Kategorie: 2007

On that way I want to say thanks to Trek for the support and the bikes. Goodbye Trek –

Hello Morewood. This company is grounded in 1998 in South Africa by Patrick Morewood. With Richard Carter’s help it grew and morewood frames count now to the best downhill frames in the world. And I for me it is a privilege to ride with this bike next season. The goal was to built a frame which is light and works simple. With the SPI system I think I will take it like a duck to water….I can’t await it to get my frame.

Next year I will be still on Michelin tires, Marzzocchi forks, Sun Rims, San marco saddles, Thomson seatposts and steams, Shimano cranks dereilleurs, Sombrio race clothes, Six Six One protection, DVS shoes, Iriedaily casual clothes, Rsp grease for my bike, Generali insurance company, Acros head set,
What new is, is Syncros and maybe Formula.

The next days I have a important sponsor meeting and there I will see if I can afford me to travel to New Zealand from December to February.

see you LENE

Last week I had my important sponsor meeting with Frontworx and austrian IT/ Consulting business. This company will be addition to Generali my main financial sponsor for the next season. I look forward to cooperate with them and wear their logo.

Last week I had my first no training week. Okay honestly it wasn’t completely free. I was trampoline jumping with Lisa on Tuesday and Yoga on Thursday. The trampoline is a performance of friendship duty and Yoga is a new thing for me which I try and enjoy. In this 90 minutes I am so focussed on my body and my energy that I forget about everything else at least if forces me to do it. And my stretch ability isn’t very good… So yoga is good to work on it.

I also used the week to work on my Baccalaureates writings which I have to do to finish my studies completely. I will fly on the 27th to Newzealnd to train there and race with Mister Crow… Fuffy Fu. I wasn’t sure at the beginning if I should fly because I want to finish the writings before I leave but I think I can make it and so I have also pressure on me to work hard and permanent on it. Oen topic is about the concept, strategies, approaches and possibilities in Sponsor acquisition for individual athletes and the other topic is about sports competition planning with long journeys (jetlag…Logistic stuff etc…)

With both topics I am all the time confronted so I “enjoy” it on a way to write about it. I can slip a lot of experiences in my work.

This morning I drove my parents to the airport and on that why I saw this pylon. In the last second I decided to make a picture of it and I was surprised that I got that shot. I love it.

Chicks on tour (with one guy) report number one….
First of all. The news for everybody who crossed the fingers for me, who asked me all the exam’s questions, who had pantience and my parents who helped me out during the last week, I passed my exam, my last exam, that hardest exam, which nobody is passing by the, no first , no second, yes 3^rd time. This exam for that I have been learning since November. I’m so happy I can’t tell you. Now I can start my season relaxed…And so Petra, Martin and I left Austria friday morning.
The journey started with a little delay…”Martin after these three weeks you will learn to stand up in time”…So anyway. The whole tour was nearly pretty good. No traffic jams or car crashes or thieves. (The italien petrol stations arn’t the safest places)
At the end we couldn’t find our hotel. Somewhere in nowhere hmm we are used to this…that’s racing and travelling.
Petra is a little bit cold. Me too but she is worst. But for me she is a walking pharmacy and so she has everything for every situation and feeling.
The first stop is in Pievo de Teco. This village is located between Imperia and Genova. At the moment I am sitting in my car and it is Sunday miday. The sun is shining and I am wearing shorts and sunglasses. Yipi. It cant’ be better. The track is funny and long (6 minutes). Not to difficult so good to start the season. Many burms,rock plates and very dusty. Better than mud J. I think that’s a track for Petra. I feel good too and the most important I can ride and have fun. The start field is high. Sabrina Jonnier (world champ) and other good riders are competing. The Italiens are friendly and the shuttles service works well.
So yeah that are the news up to now.

Now I am sitting in my hotel room and it is Monday morning. The race is over and I ended up 4^th. Petra 3th. E. Ragout 2^nd and Sabrina Jonnier 1^st. I’am satisfied with my place and my riding. For sure I felt not as well as at the end of the season last year 2006. But it’s okay. I had a lot of fun.

