onsdag 28 september 2011

Chapeau Cav

With an irritating cold that just won't leave I have to settle with watching cycling instead of riding myself. How fortunate that this happens when the world championships took place. The women's road race was a disappointment in many ways, very few attacks and just a sprint in the end where Emma Johansson was without chance.
The mens' race was more interesting and you have to be impressed by the way the brits took care of the race. On the last lap it looked like a team time trial with Wiggins working like a mad man in the front. And then there is Mark Cavendish... Sometimes he acts and says stupid things but this time he just looked clownish (time trial suit, horrible helmet and socks up to his knees). But what a sprint he did and in the interview afterwards he was very humble and he really thanked the team mates. He is truly the fastest person on a bike and I wonder who is going to challenge him in the Olympics next year. Maybe Goss or Greipel? Both of them showed what great sprinters they are. And then there is my personal favourite Fabian 'Spartacus' Cancellara, he lost the bronze to Greipel by a milimeter showing you can never count him out.


So what about the Swedes? Yeah what about them? There's been so much talk about how the course is not right for them - but what does a perfect course look like then? The guys performed as expected, the girls had a bigger team and of course you expect more from a class rider like Emma, but being 14th in both TT and road race is no catastrophe. She'll be back for sure! Hopefully Emilia Fahlin continues to develop as well inspired by Emma.

tisdag 20 september 2011

Time fore yellow and blue?

This week it's finally time for the World Championships in Denmark. I think it's great that Copenhagen is the host given how bike-friendly this city is. For That yellow bike it's actually the home country being a Principia bike. Read more about these great bikes here.

Today is the start day for the "real" races with the ladies time trial. Emilia Fahlin has shown good form and might be a person for the top ten and once you're there you might as well fight for podium places. Emma is a class rider but for her the road race is her big chance.
Should anyone of them succeed today they can hopefully expect a nicer and bigger podium than this one at the Swedish championships (no it's not your local club championship it is the Swedish champ in yellow and blue):

torsdag 8 september 2011

That white bike

I just couldn't let this one pass. I know it's not yellow but this bike (belongs to my colleague David) absolutely earns it 's place in this blog. Man, it must be a hell of job keeping it clean-looking.

måndag 5 september 2011

Summer or fall

Took a ride last night (mtb). Really beautiful and warm evening but it's getting dark, and the forest has that smell. I'm not sure I like the smell but from all the running and cycling I've done it really has become familiar. Even though rhe leaves are green and attached to their trees you just now it's not summer anymore once you encounter this smell. It tells you that you better use your time well because soon it's gonna be all muddy and slippery. It makes me start looking at more robust cycling-wear, and cyclo-cross bikes. I still haven't owned one but it just seems like that perfect transition bike going in to the fall. Perfect to ride on the smaller dirt-roads around Stockholm and combine it with normal road cycling.

As always Rapha capture the feeling with their inspiring photos like this one:
 Just need to find a bike that's yellow...


fredag 2 september 2011

Balance damn it

Here's a little thought about balance. Not balance as in the ability to stay on two wheels on a mountainbike in tricky terrain but balance in news reporting.
Here is the front page of today's Dagens Nyheter (biggest morning paper in Sweden):
So tonight Sweden will be playing Hungary in the qualifications for next years European championships (soccer if anyone didn't get that). I go to the sports section and there we have three more pages about tonights QUALIFICATION game. We are not exactly in the final of the actual championships yet. Don't get me wrong I love soccer (love watching it love playing it) but this was about balance right?
I flip to the last page of the sport section and find this (which they haven't written themselves but TT):
Yes Swedish Astana-team rider Fredrik Kessiakoff is right now in podium position in the third biggest "tour" in the world the "Vuelta". He's actually in a position where he can win this race right now. Yes it's a long way left but so far he has done a fantastic Vuelta, and he gets this!!!!! I think it's really sad that the sports journalists and editors at the biggest newspaper are so "unbalanced". Yes soccer is huge and cycling is just big but come on this is just bad journalism.
Fredrik, keep up the good work! Here's a picture of this former mountainbiker current road-hero in my eyes: