This last week was a pretty good week. All the bad feelings I had on the bike in Orleans were gone when I stepped on my bike again on tuesday and I checked of some new dirt jumps that I hadn’t jumped yet which was great. Hopefully the weather will allow us to ride some more trails this week. Weather wise it was great last week aswell. Maybe a bit too good for my taste because it was super duper warm at the end of the week. It was a bit too much too fast for me but the good thing was that I wasn’t the only one that felt like that, haha. The worst (or best, depending how you look at it) day was wednesday when we went to Carpentras to ride. It was my first time there and the track was pretty fun. But it was in a really bad shape after the had gotten a lot of rain. It wasn’t raining when we came tough and riding in 30°-31° degrees wasn’t that plaisant. At the end my head was turning and I couldn’t really focus, but before that I had gotten some good riding in so it was okay. The best thing about us going there however was getting to work in their first turn. I was a nowadays typical first turn, pretty good for the elites but shit for the challenge riders. I’ve had trouble knowing where to go in these turns at a few races so it was good to have time and work on that. I think a learned alot from that.

Today it’s back to work again and I’m on my toes just wanting to go out there and train, but it’s still 2h left until the session starts so I’ve got to find something to do until that. Atleast with writing this post I’ve knocked some time away from that

Friday I rode my cruiser on the track for the first time and was feeling as good on the track but less good on the gate. But I got my gate figured out during the race. It wasn’t as good as on the 20″ but still I was feeling good about it. But come race time everything just blocked..! My nerves got to me. In the first moto on the gate and was shaking. I was shaking so much that even Miky, who was filming with the iPad, could see it! I made a terrible first lap and got 6th riding all crisped up. But after that lap the nerves went away and from there I was starting to ride good. I got 3rd in the second and third moto to qualify for the 1/4 final. I wasn’t stressed or nervous standing on the gate and it wasn’t because I did a bad lap that I didn’t qualify from the 1/4 finals. I just had the wrong impression of where I were on the track. In the first turn I was going good but had the outside, but still made it out 4th but with a guy blocking me. In the second turn I got passed by a guy going wide and taking speed as he was last. In the last turn I was still close enough to attack the guy infront of me. But I got surprised by his really low trajectory and I actually crashed because I wasn’t ready for the impact. Well what’s the problem here you might say? You attacked, got surprised and crashed. But that’s not the thing. The thing is that I thought I was riding in 5th after the first turn and 6th and last after the second turn. I saw a slim chance to pass 2 guys and finish 4th. But what I had done was attack the guy in 3rd… Because there was a crash in the first turn that I didn’t know about so I was actually 4th and then 5th. So if I knew that I could’ve tried to attack the guy in 4th or go wide and try to beat him down the last straight. It just added to my disappointment seeing this on the videos..! Because I was really hoping for alot more than a 1/4 final in this race.

Saturday was a day of for me and then we had our next race on sunday. Sunday can be summed up pretty quick. A disaster!! I didn’t sleep during the night, I was feeling terrible on the bike, track, gate, on just about everything! Knowing that I had felt so damn good on thursday just made things worse I think.I was trying so hard to get those sensations back that maybe I over did it and it went the other way. Because of all the uncertainties I had I was not aggressive at all on the track, and in an indoor race that’s just not good because everything is a lot tighter  and you ride closer together. So the day ended with a completely catastrophic 3 motos…

I’ve been trying to process this weekend in my head a lot before writing this, and it just make me sad when I look back. I can’t believe I threw away a championship the way I just did. I feel like a complete jackass!

It’s been a good week after Saint Quentin. I was really tired on monday coming back so late in the morning (was back at my place at 5am) but after a good recovery ride on monday things were all back to normal. And it’s been going great. The best news this week is that I’ve found my great gate again. I haven’t had a bad gate but it’s been missing that edge since Besançon. But this week I got it back and it took me to a 7th place in the King of Start we did on thursday. And when I saw all the (elite) guys that was still on the gate after I got eliminated I was super happy. I was abit more bummed however that I made a small crash. In an earlier round I pushed my bike too hard and went to a manual. I didn’t really reach the break so instead of going backwards, which is usually pretty bad,  I put myself sideways and slid on my knee. Not to bad you may think? Well it’s actually not, but the fact that I was riding in shorts and had forgotten my kneepads gav me some good scrapes on my leg. And I also made a big hole in my not so olds skins… Super gutted about the skins but happy I made it threw.

This next week is going to be a short one training wise since we have the European Championships. We’re leaving on wednesday and have training on thursday and friday morning followed by the cruiser race on friday and 20″ on Sunday. So basically all of the work is done already, now it’s just about keeping things going and feeling fresh come race time!

Saturday was cruiser day and we where actually quite lucky with the weather here. I didn’t know what to expect coming into this weekend. I was quite nervous and not sure where I was before the weekend since I had been so tired during the week leading up to the race. But things were good as I found out during the motos. I didn’t really push things to finish 1-2-5. Last moto I jumped to flat on the second jump and almost crashed and everybody pretty much disappeared, I passed one guy but it was still enough to qualify 3rd from the motos into the 1/4 finals. I knew that my first straight power was really good and I was leading coming into the last jump but after a really bad manual I got passed by 2 guys. I rode pretty safe and went for the 2nd place in the last straight. We where 3 guys who came over the line at the same time and I finished 3rd in the end. Before the semis I was feeling really calm and felt confident that I could make the final, even on the gate I had that feeling. But then I had a super bad gate.. I don’t know why but I went out on a really high wheelie and was in the back. I tried to place myself so that I could accelerate but I didn’t find it. I rode bad but made my way up the field and was in 5th coming into the last turn, I went for it but was too far so I was out… I’m really happy with the way I rode and felt all day until that semifinal, but that’s also why I’m not happy. Because I was really riding good enough to make that final. But that’s just BMX sometimes…

Sunday was completely different from saturday. I was feeling really bad all morning and was really stressed about the race, but that feeling changed the closer we got to the race. However the weather was just awful during our training and it was going to give me trouble during the race. Not only with my motivation as it was in the beginning, but also about not slipping on the gate. I slipped every, single, start I made that morning! Coming into the race it wasn’t a good thing to have with me, especially when the gate and acceleration after was where I really made a difference on saturday. The first 2 motos I slid on the gate and you could almost say I was in 16th place of the gate and into the first turn. I always came back to 4th though but it really sucked to race like this! For the third moto I went for a tire change and that changed everything. I was 2nd most of the way around but finished 3rd to save some energy for the 1/8 finals since I had been racing so hard in the first two motos. I took an outside lane even though I choose as 4th. Like this I was free to accelerate even if my gate was bad. This was the first time I felt I could attack the gate all day and I made such a good gate only to click out during my second pedal stroke… I was dead last and tried to come back once more. Again I worked my way back and was 5th into the last turn. I went for the inside to give it one last chance only to slide out and end my day. It was like hitting a patch of ice, as soon as I turned my bike just disappeared. Super disappointed of course but it just wasn’t my day.

A though weekend but with some good points. I can really see the progress I made compared to last year. Then I would never ever had made it past the motos when sliding out on the gate like this and I’m in contention for the finals when things don’t go as bad as sunday..! Still it was a fun weekend with the group and we had some great results sunday with i.e. 3 finalists in elite 1 and 10(!) semifinalists in the elite categories + 3-4 finals in the challenge classes. We got back super late 4.20 and I wasn’t back at my place until after 5.00. So today I’m pretty blown out  to say the least.. I’ve gotten some sleep but not that much so that I’ll be tired tonight and sleep well. So I’m trying to keep myself busy to not get tired enough to have to take a nap. So now I’ve got my 2 bikes too prepare for this coming week.

I haven’t packed anything yet but I guess I can leave that for tonight, it’s usually a pretty fast ordeal. What’s going to be cool about this trip is that we’ve rented a big bus for the trip. We did that 2 years ago and it was a trip I think none of us will forget (in many different ways..)! So let’s see if this trip will be as epic as the last one.

To finish this post of here’s a small video Miky shot of Romain Mayet with his GoPro when we rode in Montelimar last week. I used this clip to try out the slowmotion capabilities of the GoPro and the results are just awesome! Check it out

During their week here they’ve spent most of their time riding here at the track in Mours but on wednesday morning we went to the track in montélimar. It was, I my opinion, the best session this week. The track was in good condition and the weather was just perfect. No wind and just the temprature to ride in. The track in montelimar isn’t more challenging the the one in mours but they and a super technical last straight that you can have alot of fun on. There’s so much to do on that straight that we spent a whole hour riding it and trying alot of different things. For me I could also see my own imporvements during these last few weeks because I did alot of things on this straight that I couldn’t do before. Thursday night we gathered a bunch of the french riders together for a bowling match France – Sweden. We didn’t have to count the scores together to know that France won… But it was a super fun night and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. I know I really did!

Yesterday night they started their long trip back home again. It was a great week and really like their initiativ to come here and train. Now it’s time to rest up and get ready for a new week. This weekend it’s another supercross world cup so this afternoon I will be infront of the computer to watch the racing. We have 3 riders over there, Enora Le Roux, Florianne Brunel and Lilian Goux. Enora had a hard time with the track and didn’t qualify but Florianne made the cut and Lilian finished an amazing 18th in the time trails! So keep an eye out for them this afternoon!

