Racing and cruising in Croatia, summer 2022

This summer's training and racing vacation included a trip to the island of Krk in Croatia.

I'm a bit late in writing this post, it's December and in the middle of winter, but here goes...

Swedish Marathon MTB Cup 2022 (Långloppscupen) - Second Place

 

After seven races in Svenska Långloppscupen I manage a second place overall in the cup. I was leading the cup before the last race but had mechanical issues at Bockstensturen and didn't manage to finish better than ninth. That dropped me into second overall.

All the races of the cup and positions:

Race              Position        Average Power  Weighted

Billingeracet     3               265W           290W

Lida Loop         4               256W           285W

Ränneslättsturen  11(sick)        214W           236W

Mörksuggejakten   4               259W           283W

Engelbrektsturen  1               259W           284W

Finnmarksturen    6               241W           277W

Bockstensturen    9 (mechanical)  216W           257W

Engelbrektsturen - Sprinting for the win and getting it

Result: First place

Equipment: BMC Fourstroke with Maxxis Aspen 2.2" front tire and Continental Raceking 2.2" rear

Type of race: XCM (marathon), 70 kilometers

Mörksuggejakten - Bouncing back

Result: 4th place

Equipment: BMC Fourstroke with Maxxis Aspen 2.2" front tire and Continental Raceking 2.2" rear

Type of race: XCM (marathon), 72 kilometers. Fourth race in the Swedish Marathon Cup

 

Ränneslättsturen - Riding in sub-optimal shape

Result: 11th place

Equipment: BMC Fourstroke with Maxxis Aspen 2.2" front tire and Continental Raceking 2.2" rear

Type of race: XCM (marathon), 78 kilometers

This race went badly so I will not dwell on, or write about it, too much.

Beskidy Trophy 2022 - Sooooo close!!! (Less than one minute from second place)

Summary

I finished Beskidy Trophy 2022 in third place. Less than one minute down on second place

Lida Loop - Fourth place

Result: 4th place

Equipment: BMC Fourstroke with Maxxis Aspen 2.2" tires

Type of race: XCM, 65 kilometers

Billingeracet - Third place

Result: 3rd place

Equipment: BMC Fourstroke with Maxxis Aspen 2.2" tires

Type of race: XCM, 77 kilometers

How to make a video with overlays

Second place in Vega Winter MTB Cup 2021/2022

Today was the sixth and last race of the Danish Vega winter mountainbike cup. I've participated in these winter races for many years now. I think it's a great variation to all the indoor training that I do and it's A LOT OF FUN.

Ahead of today's race I was in second place in the M50 category. I was two points behind number one and I had a good margin down to third place so no worries there. You get one point for first place, two for second, and so on. And you're allowed to subtract one result from your total (your worst placed race). The dude in first place, Keld Pedersen, is a really really good cyclist. I checked his background out and he's been on the podium in the World Championships XCO race. I only managed to beat him in one of the six cup races.

The track today was a real rollercoaster. Up and down and up and down and up and down. Steep (short) climbs and descents. 800 meters of elevation in 28 km of total distance. For Denmark that's a lot. I finished third in my category and so I kept my second place overall.

Mountain Biking in Covid restricted Thailand winter 2021/2022

I managed to get away to Thailand this winter. Who would've thunk it? The hoops I had to jump through... I'll describe them below. But it all worked out... well, mostly.

Swedish XCM Championships 2021 - Bronze medal

Result: 3rd place

Equipment: BMC Fourstroke with Maxxis Aspen 2.2" tires

Type of race: XCM, 80 kilometers

The Swedish Marathon Championships were hosted by a yearly race called Alliansloppet on the west coast. I had never raced it before or even cycled in the area and so I knew nothing about the terrain or what kind of trails I could expect. I really wanted to test ride the course in advance in order to know what to expect but had no opportunity to do so.

I turned out to be a really technical race. Or rather, the first third of the track (we did two laps), was really technical, and then the last two thirds were really easy on gravel and asphalt roads. However that first third was rooty and rocky and wet and muddy. Not my favorite. Again, I had no idea about this... until the race actually started. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

The race started and we started up a long asphalt climb which stretched the field out. I like this kind of a start. But then, as soon as we got into the forest, I got my nasty surprise: Really tricky terrain with roots and rocks. And it was all wet and muddy. When I saw this my hopes of a good finish fell.

