Normally we have late starts in Sweden, around 11am, but this time we started at 9.20am and it was boarder lining if it was a good idea to stay at home and sleep in my own bed or stay away for another weekend. I prioritised my own bed! The alarm went off at 04.45 and it felt like I was back racing in SA. We arrived in Uppsala a bit too early and I did a long warm up since I did not have much else to do. We had a ladies only start for the first time at this race and it worked perfectly with no men interfering. It was raining before the start but stopped as we started the race, so we were lucky! We do 2 laps on the same course and it is a very short race for being a marathon, it is flat and fast with short punchy climbs and a lot of single tracks with lots and lots of roots!

We were a big bunch from the start and it took about 10 km before we were a leading bunch of 4 girls, the same girls as at Lidingö a few weeks ago, Åsa, Hanna, Emmy and I. We worked well together but suddenly Hanna fell on a downhill single track and Emmy fell on top. I saw that they were ok and Åsa and I carried on. Åsa never caught me and I pushed hard until the hill sprint with a bonus prize after 16 km. I could see Hanna catching up so I stopped pushing so that we could ride together. We worked well together but when we went out on the second lap I could see Emmy and Åsa getting close, it could not have been more than 10 seconds. Hanna and I agreed to work even harder and it was very nice to ride with her since I could feel that we both pushed hard to stay away. Suddenly I lost traction on a corner and hit the ground hard with only 4-5 km to go, I got a bit of a fright but could get up quickly and chase Hanna back.

The finish was on a tar climb leading up to the Uppsala castle and it turned out to be a bit of a cat and mouse game as we approached the finish since no one wanted to take the lead. Hanna took the lead on the last bit towards the last corner where the climb started, it felt like that was her plan. I was happy with that even though she could start the sprint earlier than me. I felt calm and gave it my all and managed to pass her to take the win by a few meters. I was very happy with how it all planned out and so stoked to take the win.

So nice to see so many girls wanting to race! Photo: mtbfoto.se 

Photo: happyride.se 

Photo: mtbfoto.se 

Approaching the last climb. Photo: mtbfoto.se 

Interview after the finish. Photo: Dad

The podium with Hanna and Emmy. Photo: mtbfoto.se

At the Skoda launge. Photo: Dad