The year was 2018 (sounds historical now, right), it was a hot summer (even a weather analogue), and my racing had been going really well as I was on my way to finish second overall in the U23 World Cup (which I did achieve). I was at a point in my career where I had to stop and wonder what to do next, 2019 would be my first season in the elite category. I was finished with my Gymnasium and maybe it was time for something new?

That’s the name of the game in this world, so time to look forward. I decided to head down to Roc d’Azur and talk with some of the French teams. Maybe that could be the place for me for the next step in my career?  
I met Pierre Lebreton and Michel Hutsebaut in a hotel on the Rivera, and they showed me their new partnerships and riders for 2019-2020. It all sounded so exciting, and they welcomed me with open arms. Little did I know that that was going to be my team for the next 6 seasons.

For the next 2 seasons, we came back to the French roots and raced on Lapierre bikes and Mavic wheels. At this time, Michel’s daughter Celine Hutsebaut had taken over the team and a new era of this team (with a very long history of racing, I believe 27 years) had begun. With Enrico Martello as the new DS, and a completely new set of staff. We always joked that I was the OG (original gangster), of the team as I had been there the longest - along side our Videographer, Enric Cabot. Over these 6 years, I achieved great goals, overcame hurdles, got stronger, got defeated, failed, you know all of it. But I think the most important journey was the growth and progress I made as a young adult. When performance and sport is your fulltime job it brings many things to your life. And I think especially in the hardship I learned most about my core values and where I want to go in this life. 

We are now parting ways. I believe everything has an end, and at some point, you need to be brave and jump. Who knows what the future holds? 

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” – William Faulkner

​The future looks bright, thanks for reading along. /Malene

Et cykel kongerige i Schweiz? Jeg har jo egentlig været i Lenzerheide mange gange og kører deres World Cup, men nu, hvor jeg er begyndt at bruge størstedelen af min tid i Schweiz, har jeg haft muligheden for at udforske området de kalder BIKE KINGDOM, hvilket omfatter langt mere end Lenzerheide's ikoniske xc rute. Området spreder sig over den nordlige del af kantonen Graubünden i Chur, Arosa og Lenzerheide, og er et af de absolut bedste steder jeg har kørt. 
I forbindelse med at jeg træner i deres 'Kingdom' har jeg indgået et samarbejde med dem, og lovet at dele ud af mine oplevelser dernede, for at sprede kendskabet til Bike Kingdom. 

Jeg havde en forstilling om at det hele var Bike Park, da jeg nu engang kun kendte DH ruten fra world cuppen, men jeg blev virkelig, positivt, overrasket. Jeg har kun kørt der med en xc cykel indtil videre, og det har jeg snildt kunne, selvom jeg tror farten ville være federe på en mtb med mere vandring. Der er mange forskellige slags trails, altså forstå mig ret, der kan sagtens køres klassisk bike park ned mod Lenzerheide eller i Alpen Bike Park i Chur, men der er også rigtig mange andre muligheder for langt mere en naturlige, kringlede og flowy spor. 

Det sker ikke så ofte at jeg tager lift rundt, for det meste cykler jeg jo op, og det kan man i hvert fald også få lov til hernede. Der er nogle seriøst grumme stigninger både på asfalt og grus. Den anden dag cyklede vi op til toppen af Alpenbikepark Chur, hvorfra vi tog stien "Lady Patricia" ned mod Chur. Navnet kommer fra et amerikansk fly der styrtede ind i bjerget i 1944, som der stadig ligger dele af på sporet. En 16,7km stigning med 1400hm og næsten 9%. Bom bom. 

Der er forskellige muligheder ift. deres liftkort, man kan selvfølgelig købe til hele området i ét kort, men kan også købe en dags billet hvor ruten allerede er lavet på forhånd. Så man starter i Chur, kan tage liften op til toppen af Alpenbikepark, derfra cykler man mod Lenzerheide, hvor man igen kan tage en lift, derfra videre ned af spor til Arosa, op igen, også ned mod Chur igen. Det er vidst 500 meter i alt man selv skal køre op af og så ellers en hel masse meter ned af (RIP overarme). 

Så ja, jeg er svært begejstret haha. Det spiller, det gode spor, det er en god infrastruktur, de har en let og overskuelig hjemmeside og app. Hvor du også kan finde 'touring'. Det kan også gøres uden bil; toget tagges fra Zurich lufthavn til Zurich's hovedbanegård, hvorfra man skifter til et tog der tager dig til Chur. Herfra kan man enten blive i Chur eller tage bussen videre til Lenzerheide, eller toget til Arosa. 

Også bare byen Chur er super hyggelig og god til kaffe og shopping. Landevejscyklen er slet heller ikke dum hernede med alle de forskellige bjergpas der ligger i området. 

Et styks begejstret Malene Degn. 

"It is the possibility of having dreams come true that makes life interesting"
​Paulo Coelho.

This weekend we raced the Danish Championship. Unfortunately, I got sick last Monday, once again, (illness is hunting me at the moment grr). So I just focused on letting my body recover and get back to full strength as fast as possible. Well, I knew the fight for the jersey was out of the picture, but getting back to a 100% for Val di Sole (next weekend) has been the focus. Finally I was able to start the race and make my way to a bronze medal. Which I'm happy with. Success and failure is so damn close at this level of sport.  

Maybe it is what makes life interesting, the possibility of a dream come true. After all, I need to dare to dream big again and trust the process. 

Dream big. 2 little words, one big concept. 

Thanks for all your lovely feedback to my Video-story last night. Thanks for telling me that you still enjoy to follow along, even when things are not going according to plan. Thanks for make me feel safe to be vulnerable. Thanks for opening up about your struggles. <3  

I really could not figure out if I should open up about something like this. Because it feels like such a small thing, in the grand scheme of things, but yesterdays responds made me feel like I could do it. 
I'm well aware that this is not so bad, and there are plenty of great things in my life and in my racing - I am very content with who I am, where I am in my life, and what I'm doing. You have probably been through worse things, me like wise. And we can always find something worse or someone who experined something worse. 
But today I decided to write this down, and I decided that it's okay I feel this and open up about it. Because we're all human, and and pro athlete or not, we all go through highs and lows. 
But the good thing. After rain comes sunhine. Always. 

Love
​Malene