Wet

The humble bulk of clothing from today’s training sessions (now clean again)

Lately Denmark has been wet, very wet! The weather menu has offered showers as starter, main course and dessert daily. 

Still, training is on! Right now my focus is on the upcoming world cups in Nove Mesto and Albstadt. The last couple of weekends I’ve been racing in Austria and Denmark as a part of my preparations. That, together with some quite intensive training during the week with lots of VHIT (very high intensity intervals) to boost maximum oxygen intake. It’s those efforts, where you really go to your limit, and it’s bloody hard. Every time though, I comfort/motivate myself with the certainty, that next time, this kind of training will be easier (whether it’s really true or not, is not the main theme here). I often use the same climbs for those intervals. The reason being that those climbs now are deeply associated with suffer mode, so there’s really not much doubt what to do, when being there. Another (and more practical reason) being that proper climbs can be hard to find in the area around Copenhagen. At other times I do the sessions on a home trainer, which can be a good variety – especially when it’s raining cats and dogs! At the same time it’s a good opportunity to catch up with replays of the world cup races on Redbull TV.

Just this week, I got my Fate (the S-works women specific hardtail bike) to Denmark. I have not been riding a hardtail the last 4 months, so it’s a different feeling to be back that bike. To make it as equal to the Epic full suspension bike as possible, I’ve put on an exactly similar handlebar, so that the cockpit feels the same. What can I say, I just love riding with my arms wide open (at least when I’m not hitting cactuses with my handlebar). Here’s the beauty:

S-works Fate (XX1, 32 chainring. Tyres: S-works Fast Trak, 2.2 front and 2.0 rear)

The only thing I can say about what kind of bike is the best, is, that the more time you spend on a bike, the more you learn exactly how to ride it. The two different bikes have obvious advantages on different terrain, so in the end it’s whatever bike, you believe makes you ride fast and have fun.

Last sunday I raced my first race in Denmark this year. In the women’s category there’s not much competition for me, compared to an international race, but I still race the danish races whenever possible. I like the atmosphere, seeing people that I originally started biking with and hearing people cheering in danish. Also, this is where it all started for me; racing in Denmark and it brings a lot of great memories. Speaking of which; I also have good memories from the Bundesliga race in Heubach, which will be my next race the upcoming weekend.

Here some shots from the last race in Denmark (Varde), photos by Jeff Ravn: