Monday 26 October 2015

Slushcup 2015/2016 #1 - Technical track and bad navigation

Result: 6th place

Bike: Trek Superfly 9.9 SL, Vittoria Barzo / Peyote 1.4 bar

This was the first race of the winter cup - Slushcup. This first round was a time trial race with 3 laps of about 8km. Conditions were dry and good. Track was new and unknown. The race arrangers had announced a difficulty level of 5 out of 10.

Result: Slushcup #1

The terrain turned out to be much more technical than I had expected. There were a lot of new trails on terrain that had not been used before. So very rough with lots and lots of roots and branches across the track. Some of the roots were rather wet and so a bit dangerous. Sure, there were sections of gravel road where one could press hard. Also quite a few short but steep climbs and equally steep descents.
I found that I handled the terrain better than I expected after discovering the high level of technical difficulty during my practice lap. Everything went quite smooth except for quite a few errors in navigation. On some parts the track wasn't all that well marked out. Mostly it was places where it turned off the dirt road and into single track. I missed these turns in four places in total, luckilly I noticed it at once and was able to turn the bike around and get on the right track. But I ended up losing something like 10 seconds each time it happened. And it was very frustrating.
So I finished sixth which was ok, I guess, especially under the circumstances. Pulse data was perhaps a tad low but ok as well.

Sandra did a great race and finished in third place. You can read about her race here: http://sandrabackman-mtb.blogspot.se/

Club mate Johan Malmsten placed third in M40. Good race for him! I bet he liked the terrain too.

My pal Fredrik, however, had a bad crash in a downhill section with branches across the track. He's injured his shoulder and will be out for a month or so.

Conclusion: Look where you're going!!




Saturday 10 October 2015

My two Team Bikes are up for sale

My two bikes are up for sale:
  • Trek Superfly 9.9 SL "Project One" SOLD!
  • Trek Superfly FS 9.9 SL "Project One" SOLD!
Frame size is Large (19")

I purchased them both new at the beginning of 2015 so they've both seen about 6 months of use. Both bikes have been continously serviced and are in perfect working order.

The specifications are identical appart from one of the bikes being full suspension

Spec:
Groupset: SRAM XX1 (34T), Gripshift
Brakes: Shimano XTR M9000 Race
Fork: RockShox Sid World Cup XX with remote
Wheelset: Bontrager Race XXX Lite CL

35.000SEK for the hardtail (about 3500 euro) SOLD!
45.000SEK for the full-suspension (about 4500 euro) SOLD!

Contact me if you're interested: alexander.lapajne@gmail.com










Tuesday 6 October 2015

Winter racing - The season never ends

Summer is over and fall is here. So what are we mountain bikers supposed to do? Start our winter training? Go indoors and get on the stationary bike? Perhaps do some weights?

That may work for some people. It doesn't for me. I'd rather....


... and fortunately I have that option. Now, in my home country of Sweden most bicycle racing dies down in the  month of October. However, in Denmark there's plenty of year-round racing! Great! And Denmark is only an hour away!

So what's the plan for the winter?


Slushcup: Six 80 minute races from October to March

And:


Vintercuppen: Six 70 minute races from November to March

Let the fun begin!!!