First of all... I skipped last week, weekly cycling chit chat, how did that happen!? 😅
It's probably because my PC time lately has been cut by about 90%, not because I had to but because it doesn't feels right anymore to spend so much spare time playing and making posts, and really, me getting addicted to cycling is the main reason... 😆

I'm just done editing my new video which will come online in the next weekend, so let's see how that performs... my last video shot in Germany got a whopping NINE views! 😇

I'm glad I like the process of editing and telling a story with some cool music, it's not about how many people watches really, my last ride on Thursday I thought to myself... I'm not bringing the camera, it's just a casual ride, I haven't planned anything worth showing but almost every ride, some funny, beautiful or strange things happen so I'll just get it on most of my rides from now on.

So... now I have to start making road bike banners for myself as well don't I?
Some other time though...

I have to admit, I've been enjoying myself quite a lot on the road bike, the speed is phenomenal - even without a fully carbon frame, and even without a carbon saddle pen... 🙂

Last Sunday, 6 days ago I was riding on my mountain bike together with my daughter, that night a thunderstorm passed over our country and the trails were still wet, with a lot of fallen branches on it.

On quite a high speed, flowy part of the trail, a big branch was in a fast corner, I steered a bit to the right to avoid the thick part but while doing that, I got on some loose gravel and before I knew it, I was on my side and my bike was a meter away, @friendlymoose told about the Garmin crash detection, I can confirm it works! 😅
This crash was nothing like my other slow speed crashes in which I just lost balance, this time the bike was just knocked away under me and this was the result.

My sock now has a hole in it, so they are now my MTB socks, my bibshort isn't even damaged even though the skin on my hip is!

So, while sharing some pretty pictures let's answer the cool chit chat questions for the last two weeks!

💬 ChitChat topic(s)!

How do you personally balance your energy, nutrition, and pacing to keep a high speed during long fondo rides?

I'm still experimenting with fueling, I have recently switched from currant buns to gingerbread, because I can eat more of those and they pack more carbs each.

In my water bottles is Isostar Isotonic drink, but because it's quite expensive I am now testing a mix of sugar, some sea salt and lemon juice mixed with water which basically is the same for a lot less.

What strategies do you use in endurance cycling to sustain a high average speed over long distances without burning out too quickly?

Before I had my indoor trainer, I had no idea how much power I was producing so the only thing I could use is heart rate, which in hind sight isn't the best indicator but a power meter is really expensive, good thing it came with the indoor trainer so now I can at least develop a feeling of how much power I am pedaling, still my heart rate is only slightly higher now I am riding on (estimated, on the road bike) power.
Before, my heart rate had to stay below 136 to stay in zone 2, a power level I can keep up for multiple hours, now my average heart rate was 142 so still pretty close.

Now I am becoming a roadie as well, I know position is everything and it allows better speeds with less amount of power, however my arms have to get used to the aero position 😅

Tell us what bike skills do you have? Share them with us and let us know if you’ve got a plan to get better.

I think starting out my cycling adventure on a mountain bike has developed my bike handling skills in a positive way but even before that, when I was a kid I was always playing outside, a lot on my bicycle, doing crazy things. It was just a normal city bike but the skills I learned so many years ago now were the foundation of doing crazy things in the woods, skill and confidence goes hand in hand, when you're confident you can ride the trail pretty well, you can increase the speed to the amount of skill needed increases, sometimes the bike slips and many times the bike correct itself and I can just keep going, other times my confidence is more than my skill apparently and I end up on the floor. 😅

Of course, I blame the loose gravel but recognizing the wet trail is more slippery than the dry trail is skill as well, lesson learned 😄 it's part of the sport and I don't mind at all, I rather crash in the woods than on the road!

They say mountain biking is risky, but I really think traffic is more dangerous! On my last ride I had two cars and one boy on his bicycle, riding with his friends, riding 3 bicycles next to one another and looking at them next to him instead of in front of him where I was 😣

I read someone replying on a YouTube video on this subject, 'you have to ride like you're a ghost, don't expect anyone to see you, because no one cares about road cyclists and many don't pay enough attention'.

He's not wrong!

Granfondo

And to end my post with the topic of my latest video, to celebrate my new road bike I completed my goal of riding a 100k+ ride in 2026!

The pace was pretty high and the last 20 kilometers, I was really suffering 😅 but that's part of the sport as well, hopefully when I do more longer rides, I can do rides like this more easily.

To build more strength I am now doing Rønnestad interval training every Tuesday!