Andreas Lindén

A lot can be said about the races last weekend. But that's just details.

I got glandular fever (EB-virus) in 2019 😷 I stopped racing as a pro triathlete. It took a few years to really recover from the virus.
When I finally recovered enough to start with more organised training I decided to focus on cycling 🚴

I'm now 34 years old. Too old to get back to professional cycling. But not too old to get back to a national elite level and stay there for years.
Through my career as an athlete the cycling races here in Mallorca are the ones I've enjoyed the most. And I'm very happy to be back on a level where I can change the outcome of a race.

I'm currently 2nd in the GC halfway through the Pla de Mallorca. 3 seconds behind the race leader and 48 seconds ahead of the rest.
In 2014 I finished 5th overall here. I'm trying to beat that 😅 But if I don't I'll have fun trying.

I've got a new road bike! 🚵‍♂️
The past few years I've been changing bikes more frequently than I shower... I sold my BMC's when I was sick, only to improve shortly after and bought a Basso. I needed a bigger size which was hard to find after covid so I got a Factor that was too small, then another Factor, a Canyon Ultimate... and now finally a Canyon Aeroad in the perfect size. I liked my Factor but I realize now how much I've missed Canyon Aeroad and I'm thrilled to be riding it again. I wanted to get one some years back but I couldn't get my hands on it until now. I'll make a video on Youtube about it soon. Stay tuned!

It’s been a long time since I had to quit a race due to asthma. But that’s what I had to do this weekend.

During the short TT on Saturday I had some problems with breathing. But I managed to do it pretty well anyway. On the road race this Sunday it escalated and I had to stop to breathe halfway into the race.

Not sure why it got so bad this time. My asthma is normally at worst in February. But this year it’s worse than before.
I visited an asthma specialist yesterday. It was long overdue. So hopefully I will have it under control again soon. Especially as it’s also affecting my daily life since I’m out of breath even while just sitting down.

No worries though. I’m fine. It’s not like the asthma forced me to stop during the biggest race of my life. That happened more than a decade ago though, when I was forced to stop to breathe during the U23 World Championsip 2008.

It's annoying to have to deal with yet another health issue, but at least now I know what it is and I take asthma over the Epstein Barr virus any time.

On Saturday I ended up top 25. I had hopes for a better placement but considering the asthma problems and many continental pros in the race, top 25 is ok.

I've had to do several bike rides lately indoors due to heavy wind. Usually October-December are my favourite months but I can almost count my outdoor hands on my hands. December has been calmer though and I've been able to enjoy several short sleeved rides. My main goal with my training right now is all the bike races this island hosts January - April. I'm already producing more watts than last year. But I'm not as strong as I used to be. So, my main focus, aside from the actual training, is going to be aero dynamics. If I can't use my legs the way I want to, I have to use my brain...

A 10+ years long search is over. I think I've finally found a pair of shoes that fits my feet! I've tried all models from Shimano but none has worked. Until now. It might be that the shoes are different but I actually think that my feet also got smaller (!) after 3 years with near to no training (less muscles in the feet). My feet are now more narrow, and seam to work well in the Shimano S-phyre RC903, launched this year. It's a normal shoe, no special edition, extra wide or anything... But it has a wrap around and it fits my "new" feet a lot better. The only other shoes that have worked for me are my old Shimano from 2010.

I've had a few issues to overcome in my comeback to training and racing. My feet/shoe problem was one.

✅ Overcome viral fatigue
✅ Find shoes that fit my feet
✅ Finding the perfect bikes and bike fit
🔲 Back problems (might have been caused by my old shoes/"new" feet so let's see what happens now...
🔲 Find a good work/training balance (less computer work will also help my back I'm sure

Mallorca 312 came with some good news today. This is the update:

🧃More energy/water stations
⛲️Higher capacity at the stations
👔You are allowed to race in your own kit
🛒It will be possible to sell/buy tickets
🕵️‍♂️Bib number controls on course to avoid non participants on the road

This is great news. And hopefully it will solve the main problems from 2023. In my opinion this is one of the best Gran Fondos there is.

The race will take place in April 27 2024. And the registration opens on Tuesday next week. 11am Oct 2nd. I think it will sell out very very quickly. So you better be at time if you want to secure a start 🔥

This is what I'm doing when I'm in Magaluf 🥳

✅ Music
✅ Shirtless
✅ Heavy drinking

I don't want to do long races

I got glandular fever from the EB-virus in January 2019. It took me more or less 2 years to recover from it. Then it took another year slowly increasing both training and my regular life to a normal level.
Two years is not a quick recover. I did train and race pretty hard before I knew what was wrong. But it's not an exceptionally long recovery time either.

The sickness was a fight. Every day, every hour. The only thing that was easy was sleeping. During the first year I couldn't drive my car for more than 20min or carry my shopping bags back home. I had to stop over and over again to rest my body as much as my head.

I knew and understood quickly how easy it would be to fall in a depression. I had to use all the mental power I had just to stay ok. And I did. I got through.

But here, on the other side of the never ending, I'm just enjoying waking up strong and healthy every single day.
I don't want to feel fatigued from a long race. I'm going to bed at 10pm every day. Just to jump out of bed, go for a run, grow my company, do a Zwift race, have a lunch swim and ending my day biceps curling my shopping bags back home.

I know this might change. But for the moment I will enjoy doing some more triathlon sprints and cycling races.

It's time to do my first triathlon race in a long time. Well if you don't count Jönköping which I did on an old military bike and skipped one lap of the run due to lack of concentration 😅 So let's not count Jönköping. This will be my first "serious" triathlon since 2018. I'll keep my intended comfortable pace, not do anything crazy or spectacular. Just have fun and try to survive the swim... Tonight at 18:00 it's on. On Saturday I'll just support my adepts in . There's nothing better than experiencing the atmosphere of Kalmar and I'm so happy to be here.

In 2023 I’ll be back racing again. At first I’ll do bike races here on Mallorca.

It’s been a few years since I did my last race. That race was a duathlon in 2019. Unfortunately I raced really hard that day with an inflammation in my liver caused by the Epstein Barr virus. I didn’t know and felt kind of okay until half of the run where I lost the lead and felt like crap.
It costed me a few years with none/minimal physical activity.

I’m not on the same level as before. But I’m actually not too far away either.
With some help from my soulmate and Vespa-hero I will do some scooter pacing to get fast again 🛵🚲