Jennie Stenerhag

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European XCM Championships and other updates

2022-06-20

It is becoming more and more seldom that I update the website, this is very much because I work so much so there is no time to write. Right now, I'm sitting in the car on the way from the European Marathon Championships which took place in the Czech Republic yesterday. Below is a report from the European Championships, but first I will give you a short update on what has happened since the last time I wrote. If you just want to read about the European Championships, scroll down a bit :)

Last time I wrote (at the end of November) we had just come home to Grycksbo to spend a winter in Sweden, Craig's first in his whole life and my first in 18 years. Everything was new and exciting in the beginning. Craig learned to shovel snow, which he has never done before, because he has almost never seen snow! We bought winter equipment for the bike and felt like bambi on slippery ice at first with the studded tires but after a while we realized that it was incredibly good grip with them! My best investment was electrically heated socks and barmitts!! I had not thought of such things before. We bought cross-country skis and I managed to do 700km including Vasaloppet's Open Track (a 100 year old 90 km skiing event), which was the goal for the training. With a cyclist's weak upper body, of course I got a back pain a few weeks before the race and the training did not go so well at the end, so in the end I was happy just to complete the race, and maybe I will try to better the time next year.

I did not have much motivation to train during the winter, especially not inside on the trainer, but of course I did a bit since Craig and I would go to South Africa to race Cape Epic as a mixed team. We both looked forward to having a holiday in the warm weather after a long winter and being able to only ride a bike for 8 days, it has really been a change to work full time and see something like Cape Epic as a holiday :). I also saw Cape Epic as a perfect training camp for the Swedish season because the winter training has not been much to talk about. But nothing went as planned!

We landed in South Africa on Wednesday and of course had a braai with our dear neighbours that evening, why wait;). On Saturday I started to feel weird, we did intervals and my heart rate behaved very strangely and shortly after the training I felt sick. We heard that the neighbour also started to feel sick that morning. He decided to take a Covid test on Monday morning, even though I had no thought that it could be Covid, I also did a test. I could not believe what I saw when it showed positive!!! A few days later Craig was also sick in Covid so it was neither Cape Epic nor training camp for us :( Instead we lay inside and watched Netflix for about 2 weeks (at most I took a walk with the neighbours dog Pino) before we were strong enough to train again and it was time for us to go back to Sweden where the winter continued ....

 

23 April, Kolmårdsbiken, Norrköping

I started to find some motivation as the snow melted but it took a long time before the heart rate reacted normal when I started to do intervals, I think the aftermath of Covid took longer than I wanted to admit to disappear. The first race in Sweden was Kolmårdsbiken in Norrköping, a race I have never done before. I just wanted to do it to feel the feeling of racing again even though I knew on the start line that I was nowhere near any race form and that I would not have a chance against Amanda Bohlin who I knew had trained well over the winter.

However, I did what I could and took the sprint prize after only a few kilometres but it also killed me. I could not breathe and if it was because I just had Covid, that there was a lot of pollen or that I was simply untrained, I do not know! The course consisted of 3 loops and we started together with the men, Amanda got a gap with some men and I saw her the whole loop 1 and 2 but when I went out on the 3rd loop I felt that I did not get any closer and gave up and more or less just finished. It was a bit hard afterwards when I got questions like "what happened" and "did you really do everything you could today", others had higher expectations of me than I had.

 

7 May, Billingeracet, Skövde

It was then 2 weeks until the next race and I got good training in between so it felt a little bit better but still not close to any form. It was Billingeracet in Skövde and we went down on Thursday to visit the bike shops that are our customers and we went to a few more around Skövde on Friday until it was time to set up the stand where we would be for the expo during the event. It was cold to stand there in the evening and not really the right preparation for a race.

I was nervous before the start, I did not think I would keep up with the others up the start climb. Luckily it was a women's start and it is usually not quite as hard as when we start with men, even if it is by no means slow! I was surprised at the top of the start climb when I was with Nellie but no one else! At least that was a good sign. Hanna Millved was not far behind and soon joined, and a little later Fanny Kjellqvist also caught up and we became a small group of 4 that held together. I did not have very good self-confidence because the form was not there yet and in retrospect I think I gave up before because I "knew" that I would not keep up with Nellie up the last hill. Our little group split up just before we got to the last climb and I was surprised that I was the only one who went with Nellie, she accelerated up a shorter hill and got a gap but then I almost caught her on the downhill and when we went into the last climb she only had about 50 meters on me. But there was not much to do there, and I was really happy that I was still 2nd for the day, before the start I had not guessed that I would be on the podium that day.

At the same time, of course, it felt a little sad that my winning streek was broken as it was the first race in the Swedish marathon series that I started and not won since June 2014, I had 27 wins in a row. Wonder how long it will take before someone takes that record away from me.

After the Billingeracet, my dad and I went to Gothenburg to visit more customers. During one day I stepped into 12 bicycle shops and we were away from the accommodation for 10 hours and only had time for a quick sandwich at a gas station for lunch, it was a stressful day that took a heavy toll! A few days were lost from recovery and training but after that I got good training again!

 

22 May, Lida Loop, Stockholm

Lida Loop was 2 weeks after the Billingeracet and it felt like the form was on a rise and I was really looking forward to the race and felt motivated! But the last 12 hours before the start were not so good. We were going to stay in the camper that night because we only went to Lida overnight. We set up the tents for the next days sale and prepared most things, it felt like it took the whole evening. We were told there would be a wedding at Lida Friluftsgård that evening and I can promise it was a party! It was a live band playing until 02.00 and we were the closest neighbours!! I did not sleep at all that night and at 06.45 I was up and started putting everything up for the stand! I stood at the stand selling until I realized I had to get changed for the race. I warmed up a bit but was not focused and felt dizzy from lack of sleep and stress on the start line. I was disappointed because I had felt so ready the day before!

The race turned out a bit different to what I had expected! Petra Kjellberg set an incredible speed up the ski slope / start climb and I had to go a bit harder than planned to follow, Amanda was right on my wheel but then no one else. The three of us got away and when I turned around on a long straight, I saw no one! I thought we might have taken a wrong turn, at the same time we had a motorcycle in front of us .... In the end we saw the bunch but they were far behind. Petra dropped after a while and I struggled to keep up with Amanda who was pushing really hard! I stayed with her for 17 minutes!!! Then I had to let go, I had never managed that pace all the way. I rode on my own for the rest of the race until 8-9 kilometres to go! I did not get any time gaps to Amanda or to the chasing bunch and was in no man's land and just pushed as much as I could. We had started 8 minutes after the racing men so we had to ask for track now and then if we wanted to pass and with about 8-9 km left I started to hear Nellie's voice behind me and soon she was catching up with me. I kept her behind me on the single track so that I could do my pace but she passed and pushed hard on an uphill on tar, but I had no problem to stay with her and I then realized that it would come down to a sprint for second place. Nellie pulled the last kilometres which was perfect for me and I was a little hesitant about the tactics before the sprint but decided to wait and go just when the hill towards the finish started so when it turned slightly and started to go up I put in a proper sprint and could get away! It was my third second place of the year, happy with it but a little disappointed that I could not go with Amanda in the beginning.

After a few days at home, Craig and I packed the car and drove up to North in Sweden for a 6-day business trip. I gave 2 speaches about my cycling career, it was a lot of fun telling the story of 19 years as a cyclist with all the ups and downs that have been! Of course, we visited a lot of shops and spent many hours in the car, and it was very little training. It is difficult to get good training during business trips.

We were back home in Grycksbo 2.5 weeks before the European Championships and I started a training block to try and get some kind of peak before the European Championships in the Czech Republic. The training went really well and I started to feel how the form went up again. I am too far off a really good form to make it in time for the European Championships, but it was nice to feel that it is at least going up and that the training I do works. But I guess, after so many years on the bike, I should know what works for me and not;)

Craig got the opportunity to go to Leogang and work for the Cannondale factory team so I was home alone the last week before departure and of course I missed my training partner and masseus (yes my boyfriend too of course) but I was very happy for his sake that he got this opportunity. He also did such a good job that he has now been asked if he can work more for them, I am very happy for him. This meant that I drove down through Sweden alone and picked him up in Malmö on Monday night before we took the ferry over to Germany, he had just flown from Germany to Copenhagen and taken the train over to Malmö.

