to Le Mond as I couldn’t ride straight…

But all in all an amazing day. Feels in my heart and my legs. My bike managed it all great even with me getting it all dirty

Thanks to Emile for pictures and to all who joined for a great Saturday ride 😀

Map and stats: Strava

Berk shoes

Like a piece of art.

Now I just need a pair of cleats and they are ready to be used on sunny days with my Colnago 😀 Modern classic and felt really comfortable.

Långa Billingeracet

In some way this is my favorite XC Marathon race. It got great atmosphere, many friends, awesome climbs and some beautiful flowy trails. Went down to Skövde yesterday with my teammate John and Mattias to stay at my sister 🙂 1st class.

Not even 5min riding to the start this morning which was perfect but maybe not the warm-up you needed 😉

It all started with a asphaltclimb that went into the forest halfway and I tried to take it a bit easy. Here was also the first time I noticed my easiest gear 34-36 wasn’t working at all. 34-32 as easiest for the rest. Felt good in the beginning except I didn’t have to power on the flat gravelsections or the gearing. Tried to hang on some groups but dropped a bit, got back up when it was going uphill 😉

The trails in Öglunda was amazing and my bike felt really good. The Fox fork works like a dream and I really like the geometry of my bike (and weight). The gravelclimb up after Öglunda went really good with a good flow 🙂

Up on Billingen I got a new bottle from my sister and then it came a really long singletrack part, was a bit hard on my hardtail. Down on the other side on some gravelroads and some great green singletrack felt nice.

Then the longest part, the singletrack section including some crocodiletracks :p which takes a lot of energy without any rest. Started to feel my back and after 57km it started to hurt. Was riding slow (according to a friend I rode with for a while) and a lot of stretching so dropped from some groups.

Finally the end came, 2 climbs which went much better than I hoped for with my back. 8kg bike makes difference and on the first climb I rode with 34-28 gearing and it felt great passing a couple of riders too. A bit singletrack down and some asphalt before the last climb, Strupen. Knew how it was but didn’t remember it got steeper and steeper. 34-32 in the end and standing up trying to have grip and passed some more riders.

It all ended in a small spring with me and a guy riding in a different class so I let him win 😉

Finished 34th in my category and 127th overall. 3h31min so 19min better than my earlier record 😀 Really tired but satisfied.

Here you can see who’s the fastest :p

And Mattias who never been riding so far rode 5min faster than me:

Like Benny Andersson said, a hardtail wasn’t perfect for the course. But I couldn’t have asked for more fun on my Specialized Epic HT, really nice with a SWATbox too so I didn’t have to carry a spare tube and pump in my jersey:

Always improvements to make but as this bike is what I want to have I have to make the improvements on my body instead 😉

Map and stats: Strava

Emil Lindgren and Jennie Stenerhag won!

Le Peloton #156

The ones who understand the picture understands 😉

A really cold morning today too, not proper May weather it feels like. -3° Celsius and many thought of riding gravel instead of asphalt on todays Le Peloton

I did the CX loop too as I wanted to get more comfortable on my Epic and ride fast on it. Went smart in the first climb and dropped the first group. Became 4 riders in a group behind with 2 mtb and 2 cx with me with easiest gearing which made it hard when it was flat and downhill. A lot of 34-11 today and maybe good for my cadence training :p First Oskar dropped me on a downhill and I had to chase up a climb. Felt good as long as it was uphill or a bit more technical downhill so you don’t pedal 😉

Thomas attacked before Erstaviksvägen and Fredrik, Oskar and me had to chase. Got up to him but dropped Fredrik. After Erstaviksvägen on the way back I dropped both Thomas and Oskar and rode alone almost all the way back. Thomas caught me in the end and we ended it all together. He with a lot of PR and me tired 😉

Was about to give up and shorten the loop when Oskar dropped me the first time but managed to get back and hang on. Did as good as I could and it felt like a good hard training session 😀 Satisfied and it was fun in our small group, so much more fun when don’t ride all alone the hole loop.

Map and stats: Strava

My bike worked fine too, just wanted a bigger chainring :p

Berk barcombo

Finally it arrived, the 2nd part ordered for my Epic. The barcombo made by Berk Composites. 720mm wide with a 80mm stem:

Saved almost 200g compared to the bar and stem I borrowed and the bike should be under 8kg even with heavy Candy pedals 😀

Looks pretty fat with 38mm wide flat stem too, almost like a Syntace Flatforce but lighter and with a smaller angle.

The front matches the rear 😀

Le Peloton #147

Like an Alfa Romeo 😉 Flashing morning with some guys:

2 groups today, one Kangas group and one for the rest of us. I was unsure if I would ride the CX or roadloop as it snowed yesterday evening so took my Sequoia. Everyone rode the roadloop so keeping up with my 11kg Sequoia was hard, but did alright in our 2nd group and felt like some good training 🙂

Map and stats: Strava

And after work I took out this beauty, think we will be good friends 😀

Blue Lightning #9 – Berk Composites Motika

Some packages are more fun to open than others. Custom is always on top. When I started my Epic ht project I thought of getting an AX-Lightness Leaf saddle with a Tune seatpost. But then I thought of Berk Composites who I’ve seen made some combos and also tried to get a combo from 5-6 years ago.

Now I got one 😀

It’s lighter than my other saddles:

After been using Specialized Phenom, Toupe, Romin, Power and Henge I found out that the hole in the middle is pretty good and I never had a better saddle than my Toupe saddles. Berk Lupina is a bit like it with grove in the middle and almost flat. Also in my width.

Clean and ”simple” but so advanced in the same time. Now I’m just waiting for the last part until we will see how this ends 😉

let light be light again

How light is a light bike? Last year I built a Specialized Camber Elite Carbon just under 10kg:

It was light as an S-Works Epic WC without bottle cage and pedals. But is 10kg light? I’ve been racing Grenserittet (my best time) on a bike that was 6,9kg. And I still got memories from racing with that bike with damping fork, my Merida:

Around 7,5kg all season with a bit different parts on. single chainring and tubular wheels (had 2 pair). That was light.

Now I’ve learnt that 26″ isn’t fast and that 580mm handlebar isn’t good. The development goes forward but has it to be so heavy? I want new school geometry, wide bars, single chainring and right sized cassette with 50+ tires that are good. I’m on full planning to build maybe the smartest built bike I’ve ever built and it will be raced on for 2017 😀

What do you have for mtb race plans for 2017?

Berk cycling shoes

Sometimes Premium and Performance fits together, sometimes it’s just one of them. Berk is soon releasing their cycling shoes with focus on comfort. But the look says they focus on style, look at these 150g (without insole) beauties:

Is there anyone who doesn’t want a pair?

Berk Composites shoes

Giro started the trend with their laced shoes. Bont got a aeroshoe with laces. Specialized developed a lighter version than Giro and with an aero sleeve to make it more aero than Bont.

Berk Composites makes a lighter shoe, more classic than all of the others:

Under 150g in size 44. Costing 350€ and is available to pre-order now for delivery in the end of the year.