There is a great thing with cycling in the morning and see the sun rise. See the darkness become bright and to start the day with cycling 🙂 Took a detour on my way to work today, trying to find some new routes and different options.
map and stats: Strava
And after riding in 5° C on cyclingpaths just full of stones instead of ice I changed wheels. Cheaper, higher, lighter and cooler 😀
Ready to not get dropped on tomorrows Le Peloton 😀
In Sweden we celebrate St Lucia the 13th of December, today so to speak and what suits better then to do it with a Morningspin around Djurgården ending with eating lussekatter at Vahallabageriet which they only bake this day.
Klas didn’t just arrange, fix glögg and took the picture here above, he also was the only one doing a proper instalap:
-6° C made it a slow story, for me even slower as I don’t seem to work as good in the cold… But we all got around 2 laps and got lussekatter. A great start as usual of a working day 😀
Map and stats: Strava
Got company by 3 fast friends at todays Morningspins. Starting to talk about to go easy, went easy in the first lap until the sprint… 1st lap Martin and Hagen was in front all the loop. 2nd loop my and Michael took the lead and Michael found his pace of ”too high for me”, after the bridge I got behind to survive and when thinking of taking the sprint I blew up already before the others started 😉 Got dropped by the guys riding with studs when I wasn’t, they were strong.
3rd lap went fast and we took the long lap to get closer to the fika :p I got dropped at the finishing straight like I usually does no matter bike or time of the year.
All in all a lovely morning with people I really like spending time and riding with 😀 and great natural efforts which even made the graph look good 😉
Map and stats: Strava
Started this Thursday with being dropped by these guys. On the first lap. 2nd and 3rd lap went better I turned fail to success 😀
Like this: Strava. And ended the morning with a nice breakfast in the sun at Valhallabageriet 🙂
After a great day at work and a yes from my boss I was out on a bike again. Changed from my Tarmac to the new Diverge, now with Roval CLX32 wheels and 42mm Specialized Sawtooth tires on:
Cafécycling out to Älgö in easy tempo was on the schedule. Went pretty fast to be easy but was fun and the bike felt good except this in a size too big is a bit too high and not as light as I want. Funny to ride with 42mm tires with 3bar when riding with friends on roadbikes with 25mm tires 😉
We all got ice cream in Saltsjöbaden (that’s the purpose of this ride)
Map and stats: Strava
A bit of a strange week this week. Maybe the first one 2017 without any Le Peloton. To tired on Wednesday and am trying to not ride too much now when Vätternrundan is getting close.
Did Morningspins yesterday with really bad legs yesterday, was dead last. Was thinking if I should do Le Peloton or Morningspins today. Thought Le Peloton would be a little hard for a long time while Morningspins is more about speed but short distance and time to rest in between. Great to get some speed for Sundays Lida Loop XCM 🙂
A lot of riders today as you can see
Some very fast, some like me and more or less a cool group of riders 🙂 The first loop got was really fast and I was dropped, but not as early as yesterday. Yesterdays KOM got smashed too so says a bit. The 2nd lap wasn’t as fast which was really good for me. Found some legs and was able to hang on and make a new PR 😀
3rd lap started as an Instalap:
But then HRT attacked and some people followed, went fast again and I missed the train a bit. No worries as I was happy with the mornings training. Got some speed, felt a little bit fast and built some confidence 🙂 Great to have a positive feeling when it’s racetime.
Me and Peter matched in our Danger Speedsuits too 😀
Map and stats: Strava
Cycling can be so many things. Some are trying to win Tour de France, some are saving the environment by commuting, some are loosing weight, some like to discover the unknown, some wants to see how fast they can ride, some want to win a local race, some just want to spend time with their friends, some wants to teach others how to ride.
No matter if you’re riding 3km to the train or winning World Cups like Nino Schurter it should be fun. You should enjoy the riding or you should stop riding….
Pro’s usually got a big break from cycling in the autumn, maybe even a week or two in the middle of the season. A break to keep the motivation on top and be able to perform. We usuals aren’t that good on thinking of the breaks, or having a mental coach understanding how we work and what we need.
Now when it’s 2 weeks left until the biggest ”race” in Sweden, Vätternrundan. Not even a race but many people train seriously to beat a certain time riding with a fast group of people. If you mention for a non cyclist in Sweden that you ride a bike the first question would be: Have you done Vätternrundan?. In Sweden it’s the biggest event and for non cyclists it can even be bigger than World Championships or Tour de France.
It’s easy to get stressed about shape, group, time and what if you don’t make it… Some people even quit cycling after Vätternrundan and some hangs the bike up on the wall and not riding for the best period of the year (summer).
It’s so sad. I think it’s really sad with people getting fed up by cycling and quits, people that lost the joy and what it all was about in the beginning.
You may think that I never rest and never gets tired of cycling both working with it, have friends who ride a lot and riding a lot on my spare time. But my biggest fear is getting fed up and stop. I’m getting better on resting and as I said to a friend today. I’m riding so much it doesn’t matter if I miss a ride to do something else fun. The Skoda team with riding Vättern under 8h gives me a bit of pressure even when people say I would make it. It could be the end if I took it too serious but I try to keep it fun. I try to enjoy riding fast with my awesome teammates and aiming for everyone to have a fun time 🙂
If you’re tired, then rest. If you feel like going fast, then go fast. Don’t think too square, everyone are different and needs different things to work as a cyclist.
Take care and ride because it’s fun, don’t think anyone reading this blog have to ride their bike to survive. And the summer is perfect for riding 😀
This is how it all begins. A bridge, a sunrise and then a lot of cool fast people. Did Morningspins on Djurgården this morning and I couldn’t picked a better morning. Blame on my wide tires and heavy legs from yesterday that I couldn’t keep up all the way around the 3 laps but it was great training 🙂 Looked a bit like this by Hagen, Klas and Jacob:
Pure magic. And a great fika afterwards:
Compared to Le Peloton Morningspins is over faster and just after 8 I got to Hammarby Sjöstad and almost work. But Patrik asked me yesterday if I wanted to join for breakfast so called him, just on his way out so we met up and did go on an adventure ride for a proper Sequoia breakfast 😉 Rode gravel, singletrack, crossed some ice and rode (Patrik) endurolines downhil.
Then we climbed a mountain and had breakfast watching out over a lake like this:
A super morning all over the place. Like this: Strava
Forgot to blog yesterday about the peloton. Or the time ran out and I thought of it while laying in bed 😉
A lot of people keep showing up week after week. Will they continue over the winter too or when will people put their bikes on trainers and stop coming out?
The ride was hard, I was weak but tried to keep up and take some turns at least.
Then we had breakfast and Rille took this beautiful shot. Love this group of people sitting outside a café in a big city and can enjoy anyway. Big city life in a way with riding people who doesn’t live in a big city can understand:
Map and stats: Strava
And to continue about Le Peloton. Watched in the catalog from Douchebag at work and found Marika riding in the Peloton kit 😀
If Le Peloton is a team time trial it was time for intervals this morning with Morningspins. Flat out for 10,8km x3 with sharp corners and strong guys. It’s another mentality and I really like both. To go flat out, maybe get dropped and then people wait for you before the next lap. Such short laps makes it easier for the mind to go over the limit and push to the max.
And ending with a Swedish fika, a.k.a. coffee and cinnamon roll:
Map and stats with a lot of nice PR 😀 Strava
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