Posted in: Team Rivette
Mon, April 27th, 2009
GP Roskilde
The trails around the forrests of Avnstrup is becoming a classic in Danish mountainbiking. I had a big victory over Henrik Djernis, Jesper Agergaard, Peter Riis and more in 2000 (oh, glory days) and had set my hopes on a first victory this season after a few weeks of good training. A bad cold stemming from the Münsingen trip made me a DNF. It’s only been a week since I pointed out to the juniors that “if you’re not ready, you don’t race”. Nice! I ran into Jesper out there so it wasn’t all a waste. And the juniors took care of business as the veteran faded.
With Jonas P being in Germany the rest of the boys must have been eager to take a win. “Der Lange” showed good form and never seemed out of control for the part of the race I spectated. A big congratulation. I think everyone who was there agrees that his course was definitely a fully-course which must have spurred the Ryan Trebon look-alike. Niklas also seemed to be back on track and was making a sandwich out of Frederik Kjeldsen with Kristian out front. Unfortunately he was struck by severe back pain and had to withdraw. This left room for Alexander Laugesen who is really coming into form and showed good speed. Our own Frederik came in as 4th. This coming weekend all the youngsters will be rubbing shoulders with fellow juniors from across the world at the Houffalize World Cup. Houffalize is one of the absolute classics in mountainbiking. If you have the weekend off go to Belgium for some cheap quality beer, waffles, friture and world class racing.
In the big boys class the winner of the race in 2000 had to abandon as already mentioned. But that doesn’t mean that the old guard was out of play. Despite being on different teams a cling onto Klaus Vesterlund through our long time involvement in the sport (because we’re not winning?). Resurrection to the ones who held a license in the early nineties! Peter was then the sole Team Rivette rider in the race and rode to a respectable 5th place. Several strong riders, among others Henrik Andersen, Allan Bachmann and Casper Saltoft, abandoned the race. Especially the latter was on his A-game. I must say that Casper (a.k.a. golden boy, pimp daddy, Mr. Bling) had the speed yesterday. He chose to sit out Wednesdays Dust Cup in order to be ready for this race. He opened the race with gap on the rest of the field having Jessing, Tarp, Vesterlund, and others chasing in a group behind. I know how much effort he puts into it all so it was really nice to see him going fast. A twisted front derailleur ended his day before time, but hey, hang in there. Your time will come. The quiet guy from HMTBK, Jens Gorm, took second place. When he comes sneaking from behind you just know that there’s nothing to do. And so Tarp and Jessing had to give up their respectable places. But those guys are still riding strong despite a winter of efforts. Lastly, I’d like to mention Morten Laustsen who had a mechanical on the last lap but otherwise showed that he too is a top five contender. The racing level is certainly starting to get decent around here.
Ahh, glory days.
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Posted in: Team Rivette
Mon, April 27th, 2009
A Month of Unfortunate Events
Usually I don’t appreciate when people try to make up for their bad performances by telling long stories about why they were unable to excel in whatever they participate in. Lots of bad excuses instead of facing reality. You just aren’t better than your last race. I hate to admit it, but I am actually one of those trying to find excuses for my poor performances in the first part of the spring.
I will try to keep the story short, but totally spare you I cannot do.
First obstacle came in the beginning of April when I was forced to take a week off the bike due to some inflamed tissue/ligament attached to my sit bone. I made up for lost training by doing 100 push ups a day. Next problem occurred when a blister on my foot got infected and I was on antibiotics for 10 days. That collided with the first Superliga race and I was totally without any kind of energy. In retrospect I should have stayed at home and rested.
With the medication out of my body I was ready to continue with the training when I was hit by a severe cold. Probably from underdressing in the beautiful whether during the Easter holiday. That took most of last week to get rid of.
That brings me to this Wednesday when the 1st round of the Ghost cup was held in Silkeborg.
I was so demoralized from the last month of setbacks that I had absolutely no confidence in myself. I decided to set my goals a little low and not concentrate about the other participants. Only on having a good race where I could pace myself the whole way. I did have a good race with a good feeling of actually racing. I finished in 5th position about 2 minutes off the front. I am pretty sure that I am on my way back to where I want to be. A couple of more races and I will totally forget my struggles of April. Like I said, I hate people full of bad excuses!
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Posted in: Team Rivette
Wed, April 22nd, 2009
Bundesliga Münsingen
Frederik, Kristian and Niklas. After the race.
Three days after the race took place I’ve finally managed to put together a race-report. Man, what a trip! Both good and bad. It only took about 13 hours to get there with a 15 hour return trip. That’s a personal record for the classic trip to Münsingen.
Well, it at all started well. We hammered down the A7 in the distinctive Landrover Defender. Then we hit some serious road-construction and long queues while taking a minor detour through Stuttgart as well. In those queues you really get to exercise your legs with some clutch work in the Defender. It resembles a 100-kg squat. I have no idea what those springs in the pedals are made of? Nobody messes with the Defender on the autobahn though and manages a swift 150km/h on straight-aways. Not bad.
We landed at the Gasthof Rössle around 19.30 and quickly changed for a short spin on the course. It would be correct to say that some changed quickly. Having three juniors on the team means a bit of waiting now and then 
We got to see the course that was still muddy from the rain-showers during the day. It would likely be the same for the juniors with an early start at 9.30.
It was an early wake up call that Sunday but the guys seemed to be fit. The night before they had all mounted knobby tires which was a good choice. The start was furious but didn’t seem to bother Jonas P who dominated all way through until the last lap when a puncture put him out of contention for the win. For our boys it was a race of mixed results. Frederik rode a well-paced race from a bad starting position with 25th place as the end result. Kristian had a little trouble with those knobby tires and had to do some close botanical studying in southern Germany followed by some mechanical adjustment in the pits. In the end it was good for 40th place. Niklas was obviously not feeling well and cleverly pulled out before killing himself. Yeah, shit happens and in this sport there are up to 150-200 losers and only one winner in a single race. That also means a mediocre number of success-races for each rider. You just got to forget the downs right away and thrive on those successes. Frederik Kjeldsen and Alexander Laugesen were also competing and both had a good race. Kjeldsen had another impressive race and finished in 22nd place although fading a bit at the end. The same was the case for Alexander who finished in 34th place. For all it was as the Americans say “a good learning experience”.
A good learning experience was also the case for Annika Langvad. She once again showed a glimpse of her potential by finishing in 14th place with a puncture. Her lap times were good enough for a top eight result. She still lacks some technical skills (dare I say “riser-bar”?) and overall experience in bigger races. I wonder how long it will take the National Team, the local club and sponsors to realize this.
Punctures were also the case the Elite fraction of Team Rivette. Bech Peters suffered one on the 4th lap. Guys like Näf, Hermida, Absalon, Fontana, Milatz etc. showed no mercy on the course that had turned into a dry high-speed race-track and Pete fell for the 80% rule. I managed to do all eight laps with a puncture on the last lap. It didn’t mean anything result wise though. I still had good speed on the first lap and had Klaus Nielsen in sight a mere 15 seconds ahead. I suffered like hell on the next laps though but the endurance is slowly coming. My strains resulted in 32nd place. Not flashy but it was cool to do an internationally competitively high race again.
And some pictures:
Back in the Defender towards Denmark I had a little discussion with the juniors. Boys, check out the bike of winner Ralph Näf. Fully AND riser!
And this is what the youngsters call photo bombing I believe. Classy.
Niklas and Kristian, bored with waiting for the Elite race.
So, you need the red bottle on lap 2, the blue one on lap 4, nothing on lap 5 and then the yellow ones for the rest of the race? Unless you change your mind? Aha.
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Posted in: Team Rivette
Thu, April 16th, 2009
National Team Training Camp 2
Frederik Mørkebjerg on the torture machine. Check out the jerseys on the wall - European Champion, Tour VTT leader - nice place for a test.
We have received two reports from the National Team training camp held during the Easter holiday. All 3 Team Rivette Juniors attended the camp, and we have reports from Kristian and Niklas. First up is Kristian:
National Team Training Camp 2
At Easter we had a national assembly for U19 and U23, and all three U19 Rivettes were present.
We met Thursday morning at nine o’ clock in Silkeborg by the local clubhouse where there was breakfast. It didn’t start to good for me. It took me 2 minutes before I had cut halfway through my fingers with a bread knife. Fortunately, National Team Coach Michael Borup is a medical student so he wrapped me in some bandages.
The program was the following:
Thursday:
09.00: Breakfast
10-13: VO2 MAX test
12-13: Lunch
14.00: Test-race on Shimano Liga route
16.00: Home to clubhouse and further down to the hostel in Silkeborg
18.00: Food and cake
22.00: Back to the hostel and sleep
Friday
08.00: Breakfast
09:30: Long training ride
12.00: Lunch at Himmelbjerget
16.00: Home again
18.00: U19 and U23 prepares dinner
22.00: Goodnight
Saturday:
08.00: Breakfast
09.00: Pack up
10.00: Intervals
12.00: Lunch
13.00: Goodbye
Thursday we did a VO2max test. The whole team had a VO2max over 70ml/kg/min and there were several that really surprised. Two on the national team were over 80 and over 90. I even did a very good test, I was up at 72 and I produced the highest watts of us all. Now I just have to shed a little weight as my body-fat increased from 7 to 8% since last test.
After lunch we went out in the woods and did a small 40-minute test run. It went very well. Niklas and I had a hard fight throughout the 40 minutes around so it was really fast.
After dinner we went back to the hostel. With all the boys on the team a lot of methane was released. The air was really thick when Christian and Michael came a little later. What a stench, phew!
Friday
We did a long ride out to Himmelbjerget and redirected to the Jeksen-valley and then home again.
The trip took 5 hours and there was also little MTB-O included because I thought I knew a little shortcut. That cost me a 5’er in fine to Michael and Christian. My fifth fine in two days ☺.
But it was really cool to ride a long trip from Silkeborg, although I live close I didn’t know everything there is to ride out there.
Saturday we packed our things from the hostel and went to the clubhouse. And then out and push it on Shimano Liga route. A good 20 minutes all-out. And then my legs were empty. After that it was lunch-time. At one o’ clock we cleaned the clubhouse and at 13.30 it was time to head home. But I had misunderstood my father, so nobody came to pick me up. I then had to ride another 20 km from Silkeborg to Galten in fierce headwind, with a mega-bag on my back. But it was all good as preparation for the coming weekend. Almost the entire Team is heading to the first round of the German races-series, the Bundesliga. The Rivette monster track will bring us back and forth. Hopefully we will be just as steady in the racing.
/Kristian
Niklas preparing to go out training yet again.
National Team Camp
The easter training camp started with a bang, first competition was the V02-max test where some really impressive numbers were achieved, two from the national team were 80+. Highest in the world 101 is set by cross-country skiing hit-man Ole-Ejner Bjørndalen. After lunch we had at 45 min. race where the MTB-light duo, 54 kg Jonas and Alexander got away followed by Kristian and me who had a furious battle, pushing each other to the limit and with our elbows. Home-track rider Simon got in front of us, but as a grown U23 up he doesn’t count 
Frederikkerne from the Devils Island had their own battle of honour. We were living in the Hostel right down to the water together with about a hundred Swedish kajak padlers with very long hair. I slept with Mørkeberg, Axelsen, and Qvortrup. There was a “speciel” aroma around our room. Friday our national trainers Borup and Poulsen had arranged lunch on top of Himmelbjerget. That was needed. We got over 5 hours of training in our legs so that was a tough one. A part of the trip went to Jeksen forrest were a guy called Jesper (Skriver) had the record on a nice technical track. On top of Himelbjerget the flag was on half, Simon even asked who was dead It cost him 5 kr. to the national trainers. We have our own fine pay system and I will tell you Kristian is getting poor ☺ both him and Alexander aren’t really used to cooking so our doctor, Borup had two snitched fingers to take care of. Saturday we raced a bit more and it was time to say goodbye and see you again in Münsingen for the Bundesliga race.
/Niklas
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Posted in: Team Rivette
Tue, April 7th, 2009
Season Kick Off 2
The smurky grin would soon be replaced with an ”Indurain-smile”
What a race! One of the best I’ve attended on home soil for nearly a decade. A fast competitive course, fierce racing down through the ranks and a fair amount of spectators. Sure, there were some minor flaws but I won’t even go into that. You can go elsewhere on the web for the usual weekend-warrior, sofa racing ammo stuff. To me, the first round of the Shimano-liga was just what we needed.
In the end Klaus Nielsen took victory with a little help from a puncture for a strong Matthias Wengelin. Wengelin has come off a strong season debut with a solid 5th in the Sunshine Cup on Cyprus. Benjamin Justesen was strong as always while some of the positive surprises were Allan Bachmann and the dynamic duo from HMTBK. Allan has certainly done his homework during the winter while Henrik Andersen and Jens Gorm are pure stamina. Something that Poulsen and I were not. Our top-speed was decent though and the old(er) guard had better watch out as the season progresses. We just managed to sneak inside the top ten. I can’t remember the last time I had to fight all way through a Danish cross-country race to get a top ten.
Not only the Elite class saw some serious racing. The juniors’ category is filled with talent and I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed so many Danish youngsters in this class before. It’s just what these guys need. Good, competitive racing in the national races to prepare them for world outside. They may think of each other as competition but in reality they’re each others ticket to further success. Jonas P won as expected but the rest of filed is coming along quite nicely. For our boys the day ended with a 2nd, 4th and 7th. Mini-Kjeldsen had a strong performance a rode to 3rd place. Nice work.
I can’t wait till the next round. Meanwhile, Bech Peters and I will take the boys to another great European season-opener. The Bundesliga race in Münsingen. Yes, we know that we will get our butt’s kicked but hopefully it will bring some extra speed for the second round. I guess it could be a way to show the young ones “what not to do”. Argh, what am I talking about. With the new team-kit we’re a bunch of bad a.. M.F.’s. Speaking of season-openers the World Cup is starting in South Africa this weekend. Now that’s some serious fast racing. At http://www.freecaster.tv you can catch all the action as they will live-stream the entire World Cup. Men and women! Be sure to check it out. Until then I will do a bit of sofa racing on my own. I’ve tried to list some of the riders that have managed to do a top 50 finish in a single round of the World Cup. I’ve only listed the single best result from each rider so keep in mind that some of the riders on the list have many podium finishes and/or other world class results. If you’ve only ridden a couple of years some of the names may be unknown to you. This could a good opportunity for me to revive my once promised “back to the future” series. Anyway, here’s the list:
Henrik Djernis, Jan Erik Østergaard (1st)
Lennie Kristensen, Michael Rasmussen (2nd)
Jakob Fuglsang (4th)
Jesper Agergaard (5th)
Peter Riis Andersen (11th)
Christian Poulsen, Thomas Bonne (15th)
Michael Grønbech, Thomas Nørup (18th)
Ernst Hansen (23rd)
Jesper Skriver Larsen (38th)
Klaus Nielsen (41st)
Klaus Vesterlund (42nd)
(Dispensation from the top 50 rule: Jakob Kjeldsen 60th)
Two of the sports great when I was a junior: Lennie K and Henk Djernis
If you can’t find your name and feel entitled to be on the list please send an email to Idon’tcare@itwillnotmakeyoufasternow.com
And we have a race report from Frederik from the juniors as well:
Shimano-Liga Round 1, Rude Skov
Finally the season has started for real, and it seems as though the sport is still growing here in Denmark. More than 200 people started in the first round of the UCI ranked Shimano-Liga. Thaings were set for an exciting race and I had my sights set on a podium appearance. I received my new bike tuesday and it is working out great. I already feel fully adjusted.
The race started a bit differently than we were used to last year as I am now in the junior (U19) category. Our junior field was sent off 10 seconds after the elite field and the start was very fast. Less than 1 k from the start we hit a singletrack uphill and it was chaos. I was off my bike, running, because everything had come to a standstill.
At this point I was in 3rd, but that was not to last. I was basically setting a new personal standard for bad days - it was going pretty poorly. My legs were extremely heavy at the start, but even after the start chaos was over there was nothing there. So I ended up in 7th after a while and managed to hold on to that for the rest of the race.
I will try to do better next time. There is a National Team gathering for easter starting on Thursday, so I won’t get to rest for now.
/Frederik
We leave you all with this reminder of what it is like at the top of our sport. Three-time World Champion Henrik Djernis:
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