This weekends escapades..

To not bore you here is the short version of what I did this weekend, training wise.

Saturday: Sunny, Windy planned a 30 km ride. Unfortunately the roads weren’t that good, they after a while they all turned into gravel. So I returned the same way I came, which confused the GPS, it deleted the route that I rode twice. But here are the stats from the time that I discovered the GPS error:

Sunday:
Rain, rain and more rain, had planned a nice 70 km ride, but I couldn’t be bothered going out in the rain. But it cleared up just as the sun set, so I went for a ~30 km ride in the dark. It went great until 25 km where I got a flat tire, couldn’t be bothered changing it so I walked back home. Here are todays stats:

Very Relieved but a little bit disapointed..

Really cool stats and map here

So back in the saddle again. Scared as hell that my knee wouldn’t hold up. So inpreparation I put on a lot of pain-killing ointment and deep heat. I also moved the clips on my shoes and lowered my saddle, all to prevent me from dropping my heels, which is a big reason for the pain in my knees. To protect me from the cold I wore a pair of longjohns under my tights and a rashgaurd under the shirt.

I had picked out a route approx 20 km, but once I got going I extended it tp 30 km, it was going so well =). The route was really nice, lots of sharp turns and close to the forest so it felt like it was going really fast. After approx 10 km it got dark so I lit my head-lamp, which I have to redirect now it’s shining right into the ground.

I actually managed to meet the biker twice, th who rode the same route but in reverse. And on one occation my head lamp caused me some problems, while going down a hill I saw that there were a road going to the right, so I looked up, and I couldn’t really determine if the road did turn or if it was an intersection. And I was going around 40 km/h, so it was some scary section before I remebered that there should be and intersection there.

The thing I’m a little bit disapointed over is that it didn’t go faster than 28 km/h in avarage, but I blame it on that I biked quite much in the city where the speed is lower and I even had to stop a few time, very irritaiting.

Finally something good to put here [RR]s, Today Roxen Runt

[RR] = Ride Report

Stats from the ride

So first time for a real ride with my Crescent Carbon Race 2000 ’07… I finally got everything for it yesterday so today I was gonna take it for a spin, around the Roxen, a ride of 80 km.. I thought, it turned out to be around 100 km instead.

But lets start from the beginning, the weather was great albeit a little bit windy when I started, but the sun was shining and the air was warm enough. So I got down to the Gumpekulla roundabout where the real road started. After a couple of km’s there where a stretch of gravel, with was pretty uncomfortable, and slowed me down, but I was soon up to pace again. Then in Ekängen, the first village on my way, I missed a turn, which resulted in a few extra hundred meters, and some frustration. But the road was clear and was going really fast I thought, which made me miss another turn, more extra road to cover. I was able to keep the speed up, but to be honest I have no idea where it was that I rode over 50 km/h, I just can’t remember it. Not much more to report, it was good roads out on the plain.

Then I got to Norsholm which was the west point of my tour (see the map in the stats), from here I turned to the east. I turned, on fortunately the wind didn’t. So all my good speed felt like it was blown away, literally. And also here the hills started. Not epic hills but the kind that make you tired when there’s hill after hill, and you aren’t really in the best shape. But when I look at the statistics I realize that I was able to keep the speed better than I would have thought, even though I was really slow in some hills. After a while the warm sun disappeared, which was bad, cause I started freezing like hell, my summer bike which has the same ability of retaining heat as a net, made me loose the sense in my toes. And my knee started aching, again… but a after, what felt like, a millions of these hills I finally started to recognizing some places (I have never really been on this side of the lake). When I finally got to territory that I’ve had been on before, i.e. Berg, I suddenly couldn’t change to a lower gear (and I was on the highest atm). The wire to the rear gear had snapped, so at this time I stopped the GPS-logging.

But I had to make it home, and quick, cause my lbs (local bike shop) was closing in half an hour, and I was roughly 15 km from lkpg, but as it was stuck on the highest gear I made it and they’ve fixed the bike. Now it’s only my knee that needs to be fixed, I really really hope that it was just the cold that made it act up… so it’ll be a while before the next report, then I’ll be better prepared with clothing and probably go with my MTB.. stay tuned…

and listen to Charles Hamilton – Ronald McDonald… go do it, have I ever disappointed you!?

Long time…

I’m pretty bad at making regular deposits to the blogg-bank. But I’ll try to get better at it.

Anyway, as things are starting to get settled with my job and everything the inevitable thoughts about the future starts popping up. As long I lived in Umeå I made sure that I would be able to move from there as soon as possible, and it’s been pretty much the same story here in Linköping. So the next time I move I want it to be to a place that I can call home for quite some time. But now I’ve got a great job here and that’s the only problem, that it is here. So I kinda made a list of what I want/can do on the moving-front:

1. Stay here. Easy I’ve got a job and apartment here, but this is what I least want.
2. Move to Sthlm. Pretty easy, shouldn’t be to difficult to get a job and a place to stay there, this is ok, but not much more.
3. Move to Gbg. Pretty easy, shouldn’t be to difficult to get a job and a place to stay there, this is ok, but not much more.
4. Move to Oslo. Shouldn’t be that hard, and then can still work at the same company, and I think like Norway more than Sweden, so this would be more than ok.
5. Move to London. Probably easy to get a job, harder to get a decent place to stay. Now we’re getting warm…
6. Move to other places in Europe, preferably somewhere close to the alps or the mediterranean. Same as above, plus language problems. But we’re getting even warmer.
7. Move to the states (or Canada), getting work is possible, getting a (permanent) permit to work is harder. But now we’re moving into dream-country.
8. Move to Australia, getting work should be possible, getting work permanent work-permit is harder (I think). This is also in dream-country.

So what should I aim for? Something really hard that I might end up failing to get, or should I settle for something easier but that I don’t want as much?

Anyway, listen to The Game ft Luda – Ya Heard, I promise you, it’s worth it.

Tragedy on k2, what’s really going on?

I’m sure most of you have heard about it, but what is really going on, well the stories differ, but I trust this site more than the mainstream media. Since the mainstream media’s information is based on guesses from Mike Farris and Fredrik Strang, and one of the eleven dead that they’re talking about was found alive and several more have been spotted descending.

Now it begins, now life will be worth living again plus some hypocrisy.

Today is a big day, but most of you who are reading this probably have no idea. I feel sorry for you, I really do. You have no idea what you’re missing. Or it’s just me that’s f-ed up, you decide. Before I will reveal what it is, most of you probably couldn’t care less anyway, I’ll tell you about my weekend.

Fabulous, is not the word I would use to describe it, though it started that way. Went home early from work to catch, what was probably the last, sunshine this year. I did spend a total of 3 hours on my bike, found some awesome trails and life couldn’t be better. From that point everything went pear-shaped, saturday basically it rained away. And today I found out that the forks on my bike are broken, oil is seeping out through the o-rings in the bottom, nothing major, but still since it’s under warranty it’s going back to the shop tomorrow. And to all this something else that made more sad happened, but this is not the time nor the place to discuss that, but you’ll get a hint from the previous entry in the blog.

Before we get to why today is such a big day, let’s clear the hypocrisy out of the air. This is for you girls. I think that every girl I’ve met the in the last years have said, when asked about who’s bf material, that it’s really important that he has some interest that he really burns for. And that’s fine, except that most of you don’t want that. I know that from personal experience, I’ve got a few interests that I really burn for, and there are 3 facts about such interests, 1. They cost money, probably a lot of green too. 2. They take huge amounts of time in possession. Probably when you least want it too, like saturday 4 am. 3. Other things in life will not be prioritized as much.

So just be careful what you’re asking for. Personally on the other hand, I’m quite tired of people whose only interests are meeting new people, my friends and travel…. Cheese Louise!

So back to what it all started with, today is the first game of the preseason in NFL. It’s the HOF (Hall-of-Fame) game. Indy versus the skins, who wins isn’t really important. How they play, that’s what’s important. I’m feeling like a kid the day before Christmas, it’ll be such a fun season. So if anybody cares about this give me a heads up and I will fill this blog with interesting things from the beautiful game.

Lastly, listen to Hilltop Hoods – The Nosebleed Section, it’s worth it I promise!

In some ways I don’t mind that she’s gone, it’s just that she never altogether leaves..

I love the way she drops in on my live now and then to give me a little open heart surgery..

And rain…

And This Mortal Coil with their “Song to the Siren” on the record “It’ll end in tears” is so true…

The trifecta…

I need some chocolate right now…

…

Sooo much fun!

Yesterday I finally bought my bike, it’s Nishiki XC Team 08. It’s blue, it’s beautiful and hopefully it’s everything I need. I paid a fair amount for it, but I’ve used my usual fund raising skills (living dirt cheap, weighing every penny I spend) so I figured I was worth something extra. Anyway today was time to take it out for a spin for the first time, and this was also the first time with SPD pedals for me, very exciting. For you non-bikers, SPD pedals are pedals that you lock you shoes into with a special clip so get better power transmission around the whole pedal-circle.

So how was it? It was fabulous, it was as fun as skiing is. And those of you who know me knows that I’m all-smile when I ski. Going through the forest on tiny trails as fast as you dare I never thought I could be that much fun. The bike is wonderful, not that I have much to compare it too, but still it’s everything I wanted. The SPD pedals then, they’re awesome. You get so much more control and power, but it’s a little bit frightening from time to time when you can’t get your foot out in time. But I guess it’ll get better with more experience.

I also discovered what a great exercise MTBing is, not many minutes very spent sitting still on the saddle and just keeping the balance at speed in the forest is quite exhausting for a noob. As soon as the shoes dries I’ll be out on new bike-driven adventures.

Now let me sprinkle a little bit of heaven for your ears,
CRS – Rebel Music
Immortal Technique – The 3rd World

For you who are familiar with them,  CRS are Kanye, Lupe and Pharell, it doesn’t get much better than that today.

Good music!

Today was a big day. Today David Banner released his “Greatest Story Ever Told”. Today Nas releas his “Untitled”. I haven’t had the time to listen to them as much as I want to, but I’ve liked what I have heard so far. I almost wish it was longer to work so I could enjoy them more. I can listen to them there to, but it’s not the same thing, then I’ll have to concentrate on other stuff. But I’m not going to babble about them so much.

But when I listened to them I remembered when I was in high-school and I got called names for listening to hip-hop. I wasn’t bothered by it then, and I’m not bothered by it now. But I find it hilarious how the ones calling me names ended up wearing the same clothes and listening to the same music when it got “cool” one year later.

Anyway, I think I’m the only one among my friends who regularly listen hip-hop, and that a shame, I wish more would find the beauty in it. So here are some tips for y’all:

David Banner – The Greatest Story Ever Told
NAS – Untitled
Looptroop – Good Things
DJ Smallz – Georgia Trafficking

Enjoy!

Time to move…

Sorry for being so slow writing here, a lot has happened in my life since last time, most importantly, I’ve got a job. The best job that I could get, so I’m really excited about that.

So on the note of getting a job, I sort of took a farewell tour. From now on I’ll probably spend less time back up in the north. Before I used to spend the whole summers there, but I might spend a week up there now. When I was up there it struck me that I’m almost the only one who have moved out, and how different our views of that was. As long I can remember I’ve always known that I was going to move from Umea as soon as I possibly could, I can’t explain why but that’s just the way it is. I’m not going to over-analyze this, now. ‘Cause I’ve got a 13 hour bus ride ahead to do that, and I need to get going now. But to conclude what I’ve just wrote, here’s some lyrics from the mighty Looptroop Rockers that sums up my feeling in a nice way.

I’m feelin’ stressed there’s a stone in my chest.

I’m miles away from performing my best.

I gotta open up, let go of that weight,

fast before my past is catchin’ up the pace.

I didn’t wanna leave, I just had to.

Never knew how you felt about it, forgot to ask you.

I’m glad for the time we had, those years were the finest,

but I can’t live in a world full of blindness.

What I’m looking for can’t be found here.

The place I wanna go to ain´t around here.

So I’m leaving, ain´t no packing needed.

If there’s a better place to live I gotta see it.

Maybe I am looking for love,

or maybe I’m just sick of this world.

Don’t matter, if I said I cared I would lie.

This ain´t the time for bad theories about why.

So don’t try to figure it out,

you can’t cus if I could I wouldn’t be where I’m now.

Just live your life and take it easy my friend.

The future is ahead to come and we’ll meet again…