Finding new ways..

Lost..?

"Why not search for new ways..?" A brilliant idea, getting a bit tired of the same routes to and from work. And to get some more training, more than the 18-19 km.

Using the excellent routeplanner for bikes, http://cykla.stockholm.se/, to find a new, nice way home from work. Since I wanted to pass the beautiful Järvafältet, I got this one: http://cykla.stockholm.se/Tiny.aspx?c=28e499s.

It worked perfect! For 500 meters...

Lost. Well, not completely lost maybe. But definitively not on the route. I sort of got the general direction right, and after a while I got on the right track. For a few minutes more, then lost again in the area of Tensta.

Tensta and Rinkeby are areas with maybe not the best reputation in Stockholm. Coming from the green and beautiful Järvafältet, crossing the motorway E18 to get over to Tensta, expecting a "concrete getto", finding nice parks and smiling people!!! (see the picture above)

A very nice surprise, and this is definitively a route that I will take home more times, with variations of course.

Yesterday I took an evening ride, seeing the first signs of fall- a group of swans flying south for the winter. This is really Sweden! It is supposedly summer still, but the birds are already flying south. Well, I cant really blame them..

But, no good thinking about that. Summer is still here, even though it is a bit more chilly now, and there will be many more beautiful days before the leaves have gone from green to yellow and red, and finally painting the ground in colours.

Soon MR X-ray

Visit at the doctor, and hopefully a date with MR X-ray (not superman or MiB, magnetic resonance x-ray..) during August. No running really sucks..

Just realized that rain in Sweden is slightly colder than rain in Panama. But not as heavy.. :-)

20 minutes of excercise for my knees, then 20 km on the bike. Nice ride, not many people outside. Sunday evening, gray.

Listened to an audiobook about philosophy, about truth. Interesting concept, truth. Have to think a bit more about it, maybe write down something. There are some odd ends to this, thinking about the movie The Matrix, a traditional philosophical question about existence. But I am too tired now to try and sort this out, some other evening, with whisky and lit candles.

Tomorrow, going to the doctor again, see if I can get the swedish health care system to take some more interest in my need to run, and hence my need to fix my knees. The swedish health care system is excellent for kids and old people. But when I come to think of it, that must be perfect for me! I am getting old, but I behave like a child :-)

Bikers are cool, runners just run

Back to the doctor again- and the bike.

No running the next two weeks, only boring rehab. Is there anything more tedious, boring and frustrating than "rehab programs"? Yes, I understand the importance of it, and I will stick strictly to the doctors plans.

"After two weeks, you can try very slow 500 meter runs". Wow. 500 meter. Not easy to find the motivation in that.

At least, I can bike. Thats ok. But I have realized that runners and bikers are very different. Or are they?

When I meet a runner, we greet eachother. With a smile, or just a nod.
When I meet a biker, they just look straight ahead, not moving a muscle in the face. Looking sooo coool.

I am thinking about participating in my first race the 15th of August. All money from the race will go to a cancer foundation. So, I was looking for a shirt. Not that I am very fast on the bike, but still it would be nice to get rid of the "flapping" of my shirt. And I realized that it is more or less impossible to find a biker shirt without one thousand commercial on them.

I am not that fast. Why would I try to look "professional" with a team-shirt, when I am just a happy beginner? "Simple is boring" was the answer from the guy in the shop.

With all the expensive gear, could it be that the bikers look serious and unhappy because they have no money left for the rent..?

So far, the only conclusion I can make is:

Bikers are cool, runners just run.

Slippery gravel and a good evening

Visiting our friends out on Helgö, an island in Mälaren, close to Stockholm. So, why not take the bike? Around 30 km and beautiful views- a perfect ride!

http://www.funbeat.se/tracks/shownonav.aspx?RouteID=446313

Very nice roads for bike. Well, maybe except for the last few hundred meters, when the asphalt turned to gravel. Last turn, going very slow, and the front wheel just started to slip to the right. Nothing I could do, except feeling happy that I had my bicycle gloves on. Never thought that gravel could be so slippery. Something I dont think about when running..

Happy to have learned something new this day as well, I cleaned it up in the shower, and then enjoyed a campari. Ok, maybe two camparis. Really good for a bloody leg.

Razak made some fantastic things with the grill, and after a great dinner awaited Germany against Uruguay. So much better football than the finals. Of course, here we had two teams playing football, in the final there was only one team playing football.

Since I didnt have any lights on the bike, I put the bike in the car, and got dropped close to Ekerö Centrum, to ride in the remaining 20 km. Cool air, still some light, very enjoyable.

Changing tyres

I just realize that I have no name for my bike yet. Have to think about that. Names are important. Or. Are they..?

With all the gravel and sand removed from the bicyle lanes, I thought it was time to change tyres to my racer-tyres. I found the perfect bike for me, a cyclocross. Built like a roadbike, but with enough room for wider tyres if necessary. Like wintertyres with small metal spikes on them. Or the original, that works for both road and trails.
But now its time for roooooad only!

Changing tyres, getting these racer tyres on, is really tough. Took almost one hour of hard, physical work. I just hoped it would go easier next time..

With these tyres, I at least feel fast. If it wasnt for the somewhat nerdy helmet with the "Ericsson" logo and for the fact that I was going only slightly faster thant I would if I would have been running, I would have looked almost like a biker. Almost..

Just before it was time to turn around and head back, my bike decided that she (yes, a bike is always a lady) wanted some rest. Flat tyre. Time to see if I was any faster changing tyre this second time. No problems, and 15 minutes later I was on the road again.


Crossing over the bridge Essingebron, and I had to stop for a while to enjoy the view. With weather like this, biking is so good!