Posts in Training
Awakening

Inhale. The cranks turn, pedals absorb the power, finally transmitting it to the wheels, turning them with an almost silent hum. A few gentle clicks and the rear derailleur smoothly moves the chain further on the cassette. Exhale. I grab the handlebars tight and pull myself out of the saddle. I feel the bike respond to my every action. Acceleration is smooth, yet effective. Every move has been exercised so many times, there is almost no energy lost to the thought. Inhale. I gasp for more air.

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Autumn is here

It's been a while since I've been talking about training and everyday activities. I also have some race-reports waiting to be written. A lot has happened and it feels like summer really flew past us faster than any previous version. My racing season is over for this year, and preparations for season 2016 have already begun. This summer was twofold in many ways. There were many ups but they seemed to be followed most often by immediate downs. We also lost a great soul this summer.

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Back to racing - Vuelta Vantaa

It has been an odd Summer so far. In June I was ill for 2 weeks, and I'm still not seeing the improvement I've been waiting for. I had a really great spring and in June I felt super good. But then after the illness there is one good day and then three bad ones ending up with 0 progress. Not much to do about that, just continue spending time in the saddle according to plan and tomorrow I will be back to racing.

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Weekend without racing was a weekend well spent

Yet another weekend behind, a weekend without racing this time. It was a weekend introducing riding in shorties and the first long ride for the year. A long ride means more than 5 hours in the saddle, at least that's what I read, so first one of those this year. Some great weather and first real tan-lines for the seasons are reality.

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Keravan Kevätpolkaisu race tomorrow

I've been busy with moving and everything that has to do with it, and again I've underestimated the total time moving to a new address takes. Anyway, tomorrow will be the second race for me this season, Keravan Kevätpolkaisu. I had a week long pause from cycling but been able to train pretty okay the last week. Tomorrow will be a good test of where my condition is at the moment.

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Road Cycling Season 2015 Taking Shape

My Facebook news feed was filled with road cycling pictures last weekend. Those pictures were taken by cyclists who had enjoyed the great weather. I too enjoyed the sun and had a pretty good week of training, some 15 hours in the saddle and plenty of sunshine. Riding outside, spending longer times in the saddle actually felt super good and the body adapted to it immediately. No fatigue whatsoever. No looking at the Garmin 810 to look for how many kilometers I had tracked or how many hours I got left until I could head home. Just pure enjoyment.

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Spring is here

Now its not often a cyclist in Finland can update such topics in the first days of March. I am fortunate to be able to do it this year. Last year I did my first road bike ride 26th of March. Some years ago I was not able to begin the outdoor season until April. This year I got to type those words in my training calendar as early as 1st of March. I feel privileged and I have never been this excited before a season The GoExpo fair in Helsinki is also one of the first signs of springI visited the fair last weekend.

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Looking back at my cycling year 2014

It feels strange wrapping up a cycling season in February when everyone does it in December or early January. But I will do it now, mainly because my memory is really bad but also because I want to go back and look at what I did so it's easier to compare to my efforts today. Cycling year 2014 was great in many ways. And a warning to those of you who are looking for a short story, you can stop reading here.

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Chilly cycling in the Finnish countryside

Today was like yesterday, but the the sun was finally visible! In November in Finland that means it will be colder. And cold it was. On the countryside the temperature was below zero. I was kind of prepared. I had triple shoe-covers, neoprene toe-covers by Castelli, water and wind resistant summer shoe-covers and on top neoprene shoe-covers. Still, approaching the second hour in the saddle my toes started to freeze. But I managed to do almost 3,5 hours without bigger problems.

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