Malene Degn
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A weekly write

4/26/2022

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It Wednesday and I’m quite sure I don’t have any Heubach-mud left on me, or on my stuff, but who knows, that mud was eveerrrryyywhere. Check this photo from the finish line. It’s been a while since I had a mud bath like this. But Heubach never disappoints - when it comes to free spa-treatments – and this year Heubach treated me well, the sweet taste of victory, was, what was up last Sunday for me.
​It wasn’t a wellness experience tho, but I’ll take it. Because it was way better. I won a Bike Race yo! It’s been a while since I could cross the finish line with both arms over my head. YEEEW. The adrenalin rush was amazing. It’s crazy how some races just come together so nicely, like I was in the zone and the race played out exactly how I wanted it to.
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Is that a business idea for my post cycling carrier?
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The ‘German el classico’ contains of 1 climb (read; Reeally Long climb) and 1 downhill, so it’s quite a different course profile than we are used to, but it’s still creates spectacular racing. The past weeks I had felt strong on my bike, so I came to race with an open mind – like, what can I do here? In the race I stayed near the front for the first 4 laps, sitting in 3-5th position, before attacking on the last lap and hoping that the others fast women had burned more matches than me and therefor couldn’t follow. And hehe, they had, so it worked out!
​​After the race the team packed everything down and I headed towards Stuttgart, where I had a Monday morning flight to Barcelona. The work behind the scenes is so important on days, where the conditions are crazy like these. Like the team behind is always important, don’t get me wrong, but on days with purring rain and 6 degrees, it takes real grit from the staff to get the whole circus running smooth. How about packing down after 10 hours under the rain and mud? I can tell you everything is dirty haha. For them to then pack it all out again, when they arrive at the service course, in order to clean it and let it dry... Because you know, we need to setup the circus again in one weeks’ time for – Albstadt! 
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​You guessed it, world cup numero dos is around the corner. I have had a couple days at home, but for the next week I will head to Andorra and meet up with my coach and a few other riders to accompany them for a mini training camp. And hopefully get some good training in. Thinking about Albstadt makes me both excited and a little nervous. Going to be great. But now I really must go pack my car so I can get to Andorra.
​At this point I should be professional at packing, but still, I wish I had a magic spell that could do *Pliing* and the bag is ready to go, and nothing forgotten. Is that a business idea for my post cycling carrier? Maybe I need a letter from Hogwarts first tho. But one can always hope.
 


Ciao for now
Malene.
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My 2 mechanics talking about how awfull I look right now, but how good it is for my skin >.<
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A Weekly Write

4/22/2022

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​I have felt the urge to come back to blogging and write more stories from my life. But I wanted to change it up a bit to engage myself and you more. Yea you, my reader, thanks for being here and following along my journey! Means a lot. 
 
So I was thinking to start a more light hearted, easy, fun – weekly read. Like a weekly write. An highligt (or lowlight?) update on life, and what’s was up.
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​Well then, what has been up?
I came back on home* soil the Wednesday after the Brazil World Cup.
       *Home is a blurry thing for me, I got a few!
Together with Loic we wanted to do a little get-away, so we drove to the middle of france, and that’s ’away’. I think the french even call it the butthole of France. But I must say I love this butthole, hah. It’s so green, beautiful, calm and just a rad place. Would love to spent more time in this part of France. It’s a 6 hours drive from Nice.
​After arrival the legs needed a spin so we geared up quick and did 1 hour of loamy trails with friends. The next 4 days I did 4 solid training days. Always feels great to get back into the training-routine after a big race week.
a more light hearted, easy, fun – weekly read
After that we drove 1 hour south, to the Pierron Bike Park, in order for Loic to ride DH (and to get a sneak peak into the Pierrons home track?? ;-) ). We stayed in the cutest french bed & breakfast for 1 night, and I managed to get 2 more rides sneaked in. Loic was done testing and I was done with my ride, so it was time to head to the next destination – Andorra.
For me it was time for a rest day, so I layed on the sofa watching the Pyrenees mountains out of the window most of the day. Felt so good to do nothing after the past week of moving around so much.

​But no time to settle for me - time to fly to Stuttgart to participate in the KMC sponsored Heubach race. ”Bike the rock” as they say. I guess its true, we ride up a mountain in one long strecth and then one long downhill. And then we continue to do this for another 5-6 laps. Lovely! Haha.



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Let’s see how this weekend goes, and I will let you know next week what I’m up to and if ’Bike The Rock’ was a success. Ciao for now.
Bisous
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Being grounded

1/11/2022

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The new Michelin tire range is now available for everyone who wants to try out these world-class tires. On my team, KMC-Orbea, have we been riding them for a while now, and we all loved them. The feedback we had from the previous range were taken into account and personally I find the new ones awesome to ride. So. There’re the ‘Michelin Jet XC2 racing line’ for fast and mostly dry trails, then we have ‘Force XC2 racing line’ for when the trails get sticker and steeper​
(I often choose this in the front for extra grip) and last we got the ‘Wild XC racing line’ which is a bigger tire that really can handle some more slippery tracks- those were my weapon of choice for the Olympics. I wanted to make a write’ about the new tire range of Michelin, because when I thought about the new tires my brain started to think about being grounded, finding grip - what does it even mean? And can we have more of that? ​
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Making the good choices (also regarding tires, hah) are so crucial. You gotta get the grip on your nerves and the dirt. ​
Google says that being grounded means that you are connected with earth and present in your body. If you aren’t grounded, you're like a leaf in the wind - thrown off balance real quick. Next google search: “What does it mean for a person to be grounded?” Mentally stable, realistic, remains calm and connected to who you are in the face of uncertainty.
Hm. ​

Being grounded is such a rad personality trait. Like people who can stay calm (and cool) and doesn’t get thrown off balance when things doesn’t appear the way they wanted them to, are always impressive. I think in elite sport, you got to work on your grounded-ness.
Going on course practice on a muddy day when nothing is going your way, but staying present, calm and finding the grip. Making the good choices (also regarding tires, hah) are so crucial. You gotta get the grip on your nerves and the dirt.
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I don’t think it’s possible to always have the perfect travel, training, workday, off-day, race day, you name it, but I think it’s always possible to take a breath and find your ground. I want to be more grounded - not a leaf that easily get thrown off balance. That’s something to work on this season.

Now step one - find the right tire set up, so I can feel grounded on my bike - everyday.

/Malene​
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