 

19 July, European Marathon Championship, Czech republic

It was a long journey and 29 hours after I left Grycksbo we arrived at Krompach in the Czech Republic where we would stay for 6 nights. We discovered that we literally lived on the border between the Czech Republic and Germany since the border stones that mark the national border were on the farm where we stayed. We also realized that the racetrack was right outside the door. We got changed and rode the last 28 kilometres of the track, it seemed quite simple and the terrain was very similar to Sweden.

On Wednesday we took the car to the start and rode the first 63 kilometres to where we lived, then Craig had to ride back to the start to pick up the car;). It was about to end badly when a spacer under my stem cracked!! Without this it is not possible to ride! But luckily Craig had one in his pocket, what are the chances!? So we could fix it and continue. Towards the middle of the course we had to change our mind about it, there were such steep climbs that it was almost not good for the legs to ride them so close to a race and the downhills were quite technical! Race day was going to be tough! 6.5 hours after we left the accommodation I was back! Finished, but at least I had seen the whole course;)

I did not expect such steep climbs, they were not visible on the course profile and in reality it was about 500 meters more climbing than what the course profile said. So we had not brought a 32 chain ring and I only had my 34a, it was a big mistake!

The last few days were just about rest and recovery, go out and check the feed zones and finally to start opening the legs again. I met some people from Squirt Czech Republic at the race expo which was nice! Always nice to meet colleagues!

Amanda Bohlin from Sweden was also there to do the European Championships, it was fun to have another Swede there and fun to get to know Amanda a little better!

On the day of the race, the forecast said sun and heat, it would be 33-34 degrees so it was nice that we started at 8.30 already, before it got really hot. As usual, I was very nervous and of course hoped to get a good result in my absolute last European Championships as an elite cyclist, at the same time as I knew that it was not realistic with any top position. We had a neutral start for a few kilometres and shortly after they let us go it was high speed as everyone wanted to enter the first single track in front. It was an early crash on a downhill on tar with loose gravel on top, I saw that it would happen since many girls rode a bit silly and too aggressive for positions when it is not important and dangerous.

I thought it felt really good in the beginning and was with the first group for about 45 minutes, then I dropped a little up a hill and could not catch up anymore. I got stuck behind slower riders on a long single track and came through the first feed zone after 28km in 10th place, 1,5 minute behind the leaders. After that I started to struggle a bit on the longer climbs and I had to fight hard with my own thoughts But after that I had to struggle with my own thoughts. When we reached the steeper climbs everything was hurting and I tried not to look up to see how far it was still to the top but just focus on the next few meters.

After 63 kilometers I knew that the worst climbs were over but then the cramps started to come instead! Craig had gotten lost when the drove from feed station 4 to 5 so I had to stop at the water points to fill my bottle, I really needed more to drink. I got a different kind of motivation at the end as I actually just wanted to get to the finish as quickly as possible to end the suffering and it motivated me to ride hard. I had been riding together with Alice for a long time but when I found that extra motivation I put 2 minutes in to her in the last 20 km. But it was also good that I was on my own since the cramps in both legs were so bad a streamed out load, it was so painful!

I was completely finished when I finished as the 16th girl, I could not have done better today, I was obviously disappointed with a bad result but so incredibly happy that I did not give up and fought against the thoughts that told me that rather come up with an excuse to stop. The thoughts that told me I absolutely wanted to complete my last European Championship was stronger and won!!

I can also ad that I was the oldest in the elite ladies field for the day ;)

Even though I am still determined (and have never been more sure that a decision is right) to stop after this season, I am incredibly motivated to continue this training that still goes up towards my last goal which is the World Championships in Denmark on September 17th, which also will be my last competition as an elite cyclist :)

Now lets see how long it takes before I update you again ;)

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