Last of the MTB races

My last MTB race of 2017 was to be the last round of the Danish National series (SRAM Liga) in Vejle. I'd been to the venue in 2016, but didn't race due to illness, but was at least aware of the course layout. We drove over on Saturday afternoon with Sandra from Singletrack Sisters who would be racing the Elite race just after me on Sunday. It's a great venue (especially when not raining!), with lots going on around the arena.

No Albert, it's not a giant marshmallow......

Upon arrival we were buoyed by the dryness of the roads and tracks and the forecast was for dry, although cloudy weather both Saturday and Sunday. We arrived in good time to collect our number boards, pin them on and out on the track for official practice. The course was damp in some areas, but generally in very good condition, especially the areas that must be part of a permanent MTB track, which were properly prepared for all weathers.

Back to the hotel, food in the hotel restaurant and then into bed nice and early. Wow, this doesn't normally happen! Both kids in bed and asleep before 2100, in a hotel! Wii Hoo!

Sunday morning the sun was actually shining for a change as we made our way to breakfast. The clouds soon rolled in, but we had still positive feelings and looked forward to a dry race for a change! I headed out for a good warm-up with plenty of time to spare, and the weather seemed ok, albeit a little on the chilly side. The legs felt pretty good, although I did feel quite nervous for this race knowing that I went in with a slim 16 point lead over number 2 in the series! I wasn't really sure how far behind number 3 was in points, but my aim before the race was to stay ahead of numbers 502 and 503 at all costs into the finish (I was number 501, so our seeding numbers are series positions). On the start-line I had 502-505 lined up beside me, and the pulse felt high. Nobody spoke or looked at each other at this race. I wanted to get a good start today, as I knew there was a tree in the middle of the trail, with a hop down, and up a curb just before it, so I wanted to lead into there in order to avoid any problems. Then ideally I would let somebody else do the work after that tight spot. But then, thoughts changed to..... rain.... FFS. AGAIN!?!? First pretty lightly, then a little heavier. No matter I thought, focus on the start!

Nerves on edge on the start-line!

The gun went and I got away well, foot in pedal and some good powerful strokes so I lead into the first section as planned. Not at all to plan was that nobody came by after the tree, so I lead the field into the singletrack too. Already at the first downhill section with switchbacks after a couple of minutes riding I could see that only one other rider had stayed close. So I settled in to my own pace and let him sit on my wheel, all the time thinking I would stick close if he came past. By now the rain had become pretty heavy, and during the first lap it got heavier and heavier! By the end of the lap the course and me were sodden. My clothes felt heavy, and I actually felt cold despite the effort level. But, I had pulled a gap of 10-20 seconds to the rider in 2nd place without really realising it. So, now it was solo riding for the rest of the race. All the while due to the course layout I could see 2nd place and knew I had pulled a few more seconds each lap.

One of the many steep climbs - Denmark ain't flat!

The last lap was pretty mucky, and the course had become much more slippy due to all the tyres churning the mud. I managed to keep it on two wheels, and even had time to take the last couple of kms a little easier into the finish where I won with 50 seconds to spare. Race win and series win! A great feeling, and after the tough start to the season it felt good to get it done, especially with a win!

Over the line, wet and mucky!

Raceday podium

Series standings after 5 races - a late surge!

On to the CX season full-time now. No more MTB races until next spring. First CX race is already next weekend in Rävlanda (west of Gothenburg). It will be exciting to see how I fair in the Men A class against riders of all ages and levels, not just the 30-year-olds!

August - and the summer that never was summer

Bit of a dodgy summer this year. It can be summed up as, grey and lukewarm. Trails never totally dried out, never really hot. Just very 'lagom'. You English speakers will have to look up that very Swedish of words.

After the weekend of the national champs we had a break from everyday life, and from training. For me it was by choice, for Malin it was enforced due to her crash. A week on Gotland allowed us to chill and spend time with the kids. It felt like it was much needed for the motivation to return too after the challenging weekend before.

Unstructured training on the quiet roads of Gotland

Back home to Lund and time for some testing, then onto the CX training in earnest as the season begins already in September. Race dates for the national series, local series and the National champs have all been released, and so the cross season is now planned!

- 23-24/9 - Rävlanda CX trophy and cup races
- 15/10 - MusetteCross
- 28-29/10 - Malmö CX trophy and cup races
- 19/11 - MusetteCross
- 9-10/12 - Lund and Helsingborg CX trophy races
- 31/12 - MusetteCross
- 13-14/1 - National CX Champs in Gothenburg!!

As for MTB races since the National champs I've had some great results and great fun events. The inaugural Musette 6-hour took place on 12/8, and was a great success. The day after was round 4 of the Danish national series in Silkeborg. A marathon race fairly local to home called Snapphaneturen was on the 20/8, then round 6 of XCup was in Malmö on the Rainbow Track on the 27/8. So actually a fairly intense few weeks!

Musette's inaugural 6-Hour race: The smile says it all!

