Race Across Skåne 2017

One of my 3 big goals this year was 2 days ago. Have never ridden as much as this year, haven’t been sick and my unsold bike was in top shape.

After friends already planned their trips and stays in Malmö I borrowed a car by a good friend and booked a hotel in Malmö. Drove down Friday evening after work as a start of my vacation.

Woke up in time Saturday morning with a bad feeling in my throat and body. Not sick but maybe a start of something. Would never spend so much energy and money and do a DNS so ate the bad breakfast and rolled in to Musette. Got a couple of bottles and met some nice friends I haven’t met since last year.

Master out from Malmö with Patch and Emil in front. Easy pace and a couple of punctures on the 25km master. Then the attacks went from the gun. I attacked too to get in the first group and tried to wheelsuck. Unfortunately I was on the wrong side in the wind and while a group of people flew by in a wing on my left side I couldn’t keep up. Ended chasing for a while but didn’t have the legs. Felt like I rode fast on the first gravel section but got caught by some people including Emil and we rode together. It doesn’t matter which form I am in but I can always rely on this wheel:

Ended up with being 5 riders riding together until the first stop. Me and Emil thought of changing group as we didn’t know the other 3. Was a bit late but got the smart thought of chasing the group of maybe 9 riders. 9 fast riders as we with full speed and forgetting things like 190km and threshold we didn’t get close enough… We gave up but I think they rode a bit wrong and they caught us a little bit later 😉

2nd group and manageable speed felt alright in the wet. Until a driver decided to turn left just in front of our group. 1st guy got hit by the car and we stopped. Just brused but so stupid by the driver who didn’t think clear at all. Happy it didn’t go worse then it did. After some time and phone calls there we rolled into Vitemölla and the lunch break:

Was a bit cold so shared some heat:

Then we cheated a bit and didn’t stay for an freezing hour but left when the first group left. I tried to ride smart with the first group for a bit, ended up taking a couple of turns but on a flat section they dropped me riding fast. Absolutely didn’t have the legs or mindset. Took a gravelroad the others skipped and ended up in the middle of 1st and 2nd group.

Stopped waiting and got riding with the 2nd group again. Felt alright and the rain didn’t bother me, wasn’t cold. After Klas took a long hard turn and I went to the front the group got split in pieces… Became 6 riders riding together after and when Ola and Klas decided to go down ravinen we became 4. Emil, Peter, me and a unknown guy skipped that tricky section and aimed to get back without mishaps and punctures. I was tired so didn’t do much work in front, just tried to hang on.

Last stop in Blentarp and I was wet, tired and if I would have found a train I would have skipped the last part. Was said of not being better so skipped the serious part and ate an ice cream. Happy Moment 🙂

Then we rode some gravel and I got happy again, didn’t feel slowest and the long uphill may have been slow but felt like I was moving. Found some energy and was able to be in front a bit at the end. Finished it of with winning the ”sprint” in our little group too. Doing all I could to be positive.

Then the rain stopped, we rolled in to Malmö and Västra Hamnen and the rest became an epic story and a day to remember.

Map and stats: Strava

I did it! Emil was saving me from not turning around in Önneköp without even knowing it. I said it before but you always need a friend to rely on, no matter.

Then I drove home and became sick for real…

Morningspins

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

200km Brevet

I did my 3rd Randonneur ride today. First one was 1,5 year ago in the middle of the winter. A long long snowy day riding alone around Mälaren. 2nd was last year on my birthday when Sumo Cycling Club smashed a ride from Uppsala with an average of over 34km/h for 200km, but with a bit too long stops and sadly a crash.

Today was a classic ride which many of my friends have done before, Slottsrundan (castleloop) in Sörmland starting in Östertälje. I missed it last year but today on Sweden’s National Day which of course is sunny seemed perfect 🙂

Got there with my Sumo club with El Gringo, The Joker and the The Dictator.

It all started in a very big group with like 30-40 riders and it was a bit too big. El Gringo thought of attacking and the Dictator wanted the same. Passing Vagnhärad it was an attack and some stopped, a bit messy but they tried to make the group smaller. Dropped a few but not so much. After the first stamp/castle and we turned right into tailwind it changed quiet a bit. El Gringo went up in the front and just smashed it, one line behind and not so many wanted to help out with the pace 😉 People got dropped and into Gnesta we where a fine little group. Stopped at Circle K for some water and a guy complained at the speed, hmm, nothing said about it.

Another group passed but they stopped for Pizza in Gnesta. We started riding again with mostly known people for me. Really fun. Mats got some attacks, a couple of signsprints and we lived life 😀

South of Mariefred where we turned to Åker Styckebruk the road got very undulating and while Sebastian was really strong on the climbs not everyone was.

In Åker Styckebruk we lost the Dictatotor and El Gringo and the Joker stopped to wait for him. I continued to get some more help from the 1st group.

Ended up at Malsåker castle:

Back over the water in Stallarholmen and stopped at a gas station.

