Helene Valerie Fruhwirth

This weekend, Markus, my teammate Hannes Slavik and I went to Poland to take part at the second round of the European 4 cross cup race. It was a long drive up to Poland…we started at 7 o’clock morning and arrived at about 2 o’clock. I was so lucky I just had to drive for about one hour on the way home the rest the boys were driving. thanks by the way…We trained straight away, when we arrived. The track was fast, dry and slippery, had some nice turns and jumps in it. To sum it up I liked it a lot. What I really didn’t like was the amount of girls who where compeating, just me and Anita. Yeah we drive 7 hours to compete against each other allthough we live about 30 minutes away from each other… So we both saw it as a good training for 4x world cup in Houffalize. The weather was great and the croud was loud. But because of the fact we were just 2 girls competing the UCI and organisation ignored us completly. We were both very pissed. We didn’t show up on the qualification results, end results, homepage or on the podium. So it was like we had never raced there. Anyway in the qulification run I my time was 45,8 and Anita’s 45,6 so very close. And in our race run. At the start she was ahead of me on th e first straight and after the first turn I jumped the first double and she didn’t. So I was first but not for long I made a face plant because my front wheel slipped away. So she was a head again and stayed there until the finish.
Hannes got on the fabulous fourth place, considering that the world best best elite Riders were there.Maybe he would have even had a better result without his flat tire in the final run because before that he was on the 3rd position. Markus got kicked out by an german rider in his first heat, the rider got disqualified and Markus got in the next round. At the end he placed 22.
Bye Bye your LENE

Just open this files and you will find me news.. and below you find other news.
season-start2010.pdf

SPY
Apart from that I have also news from my sponsor side. The austrian distributor Motion Sports, owner Hans-Jörg, is the new SPY Distributor from Austria and as far I can tell SPY goes big. So check out the stores where you can get the SPY Stuff. I will asked for a list and will post it soon. The new range from the SPY googles and sunnies are just great. There is also a new MX google „KLUTCH“ and it fits perfect in the DH helmet ( I am running a Troy lee D2).
Hans Jörg also has DVS and Ogio

MICHELIN:
Michelin brought out a new range of tires called WILD. I already got some tires for testing and I can just say wau. I tried the „WILD Rock R“ in 2,1 for 4 Cross on compact earth. The rubbers seems soft and it sticks great to the ground. I really liked it. I will see how it works and loose gravel, but I guess same.

So yes these were the news from my sponsors.
bye bye LENE

pievo-di-teco-2010.pdf
I am still in Italy but this time it is so much warmer and sun is shining on my face. I am waiting at a BMX track in Vigevano. I can’t ride because the gate is locked and so I wait for some people who said they will be there. So I hope they come soon or at all, because the track looks so nice from that what I can see.
This weekend I ride in Pievo de Teco and for my surprise a race was going on this weekend. The first Italian race and I guess one of the first races in Europe. So I didn’t want to miss the chance of doing my first race this year and practice the race situation. There were so many competitors from all over the place. From Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Swiss, Germany. So a bunch of people, I don’t know if there were other Austrians I didn’t hear or see some I know.
The track was very nice and I liked it a lot. Many many turns, some jumps and drops, some very steep section and then speed section as well. But what I really have to criticize is everything apart from the track. The start money was too much 40 Euros like at a World cup. The registration opened at 10:00 on Saturday and then they get one person done in 5 minutes. So you waited up to 1 ½ hour, when you were at the end of the queue. Then I nearly could not race because there is a new UCI rule which I have never heard about before, which says that foreigners are not allowed to participate at Italian races. For this race it was okay because it was a new rule but for the future no. So for everyone who wants to race small Italian races should not waist the time and go there before talking to an official and check the start situation. So and then they had just 2 vans for the bikes and 2 for the people, so you waited at least 45 min for getting a place on the shuttle. And the best was the lunch break from the shuttle drivers of 1 ½ hour. I thought it was a joke but no it wasn’t. I had the luck I had trained with Elisa on the track the days before. Because I had the first 3 runs a flat and then I did just one runs the whole day.
On the race day in continued like this. Not the flats I mean no I mean the organization. We had two runs the first was supposed to be at 11:00 o’clock. But until 11:00 o’clock they didn’t have any start lists prepared. I mean the just had one day to do this…..crazy. And then I got told the start after the numbers. Because I had a very high number I went up early. At the end 3 ½ hours to early…Yes exactly….. I got so tired and was so hungry. And finally I had my first run and I crashed in my first run. Not hard but I cost my some seconds. (no hurts) and the second run was at 16:50. This time my run was much better and I really enjoyed the riding. Finally I finished second after Elisa Canepa and before the Italian Champion Alissa. In the men class won Sueding Lorenzo.
My story isn’t finished yet… Then the price giving was running… or more stopping. The organizers were bringing the sheets with the category results one by one in an 10-15 min interval. You can imagine that makes the whole ceremony very boring and the commentator tried his best but hmm it didn’t really work out to keep the people entertained. We waited 2 hours in a cold building…I was so cold that my body was shaking. Okay I have to mention I am very easy frozen person.
All sounds now very negative but the fun I had during the riding was just erasing and over blinding all this mess of organization and I was very happy the whole weekend. My new bike worked fine, the sun was burning down, and I had fun with Elisa and her team. By the way check out her homepage www.elicaride.com. Her boyfriend and she are running this freeride DH shuttle service in Finale Ligure. I just can recommend this area for training. It’s just great. The city is right on the coast, very nice and the food there is soooooo good. Actually I ate in Pietro Ligure, where she lives and there the food was soo good. Bella Italia.

Ciao bella, how they say here. yes I am in Italy for some training days, in the region Ligure. After I tried to finish my work at home I drove to Italy by myself. From Mödling to Graz I had a traveller passenger. But the other 10 hours I drove alone. I choose the car because I have to go to Milano to see my sponsor, SPY, after.
I was very tired from stressing myself out the days before. Since I am here in Italy I sleep every minute when I am not training. I don’t know why? Maybe I have to get all the sleep back which I have been missing the last weeks. Elisa is already calling me an old women…
I stay with Elisa from Elicaride.com at her place. It’s a nice town and direct on the sea.
The landscape and the little towns are so beautiful, all the little and narrow roads, the old churches and all the old cobblestones made by hand hundreds of years ago give these middle ages town a specific charme. Its quite edilic apart from the weather. It obviously had it in for us. It snowed it down all day and of the top of the hills the ground were frozen and slippery.
I did some runs on thuesday morning but then the shuttle stopped, it was too cold and the other riders had to go home.
It was my second day on a DH bike since a long long time. The first I was with Martin, my mechanic in Bratislava on the last sunday and he helped me to adjust the rear and front suspension. I am running the FOx 40 and the DHx RC4. The rear works already perfect for me but the fork not yet. I don’t know which spring I should run. The purple one is a little bit to soft and the next harder one, the blue one, is to stiff. I will see I have time to test it now.
Yesterday we were in Pievo de Teco. I was there two years ago. It is nice track. A lot of burms and it was fun to ride it with Elisa and her friends. Today we will go again.
bye bye LENE

Last weekend I raced in Val di Sole. (ITA) It was all perfect. I saw an old friend elisa canepa again, I had my mechanic Martin with me, who supported me perfect and the sun was burning down. I trained well and qualified perfectly on friday with an nearly perfect run. 4th place from 25 girls. So really happy about that. Race day …still all good. first heat still all good. got easy in the next round. Semi final… it got worse. I had a puncture in my run, so didn’t make it in the finals. So started in the small final, where I HAD A CAMERA MAN IN FRONT OF THE TRAFFIC LIGHT!!!!! so i couldn’t see the red light. Because I can just start visual I totally missed my gate and finished 8th… WHAT A fu….sh….I protest at the bottom but the ITALIEN UCI (very important italien UCI people, which were absolut unprofessional the whole weekend) didn’t care and they didn’t make a rerun. (the day after i talked with the woman, who has something to say at the UCI – forgot her name- and she said that she would have made a rerun for sure and that she was very sorry for what happened. hmm what can i buy with this sorry. NOTHING!!! So what does that means for me??? now. I didn’t get a chance to get on the podium, I am super angry, frustrated and rode so much better than to be at the end 8th….. and sorry i forgot a „small “ detail, which makes me broken…  I can pay me the World champs costs by myself, because I needed a top 6 result to get a fund. Yeah thanks to the Cameraman, who i better never meet again in my life.

Champery I will try to kill it with all this anger in me… see you Lene

Last weekend i travelled again to Leogang because the IXS cup and the European 4x cup was going on. It was all the same apart from that I was this time by myself and i had to switch the car, my one had a break defect. My uncle lent me his own. Friday the Dh track was in a good shape and the sun was out. I really enjoyed riding it. The 4x track was fast. I had good practice runs and had really fun. It was a great preparation for the World champs there next year. The qualification run went well too. I was 2,7 seconds first. Ahead from Diana Maggraff from Equador and Neza Knez from Slovenia.
Saturday I felt very tired I could feel the races from the weeks before and was empty. It was quite hectic and exhausting to switch between 4x and downhill. And my batteries were finished. At the end the weather conditions turned into a storm and the 4X final race and the elite dh qualification got cancelled. I kept my first place from quali, which was great and I was okay with that because the race would have been on Sunday morning, where i had downhill practice.
Sunday was raceday in downhill and I felt allright but not 100 percent motivated to be honest I wanted to go home to relax for a bite. So was my race run. The track looked not anymore like a downhill track more than a battle field, so deep brake holes and mud lines that you could slice with your brake disc the mud. I found my way down but the time was really crap. I finished 12th. But I didn’t think about it much it was not feeling for racing and so it was fine for me, I can not be always top. (okay in four cross I won, so I can not be top everyday….)
This weekend I stayed at home did some nice XC laps and 4x trainings, RELAXING that it was I needed. Bye bye Lene

So yes what should i say. I am angry about myself. Everything went well the last days. I had good practice runs and a good feeling a good qualification came 9th and in my first heat everything went wrong. I had a bad start, cased the jumps, lost the momentum, lost a passing maneuver and so I came 3rd and was out in the first round. How disappointing is that.
I will watch the DH race and cheer for my team mates. Fingers crossed they will make it better. and see you in Leogang Lene