The form left from the Nationals meant that I've had some good results too. First came a closely fought win as a team of 3 with my good friends Tobias Olsson and Phille Nilsson in the Musette 6-hour. When I say close, I mean close.... 5 seconds after 6 hours of racing! Tobias and I did the early work as both needed to leave early due to other commitments, meaning Phille would be riding the last hour on his own! So as it was, Tobbe and I missed all the excitement of the last few laps where the Musette team hauled us in to finish within spitting distance at the line. The race was a fairly small affair for the first test of the event which Musette hope will grow, but the atmosphere was superb, friendly and fun racing on an ever changing course as the weather went from rain to sun several times. I rode my new training bike in this race, a BMC TeamElite 01, which is new for me as I've been riding fully suspended for the last 2 1/2 years. The softtail is a great comprimise of weight, comfort and speed. I really enjoyed riding this bike, with it's sharp handling and quick response. It's nice to be back on a hardtail too, feels like you have to work for your speed a little more. But I also think you become a better rider when training on a hardtail.

The new TeamElite - a rather nice 'Training' bike

The same day we drove to Silkeborg with Sandra from Malins team in order to test the course for SRAMLiga (Danish National Series) the following day. We had read all the forecasts and were prepared for a nice warm, dry Denmark. How wrong we were! On arrival we realised that the area has received a lot of rain both in the days leading up to the weekend, and also on Saturday. When Sandra and I finally arrived at the venue (after some sightseeing in Silkeborg courtesy of her phone GPS! ;-) ) we were greeted with a mud bath! Even the start/finish area was tricky to move around in. The lap was tough to say the least. I counted at least two places where I'd probably be off and running if the ground didn't dry out by Sunday. This would be the first outing for my new 2018 race bike. A BMC FourStroke 01 One, and boy what a debut for that bike!

As it turned out, the course did improve. But only slightly! More rain overnight had not helped, but sun in the morning had helped to make a small difference. I decided to go out fairly easy and see how the legs felt after the previous day's efforts and settled in to 2nd place with the series leader just behind. Onto the second lap I caught the leader and had pulled away from third place, then with some good old British mud riding I pulled a gap for the rest of the race in the slippy conditions as the others struggled to find grip. On race day there was only one climb that wasn't rideable, and the CX training helped me to gain time even there. The legs were shot by the end of the race, but I was relieved to take the win, and also move into the series lead with one round left to go! The new bike felt pretty similar to the 2017 one (good for me having not ridden it before this weekend!) apart from the small changes in suspension, brakes and gears. But I have to say the biggest difference to the hardtail ridden on Saturday was the wheels. I had my Amaton race wheels on the fully, and boy what a difference to the original DT Swiss wheels. So light, stiff and sharp. They really helps to make the bike feel fast and responsive, even if it is a fully!

A win in Silkeborg, and now the series lead with one race left

The following weekend I hadn't really planned to race, but after some persuasion by Magnus I agreed to accompany him to Snapphaneturen, but decided to only ride the open class instead of senior men racing category. The race organised by Hässleholms Cykelklubb is a tough one, and although ONLY 60km, is mainly singletrack, and pretty tough trails. Not a high average speed, and not so many spots to rest on. We took an easy start and I had agreed with Magnus that he would try to stay with me as long as he was comfortable. The start loop was pretty hectic, with riders taking lines all over the place, and lots of traffic and stopping, so already there we lost sight of each other. From there out I just rode to have fun and enjoy the trails. The legs felt good, and the new TeamElite and I had become good friends so I really enjoyed chucking it about on the tough singletrack. With about 15km to go I still felt pretty fresh so decided to push on to the finish at a higher pace. I'd already been passing a lot of riders, but in those last 15km the pace of those being passed had increased and I'd also caught a lot of the race classes. The last 1km was pretty cool as I caught and then out-sprinted 2 riders in to the finish, not realising at all that I'd actually worked my way up to 3rd place in open! My time was ok too, and would have given me a top 30 in the race category. I almost wished I'd raced and tried a bit harder. But still, I had a great time, and I can highly recommend this fantastic event.

Some of the Musette MTB crew after Snapphaneturen

The last of 3 weekends in a row was XCup, again on the Rainbow track in Malmö. This time we had some pretty bad weather, and during the race the race the course went from wet, to wetter, to bog! Luckily for me I love those conditions, so I took the win from my Musette team-mate Philip after taking the lead early on the start loop. It was a really tough race due to the conditions, and during the last lap I had a minimum of 4 fairly heavy crashes into thorn bushes or trees. The bruises, scratches and masses of mud in my eyes took a good few days to get over! Contact lenses and muddy races are never easy going!

The glasses lasted about a lap, then it was 'safety-squint' time. Mud-fest!

BMC and Musette were also at the XCup race showing the new 2018 bikes and in particular the new Agonist that I had a go on round the now drying track. First impressions were very positive, and I especially liked the new geometry of this bike and the stable feeling it gave. The suspension wasn't set up for my weight, but initial feelings were good with good small bump response and a plush feeling. I look forward to trying one in anger at a later date! Could be the XC race weapon of choice if XC courses keep developing the way they have over the last few years with technical sections, jumps and rock-gardens. Thanks to Musette for the 'proper' coffee after the race to warm my hands. A great addition to have those guys there at an already great XCup event.