Here are some photos from the session in Montélimar

Saturday started of bad with us arriving late to the training and only getting 1 lap during warm-up. We thought we arrived 1h early but apparently they had changed the time schedule… During racing however things went well with me getting 1-2-7 in my motos. The last moto I got stuck in the first turn and came to an almost complete stop. Still made it to the 1/4 finals as 3rd in my moto though. In the 1/4 finals I was paired with the other two 17-24 riders we had this weekend (Kevin Luna and Damien Lacombe), which felt a bit rough. But it ended well with us making 1-2-3. Myself I finished 3rd after being 2nd ’til the last turn where Damien came back and I let him pass to not risk anyone of us not making it. Come 1/2 finals I was feeling good but I was super late on the gate and was in the back of the pack. I came back 5th in turn 1 and started the hunt for 4th. I didn’t a really clean and fast lap and was fighting for 4th. I had the upper hand and I felt I shut the door, but the guy roled on the line (and actually inside for a bit) and pushed me high. Finally none of us passed and I made 6th… I was super frustrated after because I was sure I had closed the door and that the guy had cut the line. But watching the video after on bmx-videos it’s clear that I’m the one to blame. Yes he cut the white line but only a fraction of a second and Actually I didn’t close the door and was completly relaxed in the turn. A BIG misstake to make in a 1/2 playing for the final..! But I will learn from it. I’m still super happy with the way I rode.

Sunday started of the same way as saturday in the motos. I was alot more tired after the motos and they ran the races alot faster than on saturday. I had a though moto (like on saturday, where all 4 guys who qualified from my moto was in the semis) but I rode good to finish with 1-2-4 (not sure about the second moto there…). In the 1/4 finals I completely messed up my gate but did a big outside-inside move in the first turn to come back 2nd. I then messed up my 2nd straight a bit and didn’t close the inside so I went down to 3rd  which I finished. I was really focused and feeling great before the 1/2 finals. I had a good gate and was among the first even from the outside lane 6. Into the first turn I came in fast and went high to keep my speed and I did. I was 2-3 when I rider came out of the turn infront of me and completely shut the door on me. I had no more track and rode out on the loose ends of the jump. I got back to 6th I think and I tried to get back in the mix but I was too far back and finished 5th..

All in all it was a good weekend for me. I made 2 semis and was in contention for both the finals even though I didn’t make perfect laps. Last year I didn’t een make it passed the motos without really good laps so it’s a big step forward and something to keep building on! Now it’s one weekend free and then we have a french cup in Saint Quentin. Then it’s time for the most important races of the year, the European Championships in Orleans France and the World Championships in Birmingham England

Then it was time for the big project, get some order in my place… It wasn’t a disaster but I’m like my mom and like to have things in order, but it obviously comes and goes since I let it get to this. Luckily it’s not much spaces to clean so it was over pretty fast and I’m feeling pretty good about this place right now.

For some reason I’m really itching to hit some golf balls right now, but that will have to wait. This afternoon is long and hard as it is with all the training and I don’t feel like stressing over there and back, to just make it back in time to eat and then stress to the training. It will just have to wait until thursday when I have the day off and hopefully the weather will be nice enough to play (I don’t play in rain..!). The weather forecast seems, for the first time in a few weeks, to be looking pretty bad for the beginning of the week with some rain and less high temperatures. It’s still nothing to really complain about, but you get used to this nice weather so darn fast.  The plan this week was to visit two different tracks but we’ll see what’s going to happen with that. The weather will be the final decider.

One thing that we did this week was riding the trails and me actually getting to feel pretty good at it. I never ride trails and I don’t have any at home so it’s something I never do. But this week I got into things and hit up the first jumps on the big line we have a the track and really enjoyed it. Not just doing it to do it, but having super fun. Right now I can’t wait until we do it again, just to get a bit more feel to it and try going for some more air.

But one of the most fun things this week was me getting to play some golf again. I hadn’t played in 7-8 months so I was rusty to say the least, and things didn’t go well either. I played with damien and we went to a pretty dodgy golf course and hit one bucket of balls before playing 9 holes. It wasn’t enough because I had real trouble hitting the ball clean and getting my balls to go straight. This tiny golf course wasn’t making things any easier since you didn’t really know how the course went..! The grass in the rough and fairway was the same lenght (if it was grass at all) and it was super dumpy. So you didn’t really know where to aim. But in the end it was fun and this morning I went to another golf club 15min from here to hit some balls. I finally found back to my swing and started to hit some great shots. I’m ready for the next round of golf now and to show these guys how to play . Hopefully we can be 3-4 guys to play together next time!

Time to keep getting this morning to pass before we have our training at 13.00. The sun is out and it’s seems to be another lovely day here! Life’s great right now and having this great weather (think swedish summer) just makes everything better!