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Look mom, I'm on the internet!

Look mom, I'm on the internet!

While I was sorting through a ton of pictures and impressions from the Gran Canaria trip that I will eventually get around to writing about, I couldn't help but notice that Fillariosa [http://fillariosa.fi] blogged [http://www.fillariosa.fi/news/our-swedish-team-fillariosa-rider?tm=blogi] about my blog [http:

Big news in my small world!

Big news in my small world!

Boom! [www.fillariosa.fi] I am beyond chuffed to be able to say that I am a part of the Fillariosa [www.fillariosa.fi] Team. As such, we will be working together on my suspension, which incidentally is the part of my bike I like to tinker with the most,

To everyone's amazement, he actually went skiing

To everyone's amazement, he actually went skiing

I have been feeling like winter came and went without me. I was just standing on the platform, passively looking on as the season passed by. From my all time low in January recovery has been so slow that it was almost unnoticeable. But it was there. It turns out

At least I got to ride my bike

It's a long time coming, but at last I am slowly getting better. While I work on a longer post about Easter, snowboarding, getting better and all that, in the mean time let me just say that today (and yesterday) I got to ride my bike. Even if

Another month, more down days

Yep, still not well. But I am making progress I think, it just happens to be painfully slow. Last week I was able to ride my bike all 2km up to the garage four days straight, an unbelievable feat! I cannot describe how good it felt to get out and

One month later, down days continued

Yea, so a month has gone by with me practically wearing out the couch. I have finished off Command&Conquer, Red Alert, Civ2, Theme Hospital and the best part of Age of Empires 2 (that's a damn hard game, by the way), and have now started with

Down days

All quiet here, I'm sorry about that. The reason is that I have been mostly lying down for the last weeks, some weird post-Spain bug caught me and rendered me completely useless. It's times like these that make me realise how important good health and strenght

Long term report, what works and what breaks

After a fall season of more or less daily riding I have gathered a few impression about what seems to hold up. As a disclaimer, I am not a heavy guy. I am not a freerider either, even if I do the occasional jump or drop. What I am is

Memory lane, a bumpy ride

While roaming the internets this morning I came across this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofKDfNjJsEQ It really made me think, and memories from last february [http://smaertin.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/kittelfjall-16th-of-february-through-my-eyes/] came back. Many key factors from the tragic accident in Montana were the same as

A wee trip to Motril

To kill my ongoing cold I decided to tag along on a trip down to Motril, a little more than an hour's drive away from Monachil. The plan was to check out the downhill track, do a couple of laps and just have a good time. It turned

Finally, some new toys

What is black, chubby and fully user serviceable? [https://smaertin.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/p1240625.jpg] Fat vs skinny, black vs gold To give just a little bit more stick to this dead horse [http://smaertin.wordpress.com/2014/09/06/not-another-gear-blog-again-stumpy-evo-so-far-and-compared-to-the-venerable-five/] , I was never quite happy with the

Golden sunset emergency photography...

...and the results? Another "Olive branch in front of some clouds and a setting sun" pic. Sorry about that. [https://smaertin.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/p1030862.jpg] Clouds and olive branches smothered in golden light, almost as common as poorly edited gopro videos nowadays I can try

Sketches of Spain

Just a couple of pics of what I did the other day when I had the day off and all to myself. [https://smaertin.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/p1230865.jpg] Morning mist greets me [https://smaertin.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/p1230870.jpg] The sun rises above the ridge

Trying to be a bit artsy

We had a day of low hanging clouds and rain today. Not very common around these parts, but the trails will be better for it. Tomorrow it will be all tacky hero dirt goodness, and I will be out for a big day in the hills. Another great thing with

Living the dream

After a few hectic weeks we finally have a couple of down days, and I thought I would grab the chance to show how I live... [https://smaertin.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/p1030587.jpg] This is where I live, behind the olive tree and underneath the figs [https://smaertin.

Not another gear blog again...Stumpy evo so far and compared to the venerable Five

As you might nor might not know, I dented [http://smaertin.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/vacation-randoms-no-2-dinged-aluminium-and-podium-positions/] the poor orange and had to get a last minute replacement. Thanks to good friends and a bit of luck a Stumpy evo frame fell into my hands. As I have said [http:

An ode to climbing.

I know, as a mountain biker or snowboarder I am probably supposed to hate climbing, but hard as I might try, I just don't. You know how it goes, as the road start heading upwards everyone goes on at a good clip, talk cheerfully to each other and

Just another dusty day...done and dusted

Just a few days until the guests arrive, I can't wait. On the other hand, I have to learn a bunch of trails and get my act together. I also need to get my newly built bike properly sorted, so this morning was spent truing wheels among other

New bike, new adventures, same old airports

Ok, so here I am, sat in the shade on a balcony in Monachil, Spain, looking out over dry and dusty hillsides. I have had worse Wednesday mornings in my life, that's for sure. Guiding season starts now, and I'm well excited about it. I will

Bye bye...pink bike

Dented swing arms and shocks that need service. That is not the way to start a guiding season. Hence, new steed on the way in, and the lovely pink orange got what could well be its last ride today. [https://smaertin.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/p1230057.jpg] Last ride,

Just a very short note

[https://smaertin.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/screen-shot-2014-08-18-at-21-59-29.png] The weather in Monachil for the foreseeable future, courtesy of yr.no. I'm there in a week and a day That was all, thank you.

Vacation randoms no. 2: Dinged aluminium and podium positions

Last weekend me and Andrea did a small tour of the Norrbotten inland and coastland. Starting off with a very nice 30+30 year party for Aron and Emmy in a tiny village outside of Älvsbyn. Summer heat was peaking with temperatures above 30 degrees, no wind and even warm

Vacation randoms no. 1, Mefjell

This one is for those of you who only look at the pictures. Less words, more pictures, hopefully less boring. The background: I filled a VW van with camping gear, bikes, maps and Martin, and headed south along the Norwegian border, towards where the mountains are higher and the fjords

Exciting news, skids and wheelies

Least exciting news first. A couple of weeks ago I paid a visit to Flottsbro, and guided by local bike rally legend Martin I checked out the trails from the Canyon Enduro Series race they held there. Overall very impressive with some quite techy bits. Obviously more pedally then an

More digging in fine dirt

I spent the afternoon helping Anders shaping a 180 degree berm in his own backyard dirt jumps. Why doesn't everyone have backyard dirt jumps and pump tracks by the way, right now I cannot think of any possible way to make better use a backyard. The dirt was