So this is X-mas……

Well maybe not for u, but for me & the DK MTBO Team it’s even better….it’s finally time for 1sy comp at the MTBO Worlds here in Vincenza, Veneto, Italy

It’s late & I need to get some sleep, so this well be short:

Saturday:

-Arrived Sat afternoon after e 7,5 hr drive from Budapest
-Model event & bike tuning Sat late afternoon
- THANKS  to Erik for fixing my front derailleur (to you guys who tried….thx but it was easy to see it was de-shaped & too wide, thx anyway!)
- Dinner with Team at hotel restaurant…amazingly good food…that hazelnut ice cream;-)
 - Good to be with team again, great spirit as always
- zzzZZZZZ

Sunday:
- 9hrs sleep (despite the heat & Lasse “talking” while dreaming!)
- brkf at hotel, not as good as dinner, but eatable
- team meeting
- Another model event, on what should have been a better map – no comments!
- meetings & food
- BIKE TUNE UP: Ms Scott now has brand new Raching Ralphs on her feet, SwissStop pads on the brakes & a fancy new spiral elastic for the chip(off course in DK red color!). so all tuned up, not going down bcs of technical defects!
 - Bag is packed, number bib is on the DK tricot jersey, sports drink powder is filled in bottles…..ALL READY to go…..

Tmrw Monday Aug 22^nd is Long Distance qualification:

-98 bikers, from 30 countries
- 3 heats, 20 best from each heat goes to Tuesday A-Final
- course is around 13,5km long (straight line), optimal route choice 26,5km(double up!) on the way we have to climb 750m & visit 14 control points
- expected winner time around 75min!
 - weather forecast: 30-25drg & sun!

My GOAL:

- qualify for A final!
- not dehydrating!!!

It’s gonna be F*ing hard, hilly & hot….but hey, it’s Worlds, so beat it or shut up!
I’m gonna have a hard time, but so does the other guys…who is the weakest, who is the strongest?!

1^st of all you have to find the controls, the smartest way, that’s what I’m gonna focus on…the rest hurts too much to start think about!

& finally….I have bib number 24….it’s like X-mas eve….IT’s GONNA be AWESOME;-)

I start 09.51….if the Italians make it work, you can follow by fight for a spot in Tuesday A-final on the LIVE results here & more info around Worlds here….

Now time for most important tune up…..zzzzZZZZZZZ

*Mike*

Worlds Tune Up Weekend

336hrs from now......->  I will be after Long distance qualifications, probably lying with legs up looking forward to an A-final start position tmrw, somewhere in the middle of the start group, not so early I have to push down the tracks, not later than it’s still possible to walk the ground without burning the feet!

In other words, 2 weeks to the 2011 MTBO Worlds in Vicenza, kicks off!

This weekend was dedicated to “tune up” i.e. get the body ready for what’s waiting, so the short weekend report goes like this:

Hills, Heat & Speed!

The “a bit longer version”:

Hills: those who read here the last weeks or ever been in Warsaw or surroundings (i.e. 300km radius around!) will know this is a no existing thing here, so to get to hills one have to MOVE!
Heat: to be sure the 2^nd “H” also was fulfilled I choose the HU/A MTBO cup in Gelse, HUNGARY!
Speed: is not only needed on the bike racing against the best Hungarians/Austrians, also if you wanna travel 2 x 992KM, race, eat goulash, recover & race again, all within 72hrs!

With the help of the international recognized “empty road at night” & “if u don’t see a light, it’s save to pass” laws of driving at night, in combination with the horse power of a brand new Passat, a couple of legs that are getting closer & closer to WOC shape & a few cups of coffee:   I managed all within the time limit!

Now Ms Scott is ready for a complete overhaul (new crank bearings, new front rings, new cassette, new chain = $$$$$$) & I’m ready for some serious sleep, but we had a great weekend:

2 x 2^nd place with loads of excuses, technical defects that would easy have given me 2 x 1^st ;-)

335hrs  & counting……zzzzz ZZZZZZZZZ

Description of MTB = mud triumphing beast!

This weekend I was focused on getting out of Warsaw….
1^st of all bcs training in flat, sandy, non-technical terrain, is NOT super fun (who screamed BOOOORING?!)
2^nd it doesn’t help much in the preps for Worlds in hilly, technical challenging & sticky Italian hills
3^rd weather has really SUCKED last week’s here!
 

Thursday eve a few texts to the PL MTBO guys had found the PL MTBO Team had a training camp in Zieleniec, Duszniki-Zdrój (an amazing ski resort in the PL mtn’s on the border to CZ!), “only” 450km from Warsaw! So was happy I could pack the Passat (thx to 99Rent for changing the rental car I have to a brand new Passat St, more or less fully equipped!)  & get out of town Friday morning 08.15, great challenging training in the super mtn weather…..here we come!
 

7.15hrs later I stepped out of car, tired of sitting down doing nothing (other than rodeo driving on PL roads for  7hrs!), hungry & very happy to get on the bike! A bit confusion bat where the daily training was took me further 50km (40min) into CZ & finally it was time to take Ms Scott out of car, mount the map holder & get into the forest TRAINING:-) 15m down the road & broke the chain……unfortunate this was only the beginning of a “fantastic” weekend! 

HOWEVER, I’ll fall into the commonly used “oh how bad it was, feel sorry for me” type description by listing all the negatives, but “always look at the bright side”:

I am happy that:
- the PL MTBO Team allowed me to join their training camp, THX!
 - it didn’t snow at any time, i.e. it was always warmer than 0drg!
 - only one night was it difficult to enjoy a full night sleep due to PL party ppl (in the middle of mtns!)
 - it never rained inside & I slept in a dry hot bed
 - the Ski & Spa pension has a excellent outdoor water hose, great for washing of bike, shoes & rider!
 - it was not too crowded at the MTB Marathon on Sunday in Głuszyca ….!!!!!

Outcome:
Before driving 8hrs back home to Waw Sunday afternoon/evening/night, I got 8hrs +training in the legs in VERY challenging, very hard, very NON flat & extremely equipment tearing conditions which will make nice dry, sunny, easy reachable by highway/plane Italy look like PARADISE…..though it might be hot!
So compare that to why I left Waw in the first 2 places = SUCCESS…..weather sucks everywhere these days!

Suzuki Powerade MTB XM in Głuszyca 31.07.11:

3.28.30hrs, 32^nd out of 352 finishers, 24.19 after winner…..after a race with a small front ring unwilling to corporate from halfway out(i.e. walk up all tough hills!) this was actually OK! Now I would love to have shared a picture or two from race, but they are not uploaded yet, so this will be a boooorrring "text only" post

Next weekend":

Now eyes are still spitting out mud, MS Scott is washed & handed over to service, legs are recovering for yet another week of great training…..while I try figure out where to go next weekend…..goal is: NO RAIN, LOADS of PAIN!

Morale to you who read so far: 

Keep up the smile & DON’T BLAME your missing performance on THE WEATHER….wtf does that have to do with you being lazy and afraid of a bit of water??

;-)

*Mike*

Sunday fun!

Just returned from a Sunday ride in Kozienice & surroundings!

Actually not just a cruise, but another stage of the PolandBike MTB Maratohn series. Despite my fear of a boring Sunday in the saddle, it turned out to be a "Great" race!

The 64 km track was sandy, muddy & flat*, just as expected & therefore would normally go in category "Boring" 
* there ARE no hills around Warsaw, must drive 200+km if u want hills!

But we managed to make a real good bike race out of it:
Result:
Ended up in 2nd group (4guys) fighting for 4th-7th place a rough 5min after the winning trio, so had to settle with a 6th place overall after a chain jam destroyed my changes to fight with two youngsters for 4th! Time 2.16min for the 64km....yes it's fast & flat in the sand!

Start:
After having dragged up a few guys from 2nd start grp (I sneaked into this grp as I was supposed to start down in the luggage box at grp 5!) we caught the leading peloton approx halfway out, a muddy section and a hill (read sand dune) separated 6 of us in a new 2nd front group and we pushed on to keep the gap.

The attempt to brake away:
As I'm not a sprinter I tried to split the small group on a slight descending sandy track 18-16km out, but nobody could go with me & I decided to fall back to the guys. Ending up in front of a 4-man chasing grp with 14km home is not smart, when it's flat & windy...the drag effect one benefit from lying in cover are simply to great & it would have been suicide to lye out there as bate for the hunters!
So I fell back & spend some energy complaining to the lazy guys in the back not taking their turn in front instead...got some Polish verbals back & quickly found me self in front again!


The finish:
I'm still amassed over the poor bike handling skills of the Waw MTB bikers, but the grp was cut from 5 to 4 on a simple ditch crossing a few KM out, he simply couldn't turn! left the rest of us powering on in towards the city & fighting for positions to the final battle. Would have been in a great position to take the 4th place, win in the small grp fight, but my front rings are close to worn out & they choose to remind me as we entered the last km park single track = big time chain jam & 15sec lost....I picked up one guy, but have to see the two "kids" fight out the battle 50m in front of me.....F*ck!

Anyway a great Sunday race, another trophy to the collection & some great race training before Italy....& oh yeah....as there was a category for "Semi-old men, not yet pensioners" I even got a new trophy to the collection....and what a beautiful one....

Waited a long time to collect this one, but biy was it worth the wait;-)

after that we rushed to the car as more than semi black clouds had be gathering above the nice stadium & 2 sec before we hit the parking it's started poring down...speak abt timing!

When organizers get dry I guess you can see more here: results & pic

Paying the price of a tired body.....

recovery is normally something I manage quite well & fast, but it can take longer time if it's been too long since last time one made a proper recovery & THAT seems to be the case here!
At least I have now been struggling since beginning of last week to recover from & get fresh for another attack!

Monday-Monday I have felt a bit sick & constantly tired...what is maybe worse, not hungry(as usual since MTB TRophy!), this dosen't help one to aviod getting sick, so you try trick ur self with some "nice" food u know will glide down by itself (under normal circumstances!) & then u end up with stomach probs:-(

Training has been at minimum level with 100% rest days mon-tue & thu last week & very easy training fri-sat-sun & today. Today I punished my self for not being in the gym 2weeks & made the usual 5x3 double sets...can already feel the arms hanging writeing these lines, tmrw & Wed gonna be fun...!

Hope this is the turn point & expect to wake up tmrw fully recovered & ready to start last 5weeks training plan-> Worlds!
Now time for tea with honney & some vitamin rich fruits as well deserved dessert;-)
Good night
*Mike*

Pilzen 5-days,,,,no it's not a beer race!

After 4days hardcore MTB riding at the Trophy(see previous post) & 4 days hardcore recovery back in Warsaw, I left for Pilzen 5-days quite optimistic in terms of possibility to make a good overall result.
Off course not 100% recovered & therefore not super fast, but with strenght to easily handle the shorter distances & climbs at the famous MTBO stage race of Pilzen.
The 5-days of Pilzen is the biggest MTBO stage race in the world!
Many of the best Elite riders use it as great warm up for the coming World Champs, so guarantee for good competitions, also as 2 stages of this yrs race was World Ranking Event!
Could write loong description of each stage which was 3 x middle distance (#1, #4 & #5), the ultra short park Sprint(#3) + the long (#2), but again pictures says it all:

Stage 1:

Dragged the back derailleur around the cassette on way to control#16 After taking half around with the chain the hanger broke & the chain dragged the lowest polywheel out of the carbon arm!
Race over!!!Not only stage 1 race over, but also the change of a good overall result!!!
Those of you who know me a bit better can imagine there was a bit unusual noise in the forest the following seconds after I realized this happened, as in the action packed moment I felt it like "just" a chain suck and a fallen chain!
A lot of mud & 3 stages later this happened on last stage...a interesting mix of a middle distance & free order:

 A stage win on last stage!!!
Great mix of late start(not so many bikers in the forest), the absolute best route choice executed with only 2 x 20sec mistakes & a mind set to make a good result on the stage despite the lack of overall ranking..47min10sec & I punched in at finish line...hrs after overall winner Martin S from Tesla Brno, but as a "surprising" stage winner!
what started out shitty, ended up ok after all.....left tired, muddy & happy for 2 days touristic biking in Sumava before BikeAdventure 11, unfortunate not to participate, but organizing with my CZ club USK Praha

MTB Trophy

Well, got re-started with first post & loads of good intention......and then it slipped another month before next post! Time is just too limited & time eating temptations too many....

What was MTB Trophy:
4days
290km's hardcore tracks & loads of mud & roots!
10.000m ascent
20hr35min48sec in the saddle
# 83 out of 335 finishers(450 started!)

In other words it was awesome, fun, hard, hilly & hardcore!
But hey pictures says it all & the photographers from Sportograph was quite good at capturing some great moments. Here one of the better, rest to be seen on my picasso album found here
I will be back!

Re-Born, Mike’s blog edt 2.0

So after 9months in sleep mode, I decided to re-open my blog….

