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Karl Hammarling - Scene 25: The Grand Finale
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 22-02-2014 10:55
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@Jak - I know... But what else can i throw at him now?... Actually there's
Act 5: Higher Roads
Scene 2: Inheritance
Being an only child I received almost everything my parents had. They donated their remaining bank funds to charity, but I got the house and stuff. After Dad died Mum had moved back to Sweden so I inherited a nice smallish place in Linkoping. Of the stuff I sold most of it, keeping the sentimental things like records and photos as well as some of the bigger pieces of furniture.
That night I phoned Hannah back down south. I told that I wasn’t coming back, that I was going to move into this new place and live here in Sweden. My thank yous were said and goodbyes exchanged, and boom. Done. Yet again I was facing a whole new chapter in my life. This time, though, it began with very little focus.
So I had somewhere to live that didn’t cost me rent or anything. But I had no job, and again the money from the inheritance would not last forever. It was enough to get by on for the time being, probably enough to see out the next year if needed. Perhaps more importantly I was back on the map.
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 22-02-2014 11:05
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Ok, stop this story now. It's already on Adria's page level 
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 22-02-2014 12:38
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Lets hope Karl rises like the Phoenix out of the ashes and dedicates his future to his Parents  |
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| Ad Bot |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 22-02-2014 17:50
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@admir - What?
@Sutty - Well it can't really go downhill now
Act 5: Higher Roads
Scene 3: For Godot
I hoped Johan would come by at some point. He was one of three people who knew me during the low points and he had always been a good friend. I wanted to chat and catch up on all the news I’d missed over the past 8 months or so. But he had a packed racing schedule, he couldn’t make the funeral either.
Mikel did and we had a short exchange about Rexona. There was tension between us. He was torn between me and the team and before long he was back on the road. Of the other family Aleksandr sought me out at one point. It was nothing major just a meet up and to let me know the family was there for me if I needed them.
Before long I was bored to hell. I hadn’t found a job yet, mostly because I was holding out for something to do with bikes again, and spent a lot of time just sitting around the house. The days and nights began to blur together, punctuated by the occasional bike ride around the area. It was something I guess.
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 23-02-2014 01:58
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At least he's not lying face first on the concrete.....
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 23-02-2014 10:18
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@Jak - Speaking of lying on concrete
Act 5: Higher Roads
Scene 4: Relate-able Relations
Distances or times weren’t as good as they had been back in Spain. I managed about two runs a week for 75-80km total. Not shabby for most social or hobby riders but that wasn’t me. I had been starting something much bigger than that. Back down south I was really starting to work towards a return at pro level. Now that was slipping away, until Johan came to visit. Except it wasn’t just Johan, he brought Kristian along as well.
Kristian is not exactly related to me but he is a Hammarling. His mum married Mikel, Johan’s and my Uncle, not too long ago. Which makes him my Cousin-in-law? Anyway, he is just starting out on his own cycling career (wow it does run in the family) with some months as a trainee at UK Youth. The three of us had a great afternoon talking all things cycling and just hanging out.
They stayed for a couple of days and we went out on a few rides around the area. Both of them were in racing shape while I was not. They could drop anytime they liked, and did, but I could always come back on a decent. It was all great fun but that was because we three skirted around the obvious issue in the room.
Edited by TheManxMissile on 23-02-2014 10:33
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 23-02-2014 10:25
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Nice to see that his family is there for him, or at least kind of.
two runs a week for 75-700km
Not too bad 
Edited by Jesleyh on 23-02-2014 10:26
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 23-02-2014 11:49
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@Jesl - Yeah he'd cycle to Kristianstad and back  But no i fixed it. And i hope you follow this Act closely
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 23-02-2014 14:03
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The Three Amigo's  , hopefully these rides will register with Karl and that long road will start to shorten |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 23-02-2014 16:57
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@Sutty - Thought it would be an appropriate image
@ALL - To confuse myself i'm now into Act 6 for writing, so i might make odd comments at times as i forget where each part is currently at...
Act 5: Higher Roads
Scene 5: The Dinner, Part I
The final evening we went into town for nice dinner before they had to head away to get back to racing and training. I broached the subject first by asking Kristian what he knew about doping in pro-cycling. The answer was classic, “There may be some, but it’s individuals and the UCI and WADA will catch them before long. It’s not a problem.”
Johan kept quiet, he knew it wasn’t quite like that. I certainly knew it wasn’t like that. Cycling is certainly a lot cleaner than a decade ago when the Tour blew itself apart with Rasmussen and Astana. Since then we’d had Armstrong and that whole thing which nearly killed the sport, and Kelderman, JTL as well as the growing number of cases from Asia and South America.
It was an epidemic and it was being combated, but it was still most certainly there. I had fallen into the trap and it had quite literally almost killed me. That was not going to happen to Kristian, or to Johan. The rest of the evening we went over what was available, how riders and team passed the tests, everything was shared and exchanged.
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 23-02-2014 17:02
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Kelderman
I almost forgot
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 24-02-2014 08:50
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@Jesl - Hehehe
Act 5: Higher Roads
Scene 6: The Dinner, Part II
The pair of them left in the morning, and Kristian certainly looked worried. I took him aside, “You can always talk to me or to Johan. If you see anything or hear anything, tell someone. If anyone offers you any substance, tell someone. You’re a good kid, you’re a Hammarling. We look out for each other, ok!”
Obviously I can’t protect him from everything but I can try and help. He’s got as much information as possible and a couple of guys he can rely on. I hoped it would be enough to keep him clean, and that was when I got thinking. If only I’d had someone to talk to perhaps things would have been different.
Dad would have been that person and I’d never found a replacement after he died. And I thought about how many other young guys, or even older guys, got caught up in doping because they didn’t have either the information or anyone to talk to. The back end of the week was spent researching and phoning around and the conclusion was startling.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 24-02-2014 22:41
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Act 5: Higher Roads
Scene 7: An Idea, Part I
The UCI “had” a doping hotline, but it received three genuine tips since it began in 2013. They also had a rough scheme where certain pros would go to Junior events and give short talks about doping. I watched one online and it just contained no useful information. It gave no details about the drugs or tests. It only offered the hotline as a communication method.
This wasn’t right at all. Cycling might have the most intensive anti-doping structure of any sport but clearly it wasn’t working. The testers where a good 5 years behind the curve! As soon as they made a new test there were three other drugs going around without one. The teams new when they would be tested and could arrange their doping around it to stay hidden.
Obviously I couldn’t change what the UCI or WADA were doing. I couldn’t tell every team to stop, but neither could I just sit by and let it happen. Cycling had been my life since I was 12, I had to do something. That was when the idea hit me!
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 25-02-2014 01:12
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The Italian Job one of my all time favourite films
By the way Scene 7, Part 1 is up twice |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 25-02-2014 05:40
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I reckon he is going to go around to different junior events and explain what happens when you dope. Like what REALLY happens
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 25-02-2014 11:09
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@sutty - Fixed. Only for the Mini chase though
Act 5: Higher Roads
Scene 8: An Idea, Part II
HigherRoads.org would, I hoped, be the start of something very special. The idea was simple enough, to educate young cyclists about doping in the sport and provide them with a support network. To do this I would bring together a selection of current and former pro’s and staff to share their experiences with the young riders. Then there would be a group of people that they could always come and talk with if they saw something or felt uneasy.
Some would say the idea was too big for a start-up, which is true. So for now I would keep it small by focusing just on the Swedish scene. My plan is to get one or two more ex/pro’s or staff who would be willing to give up some time to come down to some of the U23 and Junior level races. From there I could grow the idea.
The first problem came with funding. Clearly this was going to take some cash to get off the ground so I sold the house and moved into a smaller flat, still in Linkoping. Next I set up a Kickstarter to crowd-source some support. I also officially registered HigherRoads as a charity so I could possibly get some government funding and tax breaks.
@Jak - Now i have to come up with something really unexpected to compensate! This isn't going to end well for Karl and it's your fault
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 25-02-2014 11:24
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This will certainly be one way for Karl to get himself back in the good books again, hope it succeeds |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 25-02-2014 21:24
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Act 5: Higher Roads
Scene 9: An Idea, Part III
Johan was happy to help out when he had time, so that was one pro. Magnus Backstedt agreed to help out. He’d been retired for a few years now and wanted to be involved in cycling in some way again. I threw out a few more hooks to see what comes back so that will probably make 5 ex/pro’s and staff. The whole operation couldn’t be run out of my flat so next up was getting some office space.
Again some fishing turned up a space in an office block on the outskirts of town and because we were a charity they gave it to me for free for 6 months. The Kickstarter was going well, aided by some nice recirculation across a number of forums, and that allowed me to look to hire two more people to run it all.
That would take a couple of weeks so I just worked away on the website and getting the SCF permission to run a “test” event at one their upcoming Junior and U23 events near Malmo. The event would be at mid-September so there was a lot to get ready over the next month and a half.
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 26-02-2014 06:14
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That is really great. Karl really did have a great idea!
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 26-02-2014 09:17
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It's great news you have Magnus on board, that will certainly help the cause |
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