It’s the 7th of February and at the moment I am in San Remo on champing place. We just drove down from Perinaldo to have a look in our Email accounts. 10 minutes before I walk along the beach and it was great. I am not a big fan of the beach and salt water but it was nice.
Today we trained in San Romolo. It’s a great track. Lot of rocks. At the moment i have some problems with my rear shock…. It doesn’t work and I cant feel my legs after a run. So I am not sure what we are doing. Because I have to ajust my shock.

I will let you know and read my news..

Bye bye see you miss DH

At the moment I am in Auch, a City located near Toulouse. Hmm, what are we doing here? My rear shock doesn’t work. I think I hasn’t been working at all. I was on the phone all day; I don’t wanna see my mobile phone bill at the end of this month. I am at the Manitou France distributor office.

What happend the last days? After Perinaldo, we changed our plans and travelled to Ste Maxime instead to Barcelona. We took part at a french national cup. It’s located close to St. Topez. It was a good track. Completely dry and some jumps. One gap and many burms. The only problem was the crowd of people. Heaps of young stars. I think about 300 racers or more. So we could only do 3 training runs on Saturday and no one on the final day.
I endend up 5^th and Petra 3^th. First Sabrina Jonnier again.
I had a crash in my final run so I am not so satisfied with my result.
Nico Vink, the dolphin Trek rider lend me his spare rear shock. I had luck otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to ride my bike well.

I hope the mechanic fixed my rear shock. If yes we are going to Gouveia, International Maxxis Cup race in Portugal..

I will keep you up to date.

Miss DH

It’s Sunday morning, about 8 o’clock and we have our race today. It’s a Maxxis Cup E1 race and it seems to be a World cup. So many good riders. The Atherthons, Gracia, Ragot, Tracy Moseley, Fabien Barel, Matti L…. and a lots of others.

It’s a hmmm i can’t say good track but it’s allright. Many jumps with flat landings so very shit for the body and the bike too. Petra’s rear and front shock doesn’t work good any more.

I have to hurry up. Training starts at 8.

see you LENE

Back again… to Valencia…

I decided to stay longer in Valencia…..and I’m on my own for a while. The french guy drove home to his place.

The weekend was great. I was in Vall d’Uixo (Maxxis cup race) located on the east coast of Spain. Sunshine, good vibes, many people I knew, and a good track (about 2:30min). And the icing of the cake was that I won the race with more than 3 seconds although I washed out one burm. Second was Miriam Blas and third Mireia. In the men’s class, David Vasquez won with Ivan Olego on the second place.

I felt good on the track but I don’t get used to the terrain conditions here (dry/ lots of rocks and slippery). The shuttle way was horrible, but the organisers tried their best. Too many riders too many cars and not enough space. So I decided to cancel my training on Saturday morning cause it didn’t make any sense, as you couldn’t ride without to being stopped by a slower rider ahead of you. I just walked down the track and looked for the best lines.

I enjoyed the whole weekend a lot. I meet a lot of people and some of them are Elena and Gonzalo, two incredible personalities. Gonzalo has the opinion “geht nicht gibts nicht” — roughly translated this would mean “Won’t work? Doesn’t exist!”. He is a Spanish Mac Gyver. He made a complete Motorhome by himself, a four wheel bike, a Downhill frame…. and many different things. He plans to built a small “Doppeldecker” Airplane.

He made also a rear axle for my bike. One made by aluminium so it’s much more lighter than my last one. (200 grams to 90 grams YEAH). Elena is cool and it’s also nice to talk with a woman. She is the same age like me… Sometimes it’s to much maleness for me… stupid jokes…

Pytter the owner of Turyciclo, a bike shop in Valencia helps me also out. (THANKS)

Yesterday I was in village, hm I don’t know its name, but it was so cold. In the night, I think it was freezing. We slept in Gonzalos country house. Very pretty….But for me definitely too cold (no central heating and all is made of stone)

Now I will go and cruse around Valencia with Manfred Nagl, an Austrian rider (Nailracing). I met him at the race. With a surprise to meet the Nailracing Mafia there.

on you tube you can see a video of Gouveia

See you LENE

I am on the way to Auch with Gonzalo. My car is still at Fabien’s place.. at least I hope so.

The weekend was a little bite disorganised… Maybe disorganised isn’t the right word. I think I just not used the Spanish way of living. To sum it up in one word “SLOW”. Instead of leaving Valencia at 14 o’clock we were on the road at 17:30. The others ate late and went late to “bed”. All 7 persons slept in Gonzalos van. You could open the roof so 3 person slept up and 4 down. Every person had about 50 centimeter space to sleep (more or less) It depended on your sleeping style. Hmm and then snorring people too.. I don’t have to mention that I didn’t sleep very well. BUT the training day was very good and very funny. I liked the track a lot. It was totally different to the track in Vall d’Uxo. No rocks and not dry as it rained and was muddy. Not too much but enough that your clothes and protection were wet until the next morning. We cooked in the evening and took a shower, ate a friend’s place somewhere in St. Andreu. Not knowing, that the 3 other riders, who slept last night up in the car, had decided to sleep in the friend’s place, we stayed in the middle of St. Andreu with the car. It was loud and I could not sleep. In the morning the three others didn’t tell anything and went back to Torrelles… We didn’t know the way back very well and so Gonzalo and I missed the training in the morning…we weren’t in time. Perfect —- I was sooooo angry about everything and everybody. What a crappy day. My first run was horrible I didn’t find my rhythm and I was so cold. The weather conditions were worst than the day before and it was much colder.

I was not very happy about my run and in my final run I tried to do it better. I ended up 2^nd but I was still not satisfied with run. I did some mistakes. I have to forget about this weekend.

I need a warm bed, more than 8 hours sleep an early dinner and a training run in the morning to ride well.

See you miss DH

YEAAHH at the moment I’m in Monaco. Visiting my friends from Kona…
I stayed one night in Auch with Gonzalo and after lunch I left Auch… I drove about 5 hours to St.Tropez-Les Issambre. There are living friends of my parents who fortunately went on holiday these weeks and so I had a place to stay for 2 nights.
Yesterday I was in St.Maxime for a second time. I really like the track so that’s why i came back. The weather was fine and the track was dry. Bastien, a local rider, was with me and his friend (THANKS!!! a lot) drove us up the whole day.
In the evening, I will drive to Sospel to visit other Austrians riders. And tomorrow – hmm – I hope I can go for a ride. At the weekend I will go to Pay or Torino or to Switzerland….

I will see

LENE

The last days were nice so nice. Totally different to the other days, weeks. No racing just playing with the bike, going out, enjoy the city live…  I spend some days in Genova with Alberto Accettulli, an ex Kona rider. He lives there. I wanted to visit him on the way to Italy but I couldn’t make it so I made it on homeward journey. Genova is a very interesting city. You can find everyting there you just have to keep your eyes Y-open. From the rich and beautiful to the gangster drug dealer neighborhood. Narrow alleys, old buildings, lots of small groceries, thousands of shoe stores, a church on every corner, thousands of lively moped rider…. and a crazy italien car driving style… I was overstrained when I wanted to cross the road by foot – by bike it was good but by foot uiuiuiui perilous. But I had a knight in shining armor how held my hand.

One day we went for street riding on the other in the skater park. I was the second girl who has ever ridden there. I think for the Italien Skater and rider i was an alien. A typical italien girl doesn’t make any sport and especially not riding a bike. The main goal is to be beautiful and get a sun tan and find the newest shopping trend that’s all what they are doing. The last day we went in a bike shop. Alberto’s rear hub broke down and I fixed it for him. The owner of the shop didn’t say hi or good bye or looked at me nothing it was like I didn’t exist. But he wasn’t the only one. BIKE and GIRL no way…

The last afternoon I spend with Alberto on the beach. Lying on a stone and listening to the waves. It was so hot and I got a sun tan- yeah now I was like an italien girl…I was so lazy and I enjoyed it after this very exciting 6 weeks travelling across europe.

see you LENE

Back home….After nearly 7 weeks I arrived in Austria. I have a lot to work through the impressions. Many things and many moments happened which I will never regret and never forget.
The last year I was on tour too. It was such an adventure (NewZealand). I was alone, didn’t know somebody and had no idea about the country. This time I travelled around Europe, but I knew a lot of people so it was easy to organise. Organise is maybe the wrong word because to sum it up my plan was to have no plan.
I came home with the expectations something has changed, like everytime but like everytime I am realizing, with my first step in my house, that nothing has changed. The same people are waiting for you, (I mean good to know that someone is waiting for you) you here the same stories from the same people, you have to do the same things…
I have to realize again that nothing has changed. It doesn’t matter how long you are away, it is always the same. I don’t want to say that it is positive or negativ.
At the moment I am very tired. I think I have to take it easy. I can’t do everything at one day. One friend told me one day “ gotta get the most important things done first”.

