Friends in all the right places

I just got back from a long 9 days of travel and it feels great to be home in Östersund. But it feels even better that I was able to keep up my training while I was away. I’m lucky to have multisport friends in all the right places …

All I had to do was carry my kayak paddle (yes, people thought it was a rifle in the security line…), a pair of running shoes, and bike shoes. Everything else I can borrow – and I even get a training partner.

After a short stay at Mornington Hotel (and a session on the “treadmill with a view”), I was off to Gothenburg for meetings, where I met up with Martin Flinta and had a beautiful evening paddle from his lakeside house.

We paddled by Gunnebo slot, a famous mansion and beautiful place for an afternoon tea. Martin and I were out until 10 pm watching the sky turn orange and paddling on a beautiful creek with a strong current between the lakes. I did my best to keep up with Martin’s occasional sprints, which he mixed in at random and unpredictable times.

Martin lent me his road bike (a beauty!) and I was up early (it was 20 C at 6 am !) for a beautiful ride. Then I returned the bike Thursday and we had another pleasant paddle. I got to paddle his FENN Elite SL, which is the same surfski I have back home.

Then he showed me his new mountain bike, a 29 incher that weighs under 8 kgs (!!). Check out the crazy-looking front shock, which is ~800 g lighter than a traditional one.

not your traditional looking front suspension…

He even has a little bell … which surprises me since it adds about 20 g J

After a run through a beautiful forest in Partille outside of Gothenburg, I was off to see John Karlsson, my old teammate. He planned a solid session of paddling and biking on Saturday. I got to use his old K1, which was fun to paddle, but I’ll never get used to that terrible “pin rudder” system at your feet. That thing sucks. Who invented that anyway?
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John carrying his “camouflage” surfski down to the lake.

Adjusting the rudder on the K1

I got to loan John’s cyclocross bike and he pedaled his road bike, but he took it easy on me …

I had a dilemma on Sunday: I faced a 5 hour train ride and 4 hour drive to get home. How would I fit in training? I stopped by Björn Lans’s house in Bollnäs (another old AXA teammate) and borrowed an orienteering map for a run in the forest after the train ride. I realized quickly that my body was too tired for a real training session. After admitting that to myself, I turned around after 20 minutes and jogged very easy back to my car and drove home (after a short fika – thanks Björn!). It turned out to be the right decision, because today (Monday) I had the power I needed for a hard bike-run session. Sometimes it pays to say no to a training session so that you can get something out of the next day’s session instead.

Tomorrow I’m headed out to paddle some rapids on the Indalsälven in prep for the Åre Extreme Challenge. Look for some pics on my facebook page tomorrow night… I hear the water level is high, so it might look like this pic from last year …