Went out for a two hour session. Felt tired and probably should have eaten more than a slice of pie earlier today.
After an hour the rain started to fall. Went wet like a floor cloth and then my glasses went steamy.

I do miss the possibility to cycle indoors at the moment. But the handcycle I use indoors give me problems with my shoulders, so now I have to ride outdoors for a while.

A sunny national day on the roads around Södertälje. I went out for a 40 km ride together with Jessica. On the long hills in the beginning of the course, I ended up a bit behind the others at the same time as they got together into a peloton. Without any real downhills until later I never caught the peloton and it turned into a 30 km solo race. My shoulders began to hurt soon after the start, but figured it would go away after a while. It didn’t. With a continous load without any rest, it just got worse.

I’ve had this issue since I bought my other bike (the bike I have for indoor workouts). The crankset on that bike is 65mm too high, and it doesn’t seem to be a good idea to mix the training sessions between bikes with such different geometry. Every time I switch between the bikes, I feel some pain in my shoulders. I hope to find a welder who can fix the bike (it’s not adjustable). Now I’ll rest my shoulders and avoid indoor cycling until I’ve found a solution to this problem.

Wonderful summer evening. Warm, calm and beautiful with the nature in full greenery.
A trip to Årsta Havsbad together with K during a quiet Sunday evening. Balm for the soul.

Som

Rode a record-long session today together with K. To the end of Lisö and home again. Many short hills and lots of altitude. Good to know that it actually works fine to ride trips as long as this.

Friday with a beautiful evening trip out to Häringe Palace. K was a bit worn after yesterdays solo ride at 65K, but I felt great.

Drove to Upplands Väsby and met up Jessica to ride Roslagsvåren. Started off really bad. My energy was drained after only 18 km. Fortunately I was able to stock up on energy in the first pit after 20 km. Then I got back into it and gradually it became easier and easier. After the last pit we bombed our way through the last 12km to the finish. In that last section we had an average speed of 31 km/h. Not too bad after 60 km of hard cranking. In total it was 72 km through the northern parts of the Stockholm archipelago.

40 km road race in southern Uppland together with Jessica and Klara. The start was located on the middle of a hill so we reached the top as the last guys. Then we worked our way past man after man and got into a good pace. That’s when I felt my right hand began to come loose. Suddenly the my pedal glove separated and we were stranded out in the countryside. After a while a hillbilly showed up who lived nearby. He went home and got back with some tools to our rescue. But the race was over. Good training session though.

Since I didn’t go out hard enough during yesterdays time trial, I changed my tactics. Now it was going to be full throttle from the start! Turned out to be a really good tactic. Despite gusty crosswinds and evil hills, I mashed my way through the race and finished on a good time. Nice to get confirmation that my shape is where it should be.

Rode the Odensala circuit as a virtual course on my turbo trainer twice the week before the race. Based on the results of that, I decided to go out soft in the race and then increase after a while. In hindsight it was a bad decision. Should have gone out much harder. But I’m not totally unsatisfied. New personal record in average speed!

The weekend offered Para-cycling Camp in Skånela, in the northern outskirts of Stockholm. Many nice new acquaintances and good training.

Finally! Spring is here! Not so warm yet, but the temperature is enough to ride. And dry roads! A wonderful evening on Ekerö together with K.

Wet and dirty. I thought winter was over now. Apparently not.