Emilia Fahlin

Last part of season

2010-07-23T15:04:00.004+02:00

Am back in Spain, finally i should say, almost two months since i saw my spanish home latest!
Europeans road race was not the greatest race of the year, finally a 12th place, after a break of 7 girls just managed to stay away on the line. We were only two girls from Sweden and has not much power to use in situations like that, you just have to be cool and hope the luck is there, but didnt work this day. So I have now done my last European championhip, where I last two years got myself home with a silver medal each year, which is super good, only a gold would have tasted a little better..
But new races and new opportunities!
I had a couple of days rest to charge my batteries again, and have now done a couple of good trainings, preparing for the last part of the season.
My schedule is ready, and I got the good news I will be doing the World Cup in Sweden, coming up next week! Always great to do such a big race on home soil. Looking forward to it and i have some bad luck from last couple of years to make up this time!

A bitter-sweet Silvermedal

2010-07-15T17:30:00.004+02:00

A silvermedal at the Time trial in the European championship!
But at first it felt more like losing the gold then winning a silvermedal.
I had high ambitions going in to this race, and somewhere in my head i had the dream of a goldmedal. Ended up on second place, earning a silvermedal, 11 seconds after Russian Alexandra Burchenkova, and Lithuanian Katazina Sosna on third place, 52seconds back.
Not super much time up to the first place, but today she was the strongest.. And being able to defend my silvermedal from last year is something I have to be happy about. After all it's a medal in a championship and in a few days I might feel more satisfied with it.
Next up is the road race on saturday, til then a lot of water and rest!

Back from Giro Donne

2010-07-11T19:44:00.004+02:00

Then the Giro Donne is over for me and im back home in sweden for a quick visit before i leave again tomorrow night, to travel further to Turkey.

The Giro was a nice experience, but i stepped out after stage 8, of 10, to get enough recovery for my Europeans Time trial coming up already on thursday. So what I missed was the epic day up to Stelvio and the final stage at Monza.
The team had some awsome days, taking 5 stage wins, and a second place in GC, well done! Nice teamwork and for myslef a pretty good Time trial.
Been some nice stages with a great scenary, in the end loads of climbing, with one stage of 89km including over 2300 highmeters of climbing up to the finish in Livingo. Thats also where my Giro ended, and now my focus is on Europeans next week in Ankara!

Swedish champion TT!

2010-06-30T19:06:00.003+02:00

Now the week of the Swedish national championships is over.
I got back to Sweden from The states late last monday, and t was all abot to recover quick and be ready again for TT wednesday.
Ofcourse nothing should go too smooth, so to make it a little more stressed my TT bike hadn'r arrived as it should from Belgium. So on the tuesday it looked like i wouldnt have a bike and i wasnt sure of a start the next day. But after some great tracking my dad could get the hands on it and drive up with it on wednesday morning!
So with the bike problem and jetlag and the fact my shape is still not at top after my sickness, I didn't expect to that well i actually did.
I started last as defending champion, and crossing the line after the 30km they announced new best time. Couldn't believe my eyes, didn't have any times during the course either so it was a nice surprise!
I ended up winning the Time trial with a good 48 seconds up on Emma Johansson, and Sara Mustonen taking third.
So that i managed to defend the title feels great and i will have another year in my blue and yellow skinsuite!

The road race was held on a lap of 34km done 4 times, including 4 times up Gesundaberget, a hard hill.
It was hard from the start with Emma pushing the pace first time ine the hill, and a bit after my clubmate Karin went in a break with Marie Lindberg. So far according to plan, and i knew Emma would go hard next lap again in the hill to make it up to them. Turning in to the climb i missed the attack on my right side and had a gap of 10m on Emma, and thats impossible to close to such a strong rider. I saw my chances go as she went. My mistake, and i was in the group behind with 5 other girls and we worked good together but didnt make up any time. Emma won the race after a strong effoert coming in solo!
I won the groupsprint for 6th place, not really happy about the result, but the feeling was okej, and I atleast feel im improving for every race now and slowly geting back again.

Next big goal coming is Europeans in 2 weeks, but got a late call-in a few days ago, so now im on a train to the airport flying to Italy for doing the Giro Donne!
Am happy to get some racing in and it will be good, hard prepearation for Europeans, and a needed stage race for my legs as i missed L'aude earlier..
Will be back with reports from my first Giro!

Nature Valley GP stage 4, 5 and 6

2010-06-30T18:56:00.004+02:00

Again long time since a note here..
So first short back to Nature Valley. Stage 4, a critt in Minneapolis went again well for the team, we got a win with Chloe! And for me i also had a better feeling, much nicer course and i could ride more aggresive.
Stage 5, first road race over a 122km. A hard day with steep rollers all day long, and we had Linda going of the front with another girl, and she took over the yellow after that stage.
Last day a circuit race over 13 laps of a short course, basically just up and down this steep hill..
We had the yellow to defend and the race went straight from the gun, with other team try to make it really hard. And it was. It splitted up totally already after a lap, and a smaller group went of the front a few laps in with Evelyn in. Me, Kim and Linda was in the small group that was left of the bunch, trying to make the gap smaller. It ended up with Evelyn winning the stage solo, really strong! But we lost the yellow..
For me it was a pretty good ride and i could do some help on that hard course, and my legs was very tired and more then ready to go straight to the airport and fly to Europe again, with the nationals TT coming up in 3 days..

Nature Valley stage 1, 2 and 3

2010-06-18T20:28:00.003+02:00

Nature Valley started out with a early morning Time trial on the wednesday, and no TT equipment was aloud. Was a nice course over 10km with the last kilometer uphill to the finish.
I got a good ride in and ended on a 9th place, same time as the 8th.. Happy with that since i had many good names behind me. That ment i got to ride in the young riders jersey for the next stage.
A double day on the program and Stage 2 in the evening, a criterium over 1h in downtown Saint Paul. Not the greatest course with some bad surface and corners, so was a whole lot of crashes. But it stayed all together and we got a very cool stage win with Chloe taking the sprint!
Stage 3, a road race over 104 km, turned out to be something I never experienced before. During the day we heard they warned for thunderstorms and tornados later in the evening, but still looked good driving to the race, only very windy.
Minutes before the start big black clouds just appears, so standing on the start line just minutes away from rolling off, they cancell the race, cause of the severe thunderstorm coming towards us.
First race i have had cancelled, and there was nothing else then jump in the car and go back to the hotell...

So, now we are more then ready for stage 4, been out riding a couple of hours this morning, and tonite its time for a criterium in Minneapolis over 1h.

Sweden-Girona-Philadelphia-Canada-Minneapolis

2010-06-16T00:53:00.001+02:00

Time goes by fast, and got some new places visited lately.
The chickenpox kept me out of Tour de L’aude, and stuck in bed for 2 whole weeks. Didn’t think it would affect me that hard, but now I atleast got that one out of me and that wont bother me ever again.
Back on the bike its been about getting my body going again, slowly try to build up a base…
It also changed my race program and instead of doing the races in Europe at this time, I went over to north America, to do Philadelphia Liberty classic, further on to Canada for two new races in Gatineau, and finally back again in the States I will this week compete in the Nature Valley Grand Prix, a 5 day race with 6 stages.
Its been tough to get back to racing, Philly was a cool experience but a very hot day made it really hard out there. We did a good team effort and Ina won.
Further to Canada, my first time in the country, we did a Time trial last saturday, where I ended 9th which im quite happy with, looking to my preparation. Sunday time for a Road race of 100km. A yet again very hot day and many attacks made also that day hard. Was up there in some good breaks and found a good race feeling again. Unfortunately in the end, we had some bad luck, leading out for the sprint through last round about 300m to go it all looked good with me first in and Chloe on my wheel, when she gets taken out from a girl ditching in from the side. Things that can happen, and I rolled in as 7th. Was a fun and aggressive race, but still lacking that power I felt before I got sick, but I can see a progress and now we have 5 exciting days ahead of us, before I on Sunday eve heading back to Sweden for the coming nationals.

The chicken pox result in no Tour de L'Aude

2010-05-12T21:13:00.004+02:00

I keep getting challenged, this time i caught the chicken pox a week ago. Been a rough week, and didnt recover yet, so wont be able to start in Tour de L'aude.
Its really a big disspointment for me, since that race was really good for me last year, and i've been looking forward to this year's a lot.
Not just missed out on a week of training, now also 10days of good racing, its a big set back, but now i just have to turn my disspointment, get healthy and get myself back there.
Tomorrow i fly back to Sweden to get some family around me, and look forward to get up on the bike again.
And all succes to the rest of the team for L'Aude, my fingers will be crossed!

The volcano effect...

2010-04-16T20:35:00.005+02:00

Yes, im stuck here in Girona, so wont be racing Ronde van Gelderland in Holland tomorrow as the plan was.
It's been 3 weeks since last race and i was more then motivated to be at the startline again, and get the race speed back in to my legs, but just have to wait yet another week before im in the bunch again. It's a pity, but not really much you can do about.
The day started out with a trip to the caotic airport this morning to stand in a long, long line, just to get told what we kind of knew, we wont be able to get to Holland until tomorrow.
So back home it was just to take out the trainingclothes from the bag and go for a ride. Just to make sure this day will stay in my memory my shifter broke down at the furthest away point in my ride, and, literally, i then had a little black cloud follow me over my head, pouring down at me. And yes, my bike was ofcourse cleaned yesterday..
Not one of my best days maybe, but i can't do else then laugh about it all. My luck must be waiting around the corner!
And hopefully some is with the girls in the team racing tomorrow!

Paella night and a good ride

2010-04-06T15:12:00.003+02:00

Just got back in from a very nice training. Today was one of those days the time just passed by and the efforts wasn't such a big pain as usual. At home now after 4 hours, ofcourse tired legs and a little hungry, but that was 4 fast hours. I like days like this!
Weather got worse so i think i re-schedule my planned afternoon coffe at a sunny sqaure to watching come cycling on tv. Not to bad that either!

Yesterday i had a good restday, spending the evening with 3 australian girls, Chloe, Josie and Sarah, and we went for a Paella dinner with a glas of good wine. Very good with some nice girltime and also first time i ever tried paella, which was about time..

A well planned sleep-in

2010-04-04T19:32:00.006+02:00

Today i put my alarm at 10 o'clock, and I can be happy i did! Woke up to a black sky and loads of rain, put my mind to go on the roller instead, but after a nice, long breakfast and a few cups of coffe it started to clear up, and by the time i went out it was dry and sunshine!
Had a good ride doing some lactat efforts, and decided to take the slightly longer way home to get a nice spinn out, and i almost had to pay back for it when I, just a few kilometers from home, felt a few drops from the sky. But i made it home safe and dry, and been enjoying the afternoon on the caugh infront of the final of Ronde van Vlaanderen, smiling at the again, pouring rain on the window! Thats what I call good timing..

Spring in Girona!

2010-04-02T19:54:00.003+02:00

Landed back in Spain on tuesday after a long travel, but managed to stay up and havent really felt the jetlag at all, til today. Woke up at 4 and was sure it should be time to get up, but the display said only 3:54. Clear awake, went up for couple of hours, and then i luckily could close my eyes for 2more hours til alarm went off at 8. So, not too bad at all this time either!

First maybe a few words about last stage of Redlands, which turned out to a big succes for the team! Evelyn taking the stage win, after an amazing ride with working all day, Ina making it a 1-2 and also defending the yellow!
I didnt have the greatest day, and as Ina said before, if the legs don't work, you can't fake it. It's such a tough course, and i've been having some problems with my airpipes and lungs beacuse of a known reason, and last stage i just didn't have much at all. Managed to finish the race atleast in the group behind what was the first maingroup.

Back here in Girona the weater is awesome! The air is so fresh and its just spring feelings all over the place. It gives me so much energy and i was out walking in town this afternoon, with a big smile on my face.
Will be here for another two weeks before next race, so will be time to build up and hope to improve on both shape and health!
For now i wish you all a happy easter weekend!
Would like to have shared mine with friends and family in Sweden, where also all the good easter eggs are...

Redlands stage 3

2010-03-28T05:58:00.006+02:00

Team looks happy but cold before the start of stage 2
Then the third stage of Redlands is done, and as usual it was a really hot day!
A 1 hour critt was on the program, so after a looong nights sleep (crashed to bed at 8:30 yesterday) i woke up not too annoyed by the alarm for a 1h spinn in the morning. Weather was already great by then and hotter it became.

The race went even better then planned, after 30min it was time for the first intermediate bonus sec sprint, so we did a good lead out for Ina that got the seconds, and then the pace stayed very high since attacks kept going, ending up with having Ina in a break of 8girls, with girls from all the main teams, and having Amber in yellow still in the bunch. Was a perfect situation, and it worked all way, making the gap up to more then 1minute, we now have Ina in yellow for tomorrow's last, and very hard, stage!

Myself got a nice end to the race having a puncture with 1,5laps to go. Had to make a bike change in the neutral service pit and got this huge, yellow mavic bike, with normal pedals and cages, and best of all, SRAM. So frenetically trying to stay on the bike with the too high sadel and great match with my pedals I tried to shift, but it just got heavier and heavier. And struggeling up the finish straight drag with one lap to go, almost same time as the lead group came in for the sprint, I just deeply hope that the big yellow thing didnt ruin the nice pictures from the sprint..
Made it to the finish after another bike change and finally got the same time as the bunch since it happended within last 3km.
Another hard day in the legs, and tomorrow it will be worse, doing 9laps on the sunset circuit, basically going up and down this big hill. But we have a nice jersey to defend, so now it's time to catch some sleep.

Redlands stage 2

2010-03-27T00:03:00.006+01:00

Today it was a road race on the agenda, first a loop of 20km then 3 loops of 30km.
And i have to say it was a really hard day! Some up and down and a KOM hill at every lap made me and my legs tired.
Our plan worked out pretty well, with working to get Ina seconds in the bonus sprints. Also nicely finished off with her taking the stage win and another 10 bonus seconds.
Was some hard work during the day, fighting for wheels, covering attacks to make it to the sprints and make it up that hill. But worked out well in the end and thats worth the pain.
Now, after standing in the cold pool for the legs and a good massage, im hoping for greater leggs in tomorrow's criterium! It's a really fun, fast course, which i managed to win 2 years ago.

Me in the prolog yesterday, wearing the very blue swedish champ TT suite.
Photo: © Jon Devich

Back to racing

2010-03-26T00:45:00.008+01:00

So, its about time to leave a note here again, i know...
Been busy traveling california, and there also been some nice sunshine...

Back on the race track, and that feels great! Maybe not all the painful moments i've been through, to get my legs woken up, but to going again is just what i need!
Last weekend we did San Dimas stage race, with 3 days of racing. It included a hill timetrial as start, which was the first taste of racing again for me since a long while, and my legs and body quickly reminded...
Next on was a road race on a shorter circuit, bit up and down all day, and also first time racing without radio. Last day finished off with a criterium, which was very fast, so over all a good weekend of racing. For myself no result to make a nice topic here, but having Ina winning the GC after an incredible ride in the critt, we could move on pleased with the weekend to next destination, Redlands.

(San Dimas road race, foto credit velonews)
After a couple of realxing days in this amazing house here, where we are lucky to get to stay every year, recovered and with new energy we today took on to the Redlands bicycle classic.
So today we did the prolog, a really hard course over 5km, finishing on top of this really steep climb. Ive done it 2 years before, so i kind of knew how painful it would be..
Did an OK ride today, and finished at spot 15, they say the times were slower this year, but i rode same as last year so thats a good thing. With Amber Neben winning the race, you can see there is some quality in the field, and we had Evelyn in on third!
With todays painful part over, im now gonna go enjoy a massage and prepare for tomorrow, and tonite we are gonna have a barbeque here in the nice weather. California is pretty neat!

2010-03-16T06:47:00.003+01:00

Guess i've been pretty busy last days, since no writing here.. And we've had some real good days!
Could start up riding again fully to schedule on saturday, after being done with my antibiotics, and I already felt a lot better just without that in my body any longer. So have had a good 3 day block of riding, geting some hours in again, and finally i've been able to do my favourite roads here! The views still as amazing and the climbs hurted just as much..
And today was the first day i could wear short-short in the ride! The weather has really picked up and today i past the beach during my ride, where it was loads of people. Guess that's all i will see from the beach though, since we are leaving in a couple of days heading south for the races this weekend!
But except from training there's also been time for doing some other nice stuff, yesterday we had a real american eve, with mexican food, frozen yoghurt, finished off going to the movies (which we actually been doing twice... yes all three things..)
So we are enjoying the time and this afternoon left some space for a little shopping trip in town and thai for dinner.

So pretty tired after finally spending a lot of time at the bike again, im tomorrow gonna enjoy a restday, which i havent yet decided how to be spended! Only to start with, no alarm...

Interview

2010-03-11T00:25:00.003+01:00

And incase you, mum and dad, forgot my face.. Here is a little video interview
Fahlin out- Emilia on the sidelines in California

Enjoying geting tired

2010-03-11T00:13:00.003+01:00

It's a nice feeling being back riding the bike and get tired from some kind of actual movement and not just from being sick stuck in bed-tired.
I have only been starting up easy and steady since im stil under medication, but believe me, after a week more or less off the bike, 3h can really kill you. So it will be some work, and time to get back there, but it could be worse hey! There is still time and the weather is with me here...
After lunch, coffe and new energy the afternoon will be spended with TT bike fitting, so now back in the bikeclothes..

Finally back to the bike

2010-03-08T19:51:00.003+01:00

Am back in San luis obispo again after the weekend in Merced. Became a pretty long weekend for me, not being able to ride my bike, but the team scored 3 wins so that was a great part!
With my cold persistently stuck, not getting any better I’ve since two days been on antibiotics, and now it seems to finally be going in the right direction.
So now I’m just about to jump up on my bike and get my legs slowly moving again!
And it's sunshine...

A happy group in Merced mall

No TTT

2010-03-05T18:23:00.003+01:00

We drove up to Merced yesterday afternoon, after a ride in San luis obispo in the morning.
Yesterday we also took the decision i wont do the team time trial, im not healthy yet. Better focus on get fully healthy so i can get as most as possible out of the coming weeks here. So today will mostly be spended in this nice bed, hoping for my body to recover.
Except from my health im really enjoying my time here and looking forward to this next few weeks!

In San Luis Obispo

2010-03-04T01:20:00.003+01:00

So i made my long travel, and arrived late yesterday evening to the teamhouse here in San luis obispo. Very happy to finally see a bed I didnt have a problem to sleep through the whole night!
Been out for a little spinn today and got rained on. Don't feel good yet, guess all traveling didn't make my body feel much better. But it will come, aswell as the californian sun i hope! But it's really nice to be here again and i'm already enjoying the familiar surroundings.
Now a coffe so i'll make it to dinnertime..

California here i come!

2010-03-01T19:22:00.011+01:00

Then january and february been running by, and here i am, just packed my bags and are ready to leave for California!
First I have to face the fact that I actually am a bit sick, but better now then in a couple of weeks when the bigger races are. And the whole winter i been saved from all bad luck and illness, so i can't hang my head too far down.. I'm soon back on track!
So with a couple of days rest for my body, im off early tomorow for my long travel to San luis obispo, California.
Last two years i spended almost 2months each there, but since I now moved to Spain i've had good training conditions here, so this year it will be just a little less then a month, but it will be a busy one!
It will be a basegroup of five girls from our team over there, with Me, Ina, Chloe, Kim and Evelyn, and already on thursday we leave for Merced, where we will do the first races in the states. It will start off nice and smooth with a TTT, followed by a Road race and a criterium. I've been there also the last two years, where i two years ago took a double and last year Ina won both races. So we have something to defend going there, and thats exciting! And the TTT is new for this year..

So thats what is coming up this week for me, if i get better will say.
Then following, I go back to San luis obispo, where i will be based with a couple of the girls in the teamhouse for little trainingcamp, before we will hit the road again doing San Dimas and Redlands.
Also those races i've done last two years, and they are great to get the legs in to race mood again and i'm sure it will be a lot of fun!
Hopefully some good californian sun and maybe a trip to the beach will fit in the agenda aswell.. And not to forget some real mexican food!
Last year was a lot of fun experiences!
Nice moments by the beach..

...and a few degrees colder up at Lake Tahoe, where i got to try snow shoeing and also first time ever put snow chains on the car.
Some motorpacing behind a nice, blue vespa..

And a lot of bikeriding, adventure rides and races!

Not on top

2010-02-28T12:25:00.002+01:00

Sitting here with an irritated and sore throath, so im not at my best today. Was out training as planned yesterday but coming home i felt there was something going on with my throath. So today i will spend consuming as little energy as possible and hopefully its going back. Better be a bit careful now, with my long travel on tuesday and the racing kicking off again the upcoming weekend. So here on the cough i will cross my fingers for not geting more sick, and also for Dennis racing Kuurne today. So with that on livestreaming i will get my daily dose of cycling..

Wonderful weather

2010-02-25T19:42:00.003+01:00

It's been a great week here, with really good temperature and some really sunny days! Can't say i regret moving here this winter when im still busy reading about all the snow they're geting at home in Sweden and the chaos it brings.. Only complaint here was the massive headwind last hour on todays 4h ride...
Had a few easier days after some blocks of hard training and now it's just the weekend of riding here in Girona before i head to the US on tuesday, where i will spend almost the whole month of march.
I look forward to get there, I have been there the past two years, and it's a great way to start up the season and get some good training conditions aswell! More about that trip later...
Now its almost dinnertime here!

Tourist for a day

2010-02-20T23:50:00.007+01:00

Me and the big cathedral
But first! What a ski race at the olympics! Gold and bronze to sweden, and after such a race. Having goosebumps right now, and was defently worth staying up late for!
Such real fighters really gives you motivation to watch and my smile goes almost as high as my heartrate at this moment!

Thursday i had a really good day, cruising around Girona with the mother and doing stuff you should while being here. Sun was shining and I even visited the cathedral, and it was pretty amazing.
Yesterday it was less good weather and a session at the gym and a short ride in the rain (offcourse with the new cleaned bike..)

Today a clearblue sky said godmorning to me, and i went for a super nice 6hour ride, watching the contrast of the snow covered Pyrenees and the glittering ocean.
Coming home to a clean apartment made the day nearly perfect and i took my mum out for a good dinner.
And as mentioned we just watched the olympics and it's now time to hit the bed! I will sleep well tonite.

Some fun days

2010-02-17T21:01:00.004+01:00

Five days have really been running by here, had some really good days together with Annie! So nice to see her again and we always have much fun.
The weather has not really been on our side though, and i couldnt show Girona from it's best. Been really freezing cold the first days but we got some hours in on the bike, but yesterday we woke up to rain. A day spended at the gym and a 1,5h session at the trainer made it finally a good day aswell.
We've been exploring the city, had some good spanish tapas and cooked some delicious dinners, and best of all, laughing and speaking a lot of swedish!

Today it was like we had arrived to another country stepping out the door, 10 degrees warmer then last days, and we got some nice sunshine on top of it!
After an adventurous 3hrs, with my first puncture in a year (on training..) we made it back in time for her to make it to the flight.
After dropping her off at the bus, i took advantage of the great day and went for another 3hours finished off with cleaning my bike! So im more then happy with my day.

Now im here alone for just a few hours before I hit the airport again tonite, but this time to pick up my mum, and i'm looking forward to some more great days!
And tomorow a day off, so time enough to show her around!

Sunshine is back

2010-02-11T19:01:00.006+01:00

After the day with rain the sun was back again in time for my longer rides!
Yesterday i did a nice 5h ride, trying out some new roads too! Still much to explore in this area for me.
Today it was really windy and pretty cold, lucky the sun was still shining.. Went out to the coast where it usually is a bit warmer and you get some windprotection. Came home 6 hours later with tired legs and cold from the chilly headwind last 1,5h.
A warm shower, late lunch and then i've been enjoying doing nothing at the sofa with a few coffees and its now about time to move my ass to the store so i can cook dinner tonite!
Late tomorow evening i pick up Annie at the airport and finally i have someone else then myself to speak too..!

The day before Dennis left we spent exploring Platja d'Aro a bit in great weather

Last days

2010-02-09T11:29:00.006+01:00

Ladies Tour of Qatar is finished and i'm back in Girona again since a few days.
Last two stages of the race was windy, sometimes hard, and filled with good teamwork. Unfortunately, we didn't get a stage win as our goal was, but we did what we could and worked hard as a team.
On the last stage we finished of with 6laps on a 6km circuit, just up and down a big street along the seaside, turning in two roundabouts. It was a fast, and very windy course.
With a bit more then a lap to go, i attacked, and got a gap. I got up to 10sec from the chasing bunch, and it was a really hard effort on the windy course holding of a bunch going for the sprint. Turning on to the finish street with 1300m to go it was cross wind coming from the front, and in such conditions the bunch are much faster then a solo rider. So viewing the line from 500meters the bunch finally passed me. So, so close, but so far away...

Back home now i've had a couple days of recoveryrides, and right now im watching the rain pouring down outside the window. Good timing though, my schedule says restday with 1h easy, which i can do on the trainer watching the guys turn to suffer in windy Qatar..

Next few weeks will be some hard blocks of training, but I'm also looking forward to a couple of visits here! First of is one of my best friends, and it will be great to have a good company for some trainings here! And the next one of is my mum, and it's gonna be great see her for a bit again!

In the last lap at stage 3 in Qatar.
(Photo credit © CJ Farquharson)

New record!

2010-02-03T16:45:00.006+01:00

Race première is now done! And for sure i can call it eventful aswell!
Started off with a really bad night, laying awake for 4hours, only 2h time diffrence but seems like my body notice..
Then time for first stage of Ladies tour of Qatar.
Started of nicely for me having this years first flat tyre after only 2km in the neutral, luckily!
But it didnt end there, halfway through we rode on a less good road, with bigger wholes, which caused some troubles. Couldnt avoid a big whole, so there i went, double puncture! back to the car, this time more windy and bit of a chase i was back on again. Just reaching the bunch i start to move up a little when a girl infront crashes down a whole and, repeat! Double puncture again, all within 5minutes. So not as happy, either me or the mechanic i got the fourth and fifth new wheels..
So made a new personal record there, and hopefully that will fill my quote for a long time..
So last flats happend just before first bonus sprint and with very windy section it was pretty shattered, so slowly I made it back, group by group we reached the front again.

So with a few efforts, but not of the kind i wanted, i felt a bit tired in the end.
But at 5km to go it came a great moment, and i made a counter attack from a teammate, and I managed to hold of a chasing Cervelo train for 2km, then my job and i was done and i rolled to the finish. And it finsihed of good for us, having Chloe in on 3rd place!
Now 2 more windy stages to go, and hopefully no more flat tires and some more succes for the team!

Time for Qatar

2010-01-31T16:53:00.006+01:00

Now january has come to an end and i've had a really good week at home in Girona after the trainingcamp at Mallorca was done. Weather has mostly been beautiful and when the sun is out it really feels like spring is here!
Today i finished of a good block of training, and im happy with how this month has undergone. So now im sitting in the sofa, leggs at the table and enjoying a good coffe, and just waiting to take of to Qatar tomorow. Then the new season will be started on wednesday!
I dont have too high expectations for the race in Qatar, coming out this big block of base training, but it will be a good waking for the body and im sure it will give a few new experiences. And for sure a couple of photos picturing sand and camels..

A camel cookie, at the hotel room in Qatar last year

End of pre season camp

2010-01-22T22:01:00.004+01:00

Then last day of teamcamp is done. Finished off a great trainingcamp with a 5,5h ride, and the sun was back with us!
Feeling pretty tired now, so I'm looking forward to an easy ride tomorow, before I finally fly back to Girona on sunday. Everybody else flies out tomorow but i stay one day more so I can catch the direct flight which is much easier with all my luggage.. Had a real good time here and time been flying by, but will be nice to get back home and spend some good days with Dennis, before the season kicks off for real! Cant believe that I already in 1,5 week will stand at the startline again, in the deserts of Qatar..

Beautiful days!

2010-01-21T21:46:00.003+01:00

Last two days here at Mallorca has just been amazing!
Lots of sunshine and good temperature made it very pleasent to do lots of hours on the bike..
yesterday a nice loop of 5,5h and today a even nicer loop, up at Valdemossa and around in the hills along the clear sea back over to palma. it was the only part from the island i never had seen, and it really was something special!
So almost back in I decided to use the good weather, and company aswell, so together with judith and ina I finished of a great day at the bike after 6,5h.

tomorow last ride at the camp and i hope the sun is returning, which will make the tired legs a little less noticed!

First week of camp

2010-01-18T22:44:00.002+01:00

One week has now, quickly, passed here at Mallorca, and its been a great time here with the team.
It's a really good group of people and the spirit is nice!
We have been pretty lucky with the weather, and got some good hours in at the bike.
Today we finished the second three day block, so after 4.5, 5 and 6h its tomorow time for a well needed restday!

Other stuff we also been busy with these days is teampresentation, some photoshooting, meeting and info with sponsors, core workouts, bike fitting and a few tests. And best of all, massage every day! So no lack of things to do!
And now its time to close my eyes, goodnite!

Vamos a la playa!

2010-01-10T22:12:00.005+01:00

Today me and my bike went towards the coastline. It's a really beautiful road along the coast here, winding up and down, almost like a rollercoster. And the view is amazing! Green vegetation, steep hillsides and turquoise water.
In the summer it's so busy in that area, its a huge tourist paradise, and i have to admit the beaches here are really nice! (Had to try a few last summer...)
So after a nice 5hr i was back home, and on to the next thing. Arranging my packing. Should be my specialty by now, but still takes a lot of brainwork. Have to make sure everything I might need for 14 days at Mallorca, with weather that can be everything in between summer and arctic winter it seems like.

Early morning ahead, but for the probably, very first time i will have the shortest travel, a smooth 50min flight and i will be at Mallorca!
And with the apartment in order ready to leave, I first gonna leave myself off in bed a few hours!
Goodnite

The coast last summer, off-bike style.

A diffrent scenery

2010-01-09T19:18:00.007+01:00

Up at Santa Pau i found the snow today

At the other side of the hill it was so much more snow, but then i didnt bother take up the phone again...

Felt for a while like I was back home in Sweden today during my ride, when i after 2hours could ride alongside snowcowered roads and hills.

Was really beautiful and the surroundings looked really diffrent compared to what im used to. This will be something to think back of when i ride there again in july!

So as you might guess it also got a bit colder, so after 5,25h my fingers were a bit unhappy with my doings so I finished of my last 35min at the trainer indside.

A really nice day it was though, and now i just enjoyed a good coffe and are about to hit downtown, since i need to get a couple of things to make my bags heavier for my trip on monday.

(why does schampo and conditioner weigh so much?)
One good thing with Spain is the stores are open til 20.30!
Adios!

Late training

2010-01-07T18:51:00.004+01:00

Second time i woke up today (first one at 4o'clock to wave Dennis goodbye) it was all heavy rain coming down over Girona.
So instead for a ride i went for powertraining, which felt good.
Then a few things to fix, and now here i am, ready to jump up on the indoor trainer we got the other day for a short session. Hope it works properly! No man in the house who can take care of it now...

Being alone now makes me miss friends and family, so gonna be even nicer to leave for trainingcamp soon!
Time to spin the legs a little!

back in Spain

2010-01-06T20:24:00.007+01:00

After the new year celebration i flew back to Girona, so the past week i have been able to do some nice training on my bike again!
And knowing that the temperature at home still is -20 makes the 9 degrees here feel almost like summer..
And the race season is coming closer, on monday i leave to Mallorca for a two week teamtrainingcamp, which i look forward to.
But first i have to spend a few days here alone, since Dennis is leaving for teammeetings too. Guess it's gonna feel a little lonely here, so now its time for a nice dinner together!

My 2009

2009-12-30T23:36:00.010+01:00

Then this year has come to an end, and its been a very eventful year!
A lot of memories, experiences, ups and downs, and also some good moments on the bike..
So here is the highlights from my bikeyear 2009 i wont forget!

The year started off good, already in my second race i got my first win! A freezing cold, rainy Amgen Tour of California criterium in Santa Rosa

Went through my first Tour de L'aude, the biggest ten day tour for women, and I got two really nice 6th and 7th places, and even more surprising in the mountainstages! Was a great thing for me, and that made my confidence for my future a lot bigger!

Emakumeen Bira was the next good tour, where i got one 5th place, and the best of all, a 4th place in the hill time trial. Think it was more people then I that was very surprised to see my name in between the climbers on that resultlist..

Next win came in the Swedish national championship, but this year in the Time trial! Won over Susanne Ljungskog and Emma Johansson, to great international riders, and this was the most unexpected thing of the year!

Finally i got my medal at the European Championships, which last couple of years been a big goal for me, but would never guessed it would come in the Time trial!

After all that succes first part of the season i the second part struggled a little and I could really feel that im young and the season was very long, since i started off in Qatar already first days of February.
But in Toscana i got a nice 5th place in the time trial there.

After that i finsihed off the season with the Worlds, which to the results, wasnt any good thing for me, but taking part and also this year in the Time trial is great learning for the future and gives a lot.

So with a great 2009 i'm very excited to see what 2010 can bring, but i also learnt some things to do diffrent to next year..

But for now i wish you all a happy new year!

winterdays

2009-12-28T19:18:00.003+01:00

It's been a nice christmas time, mostly spended with family and friends and it's been more snow then i can remember from last few years!
So last couple of days i had some nice sessions on the skies, and it's so beautiful and white all around!
Today i also passed by the dentist and a visit to the hospital in the town close by mine for a test. So there is some stuff that has to be done while being home here, and head back to Spain is gonna feel pretty relaxing.
But first im awaiting visitors tomorow!
Dennis is coming up to Sweden and bringing a friend and we gonna celebrate new years here! Think it will be a very nice end of the year, and a perfect beginning of next!

GOD JUL!

2009-12-24T20:04:00.005+01:00

Here in Sweden we celebrate christmas today the 24th..

My christmas day started off in a very nice, wintery way. I decided to, this year, go skiing since I last year spended the christmas eve in the emergency room at the hospital after crashing during my bikeride..
So after 28 nice kilometres in good ski conditions i was more then ready for all the nice food on the traditional swedish "christmas table".
And the afternoon i've spended with a lot of family, food, christmas porridge and even a visit from Santa Claus!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Time for a nice reunion

2009-12-22T18:56:00.004+01:00

After a day spended with meetings and other necessary appointments, i'm now gonna hit the cold air again, but this time over to a friends place!
So finally i will see my closest friends again, and since we all moved to diffrent places after highschool we dont meet that often anymore, so we have a lot to catch up on!
And I also managed to complete my christmas present shopping today, so now its just to wait for Santa Claus...

Christmas spirit!

2009-12-21T21:47:00.005+01:00

Finally home in Örebro, and finally some christmas spirit! And the word finally after a less fun travel with delayed flights, once again with ryan air...
Landed in a nice, white and beautiful winterlandscape with a termometer showing -13 degrees. And what a good timing too, today was the first day with rain in Girona!
Hopefully i will be able to go on skies again, or that the temperature jumps up a few degrees so i can feel the nice, smooth change from my road bike to winterbike with studded tires, trying to avoid crash my knees and hips this december again.. And last winter I even stood on ice skates!

So back home, and just a few days to christmas-day, i've spended the evening baking some traditional swedish christmas candies! And that with some christmas songs and a few glances out through the window at the nice snowy views.
And now im off for christmas tree decoration!

I'm making Knäck

Winter has arrived

2009-12-17T19:19:00.004+01:00

Now the winter has come to Girona too. Last week here was super nice, really warm, clear sky and sunny bikerides, and at one moment i spotted 22 degrees up on the hill side of Santa Grau. But slowly and sneaky the cold has finally made an entrance here.. So with a bit colder every day, another extra shirt or gloves for next days training, the termometer today showed 2degrees. But so far no rain or snow, and i've been able to make some really nice trainings here!
And in between trainings it's been busy (yes, still!) with geting the apartment in order. Stuff start to come together, furnitures and clothes on place and a coffe machine has now moved in too!

Today the morning started with a nice powertraining session at the gym and in the afternoon a good bikeride, where i got to be reminded of the extreme contrasts here. This summer in Girona it almost came to points where it was so warm i just wished for nothing else then snow and cold, and here i am, at the same roads, riding in full winter kit which i normally use at home in the swedish winter weather. Probably thats forgotten very quick when it's back to 40degress again in the summer...

So with some good training done and the remaining energy spended on house-fixing, i'm ready to go home to sweden on monday for some days of nice christmas atmosphere and celebration with the family. And finally i will meet my very longed-for best friends that also comes home to town during christmas!

A ride along the coastline

busy days

2009-12-10T18:54:00.003+01:00

The past days here in Girona has been really busy, lots of things to do! Never could've guessed how much work it actually is to move..
So monday we arrived here in Spain, picked up the rental car, or lets call it van.. Agengy, key, load all stuff in the apartment, and we were off for some supermarket shopping. Filled a few carts with all from cleaningstuff to delicious salmon! And few hours later we could crash back in the apartment. Off for a late dinner real spanish style, we got our food at a quarter to twelve. And in the same move we got to introduce ourselves to the neighbours, by knocking on short after eleven to ask if they could open the door for us when we would get back from dinner.. Since we got didnt the key to the main entrance..
Next day up early to steer the car towards Barcelona and Ikea. Lets just say that was an even bigger day! With an empty apartment and a long list what we needed, the challenge could begin. And on top of that it was a public holiday here in spain so it was crowded. A few hungerflats later we finally got everything to the car, and could a couple of hour too late return the car again.
One thing i realized is how long it actually take to put an apartment in order. So much small stuff that needs to be fixed, so there is still stuff all over the floors, but we are geting there! And one thing is for sure, the apartment is so, so nice!

Yesterday we wrote us in to the gym here and tried that out, and also made a little ride around familiar and longed-for roads!
Today I had a nice 4+h ride in sunshine and great temperature, and the ride finished off with some nice tapas... What a diffrent but perfect december!

Preparations for ikea-shopping

After a hard day at Ikea...

C/ Barcelona, Girona

2009-12-07T09:45:00.003+01:00

finally it's here, new adres, new apartment!
I'm packed and ready to go, but first real test was to fit in all stuff you want for daily life in baggage restrictions á la Ryan air..
The first two days now will be very exciting, supermarketshopping and a daytrip to Ikea in Badalona is the plans, and that will for sure be another challenge then the ones im meeting at the bike!
So, here we go, hasta luego!

Good news!

2009-12-04T17:30:00.008+01:00

As i wrote about earlier, i've been at a selection for the swedish olympic committee, SOK.
And yesterday i got the good news, i made it into the program!!

We were 22 athletes at the final selection at Bosön, and now 5 of them made it in to SOK's talentprogram, and I'm one of them!
This is super exciting and such good news for me
First of all, it shows that people really believe in you, and your future in this sport, which is huge. As a bikerider im sure everybody has times, days or just for a minute they doubt about themselves and their ability, so this is great motivation to have this support which also in times you struggle a bit can lift you back on track when you remind yourself of that.
And second great thing is they will support me in my way trying to make it to the top in this sport, at those part's were things are missing, or i can make stuff better and by that improve and develop!

Here you find me and the other four

december sun!

2009-12-01T19:42:00.002+01:00

December made a very nice entry to my town, with a clear blue sky and sunshine!
So i've been spinning my legs for a few hours on my bike today.
Pretty nice with a little bit more speed then on the skies..

Ski holiday

2009-11-30T21:04:00.008+01:00

And now over to the other adventure!
As the headline is saying, i can almost call the last 10 days a holiday. It's been nothing else but perfect and beautiful!
Been looking forward since very long to be able to go skiing again, last two winters i haven't been home in time for it to be enough snow to ski on.
But 500km north from my town, in Bruksvallarna, Dennis and I found the snow again...
This little village is very popular for many skiing national teams to go for trainingcamps and such, since they have very much ski tracks and usually one of the first places where the snow stays!

So with a lot of good skiers to watch and get passed in the track from, we made some really nice days on the cross country skies! During the first half of our stay we got some more snow up there, and that put our knowledge in wax skies on a good test...
So, since we where at this place with good prepared tracks we thought we also should try skating (that idea might have got a little brighter the day we had 10cm snow stuck under the wax part on the skies...)

Another thing we decided to try, was to make a hike up the mountian, to the top house. It was a really nice walk, pretty hard at parts, and after passing the tree limit it suddenly felt 15 degrees colder and also 50cm snow deeper. So, we never made it all the way up, but got some amazing views, and as the competition persons we both are, we ended up finding this very nice steep hill someone thought was perfect for doing some snowy lactat sprints in...
Except from the ski training, which in this super beautiful surroundings didn't feel like training, it was so much time to just relax and do nothing then feel good, since you are far away from big cities and must-do's at home.. Thats why it felt like one big holiday i already miss!
But back to the must do's, there is a few things you don't get from, like cooking dinners.. And since we didn't break any legs or so i thought i should visit the doctor today anyway, to establish the fact I have a small tendon sheath inflammation in my right hand.. from whipping sauce to the lasagne we made one night... (tasted veeery good)
But could have been a lot worse, now i almost brought the winter landscape feeling home, since my arm sounding like the crashing from wet snow!
It's just a small thing what will get better soon, so today i was back for some nice powertraining at the gym, so now with tired legs i can also tell the ski training, if nothing else, atleast made my back very tired! and hopefully stronger ;-)

First part of a fun adventure!

2009-11-30T20:43:00.005+01:00

Got back home yesterday evening from a ten day long ski trip to Bruksvallarna, 500km north from my hometown!
But the adventure actually started one day earlier.. The 18th November i had a whole day at Bosön in stockholm, for the swedish olympic committee(SOK) since i was one of about 25 other athletes from diffrent sports nominated for a selection to their Top and talent program. The day was very exciting, we got some info about the olympic committees organisation, did some diffrent physical tests and personal conversations. Was very intretsting to meet such a mix of high class athletes from diffrent sports, and get ideas how their sport, racing and training runs!
So, this is a huge motivation to have been on this selection, but everybody is very talented and on a high level in their sports, so its gonna be super hard to make the program. Atleast I gave my best and will carry this with me as a super good experience!

guldklockan 2009

2009-11-14T17:00:00.007+01:00

I woke up this morning by a textmessage from my grandmother, saying:
congratulations on your name-day and also for the nomination of Guldklockan.
Guldklockan (the goldwatch) is an award my county's newspaper arrange every year, which should go to the athlete that done the most remarkable perfomances during the year...

I'm very happy to be one of six nominated, mostly beacuse cycling is not a big sport around here! So it's always fun when people get up the eyes for what you achieved.

HERE is the page where you can vote on who ever you think deserve the award!

weekend

2009-11-13T20:31:00.003+01:00

So, another week soon passed.. time flies and soon im standing at the startline in Qatar for the first race! okej maybe not that fast, luckily!
Anyway, it has been a good week, some nice training with bit of running, cycling outside on my crossbike and powertraining at the gym. I also experienced the first snow of the year while riding, and as usual for every winter, almost frose my fingers of my hands, but this time i was lucky having a saviour as in Dennis with me, so for next ride im sure i learnt to put warmer gloves on (or atleast i'm sure someone else reminds me...)

But for now, this evening we gonna get warm from the home-made pizza that is just coming out of the oven!

Some exciting things!

2009-11-09T21:13:00.005+01:00

So, am back home after a nice stay in Girona, was great to be back there, but sure its a bit diffrent compared to hot summer there too!
Had some busy days walking around, visiting loads of diffrent agencies and looking, mostly, nice apartments!
In the end it all came out perfect, found the apartment i so fell in love with. So its ours from the first of december and it's so exciting to be able to build up a real home there!

Second exciting thing is that im nominated for Women road bikerider of the year, together with Emma Johansson and Susanne Ljungskog, two of the best women bikeriders in the world. So its surely a tough challenge but that makes it even more fun to be nominated among them two! And the winner will be presented at the Swedish bike gala the 21st of november.

Now im back in Sweden some weeks, with nice company from my boyfriend Dennis. And tomorow a day off at the plan, so we're heading to Stockholm over the day, this time to get tired from sightseeing and shopping!

a little trip back to Spain..

2009-11-01T22:34:00.002+01:00

Its been a beautiful, sunny fall week here in Örebro. That is the town in Sweden were i've been living my whole life, until this summer. Then i decided it was time for something new, a little change, and for the season i rented an apartment together with two teammates down in Girona, Spain.
It was great! Beautiful nature, awsome new trainingroads, and a new country and lifestyle made me learn a lot and it affected me in a very good way, both on the bike and as person.
So the season ended, and our rent aswell... So therefor my little trip tomorow!
Im heading back to Girona for a few days, and the mission is to find a new apartment! As i said, i really liked living there and think thats the best for my progress, so im really excited about going back and try to find a real Home!

Except from exciting stuff like apartment hunting, im busy with having a little touch of musclepain..

with 2010 in sight!

2009-10-29T13:50:00.001+01:00

First, welcome!
After a long season of racing this year, i had 3 well deserved weeks of rest, and what great weeks then!
Spended 2 of them with my boyfriend at Bali, just enjoying a normal holiday, beach, sun and relaxing! Straight from Bali to the southest part of Sweden visiting two of my closest friends, made it a perfect time of rest, fun and most important, my mind switched of from anything around the word bike. Only thing i must not have been tired of yet, is travelling around...
So with my mind fresh, holiday is over, and it's time to start going again!
With a in general great season this year, im really excited to see what 2010 can bring.
So this week i have started up slowly with my training for next year and since it's very much off-season i do some other stuff then just ride my bike.
Right now I just headed in from the first running session of the year and today i gonna play it smart! Time for some stretching...