Stories

Onward, forward and everything in between?

3/27/2023

Today it feels like I’m turning a page. Like finishing a chapter of the season 23’ book. Yesterday’s race in Marseille marked a finish to my early race season. 6th start lines in the past 2 month. Some ups, some downs, good sensations, bad sensations, good luck, bad luck, and everything in between.

@kenoderleyn

I wanted some of the races to go better than they did, but it’s okay - that it sometimes takes more time than I thought. Which made me want to write about progress.
The cycle of the year, as a cyclist, has this flow to it. We reset in the off season, building fitness over the winter, gaining race fitness in the spring, and then we are ready to go when the World Cup season arrives over the summer.

It’s easy to get caught up in moment and let every race weekend affect you instead of seeing the bigger picture – the progress. But what is progress anyway? The dictionary says it’s about “onward and forward towards a destination, advancing and improving”.
I’m still building my race form towards Nove Mesto, which is 7 weeks away, so I’m quite deep into the ‘trust the progress’ mantra.

Yesterday I raced in Marseille, France, a HC race with a stack field. Nice test of myself against the fastest women in the world, a little peak into where am at, and what’s still missing. I did 4 consistent laps riding the 10th fastest lap times and finished 10th in the end as well. I always want more, who doesn’t?
On the other hand, I’m also quite happy where am at in March, this season is super long and if want to be sharp all the way to Sep-Okt, I need to time it. I don’t have this superhero body that’s just a machine out there, I can be on occasions, but yea timing ;-)

It’s not what you look at that matters, but what you see.

I think it was my best race in Marseille, I ever rode, the Lapierre ate the rocks so nicely and I had no mechanicals, just a steady smooth ride. When I looked down on my handlebar and saw the start number 3, it assured me, hi Malene you got this!
It’s not what you look at that matters, but what you see.
Another saying contributing into the progress theme I got going here.

@antoine.kopyto

So, what now? Today I’m flying home to Copenhagen. The original flight got cancelled, so I got rewarded with a little tour around Europe, checking out Vienna airport for some hours before I can hit my own bed tonight. But hey, plenty of time to write a blog then!
Over the next month focus is on everything above^, step by step we get closer to the targets.

And please, could the spring weather also arrive in Denmark soon? Is it too much to ask for...

Xoxo

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DREAMING

3/1/2023

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The dream is this: we will be happy when we reach our goal.
Start the season with a win.
Then we get there, and if we are human, we immediately start to dream about something else.

Before I left for Spain, I wrote down my goals for the trip; Get back into the race mode, set up my new bike, leave with more points than when I arrived. Did I achieve it? Well, yes. I did get 4 race starts, so definitely got back into the whole rhythm of racing. I did set up my Lapierre, both suspension wise and bike fit wise. I also left with 76 points, which was 40 points more than last year at this time, but I had dreamed about more. It didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped, but on the other hand, I had set some goals for the trip, and I completed 3/3 of them.

Those small goals are all steps on the way and part of the progress, and I know that. But when I raced the first weekend in La Nucia, I felt so capable and strong. I was confident out there and my numbers were some of the bests I had seen from myself. I left La Nucia with such a smile on my face! Was awesome to take the win, especially with all the new sponsors and staff.

We continued in land to a town called Chelva. Chelva delivered a demanding, technical, and fun racecourse. It’s rocky and loose and puts the bike under pressure. Great spot to test out equipment. My performance there was what I felt like a solid day. Nothing crazy bad nothing crazy good, but overall, a pretty good day.

And who would want to live a

life without dreaming?

One thing about these winter team camps that you might not know, is that it’s not a training camp per se, it’s a race-training-media-photoshoot-video-meetings-sponsorvisits-testing kind of camp. Most riders and teams combine these early races with all that. It’s part of the game, but it takes a toll on the body. The last weekend of racing was in Banyoles, I could feel that we had been doing all of the above, but I was determined to put in a good race effort.

Friday we raced a short track, fun to be back racing in this format, plus I actually had a really good ride! I think I finished 8th. For the Sunday race, it was a different story. The weather gods played us well, and the course went from dry and fast to deep mud and sliding around. I was a little sad to finish the trip with a bad race, I took some bad decision and couldn’t recover from it during the race, so I had to settle for a finish far behind the leaders.

The life as a racer goes up and down, from wining to barely crossing the finish line.
Now I’m back home, writing this from my sofa. It’s still cold here but the sky is blue. I feel the energy is creeping its way back. Getting World Cup fast is a progress, and this trip was an important step on the way. I’m already looking ahead. What’s next?

The thing about us always looking for the next target is that we never stop dreaming. And who would want to live a life without dreaming?

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Winter

2/1/2023

1 Comment

I spy with my little eye… A race on the Training Peaks calendar! So, it seems the winter training blues are soon to be interrupted.

Our new 2023 look!

As the season is approaching with overwhelming speed, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to give my blog some life, yet again. Does anyone read along anymore? Who knows.
Our World Cup season is still 100 days away, but before we get there, I will do a series of racing in the early spring. Starting off in Spain in February, hopefully under the warm Spanish sun. Escaping the grey north for a little while. I spent almost all my November, December, and half of January in Denmark. I had to finish a semester here and as I moved back home from Spain, I set it up as my base. Its been quite nice, and I have had some super training weeks here.

It’s just a little tough tho. Layers on layers, rain, cold, forget about your feet’s and hands, darkness, mud, wind. It makes you a tough cookie, and it also makes you appreciate the small things. A sunny day and you will see the 5 million Danes out smiling in the outdoors. It’s cool.
But to go out there every day and put your best effort, it takes a lot of effort and motivation. So after a while it felt so nice to find my seat in the big bird and fly down to Cape Town. I spent two weeks down in Stellenbosch, and omg it was good. I wondered why I didn’t book another week down there? What a great spot. I went there with my good friend and teammate Sebastian Fini.

Last minute decision to do a marathon race close by!

The goal is to get back into the race-groove, collect points and set up the new bike. Oh yea, that’s right, I got a new bike!

We really enjoyed the life of hard work on the bike and relaxed life off the bike. A nice place to keep the good life balance, which can be a challenge on training camps (it’s possible to go a little crazy from seeing the same 4 walls of a hotel room for too long).
Now I’m back in the big bird flying across Africa and Europe to get back to Copenhagen. Time to find the winter gear again and get back out there. Hopefully flying high on this trip to SA.

I will let you know how the first block of races went in Spain. I’m doing 3 in row. The goal is to get back into the race-groove, collect points and set up the new bike. Oh yea, that’s right, I got a new bike! Did you see it on my Instagram? My team owner took some big decision last year and we are now the same team, but with a couple of new big sponsors. Including two new name sponsors; Lapierre bikes and Mavic wheels. I know Mavic, Fox, FSA and the rest of the components on the bike, but the bike it self is new. Which is really exciting, and I already have good feeling on the rocket. But, still, it’s going to be great to spend some weeks with our mechanic to do testing and get the bike dialed for different terrains.

Exciting times to come. Happy the racing train starts to roll again soon and everything it brings with.
Accept what is, let go of what was and have faith in what will be.
Cheers
M

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