Fifth and final Superliga
This time i didn’t have to get up too early. First of all it wasn’t in Copenhagen and second i managed to get a car for myself, so i didn’t have to be there for the first start. Where normally i have to go with the whole family to the first start cause of my little brother. So the circumstances at that point was nearly perfect.
But as i am, no race can be perfect, atleast the preperations can’t. I was just about to rethink this theory, until a few minutes before the gun. i have been warming up on my hometrainer for the last couple of races so i decided to keep during this while it works pretty good for me cause im a slow starter. But this time i figured, i would keep warming up until just before the gun, so that i didn’t get cold waiting for it. But my crew aka. my mother forgot or just wasn’t assure of how long it takes to get some dry cloth on and to shift wheel on the bike, nonetheless she told me to get ready about 30 sec before the gun. When i finally got my wheel shifted, which took a while cause i was a little to stressed and eager, the peloton was long gone. I managed to get to start line just before the Juniors started. This wasn’t really the start i would normally dream of.
The first two laps were all about getting pass all the juniors, B riders and half the A riders. It took quite a lot of effort to do this, so on the third lap i wasn’t really sure i could keep on doing this at this pace. I even crashed and lost like 1 minute cause of my eager of mounting my wheel before the race, i didn’t do it properbly, so it jumped off on the first lap and i crashed.
When i reached 10th position i started to feel allright and i realized that this wasn’t as bad as i feard. I decided to give it an “all out” and caught up with 2 more riders and ended in 8th position. Im pretty satisfied with my effort but im not really satisfied with the final position, but i guess it’s quite okay taking in consideration of my start and my crash.
Congrats to klaus Vesterlund who won the race pretty convincing with about 2 minutes to the second rider.
Wednesday is the day for hobby-world-championships around here, well not only for hobby riders. Right now I am doing my best to catch up on my form before the “real world champs”, so it was a part of my bigger masterplan to go to the wednesday-worlds to do a little finetuning. To be honest, my form is’nt where I would like it to be, and the fact that i’ve been doing “deathtraining” the last period of time made me a little nervous about the race. Start lineup is a little different here, so I ended up in around 30th spot at the start. Race went of, and my legs was still really heavy from the training i’ve done in the morning. But somehow I managed to catch the front group. T-bikes Rasmus jessing looked pretty strong, so I decided to stay with him, which was good. He actually did my job, and pulled his own team apart, with me on his wheel. Boy this guy has increased his form, he is good rider now. Slowly he started to fade a little, and I could slowly sail away to a small victory. After the race I had a small chat with Rasmus, he is really a cool guy, you should definately look out for him in the late season.
6+6 = ?
12 is the nearest answer.
But at the Cubebikes 24 hrs race 1900mtb also showed it could be the next hot mtb race class. You race in duo teams for 6 hours, rest 12, and then race another 6 hours. It’s like a 24 hrs without the sometimes killing night ride. I thought i was smashing fun.
Maybe that’s what 1900 should do at the next years event. We have a fairly big 24 hrs in the spring elsewhere, and we have two 12hrs races. I mean when we arrive in late August I think riders just don’t have the motivation for another 24 hour race.
A litlle more time spend on advertising, a more exiting web and personal invitations for the DCU rated teams and clubs should pull more riders. They had to make up a new slogan of cause..Simon Q and I won the premier of the 6+6 in front of Team Webike’s bachmann and Borup. It was a good practise for the Shimano leage final on Sunday.
I guess I don’t have to mention that the Pronghorn PR6 SW is the ideal weapon in these kinds of races…
” my god the section with roots is tough after 12 hours..”
What roots??
/Klaus
Life can be a bitch!
Well, I would be lieing if I said I was satisfied with the way things had worked out this season. I have never been stronger than in this season, but have never achived so little with this kind of form. Crashes, sickness and bad luck has been the ingredients so far. Before the bundesliga final I got a lung-infect, so I tryed to do the race on antibiotics. Not a good idea. Next thing was that the antibiotics did’nt work, so I have got a new type now, which I’ve just finished. Now I am healthy again, but after 14 days of antibiotics, I don’t feel like a rider who is going to the world championships as a top-fit rider. So I have this week to train full-throttle, and then hope for the best. I have started to have bad dreams about this season, so my stomach hurts in the morning. I will hopefully get some succes in the nearest future….
Superliga #4, HMTBK
I don’t have any words to describe what a crappy day I had this Sunday. Crashed two times on the two first laps, got bullied by Peter Bech, lost all air in my front fork, and ended my short appearence with blowing up totally.
I just wanted to go to Chr. Skjødt (chief of the race series) and give him back my chip and number and tell him I won’t be needing this any more. EVER.
I didn’t. In stead I chose to watch Womens soccer at the soccer field close by for about 30 min thinking about the contents in my poor life….
What a sorry sport women’s soccer is.
See you at the 5th round in Aalborg and 1900’s 24hrs.
/Klaus
Shimanoliga #4
This race was once again in Copenhagen, which is 3-3,5 hours from where i live. Besides that im blessed with a little brother racing in the U13 class which is the first start of the day at 10.15 o’clock. So we had to go drive from home at 5.45 ’cause we had to pick the danish president of mountainbike Kristian Skjødt and his girlfriend Mette Kronborg up at 6 o’clock. To get up so early is conflicting with every rule of humanity and on the edge of insanity and ecpsecially if u have to race the same day. Therefor judging from the circumstances i wasn’t really that optimistic, but still had the inner “I’ll give them all…” feeling.
when we arrived i meet up with the supertalent Jonas Pedersen and we went for a walk on the route. already half way round we were both a little depressed due to the realtive flat terrain, which isn’t to any of ours favour. This didn’t make me any more optimistic.
When the start gun sounded at around 14.00 ‘clock, my legs felt like gelly, even though my warm up session had been almost perfect. so during the first lap there was around a 2 meteres gap from me to the second group, i was only able to catch up at the few technical sessions. At the second lap of eight i fell a little behind and had to let Jakob Agger go when he came up from behind. I was able to catch up with Jakob at the sixth lap but the cost was maybe a little to high. I had no choice but to gamble all i could in the turns and downhill sections to keep him behind, ’cause he was certainly stronger than me at that time. so i had to take full advantage of my technical upperhand, unfortunatly there was’nt very many sessions i had the chance to take advantage of it.
at the last lap with about 1 or 2 km to go, i gambled a little to much and hit something during a turn and was tossed of the bike. Jakob ofcouse to the opportnity to get off together with two other riders coming from behind while i was getting up and getting my bar back in position. i was competly done for after this. But still i tried to keep up my own pace the last 1 km, but wasn’t really able too, so another rider, Mchael Iversen came up from behind and overtook me a little to easy, DAMNT. I ended in 12th position, which iam absoltutely not satisfied with.
I hope for better luck next time i have to gamle.
Small(big) things that makes you happy…
I am travelling a lot, so I have seen lots of hotelrooms in my life, and lots of breakfastbuffets as well, some better that others. One thing that annoys me at almost every stay is the size of the plates and glasses at the breakfastbuffet. Why is it that you have to drink your morning juice from shotglasses? It always ends with me standig permanent at the juicebar, drinking 10 times with the shotglasses, instead of having one glass, to enjoy at the table. Another thing is the size of the plates for oatmeal, they are rediculous, there is only room for 2 spoonfulls of oatmeal in them, maybe that is why they somewhere serve oatmeal with a teaspoon… who eats oatmeal at home with a teaspoon?
This weekend I got a pleasent surprise, in my hotel there was realsize plaits, spoons and glasses, this made a good start of the day, it almost saved my weekend. But only almost, this weekend was time for the bundesliga final, a race I was looking forward for, with good memories from last year. This time I had been a little bit sick in the week before the race, but my optimism and eager to do well overshadowed this fact, silly me, because I should not have been racing this weekend, that stands pretty clear to me now. I think that I am no different from the guys who work in a office until they get a breakdown from stress, they realize the problems too late, and think they will manage, and that if they continiue on things will get better, and in the end, they have digged their own grave. .Well, race went of, and after first lap I was in around 20th spot, I slowly worked my way up to 11th spot. After that, reality came sneaking and I started feeling really really bad, I ended the race in 19th spot, with a total collapse. I think my mom was a little chocked to see how ugly sport can be, I was a mess, and looked like a mess. The guys that I normally beat, and enjoy to beat, beat me, and I am pretty sure they enjoyed my deroute. And I will for sure enjoy theirs next time. That’s how sports work, it is no ”gentlemens area”, and it is one of the last bastions where you are alowed to follow your most primal instinct. That how it is, hate it or love it. I am loving it. But this weekend I was the loser.
Danish Marathon Nationals
Hep!!
The 2009 edition of this race was god damn hard! Maybe too hard? Very few of the bunch made the last lap due to the time limitation of 3 hours. The riders was supposed to do 3 laps of 25k. But the conditions and the course made it very hard for the riders: 25 degrees c. in muddy conditions and a hell of a lot of climbing on each lap.
Pornghorn racing was represented by S. Qvortrup and yours truly. Form the gun, Jessing, the HMTBK boys, and a very strong Benjamin Justesen took the lead and left the rest of us. Only Allan Bachmann was strong enough and made an attempt to catch them. Soon Jonas Pedersen joined us and Peter Bech and I had the stamina to follow him. We soon joined Bachmann who were riding one handed. We rode together until the end of the first lap. Peter bech crashed and struggled mechanical problems and left the race. Jonas took of as Allan and I visited the feedzone. So Allan actually took the lead the whole second lap. I mean I offered him to take my share but Allan is Allan and he prefers to lead.
entering the feedzone for the second and last time I really doubted I could finish the race. We have ridden aprox. 150 minuttes and i was done. I entered the feedzone, took two bottles and about ten half bananas and put them under my jersey. Allan saw that I was strugling (with bananas) and took of. I wasn’t able to follow and just cruised in my own pace. But suddenly after 45 min of the lap, Allan appeared on the buttom of a decent. I took his backwheel and I forgot about dehydration, cramps, and none working muddy rear mech. I tried to take the lead but Allan rejected my offer. So i figurede I had the take of. I suceeded with 5k to go and took 4th place. I was satisfied with my performance. I would have been nice to end on the podium but it’s clear that the riders from overseas are in better shape this late summer. I think it’s great that there are about 10-12 eliteriders on the same level. It’s motivating.
/Klaus
Teaching a newbie
Well, I have’nt been nice to update my blog lately, it is not because I have been busy like hell, it was more like I did’nt feel like there was a lot to tell. My trainingcamp (Post danmark rundt) went pretty well, I feel like I came strengthend out of it, and was’nt a total wreck. Some of the roadriders, and the national-coach gave me good probs for the way I did it in the race, that really meant a lot. The guys on the road are’nt as bad humans as I thought, some of them are actually a kind of nice. After the “tour” I took a couple of days of easy training, before I started killing myself again, I am the last preperations before the bundesliga final, and the world championships in Australia. I have never been racing there, so I am really looking forward. I have also spent some good quality time with my girlfriend, she has started to mountainbike a little, and I am riding with her, trying to give her some riding tips. It is a kind of fun, because it is actually a lot easier to learn her something, instead of a rider with a lot of years of riding experience. She have’nt got all the “bad habits” yet. So when I give her an idea of how to do something, she does it like I tell her, because there is no other “options” in her mind, so she has accomplished some really big steps forward in a very short period of time. It is great fun to “teach” like this, so for me her small victories are pretty big.
Tour of Denmark, final stage
The final stage of the race went from Ringsted to Frederiksberg, where we did 10 small laps, like a criteriumrace. The podium of the race only had a 3second timedifference, so we where pretty sure it would be a damn hard day of racing. The first half an hour was really hard, almost a mtb start, but after that everything got a little more calm. The funniest thing of the stage was a couple of Italian and Belgian riders who litterally started to fight with their bare hands. I don’t know to laugh or cry, but there is something pathetic about skinny guys i cyclingshoes fighting. Anyway, we all went to frederiksberg, and did the 10 laps, and we even made a couple of attacks, with no luck, but we had to try. I ended up in the mass-sprint, getting the same time as the winner. My final position in the classement is 40th, I really don’t know how good that is, but the national coach told me he was REALLY satisfied, and I assume that he knows what his is talking about…
Teour of Denmark, stage 4 & 5
Today I had to be tired, not once but twice. Stage 4 was relatively short, 110k’s. But with an average speed of 50km/h it was fast forward, everybody wanted get out in a breakaway, me too, I made a couple of shots, but did not have enough luck to succeed. So I ended up in the peloton, hammering to my hometown Køge. It was great fun to ride in my hometown, seeing people I know at the roadside cheering, it gave a rush. Not enough to win, but anyway. Later today it was time for timetrial, the fight against the watch. It was actually pretty easy for me, my job was to get around as easy as possible within the the timelimit. To stay inside the timelimit I had to do the hilly 15,5 k’s with an avaragespeed of 42 k’s. But since I don’t have i timetrialbike it was’nt a walk in the park. I ended up doing it with an avarage of 46 km/h wich is actually pretty good on a normal roadbike. I was actually the only guy in the peloton riding a normalbike. Besides riding a funny bike i rode with my longfingered Gripgrab-mtb-glowes, so I was a kind of the funny-looking guy today.
Camp del Garda
I’ve just returned from 2 weeks at the Garda sea or in local terms Lago di Garda. I went here with my family for vacation and we of course all five brought along our bikes, where four among the five are Pronghorns. I have taken this vacation as an opportunity to relax, get a mental break from the scheduled training I’m used to and to get some endurance training in the mountains alongside with some cool singletracks at some downhill tracks.
But it all turned out a little different: The first couple of days went great, just as planned. Found some amazing singletracks and was amazed about how I was able to kill some nasty passages with my Pronghorn XC fully. But the fifth day turned out pretty ugly. I was riding along the road from Riva (the top north of the lake) to Bardolino (middle east side of lake) when a crazy Italian in a teal Fiat Panda hit my bar with his side-view mirror and tossed me into the verge, which unfortunately was made of raw rocks. I didn’t really get time to think the situation over as i was tossed and don’t really know what happened. But I of course hit the verge and found myself half on it the next second. I got myself some real nasty scratches from top to bottom on my right lower leg, some deep wounds at my thumps and another scratch at my chin. My bike has fortunately only got a few scratches on the fork, which are those that hurts the most. The Italian didn’t notice hitting me or he just didn’t want to.
I was unable to train and to take a swim in the sea for two days, which gave me a perfect opportunity to sleep and get fully recovered after the endurance training. But somehow I managed to injure my bag, nothing critical of fatal I guess but it still gave me another day in bed.
After this I had 4 days left in Italy, so I climbed a couple of mountains giving some roadies a little sweat and killed some cool downhill tracks.
Beside the fact that I was struck by a car and had my bag injured, it turned out to be a very good vacation and/or relaxing training camp.
/Simon