A race report from Cykelvasan 90. It didn't go as planned. Neither the start nor the end. Especially not the end.

My day began well. Coffee to get the stomach going and then downhill to the start. Arrived in time to see the ladies elite go. Rode off and parked myself in the first climb to wait for the men's elite. Started warmup with a great view. Of course with CoreFlex: stability, balance, flexibility and a bit of strength. Good stuff. After the men passed up the hill I went back to the start and got ready.

And ready I was. Legs felt strong, legs felt energetic and once I got into that climb legs felt enduring. Rode up that first climb powerfully but a bit conservative, didn't want to burn out yet I knocked off 1 minute off last year's time. About 10%. Then off onto the flats and to start finding a back to suck air after. Rode hard, passed many without finding a good one. Flew up climbes and aggressively bounced around on the light technical sections. I. Was. Awesome. At around 45km in (between Risberg and Evertsberg) I was 15% faster. And I started noticing cramps. Nothing major and just rode it out like previous times.

Around 65km (30km to go) it had become horrible. Frequent stops to work it out. A few times I just stood at the wayside crying, of pain and despair. Last 15km I rode with as little force as possible and took breaks once I felt even minor cramping. Went better and made my way to the last few short punchy climbs in Mora. On the last one I had to stop and cry, the finish was in sight but the legs didn't want to go. Some tears later and I could crawl over the finish line, get my medallion, find a piece of grass and just lie down.

Pain.

And I'm eager to ride it again next year!

#cykelvasan #vasaloppet #race #RaceDay #racereports #cycling #BikeTooter #sälen #dalarna #mora #health #fitness #training #Outdoors

There are a few riders ready to start in Cykelvasan. Probably about 1000 in the starting pits

#raceday #cykelvasan #vasaloppet #biketooter #cycling #outdoors #fitness #folkfest #dalarna

Frukost dagen innan Cykelvasan. Solen tittar fram ibland och mörka moln rullar ner från fjället.

Idag blir det att hämta ut nummerlappar, köpa cykel tröja (för årets kollektion är läcker) och fixa en cykel handske till för den ena blev någ kvar hemma.

#cykelvasan #vasaloppet #bicycling #biketooter #mtb #race #outdoors #dalarna #sälen