Me and Philip with our espressos after the finish at XCup in Malmö

The new Agonist that I tried on the Rainbow track. Really loving the smooth lines and clean finish

The last MTB race of the year for me is the SRAMLiga in Vejle on 17/9. Then it's full-speed-ahead for the CX season!

Race Report from SM (National Champs)

Well that was a pretty mental National Champs week/weekend.... mechanicals, late night driving, crashes, hospital visits. No offence to Värnamo but I don't want to go back for a while. ;-)

Malin and I drove up as early as Tuesday (Malin raced sprint on Thursday) so that she could try both the XCE and XCO courses. I stuck to my plan and did an interval session on Tuesday, a very easy spin on Wednesday. Only riding the course again on Thursday morning I took my last lap as my race prep session after Malin's qualifying run in the XCE.

Team tents for Musette/BMC and the Singletrack Sisters!

All felt good and I was looking forward to the next day. Until.... my Di2 decided it didn't want to play anymore. The system shut down on two separate occasions and I couldn't find anyone with the necessary equipment to do diagnostics during the afternoon. So, decision to change to Tobias' spare bike's mechanical SRAM group was made early evening, but while Malin was still racing nothing could be done till 21:00. After some time faffing, Tobias and I realised the rear mech hanger was direct mount, and his rear mech was standard. The extra hangers I had with me were also direct mount. So at 23:00, after some convincing/pep-talk by Tobbe (I have to admit with everything I'd put into this event, I was pretty distraught) we drove back to Lund to take the mech hanger from my spare bike.

2 hours in the car.... same hanger/problem again. In the car with the bike as a last resort, and a call to Christian who opened Musette for me at 1am, to get a hanger! Luckily like me he's used to no sleep with small children in the house. ;-) Hanger in hand Tobbe drove me back to Värnamo. In bed by 4:00. Up early the next morning I built the bike up again with the new hanger and the mechanical system. Now with a gripshift SRAM shifter, not ridden gripshift since 1995! The system worked great during the car park test though, and I didn't think I'd have any problems adjusting. 

The BMC FS01, now with mechanical gears - and with 90's throwback Gripshift! Sexy Amaton wheels!

10:00, bike ready, race is just after 12:00. Time to mix drinks, sort kit, get dressed and then ride up to the venue for my warm-up. Only now did I really start to reflect on the manic 12-18 hours and was just glad to be able to make it to the start line. Even if all my usual, and planned pre-race rituals both the night before and morning before had been missed completely or disrupted. The first silly mistake then came when I missed where I was supposed to come in to the start. I rode up to the start area twice, but saw nobody. So rode away again. Only on my last visit did I realise that I'd been checking the wrong place, and all my rivals stood on the start line already! NO! Missed call-up. Was seeded No. 3, but was therefore demoted to the last row. Seemed I wasn't the only one as seeded No. 2 Johan ('Limpan') was also on the last row. 

Now I was feeling stressed, and angry. I had to keep myself in check to not explode and ruin my race before it even started. 

Away almost last - then silly watts - Photo: Malin

The gun went, and I got hemmed in against the fencing on the right-side. Away dead last into the first corner. After the corner was a long wide gravel road. Here I rode like an idiot from last to first place. Haven't checked the power figures, but safe to say it was way over how I had planned to start and I was in the red by the time we reached the first singletrack. Just before entering the singletrack Jokke came by and stretched his legs. If there was more gravel road he would have disappeared but luckily the fast flowing trail suits me and I could close in before the first technical section was reached. He set a fast early pace and I sat on his wheel studying where he was fast and slow. I heard tyres behind me the whole time, and heard people cheering Johan. So Limpan also got a good start and was with us.

The first lap was over in a flash, and for both laps 1 and 2 Jokke and I shared the lead, but I was riding like it was the last lap. Overtaking and attacking in silly places, and wasting energy. Being so angry I felt like I had something to prove and could ride away from everybody. How wrong I was.

Pushing the pace on Liftgatan on lap 2 - way too hard too early - Photo: Lucas Axelsson

Lap 3 and Limpan came by to take the lead, my attacks had helped pull a gap to Jokke, although I later found out that he had also dropped his chain at some point. I sat on Johan's wheel for lap 3, and could ride his pace, although the legs were starting to feel a but strained already.

Lap 3 - Johan's turn to push the pace - Photo: Lucas Axelsson

Lap 3 - Johan still leading and a gap to Jokke - Photo: Lucas Axelsson

Out onto lap 4 and into the first singletrack I was close on the wheel still, perhaps too close as I clipped a tree with my left-hand and ended up sideways across the trail with both feet un-clipped. CRAMP! Ah! Left leg completely locked as my hamstring cramped up. Johan heard and saw that I had stopped so put in a strong attack and got 15-20s straight away as I struggled to straighten bike and body. I tried the best I could to stretch my leg, but the course is so demanding and technical that I just had to keep pushing as hard as possible without over-stretching and cramping again. The penultimate ascent of the long 'Liftgatan' climb was pretty painful with the cramping leg, and I remember letting out a scream at the top as I stood up to try to keep the speed up - all the while friends and family are screaming at me from the side of the trail.

Lap 4 seemed to take an eternity, I could see Johan just ahead in some sections, and seemingly a long way ahead in others. But I just could not push any harder. The beginning of the last lap, and the last climb were pure will power, my body had already called it a day. I knew now that it was going to be a fight to finish on the podium at all. I tried to keep my speed up as much as possible, but with the nature of the course it was tough to not lose time to Jokke, who caught and passed me with about 2km to go - like I was stationary I might add.....

Riding alone on lap 4/5, trying to keep the pace up - Photo: Lucas Axelsson

The last 2km to the finish I was looking behind more than ahead, not knowing who was there and how far back. Over the line. Finished, both mentally and physically. Jokke had even caught a fading Johan near the end, finishing only 10s back, with me a further 40s behind. Donaldh Andersson took a fantastic 4th behind me (good to see him getting back to form!).

Over the finish line - shoulders down by my knees

So, what have I learned from this race/weekend?

1. Know your equipment. I had no idea what to do when the Di2 had a fault. I know now.... But it's too late now.

2. Take spares with you (in this case the spare bike could have saved a lot of hassle, e.g. change of control box).

3. Respect your rivals. No matter how strong you feel, how well you think you've trained, the others have worked hard too. You can't just ride away from people at this level. A better tactical race had maybe seen a different result.

4. Be prepared, and have a mental list of your pre-race checks. E.g. Where is the start?!?!

Tomorrow is another day, next year is another SM. After Malin's crash (which she will blog about), my race was all but forgotten by Saturday afternoon, and racing didn't seem to matter as I stood by her in the hospital waiting for x-ray results while she was strapped to the back-board. 

Finished - where is my beer? - Photo: Malin

Podium Pic! - Photo: Malin

Weekends like this also really bring home why I love cycling and specifically mountain biking. The people. What fantastic friends we have from this amazing sport. Without Tobias and Christian I wouldn't have been on the start-line come Friday morning. Without Caroline, Felicia, Joakim, Carina, Amanda, Jens, Hannes and Felix, and Sandra's parents looking after the kids, tents, bikes, etc, Malin's crash would have been even more of a nightmare than it already was. A huge THANK YOU to all of you once again!

Well done Daddy - Photo: Malin

Another huge thank you too all my sponsors and supporters! Musette Malmö, BMC Switzerland, Fizik, POC, Tete de la Course, Amaton.

Mid summer testing

A fair amount has happened since my last post. Some great training, some cool races, and lots of family time.

Firstly, training. I've had some tough weeks planned, and coach Rob has had me pushing hard. We had a B-race during week 24 which had a few days taper, but other than that it's been full-packed weeks.

Highlights have been the nice sunny days when I've been able to get out with Albert in the trailer on my own, or rides with Malin if we've had babysitters. Then more recently the family rides with both kids in the trailers and a 'fika' or cafe stop thrown in. We also had a lovely weekend away with some great friends the Nilssons and Tobias & Neo in Värnamo for Swedish Midsommar (eat lots of good food, drink lots of snaps, celebrate summer and the longest day, usually in the rain). Why Värnamo? That's where the Swedish National Champs are going to be held in the third week of July. So, yes we celebrated midsommar and drank a few beers, but we also trained on the course both Saturday and Sunday. It's gonna be tough! The course is very tricky, with lots of technical sections, rough singletrack with roots and rocks, and seemingly endless climbs! The downhills are fun, but don't allow any time to recover, so it's going to be a very hard race for all. I didn't really find a good place to take a drink, which is normally a sure-fire sign of a tough course!

Jonas and me before the first day's ride in Värnamo

Race spec on the Fourstroke - other than new tyres before race day. New Vittoria Peyote in stock at Musette Malmö!

Helen, Tobias and me before day 2 on course

The course has a few really nice sections, some drops, drop-offs, double jumps, and nice flowy corners. Here's a few pics Helen took on day 2:

Bermed corner over the bridge, then another climb up to a super steep drop-off

The second of the big drops with a fairly steep landing

The family rides have been a really nice way to break up the training weeks, and apart from the wind a couple of times we've had some nice weather for those rides too. I take Hilda, and Malin takes Albert, not sure how long that will last as he's catching up with her in weight pretty quickly!! :-O

Out in the sun with the trailers

Rude not to stop and fill the tank!

As for races there have been two since my last post. The first was the planned B-race at SRAM Liga (Danish national series) round 3 in Varde on the 18th June, and the second just yesterday (4th July) at Vallåsen with a 2 hour team race where Malin and I raced in the mixed pairs category. 

