Hellas Off Road - Mountain biking in Stockholm

Hellas Off Road - Happymtb.org

Google+ blog = -?

In case any has noticed the posting on my blog has almost stopped. The reason is partly caused by lack of time but foremost because I have started to use Google+ for the last six month or so.

I suppose there will be some posts here too but for the time being the convenience of Google+ makes the posting here to occur less frequently.

Insanely superior!

Another Youtube video, seems to be the only posts on my blog right now. :)

Danny Hart crushes the competition at Champery (Switzerland) and wins with a huge margin, perhaps the commentators are the most impressive? ;)

POC Commercial...

The complete POC video is now published, posted some pre-production shorts earlier. Features MacAskill, Daniel Dhers and Martin Söderström visiting the archipelagos and some other places in Stockholm. Well worth watching!

Long time no push...

Some shots from last Saturday (where do the day's disappear?) when we had a push-bike session in the near by hill of Högberget.

First trail was a new one for me, there was one DH-race here when we held a small DH-competition cup, I apparently missed this one back then.

Inspection of the course:
It had been raining all morning but now the sun was shining and the temperature was rising!
First run, the rocks were slippery!
Mathias on his almost brand new YT Industries DH-bike.
Ryddan passed me next.
Mathias had a close encounter with the rock further down, the RS Boxxer took most of the blow.
We decided to explore more trails, one just next to the first one.
The camera wasn't fast enough in the bad light in the forest.
Not overly steep but still fun.
Had forgot how hard it was to push the bike up hill! After a few runs we yet again moved a few hundred meters to the next trail, as we were heading up we bumped into e., who were out ripping on his own and he showed us the trail he and another fellow had built.

Checking the double drop.
Without people in the way.
Hard to believe there's big apartment houses just a stone throw away.
I managed to flat my front tire twice, run out of spare tubes as it turned out that the brand new tube I had was repaired!? Hard to believe but that's the only explanation, must remember to document the patch that was on and that let out all the air...

E. making the last jump.
Ryddan seems to have as bad speed as I did over the obstacle, I lost speed in a bad turn.
It was a nice session, must go back and practice at the track again, I was all but supple down the trails, really need more speed runs before the Åre week, hopefully I get a free start in the Mega-Avalanche!

Funny looking GPS-plot:

Evening...

Couldn't resist taking some shots last evening on my way home. HDR's tonemapped in Photomatix. Nikon D7000 and Nikkor 18-105mm VR.

Finnmarksturen, new course.

Must be over a month ago I tried to follow the new path of Finnmarksturen, that was the "second" half of the course, yesterday I got a chance to get a guided tour of the first half!

We were a group of five riders, the weather looked good if one looked at the right direction.
The prerequisite for the ride was that is was supposed to be a easy ride but it didn't take long for the hot-headed riders to start competing up the hills! =)
Only short breaks to wait for me to catch up.
I was ready to throw my self in the water for cooling down, warm and humit with hardly any wind.
Premier for my beautiful shirt from On-One, reminded me of Max Cady from Cape fear, too bad it's not red. ;)
Mostly familiar trails but some new ones, which was nice! And of course a lot of forest roads...
Wonder how many will go over the bar here during the race?
Wonder if they will remove this until then?
With some speed it should be possible to bunny jump the obstacle. ;)
Not sure what they were up to.
After that the trail got better.
After getting down to Stensbo I got to know a new way to get past the road, didn't know about this tunnel.
After that there was some more forest roads to the bike lane towards Ludvika and then down past the water processing plant, still calm.
On the last trails before Ludvika I got this small stick in my rear wheel.
Glad also I got rid of the annoying sounds after I exchanged the bottom bracket for a new one, the old was really bad, was bad before the Scotland trip even...

30km in roughly 2h, great work out! :)

Off-road

Managed to snap some photos during the ride last evening, after riding mostly my road bike it was nice to hit some trails with the MTB for a change!

