It has been two good weekends with two victories in the Swedish XCM series. Last weekend was “Ränneslättsturen” in Eksjö and yesterday it was “Mörksuggejakten” in Rättvik. Last weekend I felt strong and amped and felt part of the race, it was a completely different feeling than yesterday when it was pure pain from start to finish. I sit and try to analyze how it can feel so different with just a few days in between. But I will start with a short summary of the races.

“Ränneslättsturen”

We are usually at the series races with a stand at the expo for Right for Bike, we have done this since 2016 and it has always worked fine. I do feel that it is starting to be difficult to combine this with racing. It's quite hard to set up the tent and all the goods and then stand on my feet all day and sell, while I do love meeting and chatting to all the happy cyclists. I decided that I wanted to try not to have sales in Eksjö and just go there to race and be a cyclist for a weekend. Craig and I went down on Friday and on Saturday I rode parts of the track as a "leg opener" and then just rested all day, it felt luxurious.

It was going to be a really tough race as there were many strong girls on the start line! The Ränneslättsturen is divided into 3 loops and the first consists mostly of gravel roads, it was a bit hesitant on that part until the first sprint prize. I had decided exactly where I would start the sprint and got a perfect lead out from Emma Belforth (she did not know it at the time) and started on the spot I had decided on, but closer to the line I started to see a wheel next to me and had to go even harder, it was Amanda who challenged and was really close, but I managed to go first across the line. Then followed 7km of only trail and somewhere there we became a group of 4 that held together for a very long time. It was me, Emma, ​​Amanda and Nellie. We rode together throughout loop 2 and into the last loop. At the second sprint prize after 56 km, I had a plan to try to take the prize and carry on hard afterwards, I have broken away that way here a few years ago. I managed to get around Amanda in the last corner before the line and took the sprint prize and I continued to ride hard. The group was kept intact but shortly afterwards Emma had to give up. Amanda went first on a downhill and I was on her wheel, but Emma decided to pass me on the downhill and she then slowed down on the flat single track and Amanda got away. I passed Emma as soon as I could but had to chase really hard to catch Amanda. After a while Nellie joined and at the same moment, we had a sharp right turn with an edge that I missed and fell. It took time to get up and going because I was in the wrong gear and I just saw how the others sailed away, now I thought it was over! But I managed to catch them and started to realise it was going to come down to a sprint!

Nellie, who had not been in front once during the entire race, came forward with about 8 km left to the finish and rode really hard! It seemed that she had a clear strategy for the day. When we entered the finish area, it got nerve wracking! I was sure that Amanda would come from behind and pull a proper sprint, I had a plan to be first in the last corner but did not dare to wait and passed Nellie a bit earlier than planned. I could still stay in front and go through the last corner first and from there start the sprint and it felt incredibly nice to take home the first victory for this year!! I was happiest about that I had good legs and a good feeling throughout the race!

“Mörksuggejakten”

During the week I trained less than usual as I wanted to come fresh to “Mörksuggejakten” and hopefully be able to get another good result. Craig went to Lenzerheide to work with the Cannondale team again, so I had to take care of the bike myself and my brothers had to be "stand in" as help during the race. Since Mörksuggejakten is in Rättvik and close to where we live, it was a given that we would have a tent at the expo for this race. My parents and I went up to Rättvik at 8am on Saturday morning and set up the tents and all the products, the children's races started at 11am and there were already people there. It was very nice to meet everyone and I even met an old school friend I had not seen for 25 years;). Eventually I managed to get changed into cycling gear to go out for my “warm up ride”. It was a very short session and not as I usually do the day before a race. It was a cold day and just as we were about to start packing up, the sky opened up. The plan was not for me to stay all day but it was 4 pm before I left and I had been standing all day, except for the hour I rode my bike. Right here, I think I'll find the cause of the bad feeling on Sunday…

I was able to sleep at home which was nice and went back early on Sunday morning. My parents had slept in a camper at the event area. It was cold and a bit of rain in the air and even if you warm up, the legs have time to get cold before the start, and I think it affected me too. When the neutral car left and the race was on and we went straight in to the long climb, my legs just staid stop! They were burning and my body felt on its limit even though my heart rate did not go up very high. Tilda Hylen set a high speed and it was quickly only Nellie, Terese and I who stayed with her. However, half way up the climb I had to let go and when I reached the hill sprint I could not see them any longer, I was far behind. My whole body just screamed "stop" and I had a thought of turning around and go back to the start! Johanna Wallin caught me at the top and she helped chasing. We soon caught Tilda who had dropped from the other two and we became 3 who chased. I took a lot of responsibility in the chasing and it was really hard and it took a lot of energy and effort. In the end we caught Terese and Nellie and we were a group of 5. I helped a lot with the speed but it took a lot of effort! Johanna fell off after a while and it was a long time the 4 of us. We had a good pace and I had to dig deep a few times just to stay with the group, and I was relieved when I noticed that the others were also a bit tired since the speed on the climbs was not too fast. The men had started 20 minutes after us and they passed us with about 18-19 km left and Terese hooked on to their group (against the rules) and left us. We chased for a long time before we caught her. With about 7 km left, I saw that Tilda let go and it was probably a bit of a relief since I thought she would be the toughest competition in a sprint.

Nellie pulled hard on the single tracks towards the end, I could follow without problems even if I had to dig deep. With a bit less than 2km left, I came around Nellie and rode in front until 500 meters to go and she passed me on a small uphill, I noticed that she wanted to go first to the finish straight. I sat her wheel on the last short downhill single track and it was a perfect situation but I almost messed it up twice! I got a bit unsure of the distance to the line and did not know when to start the sprint and I left it a bit too late, I felt that I did not pass easily so I had to push a bit harder, and when I crossed the line and stopped pedalling I saw the line!!! I just thought “oh shit” and had to pedal again!

Afterwards I went back to the stand and continued to work there and just in time for us to pack up to go home, the sun came out and it got nice and warm!

It was a really good weekend for Right for Bike and I want to thank everyone who came to the tent and shopped from us, there are many who have new socks after this weekend :)

There may be a connection between the good feeling / no work and the bad feeling / work for a whole weekend. I may have gotten too old to do both;) but, do not get me wrong, I love to stand there and talk to all the cyclists and am really passionate about my company and the products we sell! I look forward to the day when I just work and do not race :)