See you LENE

SUN/RAIN/SUN/WIND/HAIL/SUN/RAIN hmm and than SUN/WIND….. wired weather…

On wednesday I arrived at Santiago de Compostella with 2 other Austrian riders. I checked my luggage through and so it’s always exciting „Will I get it? Or is it lost?“. Standing at the conveyor starring at the black whole…. This time I got all my stuff in one piece.YIPI (I flew with Iberia, maybe it is important for someone).
Thursday we walked down the track. My mechanic, Chris fixed my bike perfectly. It was kind of strange to have somebody with you, who does everything for you. I’m absolutly not used to it. In a way I was irritated and stressed. All the years I did everything by myself and suddendly there is one who makes all. I should have been relaxed but it wasn’t easy to left my bike to someone else. On friday, I felt good on my bike. I didn’t make every jump but it was all right. All the years I missed it to compete in Vigo, because I was injured. This time I made it and i was happy to see a lot of riders again. I would not say that I have heaps of friends in the dh circus but with some persons I can talk more than just „hi how are you, how was your winter“ – For example- Jenna Makgill a Kiwi lady. We had a lot of fun when I was in New Zealand and so the fun continued in Europe.

At the final day I was soo nervous I can’t explain. I rode so bad. I didn’t find my rythm I didn’t hit the right lines and i made two big mistakes.. I ended up 17th. The position isn’t that bad but my time. wohhh. 44 seconds behind the first lady Sabrina Jonnier. It was nobody’s weekend apart from Mario S.. Boris T., Georg S., Tom W. and Mathias S. crashed in the qualification run and Anita and I in the final run. I was very gutted. But yeah that’s racing and I have to learn to cope with the situtation. AAAAAAAAAAnd i am not injured.
On Sunday we went out. We are: Anita, Tom, Chris, Niki and Dominik (two swiss riders) and I. We went bowling. I haven’t tried it before and it was sooo funny. I mean bowling in generally isn’t that funny but we had so much fun. We At the beginning sometimes we made strikes but the more alcohol was ordered and later it got the more pins kept standing straight. I didn’t drink anything, everybody who knows me knows that. So at the end I looked after the group and drove them home to the hotel. After the two bowling rounds we went to the riders party. Honestly apart from dancing it was borring. Everybody was standing there and ordered one bear after one. Yeah that was the weekend in Spain.

Today I will pick up Kai Crow from the airport. A Kiwi (NZ) rider. I travelled with his cousin, Hadley around New Zealand and so I know him. He will stay in Europe until September and we will compete some races together. So I think you will hear a lots of funny stories and see funny pictures in the next months.

See you Lene

On Friday Kai and I got the privilege to ride on the new freeride trails in Wagrain. The bike park hasn’t opened yet but Stefan the Marketing Co Manager drove us up to the top so that we could do some runs. We had luck with the weather. The sun was shining and we used the day to make a photo session. The bikecrew is like a big family here. Everyday they are eating together in familiar atmosphere. We were very welcomed. It has nothing to do with racing, pushing your self or looking for the best and shortest line. Here you go for a ride to spend hours with your friends, doing heaps of runs without getting tired and hanging out at the evening at one of the most beautiful parts of Austria. The bikepark has an own park patrol which is made up of about 5 people. They are doing all a very good job. All are riders who are knowing how a bike park has to look like.(Whistler style). The park has a new big wall ride. Just huge, but so build that everybody will have fun. The obstacles are for everybody even if you are beginner or pro rider. It’s a good track with big burms and it was just amazing how much forest was setting in motion to built this park and it’s still growing. Over the summer thew want to built 6 new single tracks.
Thanks for the nice day.. See you soon Lene (On the 16th of June is the Bike Opening and I will be there)

Kai on the big wall ride

Thanks to DVS for the new shoes