Ice, ice and a baby....

We've had a bit of a cold snap the last week or so, and a bit of snow too. Nothing drastic, just the usual 0,5mm that we get in Skåne. ;-) It's funny how people's frame of reference is so different from country to country. People here seem to think there are big problems with transport and that everyone panics whenever there is a small amount of snow, but I just laugh as everything seems to still work, we all have winter tyres so can still drive around, and everyone seems pretty calm. At least relative to my frame of reference from living in Southern England for 30-odd years!
I don't mind a bit of snow, it can be quite nice for the kids. But ideally if it's going to be around for a long time, I would want to be somewhere where one can make use of the snow, otherwise it just becomes a pain the the arse when trying to get around. My first winter in Sweden in 2010/2011 was a real eye opener. Snow in proper amounts from November 2010 through to Feb/Mar 2011. I did start to wonder what I'd let myself in for!

A light dusting in Lund

We have a pretty good setup at home for indoor training now. So a bit of snow isn't really a problem for us, it's just a matter of facing the torture that is 'THE MONARK'.
Tuesday of week 2 2017 was an active recovery ride for 30 mins. On the trainer and listen to music, the time goes pretty quick. I always like to move around as much as possible, and usually sit down for 5 mins at around 80-100rpm, then stand for 2-3 mins down around 60rpm with the same power. I find it helps to keep you involved and stop your bottom from going to sleep.

Wednesday was more of the same with some upper base work. This time I connected up to Zwift to help the hour and ten go by a little quicker. Again, plenty of moving around to keep everything supplied with blood.... ;-)

Such a great invention, Zwift

Thursday was back to some intervals, felt like a long time ago last, after several weeks of base training. I took the train to work with my winter road bike, then cycled home. It was pretty cold and windy out, and there was still some snow left in Lund, although I knew that it was almost completely gone now in Landskrona. The intervals went pretty well for the most part, and I felt pretty strong. The only exception was riding through Hofterup where there was a lot of ice under a rail bridge which I found right in the middle of a 600W sprint!! I think the slip angle of the back wheel must have been about 30deg, and I did maybe 3-4 revs standing up with the back end sliding around before I reacted and sat down! New trousers needed after that one. Not so high power for that interval, but I think the heart rate was the highest of the 7 intervals!! Wow!

My retro MTB dressed as a winter road bike in the office, where else would I keep it?? ;-)

Onto Saturday, where I was going to be out braving the cold for 3 hours on the road for an aerobic coupling test. Others who have done these will know how mind-numbing it can be, but I just tried to concentrate on keeping warm, avoiding ice patches, and keeping my power as steady as possible, and as close to the middle of the zone as possible. Felt pretty tired after the test, but ended up actually quite enjoying it! It was frickin' cold though. Spent about 4 hours in the shower when I got back thawing out my hands and feet!

Sunday was this week's clear highlight. A ride on the MTB concentrating on technique - and with mates!! Tobias, Jonas and Tord had all agreed to come along. But in the end Tobbe had to pull out due to family commitments; a real shame as we usually have a great laugh and ride well together. Still nice to see and ride with Tord again though, it has been a while. Jonas, Tord and I rode some fantastic trails in Genarp, with technique being the focus right from the off with the car park resembling an ice rink!! The snow that has fallen in the last few weeks has now been compacted down under all the feet and tyres, and then frozen, then compacted, then frozen (and repeat) to give a sometimes surprisingly grippy, and sometimes surprisingly slippery surface. Steep ups with hairpins, steep downs with hairpins, jumps and general ice riding were the order of the day. Plus a good laugh of course. :-) We even rode some new (to me at least) trails built by another friend, we will call him 'Al, the trail Pixie' so that nobody gets in trouble. What a fantastic job he has done, great fun! Thumbs up Al. :-)

Riding with Tord reminded me of a race we did together a few years back. Must have been 2013. We'd ridden together quite a lot that winter, then rode an X-Cup test race organised by Jerker in the Ålstorp woods to kick the season off in March/April. It was the start of things to come for both of us, a hint at some strong results, at least in the local events. We both started pretty strong, and rode well together to pull a gap on the rest after about 2 laps. I remember having a smile on my face from ear-to-ear as we took it in turns to push the pace. Eventually we would be reeled in by the other guys for a tight finish, but it was a good hint at our form and of things to come later that year. A fun race that I will always remember fondly.

Oh, and here's a baby..... :-)

Albert trying out the spherovelo for the first time this week