Festive 500 - day 7

Day 7 - Autumn leaves

Never look back

Day 7 and ride number 6. Yesterday was a travel and relax day. I spent some time with my daughter while she was skiing; cross-country on her new Christmas present skis. Then I spent some time running around my in-laws house, trying to find everything that was supposed to be taken home. Then finally home to Stockholm (no place like home).

Resting day activities

Can you spot the bike?

Ice-free roads.

Doing some research I found out that the roads in Stockholm were free of ice. I decided to get rid of the studded tires and switched wheels to a pair of Fulcrum Racing 3 with Conti 4-Seasons (28mm) on. It was quite a remarkable difference. And considering the winds today I was really happy with the new setup.

The weather forecast promised some light rain, 3-4 degrees Celsius and a strong breeze from the south. I carefully planned my round to be headwind first and tailwind last. It blew, not gusty but constant. The first 50K was hard (avg. speed of 23.9 km/h) and the last 50K was considerably easier (avg. speed of 29.5 km/h).

The leaves have fallen - autumn is here

What have you been up to you dirty dirty bike?

Treaded on some new roads today; really nice ones that should be perfect in better weather conditions. Today everything was kind of grey. It’s actually kind of the 3rd season that I going through during the Festive 500. It started with winter for the first 4 rides. Then I had a sunny ride, with snow melting away and the green grass starting to show which felt like the first days of spring. Today was autumn; wet, dirty, windy and a couple of degrees above zero.

Slick tires - a blessing today!

A golf course...

...and some golfing guys. Not common at all at this time of year i Stockholm.

Ended up with 103K in 3:51 for a total of 413K. Only 87K to go now. If I have the time I’ll finish tomorrow.