The SRAM Liga course was really nice as usual for the Danes, although this one is pretty flat (rode here in 2014 too), so it doesn't really suit me so well. That said I had a really good start and felt strong for the whole of the first lap, even pulling out a 10-15 second gap at the front until roughly halfway round the second lap where a group of riders working together caught me. They sat behind until the end of the third where two passed by while I grabbed a bottle from Malin in the feed zone. I hopped on the wheel and sat in 3rd place going into the first flowy singletrack section. The lead rider had a technical before we'd left the woods and I momentarily got slowed as he moved to my side of the course. The leader got a 5 second gap, which I first closed, but then unfortunately the gap grew again for the next couple of kilometres as I struggled to match his fast pace.

Another two riders were still behind me and we rode in a group for around half of lap 4 until one guy said he'd had enough and allowed the other guy past. He passed me too just before a tricky little singletrack section, but I managed to hold his wheel pretty well until I made a silly little mistake when he braked harder than I anticipated, a foot down for me and.....whack! CRAMP! My right hamstring locked out and I struggled to get pedalling again. Not the best spot for it to happen with some short-sharp climbs with tricky step-ups coming up. I struggled on and then managed to stretch out a bit as we came to the second feed zone on a fire-road. At the end of the fire-road the cramp had all but gone and I could start to push on again. But 2nd place was now around 20-30 seconds up the road. I pushed as hard as I could muster for the rest of the lap, and the whole of the last (fifth) lap, but finished still 30 seconds down in third place, with roughly 50 seconds back to fourth. The leader had put in two amazing laps and finished over a minute up. Still pretty happy with my performance, and the form felt good after just a short taper of a few days. This was my first race on the new Amaton wheels, and they felt absolutely amazing. So fast and stiff, they have really transformed the handling of the bike. Luckily they seem to be able to take a bashing too, as the course had quite a few jumps and drops!

One of many drops in Varde - SRAM Liga Rd 3

Bit of a flat landing on this jump, no problem for my BMC Fourstroke though

Soft landing in sand, this is where stiff, responsive wheels really help with control!

The team relay race as part of Båstad Bike Week was supposed to be a training ride for Malin and I. I had planned to do a 90min tempo ride, and Malin was to do 2 x 20 min intervals. However, we hadn't read the rules properly, and our plans of riding our training straight were scuppered when we read rule No. 3. Each rider may only ride 2 laps in succession! DOH! Plan B then was to allow Malin to ride a little shorter, and me a little longer (and slower) by me doing 2 laps, and her 1 before a swap. It worked pretty well apart from the 'slow' bit. We both pushed pretty hard as the red mist fell and we led the mixed pair race from the first lap. Our 2:1 plan also made for a faster overall race time compared to our competitors who rode 1:1. Perhaps in hindsight we'd have had more fun doing that too. But still, it was still cool to race in the middle of the week, and also great to have friends on the podium with us at the end! Well done to Ulrika & Daniel, and Helen & Jonas who took home 3rd and 2nd places respectively. We will definitely be back for more next year, we hope for big things from this race. A well organised, although small race with a really nice laid back atmosphere. Who can argue with the venue too, an arse-kicking climb, followed by a DH course descent.... Win win win!

Podium from Mixed pairs race

Super fun course!! :-)

Only 2 1/2 weeks left until the National Champs now. Getting excited already! This weekend we have a local XCup race at one of my favourite venues - Hovdala castle in Hässleholm. Then two weeks of taper before we drag the house on wheels up to Värnamo once again. Fingers crossed for a beautiful Swedish summer week!

Kit and race updates!

Been a while since I wrote last, busy busy busy. It's not easy being a house husband! A man's work is never done. ;-) Still, I can't complain as I get to spend so much time with my kids, which I never would have been able to do had we still lived in the UK. So I love it!

Anyway, since I last wrote a few things have changed on the kit front. First of all I received a new crash helmet and new shoes from Klas Wennersten at AG Trading, the distributors of POC and Fizik in Sweden. An Octal X in oh so shiny black, and a sleek pair of Fizik M1 shoes, also in black - but a more stealthy matt leather colour. So a huge thank you to Klas for your help!

The first thing I noticed about the Octal is how light and comfortable it is! The first time I put it on I hardly needed to adjust anything!. The strap sat perfectly, and didn't rub on my ears or cheeks at all. The easily reached adjuster at the back sat in the right place, and allowed the lid to be adjusted to sit perfectly on my noggin. The first ride was also a little bit of a revelation, the venting on this thing is amazing! The thing I really noticed is how it even works at low speeds, absolutely brilliant for MTB when you very quickly get a hot head. It even looks pretty cool I think, although I'll let you be the judge of that. ;-)

Snug fit

The Fizik M1 shoes are very Italian - ie. they look very stylish! Nice finishing, and an unbelievably stiff carbon sole, which during the first test ride shocked me at how well the power can be transferred to the pedals. Not that my old Shimano shoes were flexi, but the difference to the XC70's is still noticeable on the bike. The fit is snug, just as you want it, and the Boa lace system works well to tighten the shoe in the right places, so well in fact that I wonder a little bit what the velcro strap at the toe is really for. Seems almost redundant!

Onto a quick race update now, then back to kit (so everything is in chronological order!).
This Saturday (3/6) saw the third round of the local XCup races taking place up at Vallåsen Bike Park. I love this course as it is based on one of the DH courses at Vallåsen, with a long climb up on mixed dirt road and singletrack. The DH sections include some really nice flowing corners, jumps and some fast more open sections too. Right in the middle of a tough training phase, and this being a C-race we didn't include a proper taper, so was wondering how well the legs would respond to a race. But what with the pollen season calming down for me (my main problem is with Birch), the race went really well. I had a great race-long battle with my new team mate Philip, and we were chased to the wire by a honed Malmsten, who has lost a lot of weight with all his Tri training. Excitement in the race also came in the form of another visit from some Danish pros (as this race seems to usually attract some big names - how does Gustav Larsson of Tour de France and pro peleton fame grab you). Benjamin and Klas were on the startline with us, but we didn't see them much after that, think they had a cheap ticket on the bridge, so had to get back home in time. ;-) I came home a tight third place behind them, with Philip hot on my tail, chasing me all the way to the line. Johan was also only 20s back, but mine and Philip's last lap was our fastest due to the battling/attacking going on, so would have been tough for him seeing us just ahead all the time!
No pics from our start, so here's a couple of links to some vids instead! I'm one of the guys in the Yellow Musette jerseys.
Video from Alex Lapajne of the start and first half of the race.
Video from Sko Gen(?) from the sidelines

Lastly, another kit update!
My new BMC Fourstroke came this year with a Boost (15x110mm) fork, so my old Stan's Notubes Valor wheels from 2015 would require an adapter to fit. Not an ideal scenario for racing, so I started a hunt for a replacement wheelset. After some discussions with Sören at Sponz in Hilleröd in Denmark at a SRAM Liga race, I ended up ordering a pair of Sponz's own Amaton wheels. To be more exact, the top of the line AM-RS model.
Lovely carbon loveliness
They were ordered only last week, but were ready for pick-up already today (6/6), so now they are home and ready to be fitted and tested. I chucked them on the scales (as one does), and was pleasantly surprised to see the circa 1200-1300g figure on the site - depending on number of spokes and rim width - was in fact a good guess. 1270g with rim tape! More to follow after I've been out for a ride!

Feeling stronger by the day

Last weekend Malin and I were up at round 2 of the Swedish National series, a UCI C1 race in Vårgårda, just north-east of Gothenburg. The race was also announced as being the 2017 Nordic Championships (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland being Nordic countries).

With this race being a qualification round for the National Champs I'd written it in as a B-race, so coach Rob had changed the lead-up to include a good taper. This seemed to work as I was feeling stronger and stronger leading up to the race itself, and by the weekend I was feeling good, and ready to compete.

We decided to drive up on Sunday morning and check out the new bits of the course before the first races started, seeing as both Malin and I would be racing in the afternoon. The week before had promised reasonable weather, and most importantly no rain. Later in the week the forecast seemed to be changing by the hour, but by Sunday it was time to ignore the forecast, and pack the rain clothes as the weather had changed for the worse. All the journey up was through various rain showers and heavy downpours. Arriving at the venue in rain was also a bit of a disappointment, other than the fact that I knew this would help me with the pollen!

Malin lining up with a few world champions in the spitting rain

Malin's race was first, and I was standing in the feed-zone with bottles for her. A few rain showers during her race meant that all were coming by looking dirty and some had obviously had a bit of a lie-down judging by the state of them. But by all accounts, it seemed that the course was actually holding up ok.

Not much time was now left from Malin's last bottle and the start of my race. So I quickly returned to the tent, threw on my kit and out on the bike to get warmed up. I managed a total of about 20 minutes before they started calling people up for our races. That's when I learned that due to the large field of H40 riders, they would be starting one minute ahead of us! Oh, that could be interesting! I started from the back, but knew that shouldn't be a problem as long as I got a reasonable start on the first long climb. What I wasn't expecting was that even before the top of the hill, we would catch up with the stragglers in the H40 field. The start loop was a bit more technical that previous years, including the new descent of the ski-hill. Which in hindsight wasn't really the best decision by the race organisers - and perhaps the start loop would have been better ridden down a slalom on the ski-hill, as in previous years. The traffic jam with horrendous, with riders walking and falling over all around.

The loose right-hander caught a few people out, especially during the start loop!

The first two laps were therefore pretty stressful and we spent a lot of time sprinting to overtake H40 riders - not such a good strategy for the race! I had gone out from the start way too hard, and led up the first climb - producing my best ever 1 minute power in the process. Then for the whole of the first lap, due to a short warm-up and the stupid start, I was really in oxygen debt! The lungs were burning like hell and the cardio system was lagging behind my fresh feeling legs! Early on I moved down from the lead and then being passed by two more riders by the end of the second lap I was sitting in 4th place. Around about that time I started to feel good again and could push on again. In the process I caught and passed third place who looked to be struggling, then during the third lap I caught 2nd spot again and was with him by the start of the 4th. As I had seen him on the third lap I knew where I had gained time, so had already decided where I would attack on the lap. It was a short, sharp, steep climb with lots of rocks and roots which is difficult to clear without a foot down. There is a kind of B-line, which is about 10 seconds slower, which I had seen the other rider take on lap 3. So, I had to ride the climb well, and quickly, with a good strong section after too in order to make the attack stick!

It did, and out on to the tarmac that denotes the last bit of the main climb I had gained a gap of about 10 seconds. I climbed hard out of the saddle with the Fox suspension locked-out and didn't look back. The next section was some tricky descending where I knew I was faster, a sharp climb where he could probably close in again, then another tough descent, a jump, then the flat section to the finish. I rode all way to the finish without looking back as hard as I could. Only realising I had a good gap on the last straight where I could let up. Over the line, completely finished!

White men can't jump - and oh so white I am.... ;-)

Had good fun, but was a little frustrated with the silly start, and the traffic earlier in the race. Silly rookie errors shouldn't be happening when I've been racing for so many years!! Still, on to the next race, and we have a good gap in between where we have visits from England, hopefully a visit to the National Champs course, and by the looks of things, finally some half decent weather!! :-)

Finding my legs again

So round 2 of the Danish National MTB series was only a week after round 1, and was also in Holte, just 15mins away from round 1, and only an hour from home again. Not much time to recover from the physical and mental beating I was handed at round 1.

Another tough week of training, with only 1 rest day on Wednesday, I felt pretty knackered while carrying out my race prep session on Saturday afternoon. Normally we'd be at the venue testing the course the afternoon before, but the race organisers had sent a message out asking people to refrain from training on the course until Sunday in order to spare it a thrashing due to the horrendous amounts of rain that fell on Copenhagen on Friday/Saturday.

A kit explosion in the car before starting my warm-up

The course felt short, and compared to last year and a couple of really nice trails had been removed due to the weather. Some other sections of trail that are built on more sustainable ground were thrown in instead, and some of them were actually really good fun. Some other sections were still pretty wet and slippy, but for me that's just even more fun!

After a good long warm-up I stood on the start-line ready for round 2, even the legs got an airing! The temperature was well in the double figures for probably the first time this year. A nice feeling!

On the startline, soaking up the rays!

The start gun went and I got swamped. Didn't make the best start, and the first few corners were tight before we were out onto the wide gravel tracks for a long loop before the first singletrack. I actually felt pretty good in the legs, and could therefore push my way back up the field, and crossed the line 6th after the first lap. Over the next two laps things felt great and I worked my way up to 2nd place, and by the feed zone I got a report that I was only 30s behind the leader. The guy in third stuck on my wheel, and I probably should have stayed with him and worked together, but instead tried to attack and get away. We rode together for the 4th lap, and then when he attacked at the beginning of the 5th I started to feel the fatigue hit me and couldn't respond. From there on out I was just holding on to the finish, passed by several others as I slowed and lost time on the pedally bits. I managed to hold 5th place's wheel on the last climb and we rode into the finish close to each other but I had nothing left to go round before the line.

We Brits love a bit of mud!

So, an improvement over last week. Both in the official total (6th) and the unofficial old-boy's race (2nd). Pretty happy with the speed when it was there, and beat a good few that finished ahead just a week before. Think the hayfever was helped by the wet weather, but hopefully things will start to settle from here on out in any case.

Well, that hurt...

The year's first race, always a tough one. No matter how much you train over the winter, there's nothing that really prepares you for that feeling of burning lungs and lactic acid making your legs scream at you to stop.

This time I even had the added pleasure of an injury from a fall on my lower back the week before. A visit to the physio on the Thursday before the race was a painful one, but Viktor at Lunds Fysioterapi knows his stuff and in his opinion I could race on Sunday. Albeit with the help of some painkillers. What with the hay-fever (allergy) tablets I also take at this time of year, I would be rattling over all the bumps!

I decided that if my back felt ok while practising the course on Saturday, then I'd race on Sunday. So we dropped the kids off with Mormor on Saturday afternoon and drove over to Holte, just north of Copenhagen for round 1 of the Danish national XC series, or SRAM Liga as it's known.

The course used parts of a course that Malin and I had ridden in 2014, and was 99% dry and fast rolling with good grip. Some steep and relatively long climbs were rewarded with some fantastic descents on DH style trails with bermed corners, drops, jumps, rocks and roots. The Danes know how to build courses, and I've not been disappointed with a course in this series yet! The back felt ok, and didn't hurt when pedalling, which is what I was worried about. The only twinges came when changing position on the bike, or hopping off while we rode and re-rode technical sections.

Malin back racing! Great to see. :-)

So, let's do it. Painkillers for breakfast and off we go bright and early on Sunday morning. Felt strange to be loading Malin's bike onto the bike-rack and getting her kit ready too. Seems like so long ago she was racing too. Have to say it's cool to see her back on the bike and enjoying herself.

New POC Octal X helmet. Comfortable and super light.

I was off first, so upon arrival I got changed (we'd already picked up numbers, etc on Saturday), and headed out for a nice long warm-up to give the back the best chance possible. I found some singletrack and some nice forest trails on the other side of the main road to the race to warm-up on. Straight away during the first efforts I could feel that I the legs were pretty empty. But I also thought there was a chance that I'd feel better once the race was underway. As has happened many times before! After the warm-up I headed to the start in good time ready for gridding and passed my Void softshell to Malin. Straight away I realised how cold it actually was without the windproof layer over the top of my race jersey. First time racing in my Musette jersey, and new POC helmet today. Have to say it's going to be a fantastic lid for the warmer days, as you can really feel the venting working even at lower speeds. The sign of a good helmet, shoes and saddle, in my books, is that you don't notice them while riding. Apart from the venting this was the case, super comfy and light.

Had a good battle with this guy on laps 3 and 4

I was gridded on the second row and got a good start straight up into second place. I made a conscious decision to sit in behind another guy as I knew a steep, tricky climb was coming straight after the start straight. This proved to be wise as I realised straight away on the climb that my legs were completely dead! No power at all on the climb and I struggled to hold his wheel and then really struggled to recover on the descent afterwards. From here on in I lost positions down to 8th where I stayed until lap 4, where I was passed by 2 guys who were looking strong. I thought that I would manage to hold 10th into the finish, but really struggled on the last lap and lost one more position on the very last climb before the finish. Absolutely nothing left to respond with so I just laughed as he passed me. He even came up to me and apologised after the finish, and we had a bit of a laugh at how dead I was. So, 11th place overall wasn't really what I was hoping for, but bearing in mind I wasn't sure I'd be racing at all, I guess I should be pleased. Also checked to see how many other H30 riders were ahead, and I would have been 5th in that race, which feels a bit better than 11th. ;-)

So, the first race of the year was in other words one to forget. Or perhaps not.... Perhaps one to remember and learn from instead? Onto next week for round 2, also in Holte, only a different part of the woods! 

Training & Illness

Ask any parent of babies and toddlers, and they will tell you that February and March are the worst times of year for illness. Especially when you have a kid in day-care. They bring home all manner of ailments to gladly share with the whole family.

When one trains as much as myself and my partner Malin do, it's tricky to balance life with training, we all know that. But trying to also stay healthy with all these germs flying around at home is even more of a challenge. In my last post I wrote about how I managed to get an eye infection from my daughter while we were away on a training camp on Gran Canaria. That happened even though I washed my hands so much that my skin became dry and itchy. Sometimes you just can't help it! The dreaded lurgy catches up with you sometimes, despite your best efforts.

Last week (week 10) Malin and I both had a rest week. All went well, and Malin also did an FTP test at the end of the week. The results were promising, and reflected the form we had seen on the camp. My week still had a few interval sessions, but with plenty of rest in between, and then a weekend spent chilling and with the kids in the woods. Sunday was spent in Skryllegården with good friends Jonas, Helen and Isabelle, Jessica and Gunnar, plus the guys/girls/friends from Musette in Malmö with all their kids in tow. We had a great day and the weather even allowed for a BBQ. Malin rode with Jessica in the morning, and then again with the Musette guys in the afternoon while I spent the time with the kids, Annette and Matilda.

This week has been a different story. Malin and the kids have both been ill since the beginning of the week, so everyday for me has been to prioritise looking after them, and sneaking out to train when they had naps. Everyday I've also woken up waiting to feel the telltale signs of man-flu, but avoided it so far.... Famous last words?

Tuesday I sneaked out on the winter road bike for an hour of tempo riding. Nice to get out on the road bike with normal shoes on. You forget how clumpy winter boots are until you have a lightweight pair of shoes on for the first time in a while! I can highly recommend neoprene socks (apparently popular in orienteering events). I've been able to change over to summer shoes a bit earlier this year with them.

Not bad weather for March

Wednesday was some short intervals in the local hilly park. Wanted to ride the MTB as didn't get out on it at all last week. Felt good to be back out on it, even if it was only gravel tracks. But threw in a short singletrack descent during the recoveries to keep my eye in, and have some fun!

Muddy fun!

Thursday I had planned to ride the CX on a lap of a race in Lund. 3 x 10min intervals, so I thought it would be just short of 2 laps in each 10 min block. Having ridden the same last week during a Sweetspot session, I knew this would be fun, and I was right. We'd had some rain before, so the course was a bit slippy, but it made it super fun. I'm missing CX season and looking forward to next season already!! Not good to wish a whole summer away though...

BMC CX01, lovin' it!

Saturday was again rainy, so I waited till the afternoon and took the MTB up to Skrylle (our most local trails) for some technique drills. I've been  planning a little technique lap in my head, both for Malin and me to train on. This was the first time I had tried it fully in one go. Worked really well, so I'll definitely be using it again. Weather turned out nice in the end too, wasn't expecting that after the morning.

Sun shining after a rainy morning

Sunday was a more Sweet Spot, and back on the winter road bike due to not having time to head out to the MTB trails in the car. Again managed to get out during the dry few hours we had.

Void shorts, super comfy!