WHY?
well, first of all; it’s always fun to write about you self & even if nobody else reads!
and second; it makes me think twice overt things done/not done, great evaluation, which never would have been done if not written on the blog & that might come in handy next time in same situation…& don’t worry, still only gonna write about my training/classes/competitions experiences and plans;-)
3rd, I’m getting tired of FB, it just steals MY time!
& finally, that will be 4th, someone might find inspiration, ideas, scarred away or just have a great laugh!
Feel free to comment, link to your blog/profile or let me know any other way what you think, but be aware this is MY blog & no guarantees given…on purpose!

So wtf happened?
What happened since the cancelled 24hr race last September -> now?
Hrmm. I could of course fill pages & write a movie script or two (yes I’ve been pretty active since then!), but hey. Let’s not force that, sp here are the basics…

“Need to know”’s:

Mike: still working with Ranger, a German based sales company specializing in outsourced direct sales; however location changed to Warsaw, PL (NO comments!) + I added another yr to the experience account!
Ms Scott: Has got some 1.000km under her wheels since last time & therefore got a well deserve upgrade of drive train this spring, so now we go 2x10 with the super reliable Scram XO set; full kit, works amazing & offer almost(see next post from MTBTrophy!) full range of gear needed &…then is looks cool too (same colors!)
MM: Mad Mike, moved with me to Waw & are now teaching a good old classic; 90min Wednesday class at World Class Marriott, Warsaw. Would have preferred one more weekly class, but unfortunate there is only ONE(1) group training studio, so timeslots for cycling classes limited. Almost got some MMM ONLINE up and running this winter, that will happen next season, I have the solution ready, just need the time ($$$) to set it all up!
Goals: Well season ’11 goals where/are quite similar to ’10 & we’re doing good to get there.
1st reached was the qualification for Danish Team for the WorldChamps in MTBO & that’s fulfilled, in mid June I went to DK & raced myself in (competition wasn’t that hard after all for that 4th spot, but hey I’m in!” So August 22nd-28th its MTBO WorldChamps in Italy.
Another goal(that will be 2nd) was to accomplish a MTB stage race & while writing these lines, I’m desperately trying to recover from stage#3 of MTBTrophy, getting ready for tmrw’s final stage(fortunately a short one of “only” 69k with a decent 2.650m of climb!)

Another goal is to get that 24hr SOLO MTB race on the “done” list, but the MTBO Worlds makes it hard to get in the calendar; I haven’t been fit to do it in early June, now it’s getting too late as it would destroy my preparations for Worlds & after I would need a few weeks to prepare properly (i.e. some weekends full of 6-9hr rides) before heading out for a 24hr ride & then the 24hr race season is over….at least in Europe…..might be a good reason to book a holiday!!!!
Season:
Well ’10 ran out & got rubbed into mud at the 24hr race in Budapest in Sep! Simply the weather conditions turn the track into a mud racing track; lap times at start of race was around 14-16min, at around 2am(when I threw in the towel) I spend more than 40min on each lap! An hr later the race was stopped! The disappointment of not finishing (bcs of MUD!) was hard to wash out & it still bothers me today, if it had just been me not strong enough, then I could blame myself, but f*ing mud! Anyway, after that winter season took over with MMM (MadMikeMarathons) and some great skiing trips to Austria
Winter training didn’t quite get hard enough, no excuses, but just a realization that with 2 X flights per week (Nov-Feb) & then the permanent move to Warsaw from Feb 1st (where snow & -20drg welcomed!), just didn’t give time/energy to the real big effort every week!
Came out to spring season with one(1) longer outdoor MTB training with Rob(that’s the guy from the coffee club!) and a Waw MTB sand “Marathon”, then a 2 week sickness period(hardcore cold) & then straight into MTBO WorldCup at Balaton, HU! Results was off course accordingly, but left me with will power(u know once u get beaten up REAL seriously, then u stand up harder on the other side!) to get a great 8days training camp in ITA with the DK MTBO Team. Training with WorldChampions is always inspiring & especially the Wed ride with Erik & Bjarke gave a solid boost!
Then is has been MTBO races every weekend since until the DK Test race only interrupted with one weekend of yet another Waw area sand Marathon(that got cancelled after 30km bcs the route signage had been removed!) Now there are exactly 8weeks & 2days to first trace at the Worlds in Italy & I’m booked in for the toughest MTB stage race in CEE &

That’s it, no more update – now I have to write abt why I’m sitting in a shity hotel room in the Polish mountains, with long socks trying to keep the cramps away, while Ms Scott stand next to me begging for more!!

Thanks for reading so far, would be glad to hear your comments….

More resistance, stand up & don’t forget….. Keep smiling ;-)

*Mike*

PS lost internet connection & didn't have power to go look for it! so 48hrs delayed!