Sundays are my favourite day of the week

Sundays = long ride with company!
Today it was pouring rain so It was only one guy who showed up at the gathering place, Gamla Postenparkeringen. Considering it is November it was very warm with nine degrees Celcius. I had planned a route about 90 km long with about 50-55 km of gravel roads. Those gravel roads was very soft today due to the heavy rain, so it was hard work all the day. My friend didn't have his best day and was suffering for the plus four hours he was in the saddle today. Unfortunatly I forgot my smart phone at home so no pictures from todays ride, but here are two pics from when I had arrived home.

It felt good most of the time today and I'm happy that my winter training has started so well. It's only november but it feels like I'm getting stronger and I also think that I have more in my legs to bring out in spring. I will try to do these long rides on sundays, combine them with some bike commuting and hard sessions on the Monark. Consistency is the key for a great 2012. I ended my elite-ambitions at the end of 2009 but it's allways nice to feel strong, and great fun to race!

That's me on the all new Monark LC7. Thanks to my cooperation with Monark/Bianchi here in Sweden I got the chance to be model for a day. This picture is now traveling around the world on the LC7-folder.

Todays Garmin-data:

300 W

I really want to complete a hour on 300 W this winter, that would be great for my confidence and I would then know that I'm about as strong as I was a couple of years ago when I was at my best. Yesterday I made an attempt for the hour but had to stop after 22 minutes and 13 seconds. To make that 300W/1h I think I have to get about 3-4% stronger. Which is doable, but not easy.

This weekend I was out skiing a couple of times. Feeling is okay, the technique is okay but the power in my upper body needs to improve in order to get faster on the skis. My five hour goal for the 90 km long Vasaloppet might just be to hard this year, but that gives me the motivation to improve. So I will try my best until I cross that finish line in Mora.

This saturday I was out with my son to watch a winter enduro race here in Falun. Looked like a lot of fun.

4 x 4

Did some training on the Monark this morning. And this was my view for 4 x 4 minutes.
You know, those intervals that was so popular a couple of years ago. I do not like them, I really don't. But once or twice every year I give them a chance. I will do some more 4 x 4 this winter to see if I can improve my 4 x 4-skillz.

And this is me after my last interval. Did all intervals at about 340-350 watts.

More Monark

When I woke up this morning we had -13° C ( 8.6° F ) outside the kitchen window. I had planned a ride outside because the weather forecast for the next days promises even colder temperatures. But the temperature rose to slow, so I cancelled todays outdoor plans and prepared mentally for a hard time on the Monark.

To make the training a bit more pleasant I brought my computer. It contains 38 full lenght cyclocross races and that offers some distraction when my legs are begging me to stop. I wached the 2008 GVA Trofee from Hasselt. Great action. And watching others give it there all helps me to push my self a little bit more. 2 * 20 minutes @ about 290 watts was todays figures. If I, sometime during this winter, can do 3 * 20 minutes @ 300+ watts without killing myself I will be more than pleased. I think it is possible, do you?

Winter training in a dark and cold country

If you are thinking of becoming a successful cyclist living in Sweden; meet your new best friend:

Bikes like these are probably one of the reasons Sweden produce good time trial riders, like Michael Andersson, Magnus Bäckstedt, Gustav Larsson, Thomas Lövkvist, Fredrik Kessiakoff and some really good national riders as well (Fredrik Ericsson, Alexander Wetterhall etc.). Time trial is boring. But it is boring in an interesting way. Ergometer bike on the other hand is just plain boring. It must be the most boring bike related thing you can do. But it is super efficent for improving your power. Staring into a wall for five or six months is great for your psyche as well. A part from the fact that staring at a wall is super fun and you get stronger by riding these Monark-bikes, training outside is not always that nice during winter time in Sweden. First we have the darkness. Around christmas we only have about five hours from sunrise to sunset where I live. In the northen parts of our country the sun never comes up for a couple of weeks. Headlights help, but I prefer riding my bike during the brighter hours of the day. One other fun limiting factor is the temperature. Some days we have temperatures around -30° C (that is -22° F) and temperatures below -10° C (14° F) is quite common during December, January and February. Temperatures as cold as that is not good for your respiratory system and you can actually get quite cold as well. When it's cold and dark outside, bring your human friends for a nice training session on your new best friend.

It's not only good for power, mental health and bad weather. It is time efficent as well. Today I knew I had limited time for training. So I went up at 4.30 a.m. and did a short session on the old Ergomedic before heading to work. I did 13 minutes on 300 watts and then three sprints that lasted 30 seconds each with a couple of minutes rest between each sprint.