I decided not to lose all hope and just tried to hold it together without crashing and still not losing too much time. There were quite a few riders who did overtake me in this first third of the track.

But then we got to the second part of the race and all of a sudden there were quick jogging trails, gravel roads, and asphalt. I got a good couple of riders to hang with and all of a sudden things were looking more positive again.

As the second lap started we got back into that messy stuff and I tried to play it safe again. It actually went better than the first time around. The last part of the lap, until the finish, I rode mostly by myself. It felt good and I was able to hold the watts up.

I finished the race and was told that I had come in third place. I didn't really believe this as the terrain didn't really at all suite me. But I waited around for the official results which came about an hour later and yes, I had actually gotten bronze in the M50 category. My first ever medal in a championships. It seems however that I had been a bit lucky because to of my main competitors, who were ahead of me, had crashed out of the race.

(This article was written a loooong time after the race. It's actually December and I'm in Thailand writing it :) )

DGI MTB Cup race #2

XC Race. 68 minutes + the lap (5.5km per lap)

Result: 3rd place (https://www.sportstiming.dk/event/8657/results?round=40479)
Equipment: BMC Fourstroke with Maxxis Aspen 2.2" tires

Finally back to racing in Denmark. These races have been few and far between since Covid started. Last one was in the autumn of 2020. That was also the only Danish race in 2020.

I love the Danish races because they usually have very nice and flowy tracks. And so was this one. It was a mix of gravel roads and quite fast singletrack. There were some technical elements (roots and short downhills) but it all flowed nicely.

An interesting thing in this race is that my category, M50, had their own start. And more interestingly there were more than 50 of us!

I had my pals Stefan Methander and Stefan Hellberg also racing. We all lined up at the front of the grid. As the race started we got on the start loop which was a double track/gravel road. I had Methander next to me and we both each had a rider in front of us. This felt like a good position for me but just as the start loop and gravel road ended and we made a sharp left onto singletrack one rider took the inside line and cut me off. He had to brake in order to make the turn and we lost a few meters to Methander and three other Danish riders (Hellberg was on my wheel at this point) who formed a group ahead of us.

I got behind the guy who cut in front of me but he immediately started losing ground to the four riders ahead of us and I understood that I had to get around him as quickly as I could or I would lose the lead group. I tried to pass him a couple of times but as soon as I got next to him he sped up. Then I finally managed to get around him in a short but steep climb. So now I'm in fifth place.

I could see the group of four riders ahead of me, no more than some 50 meters. But they were cooperating well. As soon as we got out on a gravel road segment and I pushed 400+ watts I could see them team time trailing.

Towards the end of the first lap I noticed that the fourth rider of the group has lost ground to the other three and I was catching up with him. Just as we went out for the second lap I overtook him and again started hunting the three riders in the lead group. Alright, I'm in fourth place. Just one place short of the podium.

On the second lap I could see the lead group ahead of me, but again, as soon as we got to a gravel road section and I tried to speed up to catch up I saw that they were cooperating and drafting so I was not able to gain ground on them. Towards the end of the second lap I understood I had to give up or blow up. I start looking behind at this point, I've been solo for two laps so far, and notice that I have a group of three riders hunting me down who are not all that far behind.

I realize that I will get no respite in this race. I stop focusing on catching the riders in front and instead try to ride as smartly as possible picking the best lines and breaking as little as I can. In spite of this one of the three riders who are chasing me gets closer and close. A few times he's almost on my wheel before I manage to pick up speed and distance him again. Again he comes closer and again I leave him behind, mostly on the gravel road stretches.

At the start of the fourth lap I notice that I'm catching up with one of the group of three riders ahead who has been dropped by the group. Great! I have a chance at a podium finish. I catch him just before a gravel road section and as we come out on the road I floor it. I'm third! I want him to lose my wheel directly and so as not to have him wheel sucking me. I want him to lose faith!

This works but not long after I notice that the guy who was catching me and the guy I passed have now joined forces and I have two riders cooperating and trying to hunt me down. A few times during the fourth lap they're close to catching me but they don't quite get on my wheel. On the fifth and last lap I manage to get a little more distance and I cross the finish line in third place. Methander gets second place and Hellberg comes in at 10th.

It looks by this list as if I came in 2nd place but they didn't register Methander's time so I'm actually third

I did some really even lap times