Where I’m (maybe) going

Part III: 2016

Well, 2016 is a long way away so alot can happen. But I have a longterm goal (or is it a dream?) to ride the Race Across America About 5000 non-stop kilometers, solo with a support crew across the USA! In my age category this distance has to be completed in under 12 Days. Tough.

I have been inspired to do this from two perspectives: 1. was when Gunnar Ohlander rode it in 2012 and it was just incredible to follow his feat and has been incredible talking to him about it since then and 2. was when I realised after Sverigetempot 2012 that maybe I would be capable of actually doing this.

RAAM requires alot more than just being able to ride long. There are daunting logistics involved to qualify, sort out a team to drive support car(s) (at 30km/h for nearly 2 weeks...), pay for the registration fee, pay for everything else, sort out the actual trip for everyone involved, carry on with a full-time job at the same time and so on.

So alot still has to work out before 2016. Some preliminary fishing for indications of support has already shown that I may have support to pay theregistration fee, KBCK may assist with cre members I may get bike support from Markus at Alviks Cykel and Jan at Norvelo in Stockholm. However, before anything concrete is planned all parties want to wait and see how the lead up goes first. We all want to see if Sverigetempot 2014 is a success and if my body holds. That would give a good indication of how realistic my BIG 2016 goal is...

But, now this is on internet so I better do the best I can!

/Toni

Where I’m going

Part II: 2015

After what promises to be a pretty intense 2014, my goals for 2015 are maybe, at least so far, quite modest. They can basically be described as: Paris – Brest – Paris.

This mastodon event was my introduction to riding longer than 1000 km in 2011 (a little bit about my PBP2011). As I mentioned earlier, this was the ultimate KBCK roadtrip. We stayed in a fantastic hotel, in which we plan to book exactly the same rooms, opening up to the hotel courtyard, in 2015. We had a great couple of days prior to the ride, including the legendary night eating couscous, drinking couscous-appropriate schnapps and talking couscous-appropriate bollox (I won’t show the couscous-appropriate video here). The part that was most legendary was Johan the next morning (the day before PBP) quietly wailing in his bed “why does it always end up like this?” KBCK preparation for a long ride… The actual ride was sort of an interlude before we drank some wine to celebrate and ordered a ton of pizza because you need protein after training. On the way home to Sweden we ended up buying a busload full of Belgian beers.

The team bus to Paris in 2011

It went so well and KBCK is planning the same trip again next year. For myself, I have vague plans of riding under 50 hours, but without a support car (which I don’t want to have there) that’s tight. And it is still quite a while away, so I’ll see what happens.

PBP requires qualification. This means that I need both a preliminary qualification this year, which I hope Sverigetempot will take care of, but also a complete brevet series of accredited 200, 300, 400 and 600 km rides in 2015 before PBP. But they are fun and quite routine!

A few days ago PBP came out with its first official English version of their 2015 homepage. Only 563 days left.

Can’t wait!!!!!

At present there is only one other aim for 2015. That is to make sure that by the end of the year I have a qualification ride completed for the Race Across America (RAAM) 2016.

But more about that later…

/Toni

 

 

Blitzes in Kitz

Why not combine the year's absolute skiing World Cup highlight, Hahnenkammrennen in Kitzbühel, with a bit of physical pain?

Warmup

An hour Monarking with brilliant, nostalgic entertainment with dramatic finish, beautiful scenery, huge crowd and lovely town! Listening to the crowd, the oompapa music, seeing the familiar hills and slopes I could almost smell the sausage stands and taste the Stiegl.

Strong boys those.

/Toni

Two extremes of the training spectrum

I've just had a couple of days in Liverpool enjoying eggs, bacon, beans, brown sauce, sausages ETC for hotel breakfasts, publunches and pints of local ales. I'm afraid my solid training start to the year has just been obliterated. Liverpool is pretty cool though.

Luckily here's someone who has obviously had a great period of training behind him! A vintage Cadel attack on Corkscrew Hill and full out time trial to the finish. Gave him the overall lead in the Tour Down Under (which he however lost again to Simon Gerrans today). Can't wait to see him in the Giro d'Italia! 

I did still manage a snowy run last night at Bosön. So at least one of the pints may have been neutralised now :-)

/Toni

Where I’m going

Part I: 2014

OK, I didn’t start a blog to write about the past. So I thought I’d write down what’s buzzing around my mind for the future. Then you can laugh at me when I afterwards summarise how much of this actually happened. I like a laugh J

Well, sorry, even my future starts in the past: For me 2014 started on the 20 December 2013 with the 3^rd Ötzi XL, 315 km in not really winter weather, but good fun anyway.

“Fun”, Michel, Peter and Per recharging in Köping after about half of Ötzi XL 2013

This was quickly followed by KBCK’s 200 km brevet the 4^th January. So,over the two week Christmas break I managed to collect over 700 km winter riding. Together with some solo rides, intervals while riding to/from work and training indoors on my Monark (which I’m sure you’ll hear more about another time), I think, or maybe hope, I’ve had a pretty solid training start to 2014.

I have one major goal and two major but less certain goals this year.

The major one is Sverigetempot  (my Sverigetempot 2012). Jonas and I completed this in the fastest time in 2012. So of course, boys will be boys, I have to defend this! Just to be cocky, I contacted Peter Toner to ask if I could have number 1 in 2014. He couldn’t guarantee this, as the system dictated that the first to register would get nr 1. So I was forced to stay up alone, drinking wine, in the middle of the week and stay awake (I usually go to bed quite early) to register at exactly midnight on the 1^st November. Childishly pathetic of course – but I did get nr 1 (startlist) J It looks like Sverigetempot this year will be a qualifying ride for Paris-Brest-Paris 2015, which would be great, because I wouldn’t have to worry or think about how to qualify with other rides.

Peter has divided up the start groups and I am in the last one, at 9.00 am on the 26^th June. There are already over 40 registered, which is crazy for a ride of over 2000 km! Most of it on the same road through the same-looking forest; just look at it on a map! I think having the successful 2012 ride in fresh memory helps me a lot psychologically, and I am really looking forward to 2014. I wonder if that is pathologic? I’ll see if I can find some fun way of keeping you updated during the ride here.

Jonas and I, happy to have made it, 2012

I have decided against riding Vätternrundan this year to bash into my head that I should concentrate on long distance, mentally exhausting (in Swedish “pannben”)  training. So I am doing as much distance as possible already now and will leave harder, more VO2 maxish and faster training until closer to spring. I’ll hopefully be able to train with the Conti Test Team a few times – if they let me and if I can keep up!

The fast boys from CTT

Foto: Natasja Jovic, Hillside Cycling

 My aim for Sverigetempot is under 100 hours. I don’t have much choice really, because I have to be home for my daughter’s birthday on the 2^nd July and a day later I have a flight to the USA booked…

As with Sverigetempot, my two more wishy-washy 2014 goals are also organized by Peter and CK Distans. The first is the first Ultra event to be held in Sweden; 610 km solo but with an accompanying car. This would be a great first try at ultra-cycling! It also fits in well with our summer holiday plans because the route is located around the summer house near Hällefors where we spend a lot of time. So my family could come out onto the road and cheer me on TWICE during the ride, which would be very cool. If they are even interested in seeing a slowly riding, ghostly looking, brain-dead pappa glide past. Presumably at night. Probably in the rain.

The other maybe-goal in 2014: I’ve ridden the Stockholm – Göteborg event (about 560 km) twice. This year Peter’s gone completely wild and crazy and decided to include a Stockholm – Göteborg – Stockholm option. He’s threatened to only have this much fun once though (its some sort of jubilee year, which I haven’t got track of), which means I’d quite like to take the chance and join in. The good part about this cunning plan is that it solves the problem of how to get back home after riding all the way to Göteborg.

So, that’s them. I’ll also make sure I get a few normal brevet rides in. Especially seeing that KBCK has its inaugural complete series this year. KBCK has revolutionised Swedish randonneur cycling with its brevet series which is planned so that the first finishers should always finish at Lilla Barkarby roughly when the bar opens.

If all goes to plan the year will once again conclude with an ice-cold Ötzi XL and then some summer rides in Australia! Wihee!

Where I'd like to ride at the end of the year...

2014 could be good!

/Toni

 

Dreamtime     

In Australia the aborigines talk of the long time ago, old legends of sky fighting against earth, animals being invented and long walkabouts sort of time as the dreamtime. Sitting here in the cold, Swedish winter I’ve found myself slipping into an Australian dreamtime the last few days.

The Tour Down Under is on in South Australia at the moment and that reminds me of the summer trips to Australia that my family, my bike and I have made in the last few years with brilliant, sunny riding in fantastic scenery.

 

Along the Coastal Drive north of Wollongong

On Mt. Keira, looking out over the northern suburbs

On one of these trips my sister lived in Adelaide so we visited at the same time the TdU was on and I got to ride the people’s ride, where one of the stages is open to recreational riders who can then wait at the finish for the pros to turn up a bit later. Right now, reading about the race with Simon Gerrans, Cadel Evans, Caleb Ewan (watch out for this young talent!) and the others, brings back these memories. They are racing in the Barossa Valley, up Mengler’s Hill and the other roads I had the chance to ride on. It will be exciting to see who takes out the TdU this year; the field is perhaps the highest class international field ever.

I’m dreaming of long, warm rides through eucalyptus bush, with aweinspiring views over valleys and dams, of rolling farms landscape and steep passes up the Illawarra escarpment. Of Bulli Beach swims with my family and parents after early morning rides…

Somehow the cramps I got due to it being too hot don’t seem a problem when looking out the window into the dark with the thermometer on -5.

It’s a nice dream.

/Toni

Yes I do ride for real!

Winter wonderland

Well I can't just sit and write about my modest cycling background all the time can I! So this morning I got up before the rest of the family for an early 2,5 hours ride through the beautiful Swedish winter countryside. As I am such a professional blogger now I charged the camera battery last night and took the camera with me today to share some of this scenery with you. I stopped at a suitable spot on a nice curvey bit of snowy road with droopy white pine trees, spent a few minutes getting my hands out of the gloves and the camera out of my pocket, wanted to take a picture, but realised the charged battery was lying in the kitchen instead of in the camera. Professional , huh!

 

Imagine my winter wonderland picture here

 

Of course if there's no photo on a blog or instagram something hasn't actually happened. So I can offer this at least:

 

Sometimes its strange that all the bits still work

 

I rode about 55 slow, heavy km  around Södertörn at  an average temperature of -6 degrees. A big juicy omelette at home tasted fantastic aftewards!

 

More real riding coming soon!

 

/Toni