It had been pouring down rain all day on Monday and I was a bit sceptical to go for a bike ride but by the time I was at the site, Källbotten there was just some minor drops and the coulds started to dissipate! =)

Some photos shot from the saddle:
The trails were still wet and the speed was not what I have been used to.
Then there was some obstacles here and there, the beavers had been busy!
I picked the wrong spot for stop for taking shots. A few meters further down Linkenn did a OTB, luckily all went well!
Erik went next, he managed to steer clear of the slippery pipe that was straight over the trail.
At the next lake there were more obstacles, I took the route to the right and missed the deep puddle but Erik planted his front wheel straight in it, this time I got a shot! :)
Of course my directions were misinterpreted and Linkenn rode into the same puddle, a nice smell emerged from the muddy water. A quick stop to wash the worst away.
Back on track!
A couple of more shots from the bike.
Only a hour ride (12km) since there was some car trouble but it was a good workout! Always surprised how effortless the track is when getting on site with car and skipping the climb up to Källbotten.

Did my best to remove all the goo before loading the bike into the car but when at home I decided to shower off the rest of the dirt since the bike was already disassembled, think I managed to get half the forest with me back home. :)

Link to proper GPS-tracking: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/mGRZ17uz8i0

Must make a revisit when the conditions is dryer!

The Pirates! Band of Misfits - Trailer in 1080p

Sweet, new movie from Nick Park and Aardman Studios! The Pirates - Band of misfits.

CX-wannabe trip to Grängesberg.

So I got my CycloCross tires last week, it was now time to see if they worked as advertised! =)

I decided to make a trip to Grängesberg and use the same gravel roads that was used by Finnmarksturen, FMT has changed the course and these roads will no longer be used for that.

I had to pass the central parts of Ludvika to get to the forest roads, made it past ABB:s latest building project, a new building is supposed to stand here later this autumn. The not so old parking lot has been totally removed and lots of trees have been cut down.
Here I had made it to "Golan" the heights at Östansbo, that was just the beginning of the climb!
The end of asphalt and start of the gravel...
So far so good, lots of loose gravel and larger stones.
Lot's of dark clouds around me but by the time I had made it down the hill to Kåsen the sun was shining again.
I was now going backwards on the route that FMT follows never thought the hill was this steep going the other way! Refused to jump off the bike so I almost puked when I finally managed to get over the steepest part. :)
Passed Hällsjön. Apparently there was a inn here way back in time.
Not much left today.
At last there was some roads that didn't point straight up.
I left the dark clouds behind me...
It was a bit scary alone in the wildernes but suddenly I felt safe!
Seems like someone lost the key since the top of the safe was removed. ;)
Time for a brake, coffee and a sandwich, at the southern shore of lake Hörken, can'r remember last time I was here, must be over 10-15 years ago. We had a boat here when I was a kid.
The tarmac seems to be from the same era:
Had forgot how picturesque it was around Hörken.
Didn't take long before I was closing in at Grängesberg.
Not often I arrive from this direction.
Stora Hagen, built for the mine workers.
Went past the electronics shop. Think AKAI is still a active company, not sure if the shop is still open, lot's of stuff inside though.
A glimpse at the back yard of Spendrups brewery.
Spendrup's new high bay storage construction visible in the horizon.
Had to take the moment and take a closer look.
Closer...
Perfect view, made a panorama:
First goal of the day in sight. Made a short pit stop at mum's and said bye to all the people that headed out to go visit some people in Gubbo.
Time to get home so I can come back later in the evening for some BBQ!

Think there was a short cut here...
Well, kind of, had to carry the bike over a deep ditch and up the other side to make it up on the gravel road.
Took "Promillevägen" back home. Almost straight roads.
Past lake Glaningen by the bike lane.
Resisted a urge to go for a swim in lake Väsman when I was getting close to Ludvika.
A short photo session on the pier behind ABB, really pleased with my CX-light. The tires worked well.
Incoming boat.
One last shot at the harbour before I was back at home.
Well, the CX-tires obviously don't roll as well as dedicated road tires but the freedom and peace of mid when riding gravel roads or trails sure makes up for the small increase in rolling resistance!

Next time I will make the route in reverse to avoid the insane climbs! :)

Part one:


Part two: