Thank you!

Every part of our life comes to an end. Some things ends, other things starts. I’ve been writing this blog for many many years and I honestly miss the weightweenie part more than you can imagine. Instead of buying to many light parts to blog about most parts I buy feel necessary nowadays as I ride more and internetshop less. Not as geeky blog as I wish for and it feels like there is too much on the internet to have time to catch up.

I know you readers got less and less and so has my motivation.

So I’m moving on with the riding and sharing my life on Instagram. And news through Facebook and Twitter. And trying to be like a role model I got and live more irl.

Last post and the end of my blog.

Thank you to you all my readers! 

2017-

Time to look back and see the ups and downs of this year. What to learn from the sad and what to remember as good.

The big things seems to start with Racemile Showdown in the end of January, this year not so cold but really icy as seen on the picture above. My Sequoia came to it’s perfect use with 42mm studded tires:)

A weekend with friends and a big Thank You to Hagen for arranging 😀

Then came a spring with a not so fast Sequoia which didn’t seem to give me any extra leg muscles. Instead it became a dropping time on Le Peloton with a too low handlebar and I felt slow…

It may have seen like many people on the picture here but my thoughts has been Le Peloton is loosing people to other things. Like Morningspins:

Without finding the speed on my roadbike I found it on my superlight Epic ht mtb and cut my PR at Långa Billingeracet with around 20min 🙂

The fastest bike I’ve ever had and super agile. Unfortunately it didn’t have an rear damper and I seem to have been older making my back hurt after like 40-50km Marathon racing. Felt fast uphill, it felt really good downhill singletracks but on on flat singletrack with roots and rocks it felt like I was standing still.

So I ate ice-cream instead:

And I tried to ride with fast people, SUMO style:

Manage to do a Randonneur with these great people in awesome pace 🙂

And according to Strava the one I was riding most with in 2017 is Emil who’s super fast:

A thing I didn’t think was I was going to do Vätternrundan once again. Riding around a boring lake on boring roads with stressed people. But Stefan convinced me to apply and what a team. Known and unknown people having fun going fast for almost 300km 😀

I never thought I would do it at 7h27min, and remembering it as fun. Riding with Henrik, getting to know Glenn, seeing how simple everything seems for Calle and Fredrik. Everything together with Jukka and Karl keeping things together. And the biggest effort by Erik for making it all possible and making us have a calm knowing everything is in control and skipping the stress so many people got for Vätternrundan. Skoda Cycling Team is not just a team effort, it’s like being a pro with everyone trusting you 🙂

The summer passed and the next big event came.

Race Across Skåne. Another friend like Hagen arranging a top notch event. Waking up in Malmö that day not feeling on top was a bit sad as I really longed for being in top shape that day. Got dropped sitting totally wrong in the crosswind pretty early, feeling like on a spring Le Peloton but at a 190km race instead of 40km training. Ending up with meeting my good friend Emil who saved the day. Cruised on this wheel feeling shit the rest of the route:

We had a crash in a group and it started raining. Everything felt just bad so at the last stop I got an ice-cream…

It’s always fun with an ice-cream, always 😀

The day after I felt worse, driving to my mum instead of doing an recovery spin with the rest. Got fever but manage to get good until our adventure trip. Me, Emil and Emile went to Norberg with gravelbikes and target to explore some new roads in the middle of nowhere. I felt slow after my illness but I love new roads and places. I found a straight fast road on a sunny day outside Norberg, or the road maybe found me…

The end of the summer after a stupid crash. But the start of knowing I got so many kind friends always there to help out. So thankful for everyone making my recovery easier. I missed Rapha 12 Hills and many many kilometers of sunny cycling but it could have been worse.

I got back on a bike outside 😀 Have been feeling slow all autumn but I’m riding and no matter of speed cycling is a beautiful sport. And with help from Specialized Nordic and Specialized Concept Store Stockholm I’m more motivated than ever. Got the dreambike which I’m hoping to ride everywhere, all the time and with a smile (when the salt is gone from the roads)

Travelled to Girona for some sun and met some cool people:

So 15437km later the year ends and I’m still not tired of cycling. The best way to explore our beautiful world and meet nice different people from all over the world.

For 2018 I want to go to new places, new countries. Want to enjoy every moment no matter if I ride in sunny Italy or just commuting to work a rainy grey day. Want to be a good friend. Want to watch some proper roadracing and maybe even meet Annemiek van Vleuten. Want to be an ambassador of our beautiful stylish sport without judging people. Because style is important 😀 

So welcome 2018 and good luck having more fun! Let’s enjoy every moment 🙂

The winter arrived, in a beautiful way

Riding on dry snowy white roads is a luxury that makes it worth riding in the winter in Sweden. Stod hearing the sound of studded tires and the world becomes quiet, and light. It’s all beautiful.

Today Emil planned a route down to Gnesta and then to Södertälje and the pendel home, a really nice route with a couple of new exceptional roads 😀

And with a lot of happy great people 😀 The tempo was pretty easy but as it should be with cafécycling there are different opinions on how easy is and gaps became a usual thing, as people always wait for the slowest ones it feels like a fun way to ride. And always when we are so many riding far there are many people having their plans and leaving the group at different places.

I may not have attacked any time but my Diverge feels really nice and sometimes I get the feeling of pushing on with Rille and try to feel fast 😉 Had a bit cold hands in the beginning and after the fika but after a while I took out my innergloves and just rode with my Specialized Deflect H20, layering is a key and to not have to tight gloves so you can get some warm air around your hands 🙂 Café du cycliste winter bibs and legwarmers was the thing today together with my lovely Yolande jersey and a great Skoda vest with backpockets for my phone and innergloves 🙂

And more white roads 😉

A lot of great instatimes with the lovely sun getting through the trees and onto the white roads:

And ending with the important part, fika. Pepparkaka was an obvious choice for today, happy face 🙂

Map and stats of a route I can recommend: Strava

Did I mention every ride that includes fika/food in Gnesta is a success? The centre of beautiful roads.

Le Peloton #173

I’ve been riding Le Peloton in all sorts of weather. Once last winter it snowed so much I got too late to leave my backpack at work, it’s been soaking wet and really icy. And sunny and dry 😉 But today was the first time of my 173 rides it was just me.

All alone in the darkness, got a couple of small showers but small enough to get cover by my Café du Cycliste windjacket. So can’t even brag that I was hardcore 😉

After not been riding since last Thursday in Girona but had a busy time moving made my legs slow. Decided already on my way to Urban Deli to take the shortest roadloop around Älta and Storkällan. Did like that on the cycling paths as I was feeling so slow.

Made it to Le Mond and got saved by Kalle making the early start worth it.

And instead of stopping my Garmin at Le Mond I started it again going home for a shower, odd 😉

Map and stats: Strava

Girona

Instead of being in Stockholm when the first snow came I managed to get what can be the last warm (Swedish thinking) week in Girona. Met Karim who went back to Stockholm the day after I arrived and my nice friend Therese. Got to talk to cool people like Aviv, Connie and Kati. And I got some beautiful rides in a landscape where you can get everything. Did ride some nice climbs but no steep ones, just flowy where I could get a good rhythm and which ended in a tricky tight descend. Not sure if the descends where hard or if just was a coward and slow… Anyway, riding awesome roads in a nice landscape when it’s how enough to take of arm- and kneewarmers after a while feels like a luxury. I think I will be back, missed a couple of great routes I heard. Here is some random pictures from my trip:

And my Diverge did work awesome for this, a good friend I want to do many trips with 🙂

The national style

Read a blogpost about cycling getting too hip with a lot of do’s and don’ts and with a big step to get into a closed group. Not so familiar if you aren’t correct and not consuming the right things. Things that differ as you sometime should have a clubkit to fit in and sometimes a clubkit is the last thing you should have…

I’ve learnt to appreciate style in different ways. I like when people care about how they dress and look. No matter which style. I like people being different and them selves rather than just following everyone else.

But there is always a certain style and people in different regions/countries dress in certain ways.

My point is I saw some pictures at Café du Cycliste and it really breathes France, not Sweden, not Italy, nor U.K. French style according to me is proper, clean and sometimes a bit old fashioned but straight lines and they aren’t afraid of using soft colors. Not bright screaming like Italy. But like this:

Who would dare to produce bibs in blue, green and purple with matching legwarmers? I like it but not sure if I could hold up a pair of purple bibs, or?

SCK Lidingö

New Saturday and Crippa found a new guide and a new place to explore. I got invited and it was just as I hoped.

As usually we gathered at a gas station early and the guide said a few things, serious. These trainings are serious but not too serious. Is about seeing new roads, make miles and have fun. Great people 🙂

Then after a flat was fixed we rode and met more people, over 20 riders:

We rode all over Lidingö on roads I’ve done before but not enough to manage such a good route. Got new PR in both Grönstabacken and Aborrbacken which was on Lidingöloppet MTB too. Nice to push the Sequoia a bit and keep up with the mtbikers 😉

After Lidingö we rode along the coast of the North Djurgården and down Haga, really nice roads which I never done before. Ended with a nice coffee at Kaffeverket:

Wasn’t so dry today as we hoped for but fun. And my Sawtooth tires are really good on everything except leaves 🙂

Got a pause on my lonely way home at the bridge towards Liljeholmen:

Wool and silk is the thing 🙂 A scarf in silk feels like a must, perfect when a buff is too warm and it’s too cold without anything. And my new Café du Cycliste gloves:

Map and stats: Strava