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There was a hot thread a few weeks ago "hmmm comparing bike position" or something like that where Swede rookie-pro Björn Anderssons bike position was discussed. This was after Wildflower where he finished 8th recovering from a cold. I wrote in and said to keep an eye on this guy for the future
Yesterday, this supposedly ill-fitted rookie came second behind Tim DeBoom in "Memphis in May Triathlon". After in his own words "freezing his ass off" from a two-hour delayed non-wetsuitswim and having lost precious time to the leaders he then smoked the bike course in 52 something minutes, outsplitting DeBoom with 2.30! DeBoom eventually ran him down and finished a minute up on Björn.
Now the Bear will proceed to train hard in Mill Valley, CA and eat a bundle of smorgasbord and meatballs so that he can show his thing in Utah Half-IM.
i had an interesting discussion with steve larsen a couple of days ago. he was very surprised when he went to our forum and saw the pictures of himself. he said that he would've thought that the photo of bjorn was more representative of how he rides.
distilling his comments, he seemed to feel that his position is the result of having been set up rather more to the rear, but minor and micro tweaking and shifting has resulted in scooting up to where he now sits. he's also pedaling at a significantly faster cadence than he i felt was last year. i caught him at about 70-80rpms during last year's wildflower, this year his computer showed a fairly constand 95-100.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
He does look like one to watch, but then it shouldn't be a real surprise...Gordo Byrne warned us all about you Swedish "Doodes" clear back last year. Bjorn's position may be fast, but it still looks uncomfortable. I'll be at the Utah 1/2 to take a closer look. We going to see you over here in the US at some races soon, Jonas? A real Swedish Doodes invasion?
Ha ha ha, yes the "Swedish doode" story by Gordo was funny! That was me and Clas Björling beating up on him last year. Indeed, I will be coming state-side for the IM Idaho to begin with. I´m also planning IM Canada and IM Florida. Hawaii is a no go until I have more funding. I tried to convince Björn to stay until IM Idaho but he couldn´t afford to stay that long. One "doode" at the time racing as it seems...
"Ha ha ha, yes the "Swedish doode" story by Gordo was funny! That was me and Clas Björling beating up on him last year."
i just realized which jonas you are. i don't know if our readers realize how fast you are, esp on the run. i'm a big fan of the swedish/danish IM invasion, torbjorn, henning, peter and of course you. i'm figuring that once you and henning start concentrating on the non-fredericia/nice/etc. races and start thinking about kona, you two are a great bet to podium quite soon.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
Hey, that's great! I'll look forward to seeing you at IM Idaho, even though you'll just be the blurr flying by the other way on the run. at least with the two loop course, I'll have to a chance to see you go by once. BTW, have you seen my review of the IM Idaho course? You can check it out at www.transitiontimes.com/utah.
See you in June.
Thanks Dan,
the Danes have a great program and some awesome athletes. Peter, Henning and Torbjörn are great! We in Sweden don´t have the same depth but also have shown some potential; Lena Wahlqvist, me and Clas Björling. The biggest Iron-talent of us all though would be Björn. I am quite confident saying that since I´m a 8.26 IM with a 2.48 IM-run and Björn is at 24 trainingwise much stronger than me. I can make him hurt running but I can´t shake him. He outswims me easily and just kills me on the bike! Racing is different from training but given the potential it´s scary what might be..
I am now focusing mainly on IM-racing since ITU Long Distance Worlds is now 4-120-30. Although next year ITU Worlds is in Sweden so I´ll have a go there. Rasmus Henning is focusing on ITU Olympic racing but I´m sure he´ll be giving Hawaii a chance in the future.
Thank you Lloyd! I did read through your description of the course. It gives me an idea of what to expect.
"The biggest Iron-talent of us all though would be Björn."
bjorn might be coming here for a few days now that memphis is behind him. he's certainly welcome, we'd love to host him. and you too for that matter.
i don't think you do yourself justice. IM is a runner's race, and you're equal with the world's best IM runners right now. it's easier to learn the bike than to learn the run.
as for rasmus, he'd podium in kona within three years of turning to IM racing, which i think he should do today. hell with athens. it's only one race.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman