Slush Cup 3

Breakfast of champions

The third round of the Slush Cup has come and gone. It was a somewhat mediocre performance on my behalf. I actually had higher hopes before the weekend, since this time around there was no Christmas party to attend the evening before. Let’s just pretend that Friday night out was to blame.

Training is going ok I guess. Some weeks I’m able to put in more hours than others, but I usually manage to sneak in the HIT (high intensity training) every week. That’s exactly why I expected a somewhat better performance, but maybe it just wasn’t my day, or maybe I still need to learn how to adjust rest and HIT. I must admit that in my day I used a “as long and hard as you can” approach to training. The plan was to do just that this Sunday with a 1,5 hour warm-up ride, all-out Slush Cup and a 1,5 hour cool-down ride home. Within 30 minutes of the warm-up I sensed a dull sluggishness from my legs, and as the actual competition began I had to succumb to what felt like a sub race-pace. In front Benji Justesen did his thing and was never threatened. S. Tarp took second with my personal favorite of Mr. Perfect aka Saltoft, returning to the podium with a 3rd place. Trailing somewhat behind I managed a 4th, but almost got beaten by old-timer Bødker. I think he was kind enough to let me go in the last few kilometers, as he knew I would resume my depressive competition attitude if he beat me.

I had originally planned to race the national cross championship but must admit I’m having second thoughts. I don’t know – maybe I shouldn’t think so much and just do it. At the end of the day the old saying “no matter what you do on the bike it’s never a waste of time”. Wise words from a wise man called Allan Carlsen. Indeed I got something out yesterdays riding then.
Before signing out I got a small Christmas tip for y’all. Everybody knows the holiday’s gonna be a frenzy of calories. Why not get it out of the way in single meal instead and then continue down the healthy path. Make yourself this cheese and bacon sandwich I found on mtbr.

Happy holiday!

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Couch Potato

This is what his rivals saw of Kristian in todays race. Foto:mbaek.dk

Like I wrote in the last post, Kristian Axelsen is not wasting his time on the couch. Actually he uses every opportunity he gets to race his bike. This weekend was no exception.
The cross riders usually compete both Saturday and Sunday. A concept that might be suited for mountain bike events, but that’s another discussion. Kristian was the runner up in the junior category in the first race in Hammel. According to Kristian, the conditions were extremely muddy due to the huge amounts of rain lately. He was beaten by Emil Arvid Olsen by 20 seconds. In my book that’s almost the same, but in a cyclecross race that’s apparently a huge difference. What do I know!

I talked to Kristian in the evening after the race, where he actually was wasting time on the couch. He was satisfied with his performance and could go to bed without any pressure because he already had a good result under his belt.

Sunday’s venue was in the lesser know town of Nr. Søby, close to Skive. Despite that it was a more prestigious race. 3rdround of the national Post Cup.
Kristian didn’t seem to care about what kind of race it was. He just took off, never looked back and rode away with the victory. The time on the couch was obviously well spent.
With the national championships only 4 weeks away I’m starting to get really excited for our two cycle cross aces. I really hope that Bonne and Kristian will time their progression for that event and show the rest of the fat tire community how it’s done.

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District championships, Cyclecross

There are still a few hard core mountain bikers around, in whose dictionary the term” off season” doesn’t occur.
They have opted to spend the winter break racing, where most of their summer rivals recover from some hard months on the mountain bike.
Two of these energizer bunnies who just can’t get enough, happen to be members of Team Rivette.
Thomas Bonne and Kristian Axelsen are riding the cycle cross races across the country in preparation for the national championships in the beginning of January.
This weekend they rode the district championships in Zealand.
Especially Kristian was determined to do a good performance. He lives in Jutland but the team is registered in DMK and that makes him a Zealander. He got aware of the license situation a few weeks ago when he won the junior ranks in the district championships of Jutland but couldn’t go to the podium according to the regulations.
To that he simply replied:”then I just have to win the championships in Zealand”
To find out if he could live up to this statement, read here in his own words how it unfolded:

This weekend I travelled to Copenhagen to do two cyclecross races. I stayed with Thomas Bonne during my trip.
The first one was with JC cykelklub. The course was not like an MTB course. It was only 2,5 km long, and it wasn’t difficult to ride. But with 25 km pr. hour, it is. I only ride for 45 minutes, so I don’t need anybody to hand out bottles. Mountain bike races can sometimes be confusing for the helpers if the rider wants different bottles on different laps.
I got a good start and fought my way forward. Then I could feel that my energy levels started to drop. I gave it everything I had and finished in 3rd place.
Next day was the cycle cross races in Helsingør, I was feeling better.
The course was much more my kind of style. It was a little like a mountain bike course. It had some sections with stairs you had to run, and some obstacles you could bunny jump (if you were good).
The juniors started 1 minute after the elite field. When we came to the stairs on the first lap, I fell on them, so I got blue all over my body. After that I jumped on the bike again.
5 laps into the race the problem came. “How many laps to go ???” I couldn’t remember how many laps I had ridden and how many that were left. How can you keep track on the laps, when you are racing on a bike.
I finished the race in 39 minutes as number 2.
Thomas Bonne finished 4th in the elite field.
After the race I drove home with Anders Bystrup. We were having a nice trip home with Cross World Cup on my PC, but the batteries only lasted half the race.

Kristian unfortunately couldn’t fulfill his dreams about claiming the gold medal. He got a silver medal instead but also a lot of valuable experiences he can benefit from later in the season.
And of course, not to forget, he also got the lovely red pig in the picture. Great prize!

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