The other Sumos wasn’t so far behind so we met up. Johan was pretty tired so me and him waited while the group I rode with before went to finish the ride. Johan was still tired after the break so he rode alone from Mariefred. Just the SUMO group back together:

El Gringo keeping the pace right, The Joker and me pushed the tempo a bit too high for the Dictator. Have to live up to my name (The Lightweight Lizard) on the climbs you know 😉

A nice pace straight back to Östertälje and the ride was over. me and the Joker celebrated like you should a sunny summer day 😉

Map and stats: Strava

The funny thing is today felt alright, I had no problems with going around (mostly) and take my turn. Compared to last autumn where I more or less just tried to hang on as I thought the pace was to high. Same speed today, more climbing and less good teamwork. Feels good 🙂

Some may think that you shouldn’t ride Brevet this fast but why not. Everyone in the final group today was happy about the speed I think, otherwise they should have dropped to another group 😉 And short stops makes it easier to get back on the bike 🙂

Torö is far away

At one time I thought of riding short today but it was sunny and I got nice friends who wanted to go to Torö. So Christ went to Heaven and we to Torö

It felt good, my bike felt fast so had to wait for the others a couple of times 😉 And I got Ice-cream 😀

Map and stats: Strava

New bike day to Vaxholm

My sore body wasn’t liking the idea of riding gravel today so instead I joined some friends for an easy caféride around Vaxholm. Went up a bit earlier to finish my cafébike:

My Colnago C40 is finished! 7,16kg Italian beauty that rode like a dream. The C40 was the first carbon fibre bike in the pro peloton and was around from 1994 to the latest version (mine) in 2004. So how good is a 13 year old roadbike? It’s really good, really happy with how it felt.

Built with some of my favorite components like:

Campagnolo 11-speed group

Deda Newton Shallow handlebar

Specialized S-works Toupe saddle

Specialized Turbo tubulars

Time Xpresso pedals

Fizik Superlight 2mm bartape

and always tuned with some light parts like Tune U20 QR, Specialized titanium bottle cage and Engage Gavial brakes.

A success includes great friends and a good guide:

And fika:

A great recovery ride with beautiful views and ferries:

It’s nice sometimes to be a bit classic and think that style more prioritized than performance. Just plain simple like white socks 😀

Map and stats: Strava

XC and Sockdoping

Started the day with riding mtb with some friends. Some fast and some technical trails and for the first time mostly hardtails 😉 Except John. Need to get better in finding some fast trails around here 🙂

Ended with coffee and lunch at Le Mond.

Then I took a longer route home to find some small roads on gravel, and wood:

Was a year since I rode down there last time and I got a couple of nice climbs too 🙂

Map and stats: Strava

Today I wore plain pink MB socks in wool. Sometimes it’s the simple that feels right and sometime not. Got a couple of new Gelatosocks so my collection is complete and I have a bigger problem choose socks for tomorrows Le Peloton and race:

😀 Perfect for me as I really love Icecream, and cool cyclingsocks 🙂

Sumo Gravelgrinding

Our 120-150km roadride got changed as the weather should go below 0° and it’s freezing to ride roadbikes in so cold weather. Eva wanted to ride gravel and everyone changed. Became 8 riders who left Urban Deli this morning towards Gladö Kvarn and new roads for some. Anders turned around after a while and we became 7 for the rest of the ride. 7 happy cyclists just after we had a break thanks to Johan 🙂

The reason I was happy was cause of my tiretesting. 1,95″ Specialized S-Works Renegade today with an awesome float 🙂 Sadly not sticking so good in mud so did have one ”crash” or fall. Rolled a bit better than I thought compared to my friends 33-38mm cx tires. Now I just need the legs of Michael to became fast too…

A really nice ride in mostly really nice (but cold) weather, just got very little snow on us in the end. The ”end” was Hellasgården and fika, maybe last time for me as their service was at the bottom. But nice company 🙂 Me and Claes rolled home together and just after we said goodbye in Duvnäs my watch died, so missed a couple of kilometers on Strava.

Map and stats (with a strange heart rate): Strava

Lightweight Lizard and Speed Lunatic

For the first time on gravel this year I had a lighter bike than Emil 🙂 He on his Ridley X-Trail and me on my Specialized Epic ht, was nice to try it on gravel too. Emil had some more speed as in his nickname Speed Lunatic when it went fast and my 34-11 wasn’t made for going fast. But an 8Kg hardtail with 2,1″ Specialized Fast Trak tires was really fun on gravel too. We had a great morning in the sun watching animals, talking children and discussing #aeroiseverything

Also sat some Personal Records and I got top 10 around Flaten after following Emil over some bridges:

Map and stats: Strava

After we had breakfast the clouds came and the weather turned grey. So happy I got up in time to enjoy the sun this morning with the fastest Sumo.

New helmet day and finetuning

I finally got my new Specialized S-Works Prevail II helmet today, ready for racing 😀

And yesterday my new stem arrived home (from work). Used a 3T Arx II last year with a stupid T30 torx at the back, didn’t like it and sold it after the season. But wanted a clean 90mm -17° stem and while Zipp Service Course SL may look good it’s a bit pricey. So found the cheapest stem that met my criterias:

Pro LT 😉 Looked at the more expensive Pro stems but none was available in the right size. And this does its job perfect, felt good testing it today 🙂 We’ll see how long I have it until I upgrade to an Extralite or something like that…

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: