Category: Racing

A step on the way #olympicdream

10/8/2019

I find it kind of ironic that I would have to complete my 2019 season with a broken chain. When the light went from red to green and we all went off the start line, it started really well for me, I had a good position until 200 meters up the road. My chain snapped and I had to run to the technical zone, where we are allowed to get our bikes fixed.
I don’t know. It just feels like almost an inevitable or destined way to finish this season. Start well, hit by bad luck and from there on its just crack on. And oh I did.

@nobuhikotanabe

The race I talk about was the test event for the Olympic games in 2020. Almost every discipline competing at the Olympics has some kind of test event the year before the event, to yea test it… So off we went to Japan! And what a place.
With the long season including a lot of travelling around, I hadn’t spent too much time thinking about this trip. Nevertheless, it was a key point on the road to my Olympic dream.
Before I went there I made a list of questions, that I had to answer doing the week. How was the place? What was the travel like? Key things to remember etc.

And then, of course, the track, lines, training area, warm-up area and so on. Honestly just a lot of things that would make my life easier and more prepared, if I go next year.
I didn’t know what to expect from this place or the course. So it was with an open mind I went there. We arrived in a small traditional house on the mountainside where we would spend the week. It was quite fun to experience their culture and differences. Like no beds, just small madrasas on the floor, I slept well the whole week tho, hehe!

@kasukabevisionfilmz

We started the preparation with a track-walk. A track walk is exactly that, we walk the track. When you walk you can see more things than when you ride, so because it was the first time we saw this track it was great to walk it first. Our first impression from the new track was like holy moly that’s something! There was so much to remember on that 4 km; with off-camber corners, rock gardens, steep climbs and so on. But when we took the bikes with us the next day it felt really awesome to ride. Super flowy, demanding and fun!

I was stoked to race it the upcoming Sunday, but my race became such a strange day. Because of the chain problem I ended up racing by myself half a lap behind the rest. On my second lap I started to catch some riders, but most of the time I was riding on my own. But I thought that I still could get some great data and impression of the track if I just continued racing the best I could. And with the circumstances, I was proud of what I did. I pushed with what I had in me and I did feel great out there. The course suits me well and now I know which parts of the track I struggled more on and which parts I felt flawless on :-P I think the last 30 minutes tells a lot.

It just feels like almost an inevitable or destined way to finish this season.

Now I’m back in Denmark, but only for a short transit before I’m off for the Roc d'Azur in France for the weekend. When that is done my calendar starts to have a lot of empty days and I’m super excited to get back to Spain and start with the early build-up towards the winter training. I also have a holiday to look forward to.

The trip to Japan felt like a success, even tho faith didn’t let me finish on a good result, I’m home with a smile on my face and a big dream shaping inside of me. Hopefully, my 19’ season has given me enough hard times, so I will start next year as a tougher and better athlete.
No rain. No Flowers

/Malene

@kasukabevisionfilmz

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A look back - World Cup Season 19'

9/9/2019

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I know they said it would be hard. Actually, they didn’t expect much from me this season. As a newbie in the elite cat, what could I do?

I guess you’re always a little insecure before the world cup season starts, insecure about your level and state of mind. But when we came to the end of May and the wc season kicked off in Albstadt, I had built my confidence on my consistency throughout the winter/spring training and on my 2nd place in last year’s u23 wc overall. I knew I had what it takes to be a part of the top. But to do it? Oh, girl, that’s a different talk.

So when I managed to perform at my very best in the two first races it felt unreal. Or at least it was a dream coming true. And another approval for myself; I got this. To come home with 10th and 5th place under the belt gave me a confidence boost and I used that energy to bring home the national title 3 weeks later. What a dream start to the 2019 season! Almost too good to be true, right?

And, oh yea, that was too good to be true, only one week after nationals I took a big hit on my left side, on a bike ride, which caused me a bad infection in a wound and left me struggling with my performance for the rest of the 2019 season.

Being an athlete can be a rollercoaster-life and this was really a time where my carriages on the rail started to roll downwards.

Being an athlete can be a rollercoaster-life and this was really a time where my carriages on the rail started to roll downwards. Back then I didn’t think my infection was so bad, actually nobody thought it was that bad, but in the end, it took me 8 weeks before I started to feel like myself again. Quite sometime when you are in the middle of a race season.
I mean I finished 5th in Nove Mesto and the next World Cup I did I was 50th. Just a little difference…

Coming from such a high to such a low takes some mental stress too. What da heck is happening to me? I don’t think it's much fun to get smoked every weekend and fighting for finishing the race when I’m used to be one of the girls who are apart of creating the race. But there was not much to do. I had to just let time heal me. And eventually, it did. But that eventually could have shown up a little earlier. There is a style of being fashionably late to parties and I feel like my body did that to me, just for the race-party instead. Now the season is pretty much over and I’m finally feeling good. Not cool to be late for that party.

There is a style of being fashionably late to parties and I feel like my body did that to me, just for the race-party instead

Cause yes I was there. To finish up my race season I did the World Championship and the last World Cup in Snowshoe. And honestly, I felt great out there. I’m might still a bit further back in the field, fighting around the 25-30th position, but I was competing. And it felt awesome. I had the energy to push and ride my bike good. Which was something I missed the weeks after the crash/injury.

On a positive note from this season;

I can see that when I race, I always race the absolute best I can on that day, when shape was there I went for 2 top tens (Alb+Nove), when I wasn’t 100% healthy I did 2 times 50th (Lenz+Val), and for the last two races I did 2 times top 30 (msa+sshoe). I’m consistent and I can trust myself when I’m on the start line, so if I can manage to stay out of trouble, I think I can do some awesome races for the future.
Life hasn’t been too bad this summer, which must mean that something about the village around me is working well <3
Motivation for 2020 is there

/Malene

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Danish National Championship 2019

6/18/2019

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Do something today that your future self will thank you for.

That was my mindset for the Danish National Championship 2019.

A strong mantra to your mind doesn't come out of nothing so let me take you three weeks back.

To be honest with you guys. Coming home from two so successful World Cup weeks wasn’t as glorious as it may sound. The three past weeks leading up to our nationals was actually far from what I excepted it would be.
The evening after my first world cup podium was spent with a good Danish crew on a small restaurant in Prag, followed by a single room airport hotel where I would be waiting for my flight to Copenhagen the next morning. The hotel room was cold and quiet. It was exactly the celebration I needed, as stupid as it sounds. But after 2 intense weeks with world cup racing and people around me all the time, it felt so good to sneak under the sheets, close my eyes and just go through the day in my own little bubble before I drift off to sleep.
The problem came when reality hit me Monday morning

and I hadn’t left the sleepy bubble yet.
Actually, it took me a whole week before I really left this strange state of mind. I told my coach that I didn’t want a strict plan for the week or any plan, just hours on the bike with my friends. So that was what I did. Anyway, it was actually with the local mtb club, my love for the sport started in the first place - so why don’t come back here from time to time?
I got kicked out (literally) of my bubble when I got my butt kicked in a c1 race in Denmark, the following Sunday. On Monday (now 2 weeks before nationals) I woke up with new motivation and I felt the fire to perform again. Sometimes failure is just what you need. The drive was back - so I gave ‘green light’ to the coach and he built up a two-week block of training. It looked hard, and it made me a little scared, but I ret somewhere that if it makes you feel a little uncomfortable you are in the right place.

I called it 'loosing focus', he said it was a sign of a healthy human.

And oh yes it made me feel uncomfortable. I went into every training with this drive, but I struggled. The intention was there, but I couldn’t really put it together. So I just went with the flow and let my ‘what I want’ rank higher than ‘what I should’.

So when the weekend of nationals was upon us, I wasn’t the most confident Malene around. I knew the past 3 weeks hadn’t been optimal performance-wise for this race, but on the other hand, I wouldn’t change it. I talked quite a bit about it with my boyfriend. He said it was a good thing that I was able to 'pull the plug' sometimes. I called it 'loosing focus', he said it was a sign of a healthy human. And that the ability to listen to the body and not push anything through just because you feel a ‘I have to’, is a good thing. We went on the track for practice, found the lines and tried to make me the fastest Malene possible.

When Sunday came I had my crew around me. Loic on track to encourage me and give me splits, mum in feed zone 1 and Theo (mechanic) in feed zone 2. I knew this was a big opportunity for me to win that red and white jersey. 2019 had so far been my strongest year, the track suited me well and the bike was working perfectly. Annika Langvad was unfortunately out with injury, so it was the battle of the young guns - Caroline Bohe and myself.

But that Sunday I could handle the pain, because I wanted to do something today that my future self would thank me for.

We started and I actually didn’t feel amazing. The past three weeks were stocked in my mind, but I wanted that win, so I knew that I would be able to suffer a lot today, I wanted that win so bad. When a gap opened up between Caroline and me, I just went as hard as I could. I attacked with 2,5 lap to go so the last half-hour was just one big suffer fest. But that Sunday I could handle the pain, because I wanted to do something today that my future self would thank me for.

As I’m writing this, I’m flying back to my apartment in the South and I’m looking much forward continue to build on this momentum. Focus is on building on my fitness and feel the confidence come back, towards World Cup no. 3. Let’s go!

I got asked quite a lot about what I’m thinking about the rest of the season, now when it all started so well. And for real... I just wanna take it one step at the time. Starting with designing a red and white kit :-) “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” (Martin Luther King Jr).

/Malene

p.s Thanks for all the support. You guys mean a lot.

P.s.s. Don’t take my sleepy bubble for something negative. I was (and am) really happy and proud of my results in the World Cup, but there are two things to it (I think); first of all, it feels strange when you achieve something you almost didn’t dare to dream of. Secondly, when people ask me if I aren’t just super happy now, yes I’m happy, but I’m not happier if I podium in a world cup than any other day - I want my basic happiness to be based on something else than something as unpredictable as bike-racing results :-) (Not to dismiss that success-feeling is absolutely amazing, no doubts)

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A step on the way #olympicdream

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