#transøsterdalen

[ristocycling]

Jeg vil herved bukke og takke alle som følger seg berørt for støtte, gode ord og fantastiske sykkelturer og ritt i årets sesong! Jeg er nå ferdig med 2 av 3 sesonger jeg har satt meg som mål for satsing på mtb. Jeg ser framover med optimisme og sykkelentusiasme. Samtidig minnes jeg all suksess og framgang jeg har hatt i år! Nå er det tid for liten time-off før den viktigste jobben må gjøres før 2018 sesongen. #familie #sykkelvenner #hanksport #foss_sykler #trekbikes #ntnuisykkel #motortrade #bilreklame #fosenterreng #hemnerunden #frænarittet #orklarittet #trondheimfjordenrundt #transøsterdalen #valdresrittet #Furusjøenrundt #sykkelenern #markathrillern #ultrabirken

[ristocycling]

#morgenøkt #morningrides #30omdagen #treknorge #hanksport #showyourstripes #xrmud dekk #bontrager #krigsskip #cruiseskip #ladestien #hyggeligfolk #adressa #trondheimfjord #vinterpåhell #gettingready #sellarondahero #transøsterdalen #valdresrittet #sunnanrittet #ntnuisykkel (ved Ladestien)

[ristocycling]

Trans-Østerdalen 2018

3 short stories...

ONE- average temperature on Garmin was 1 degree. For once, I had enough layers on me to keep warm. Held to the tête group until the terrain changed to a bit more bumpy affaire. Chose to ride with a team rider, who turned out to be someone else than I initially though was. So we lost the group. After a while we gathered some others and held quite good speed. Then I lost all of them as feared on a rather fast and uneven downhill. I managed to crawl my way back to one of them and also leave him behind. Last kms went by fast and in the end, I lost about 3min in total to the winner, which ain´t that bad for me. Anyways, all-in-all, it was fun!

TWO- the second day started off with bad feeling, zero motivation, so I let others to fight for the positions in the front. But, since the weather was good, legs felt ok, I found my self in a position I did not want to stay in. So I demolished the gaps between the groups and reached to the front. But then, another gap was a fact and now I didn´t have more nitrogen in my legs to accelerate and close another gap. So I stayed in “grupetto” (the second group) and found myself contributing a lot. Most of the riders are focusing to ride hard on climbs (or, in contrary, maybe I´m simply incredibly weak on climbs?) and then on the top of the hills almost stop entirely. To punish the others, I held good speed over the tops and let them chase me. FUN! But then again, a new hill and I let myself to fall to the rear end of the group. So we continued until the group got dissolved and I found myself with my arch enemy, Håkon I, side-by-side, fighting for glory. I know he gets stronger towards the end and specially on the bumpy terrain, so I grinded my teeth to keep up with him. Never had so much fun chasing before! After 1,5 races, still be able to stand up, push all you have, pedal as hard you can, feeling every muscle fibre in your thighs to buckle up and work work work. But, just before the very last top, he got away and was about 50-100m in front. So, what do you do? Give in? NEVER! On the way down to the village, finish, I pulled myself together, pedalled as fast as I could, sat in aero position and watched my front wheel spinn, let the bike do its part, aerodynamics its thing and hope for the best. About half way down I glanced a chance that I might just manage to catch up with Håkon. So I did. The very best feeling! Since he did a major work in the forest, I asked him kindly if he was ready for a sprint finish. He replied that he was cooked and that if I wanted to... Well, it´s not what I´m made of. We both did well, so we finished side by side, about 17min behind. Where did we lost so much time? Well, I´d say the group was not strong enough. If, if, if I´d started smarter and stayed with the tête group, I would have got a lot more help until we got to the trails. But, IFs are Idiotic Fantasies! Total time lost, about 20min on 2 stages.

THREE- I was a bit healed, mentally. And quite frankly, a bit relieved due to the fact that they´ve changed the third day from 100+km to 35 with 60% on trails. It was a lot easier to tackle the third day mentally when you´ve had two awesome days on saddle, knowing that the last stage is of length you can handle on full throttle all the way. AND, they´ve changed it to pursuit race- first time on mtb race in Norway. Yes! It was fun! Had 30s up to the guys in the front, 13s to the back. So I started at reasonable pace and I was eaten alive. In stead of chasing alone, I got to hang on to a locomotive. We worked hard and got rewarded. Since the last day had a lot of trails, hills, the different abilities manifested and I was left behind, then I caught up with those guys again and so on. Sadly, on the most fun downhill, I lost the group and was about 2 min behind in the finish. But, to sum up. I cannot be more happy with the fact that I managed to complete all three stages giving my everything and so managing to restore some of my belief in myself. 

It has been tough times lately, but now I can see more clearly and stand tall. I guess what I´ve done, mentally, is that I´ve let ago the idea of reaching to the top. I can see, I´ve approved the fact that my capabilities are tied to a framework that I cannot change unless I win a lottery. For sure it would help to have a coach, a team and more time to recover from workouts, but that is not the case. So, I´ve accepted my stagnation and simply ride for fun from now on. Being amateur feels good! 

Whats next? Furusjøen Rundt :) Can´t wait :D