Trofeo Karlsberg 2015

Trofeo Karlsberg is one of the hardest races in the Juniors racing calendar. It's a UCI race and has the status of a nations cup stage race, meaning the teams competing consist of national teams. Representing 19 countries in total including some strong cycling nations such as Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, USA and Italy, just a few to mention. The race consisted of 3 days of racing and 4 stages in total between 5th and 7th of June 2015. Together with part of the Finnish team we started our journey towards Gersheim, Germany on June 2nd.

Trofeo Karlsberg 2015 up next

Last week I got a call and that changed my plans for the upcoming week. I was supposed to go to Pirkan Pyöräily and ride the 217 km long route, but instead I will head towards Germany tomorrow. More precisely, Trofeo Karlsberg together with the Finnish Junior National Road Cycling Team. We will leave Turku tomorrow evening and will arrive at our destination in Gersheim on Thursday.

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.

Keravan Kevätpolkaisu 2015

Keravan Kevätpolkaisu was the second race in the race schedule for me this year. I had some time off the bike in May and was not sure about my race form, but I was anxiously waiting to get another start after a great ride in Lattomeri earlier in April.

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.

Training, RacesMikael PaulinowMay 16, 2015keravan kevätpolkaisu, race, race preparationComment

TS Kortteliajot 2015

It's now more than a week ago since the TS Kortteliajot was ridden and I finally got time to put together a small race report. The TS Kortteliajot Sunday started off with slight rain in the morning, meaning the race would be ridden in wet conditions. That would make the hard race even harder. Fincycling had a 5 man strong team for the race.

Fincycling, Race reportsMikael PaulinowMay 6, 2015ts kortteliajot, 2015, Turku, Finland, fincyclingComment

Simo Klimscheffskij memorial race 2015

The Simo Klimscheffskij memorial race opened the Skoda Maantiecup last weekend in Turku, Finland. Fincycling had a 6 man strong team for the race consisting of; Joel Bergman, Simo Terävä, Jaakko Hänninen, Aku Keloneva, Ville Hirvenoja and Jonas Nordström.

Turku Weekend With Fincycling

This weekend is the official grand opening of the Finnish road cycling season. Simo Klimscheffskij memorial ride will be ridden on Saturday and TS Kortteliajot will be ridden on Sunday. Fincycling will be racing on both days.

Lattomeriajo 2015

Lattomeriajot is the traditional season opening race for the Finnish road cycling clubs. This year the race was ridden in Ulvila and consisted of a 25 km lap that was either ridden 2, 3 or 4 times depending on which group you were riding in. The race (Elite) was won by Roope Nurmi (TWD-Länken).

Race reports, RacesMikael PaulinowApril 20, 2015lattomeriajot, finland, road cycling race, Fincycling, lattomeriajo, 2015Comment

Ready to begin the 2015 racing season

The wait is soon over, the 2015 racing season will finally begin this Sunday. It will be a short 55 km introduction to lactate overdose for my body that has been sleeping for almost half a year. You can do a race hard despite the shortness of it, and I guess I'm ready to digest the lactate.

Training, Finland, Events, Road Cycling, RacesMikael PaulinowApril 15, 2015lattomeriajot, road cycling raceComment

Fincycling ready for 2015

It has been a great couple of weeks with a lot going on around Fincycling. As I am writing this, the team is heading for Otepää, Estonia for the second training camp this spring. The first training camp was held in Tikkurila between March 21st and 22nd. Another important event, a press conference, was held on Monday March 30th. A new team and new sponsors were introduced and the event was well noticed by the Finnish press. In this article you can read about the first training camp, the Fincycling 2015 team, the schedule for 2015 and about the Fincycling press conference.

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.

Lifestyle, Training, Road CyclingMikael PaulinowMarch 16, 2015FTP, stretching, attu, road cyclingComment

About street dust, air pollution and cycling

Spring is the time we all cyclists wait for. When we can finally put the trainer aside and start hitting intervals and introduce those long Sunday rides again. And that feeling of power transmitting from your legs to the pedals and all the way down to the asphalt, that feeling is amazing, your bike actually moves forward! But spring is not all sunshine and rainbows. The air is usually heavily polluted during the first spring months. This because of loads of dirt and sand is still not washed away after the winter. I spoke to Matti Huutonen, meteorologist at YLE, about air pollution, street dust and how concerned we really should be about cycling outside when the air quality is poor.

Tips, WeatherMikael PaulinowMarch 14, 2015Weather, street dust, pollution Comment

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 spring. I visited the fair last weekend.

Bikes, Lifestyle, TrainingMikael PaulinowMarch 11, 2015Spring, GoExpo, Polar, Wattbike, Canyon, KTM, road cyclingComment

Rapha Festive 500 - Honourable Mentions

It has been a couple of really strange weeks, both in good and bad. It feels as if the ups and downs have both peaked in an abnormal way. I won't go into any details about the downs, but I guess you need them every now and then to really figure out what's important in life. I've been fortunate to have many ups as well, and those I'm more than glad to share with you.

Lifestyle, Rapha Festive 500, WebMikael PaulinowFebruary 17, 2015rapha festive 500, TrainingComment

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.

Lifestyle, Training, HealthMikael PaulinowFebruary 8, 2015year 2014, Training, fincycling, road cyclingComment

Fincycling to cooperate with the Cycling Union of Finland

The Fincycling project continues to grow as we saw an agreement between the Cycling Union of Finland (Suomen Pyöräilyunioni ry) and Fincycling take shape January 6th 2015. The great efforts done by the whole Fincycling team has paid off, and for the coming years 2015 - 2017, Fincycling will be taking care of the U19 boys training and racing schedule. This if something is a proof of a job well done and shows the level of trust for this project.

FincyclingMikael PaulinowJanuary 11, 2015Fincycling, Suomen PyöräilyunioniComment

2014 Rapha Festive 500 - Finishing the challenge

I had 260 km with 2 days left of the Rapha Festive 500 challenge. In 4 days I had ridden in cold conditions, and that was about to change. The fourth day of riding was so far the coldest with - 21 as the lowest temperature. Day 5 would be 20 degrees warmer.

2014 Rapha Festive 500 - Surviving the cold and the snow

I had plowed through 2 days of the Rapha Festive 500 and had still 4 days left to compete the challenge. That would mean some 360 km in really changing conditions.

Rapha Festive 500, WintercyclingMikael PaulinowJanuary 4, 2015rapha festive 500, Finland, TurkuComment

Your 2014 Strava Story

Strava came up with a great feature a week ago. Strava will gather all your activities from the year 2014 and convert them into a short half minute video with all your greatest achievements, KOMs, total kilometers, elevation gain and so on. They will also embed some Instagram pictures in the video if you have uploaded some from your rides.

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Video, WebMikael PaulinowJanuary 3, 2015StravaComment

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