Hotcup Race #1 - Third place

Result: Third place

Bike: Trek Superfly FS 9.9 SL, Fast Trak S-works/Rengade S-works 2.0 - 1.6bar

So this was the first race of the Danish Hotcup. There are seven races all in all. Most on weekends but some on weekdays. The weekend races, like this one, are 2 hours plus the lap completed. There was a bit of rain during the night and morning leading up to the race. However the terrain was mostly dry. I chose to ride the full suspension bike with the narrow S-works tires as I was expecting a slightly bumpy but quick race. Preperation during the week was good. Everything felt 100% going into the race.

Results:
HotCup #17

Race story:
The start at the race went well and just a few minutes into the race I found myself in the lead group with four (!) other rider's from my club (Jerry, Stefan Larsson, Nico and Björn) and two Danish riders. The pace, set by Björn at the front, was brutal. I just hung on for dear life, mostly at the back of this group. The only rider in this group who was in my category (M40) was Stefan Larsson, the other riders were all younger.

The terrain was fast and furious with some gravel roads, some quick single track but also mixed in with some virgin tracks which were slow and slightly tricky. The relative lack of grip of the S-works tires compared to wider Schwalbe (Rocket Ron / Racing Ralph 2.25) was noticable. I had a couple of hairy moments on the first lap when the pace was particularly furious.

Our lead group started splitting up at slightly over an hour into the race with one of the Danish guys going off in front. Still the rest of the group, with six riders, continued to cooperate with Björn letting the rest of us come up to lead for a while. Then Nico and Björn went off ahead and left us. At about 1h40m I started feeling rather tired and dropped off at the back of the group. No other bikers caught up from behind so I was on my own. With Stefan Larsson competing in the same category as me going ahead this means I was second in M40 at this point.

At around 1h50m into the race I noticed that the back of the bike started behaving slugishly in the corners. I suspected a puncture or some sort of leak (perhaps a 'burp'?). After just a few minutes I was sure that something was wrong with the rear tire. Sometimes in the past, in this situation with a slightly deflated tire, I have tried to continue but I always have to stop in the end anyway to fill up with air. So this time I stopped almost directly, took out my CO2 canister, and as quickly as I could gave the rear tire a boost of air, hoping that the puncture fluid in the tire would seal whatever leak there was (or if it was just a 'burp' then the tire would hopefully hold air). Checking Strava later shows that this stop cost me less than a minute of time. However I was passed by quite a few riders while I was inflating the tires and I was unsure of how many of them were back markers and and how many were actual riders on the same lap as I.

So back on the bike and full speed ahead again. I was rather tired and this point. However I feel I managed to finish the race at a reasonable pace, still riding alone. The only problem towards the end was that there were a lot of back markers that needed to be passed in some thight single track conditions.

After finishing the race a quick check showed that I had come in third place. So one M40 rider had passed me while I had my tire problems. However, the quick inflation using the C02 also saved me third place as the fourth place guy only came in 14 seconds behind me.

I'm very happy with the race and especially with being able to hang with the quick guys for 75% of the race. Riders like Nico and Björn have previously always disappeared at the start of a race and I would not see them again until after crossing the finish line at which point they usually had finished some 10-20 minutes ahead of me.

Conclusion:
This is the third time that the S-works tires have burped during racing. I may need to re-evaluate how I use them. Higher air pressure? Any suggestions?

XCup Race #1 - 11th (overall)

Result: 11th (overall)

Bike: Trek Superfly 9.9 SL, RocketRon/RacingRalph LiteSkin 2.25 - 1.55bar

The first race of the XCup was a time trial race. I had test ridden the track a few days before the race under terribly wet and muddy conditions. The loop consisted of 5 easy but long uphills on gravel roads and the same number of downhill segments. I had hoped that the terrain would have tried up before the race... It had not. I chose the hardtail with grippy tires because of the weight advantage of the hardtail over full suspension bike. The grippy tires were due to the fact that I expected muddy conditions. Slightly higher air pressure than I usually run due to the amount of gravel road climbing that had to be done.

Results:
XCup #17

Race story:
I had been feeling a bit poorly during the start of the week so I didn't train during the first three days. But on the morning of the race I felt quite well and confident.

I was expecting wet and muddy conditions. However, with 250 riders having gone before me it turned out much worse than expected. Some areas were deep in mud while other were quite dry. But after sliding around in the mud with no control it was hard to trust tires when there actually was grip. I got stuck in one particularly big mud puddle and had to get off the bike and run past it.

I feel that I usually handle technical tracks quite well these days but this was a bit too much.

Looking at Strava I did the uphills quite well, so time was lost going downhill.

The heart rate data for this race was the most extreme in a long time (could be a sign of me not being 100% ok): 192 max puls, 181 average. I can't remember when I last pulsed that high.

I finished the race in 11th place. Now, everyone rode in one catagory, so this result was overall with a total of 266 racers taking part. I still feel a bit disappointed.

Conclusion:
Crazy amounts of mud are bad for me

Dustcup Race #1 - First place!

Result: First place
Bike: Trek Superfly FS 9.9 SL, Fast Trak S-works/Rengade S-works 2.0 - 1.6bar

The first race of the Dust Cup was a time trial race. I chose the full suspension Superfly because it seemed appropriate. There was some rain during the night but not enough to change to grippier tires so I went with the narrow and fast-rolling S-works. We got to the race early enough for a practice ride. The course turned out to be fast and furious. A lot of steep (short) climbs and manic technical descents. A LOT OF FUN in other words!

Results:
Dustcup #17

Race story:
The lead up to this race was not optimal: I did mountain bike guiding for a group of "advanced riders" the day before. This turned out to be a bit more intense than I suspected. So we ended up doing 2.5 hours of HARD riding in the forest. I had also biked the two days  before this so race day was the fourth day in a row that I biked.
The time estimate for the race, which was three laps, was just over an hour. So there was really just one way to go: Full on from the start. As it was a time trial we were sent out with 20s intervalls and drafting was not allowed. There was really no quick rider just in front of me to hunt down so no motivation there.
As always I held an eye on my heart rate and saw it go up and settle on a nice lever of just above 175. I know that I can maintain this kind of pulse for 1+ hours without problem. I just tried to be smooth in my biking. No braking in the technical descents and try not to crash. There was no real problem during the race, the lapping went well and I my feet didn't leave the pedals at any time.
During the second lap, when two of the Elite riders caught up with me I went a bit harder than I perhaps should, but the lap times turned out quite even. I managed to keep my heart rate even during the race and even the last lap went well.
After finishing I quickly checked the live standings and noticed that I was in the lead. And then it was a case of waiting for all the other riders to finish. In the end it turned out that I had won the race.

Conclusion:
I like quick and technical courses and I'm good at them

Fitness MTB Classic

Result: Fifth place
Bike: Trek Superfly FS 9.9 SL, Fast Trak S-works/Rengade S-works 2.0 - 1.6bar

This is a popular Danish marathon race with most of the good riders taking part. The race is 4 laps of a track totaling 76km. Some quite technical sections with lots of roots and some steep inclines and descents. Ahead of the race the weather forecast predicted rain through the night leading up to race day. So muddy conditions were to be expected. I was trying to decide between running my usual RocketRon / RacingRalph combo with plenty of grip or to go with the quick rolling Fast Trak/Renegade combo. In the end (mostly out of laziness as the wheels were already on the bike) I decided to go with the Fast Trak/Renegades. This turned out to be a mistake. Oh, and this was the first race on the full suspension Superfly.

Results:
Fitness MTB Classic

Race story:
The start went well but I had to do some work to get up to a group that had Henrik Söberg, Henrik Ahlbäck and Palle Jensen. However, after catching that group I just went past them and up to the next one. This new group with riders I didn't know held a really high pace and so just before the end of the lap I let them go.
At the start of the second lap Henrik Söberg and Palle Jensen, together with some other riders caught up with me. We rode together but after a while Palle went off the back. The group got smaller all the time until it was just me, Henrik Söberg and another guy. I managed to stay with them until just before the end of lap 3.
The last lap was a real struggle. I was out alone and towards the end of the lap I started getting cramps in my legs. Nothing that completely stopped me as I was able to straighten my legs just before the cram really struck seriously. However it did slow me down. I dug down deep and managed to keep a good pace finishing fifth.

Conclusion:
I'm getting good at this technical stuff. BUT I must NOT be lazy in the future: change the wheels to use the correct tires for the circumstances.

Slushcup Race #7 - Final and deciding race: Marathon!

Result: Fourth place
Bike: Trek Superfly 9.9 SL, RocketRon/RacingRalph LiteSkin 2.25 - 1.4bar

The final race of the 2014/2015 Slushcup was, as tradition dictates, a marathon. 3 hours racing + the lap. Before the race started I had a three point lead in the cup ahead of Palle Jensen: I needed to finish today's race at most two places behind him to win the cup. I had the full suspension Superfly set up and was thinking about using it but I had only done one single ride on it the day before the race and on the morning of the race I noticed that the rear ('Stansed') tyre had deflated slightly. So I rode the race on the hardtail.

Results:
Slushcup #7
Final Cup standings

Race story:
The start went well and I found myself in a group with Henrik Söberg, Henrik Ahlbäck and two young elite guys pretty quickly. On my way up to this group I passed Palle Jensen so I knew I had him behind me. Söberg set an almost unbelievable pace so I just hung on for dear life.
After about an hour I started to realize that I was not performing 100% on this day and so I decided to let Henrik Söberg go. Henrik Ahlbäck took my wheel so we helped eachother. The pace dropped but I felt that we were going along at a nice rate anyway. 
Imagine my surprise when about halfway through the race, we're caught up by Palle and a small group of riders. My spirits dropped through the floor as I realized that I was not having a good day, my legs were already getting tired, and it seemed that Palle was going really well. I started thinking about the implications: If Palle went ahead I could not allow more than one other M40 cyclist to come between him and me if I wanted to win the cup. The pressure was immense.
However Palle did not immediately make a break for it and we the group remained. Palle, Henrik Ahlbäck, one other M40 guy, and me. This continued until we went out for the last lap.
Just as the last lap started in a crowd of cyclist to lap Palle took the chance (just ahead of a log which one had to jump over on foot). I got stuck behind backmarkers and Palle went away with one other M40 guy. Henrik Ahlbäck was behind me for a while but then I went away from him and lost sight of him. I was alone. At this point my body is screaming for me to stop and lie down and just sleep for a while. I try to keep up the pace as I first hoped to catch Palle's group. When I realize that that isn't happening I just go as fast as I can in order to not get caught from behind. With about half the lap remaining I look behind me and notice that Henrik Ahlbäck is approacing from behind. I started to seriously worry as I did not have any energy left. Somehow I manage to keep Ahlbäck behind and crosss the line in fourth place, Palle finishes second. I win the cup!

Oh, and I drank about 2dl in total during this race. That's bad.

Conclusion:
I need to get better at planning my marathon races. Also drink more!!

It seems I'm the first person to win the Slushcup who is not a Dane:

Slushcup Race #6 - Fourth place

Result: Fourth place
Bike: Trek Superfly 9.9 SL, RocketRon/RacingRalph LiteSkin 2.25 - 1.4bar

Video(s): https://www.youtube.com/user/AlexanderLapajne/videos

This race, the sixth one in the cup, was advertised as "short, technical". This means 60 minutes + the lap and well, the technical part, can mean anything. In this case it meant huge amounts of roots and mud. This was one of the most technical mountain bike races I've done. So the track did not play to my strengths at all - I was worried. The situation before the race was that I had a 2 point lead on Jørgen Petersen-Bach and 6 points ahead of Palle Jensen in the standings. 

Results:
Slushcup #6
Cup standings

Race story:
Knowing that it was going to be technical race I decided for low air pressure. Below 1.4 bar in front and 1.45 in the rear. I also rode almost all of the race with my fork in the open position, something which is very unusual for me (I often ride a race with the fork locked the entire time). I got to the track early and tried a lap and yes; huge amounts of roots and generally difficult terrain. The decision to run low air pressure was correct.
The start went well and I decided to advance early on, while still on gravel road, because I knew there was a climb starting as soon as we got into single track. So I passed into single track perhaps in fifth or sixth place. Probably my best start of this winter cup. 
I had to let Palle go because he loves this kind of terrain and he was lightning fast on it. I ended up fighting for positions with 4-5 other M40 guys for most of the race and I was in second place most of the time (with only Palle ahead).
At the end of the third and last lap I did however have to let two M40 guys go in the most muddy part of the track. I did catch one of the guys just before the finish line but as it was tight single track before the finish I had no means of passing him.
So I ended up in forth place, 1 second behind 3rd and 13 seconds behind second place. My first time in the cup not on the podium (so no podium photo this time, I'm afraid). However, my main opponent, Jørgen, finished in eigth so gained valuable points on him. Palle, of course, caught up with me and is now only three points behind in the standings.
The next, and last, race is the marathon next Sunday. Should be interesting


Conclusion:
It's good to start hard

The total Cup standings with one race to go:

How much do saddles weigh?

The classic: Selle Italia SLR Carbonio

The expensive carbon: Tune Komm-Vor

The cheap carbon: Cycle King

The original Trek Superfly saddle: Bontrager Evoke RXL

Lauf Fork

The kind folks over at Lauf Forks sent me their amazingly light fork to test last year. I used it in a few races and it performed beautifully. All 965 grams of it, as you can see by the photo. Now which one of my Treks should I mount it to?

Slushcup Race #5 - Second place!

Result: Second place
Bike: Trek Superfly 9.9 SL, RocketRon/RacingRalph LiteSkin 2.25 - 1.5bar

The fifth race of the cup. The race was supposed to be a "tonser", which in Danish means easy gravel road race. There was plenty of gravel, however also two hills to get over. The trails over those two hills turned into a mud bath. This made for some very interesting biking. I managed a second place which increases my lead in the total cup standings.

Results:
Slushcup #5
Cup standings

Race story:
The prelude to this race was me being out with a cold at the beginning of this week. I had a very easy session on the trainer on Thursday. Then I did a 1.5 hour ride in the forest the day before the race. Things didn't feel too great during this ride with high pulse levels from quite low effort. So I did not have high hopes for the race. Things however turned out better than expected.
I should say something about the track and terrain. There were two hills to get over. One was taken from two different directions. Two of the climbs were on single track while the third on gravel road. Both of the single track climbs were impossible to bike up during the race due to the muddy conditions. The mud also made the descents really slippery and hazardous. There were many falls and some injuries as well. I managed to stay on my bike (probably because I descended carefully).
The start went well but just a few hundreds of meters into the race two guys came together just a couple of meters from me, took out both of each other, and almost me as well. Not a good way to start the race. Some of the younger elite guys formed a leading group and behind them there were four of us in a group. Two younger guys in the 'mens' category, and then  Jorgen Petersen-Bach who is in my category and one of my main contenders in the standings where he's in third place, just three points behind me. So Jorgen and me were on top in our category. I knew I had to keep him in my sights. I managed to do so until the last lap where he was just too strong. Jorgen won the race and I came in second.

Conclusion:
Muddy conditions make for exciting racing. There's more grip in the grass than in the mud.

Slushcup Race #4 - First place!

Result: First place
Bike: Trek Superfly 9.9 SL, RocketRon/RacingRalph LiteSkin 2.25 - 1.5bar

This was the fourth race in this winter's Slushcup. And I managed to win it! I'm very pleased by the fact that I managed to place second overall. This result puts me in first place in the total cup standings.

Results:
Slushcup #4
Cup standings

Race story:
Well, I had sort of a poor start again. I went out around 15th-20th place. Then I worked my way up to four guys who were up on top. This group shrunk by one after a while. So the four of us did most of the race together. Of the group, two were in my class (Henrik and Jörgen), and one guy was from the younger category (Anders). The pace in this group was quick and I had to work hard just to keep up with them. I didn't do much leading as Henrik was out front almost all of the time. I lost the group a few times and managed to work my way back. On the last single track part, just before the finish, Anders went away and after a while also Henrik. Jörgen dropped back behind me and was out of the running. I slowly worked my way back to Henrik on the last part which was a slight uphil on gravel road, the last few hundrets meters towards the finish. So it ended up with a spurt between me and Henrik Söeberg and I just managed to edge him out by a second

Conclusion:
It's good to go out hard

Isstjerneløbet

First race of the season: Isstjerneløbet 

Result: Fourth place
Bike: Trek Superfly 9.9 SL, RocketRon/RacingRalph LiteSkin 2.25 - 1.5bar

Results: Isstjerneløbet

Race story:
Massive amounts of snow made the race really technical. This was the first race on the Trek Superfly 9.9 I was in 12-15th place after the messy start. I started chasing down the guys in front of me as soon as the terrain got a little easier. Overtook some guys and managed to race down the leading group of 6 riders after the first lap (of two). Soon after lapping there were just three of us in the lead group. Unfortunately I lost the other two guys in a technical section... 1km from the finish, while lapping a backmarker, I manage to fall. I get back on the bike quickly and race on but I get passed about 50m from the finish line when one of the guys that I hadn't noticed comes from behind at full speed. So I missed third place by a few seconds

Conclusion:
I'm happy with the performance under difficult technical circumstances (all the snow)
I was able to contain my enthusiasm and paced myself when chasing down the lead group. This is good.