Out Of Office

Training first of all have to be fun. That's the direction I have moved towards in the recent years. Skipping the heart rate monitor, gps, purchasing a slightly heavier full suspension bike with longer travel and dropper post has all been part of that, making it all more playful. But the training for the AZT race has changed my perspective on training. Longer training sessions on the bike with and without baggage. And the need for more varied kinds of training. It's still a lot of fun, otherwise I would lose motivation, but the goal seems to outshine the downsides of the more serious approach. The most drastic step has been to start running stairs. I do it once or twice a week at Herlev Hospital. Being the tallest building in Denmark (120 meter) with 25 floors makes it a good option. The steps are rather low which makes it ideal for running up two steps at the time, and down one step at the time, putting less stress on the knees. And is it fun? No, not really, actually it is bloody bor...

In my search for terrain a little similar to AZT I went to Sweden to ride Skaaneleden, a network of hiking trails connected by dirt roads. Like the AZT they are not designed for mountain biking. I got what I came for and, also learned a lesson or two.

I arrived in Solvesborg on the East coast Saturday at 12 am. The sky was grey and soon after it started to rain and it only rained harder as I hit the first trail, continuing to pour for the most of the day. The trails mainly pass through deep pine forests with lots of roots and rocks, all worn smooth by thousands of hikers passing through. When wet they get slippery, a challenge that is normally quite easy to tackle, by riding aggressively and constantly adjusting direction and weight distribution by the upper body and legs. But the extra weight on the bike, from carrying camping gear, caused instability and a loss of the ability to rapidly change direction made handling slow and sluggish.

First lesson learned; terrain that is technically...

I have lots of demons stopping me from doing the training I set off to. "I have to shorten my training session otherwise my wife will be mad for my late return" (which I know she won't, I could not wish for a more supporting life companion), "one of my kids will call me, asking when I'll be home" (which they often do, but it never seem to be a problem that it will take a while), "I am beginning to feel sore, that extra loop will bring me to exhaustion", "a shower right now would be nice", "I am beginning to feel hungry" or I suddenly remember something that I should have taken care of at work, that need my instant attention. And so it goes on. I am working on it, trying to get rid of this nagging feeling of having too little time. One of my training routes brings me right from my front door to Amager Faelled which is a nature area full of paved and unpaved paths, no cars and prone to strong winds. Several loops can be added to the route. There is one loop, I always ride which is a sing...

Probably not a challenge any mountain biker would even consider; carrying the bike and all other luggage on his back and front. Well, the AZT race requires this for the 37 km long crossing of the Grand Canyon, since biking is not permitted in the ditch. I set for the challenge (once again) by searching solutions on the internet. The need for a comfortable bag as the base for the setup is crucial. I have used my Osprey Talon 22 with some additional straps sewed on in the top, as well as the ones at the bottom, for fixing the frame to the bag. The fixing is now straight forward but the weight distribution has to be perfect. At first I left the rear wheel on, and strapped the front wheel on the outside of the setup. But the rear wheel being exposed to the wind makes it a rather unstable setup. Both wheels strapped on the outside makes it too tail heavy. I have now tested and settled on a setup with the saddle bag strapped to the Camelback on my front and the Osprey and bike on my back, ca...

Gulping the distasting, too sweet and stomach disruptive gels is now belonging to the the past for me. When researching for alternatives for a scoop of energy boosting substance, I came across chia seeds. It grows natively in South America and was known as a sustainable energy source by the Mayans. Nowadays Chia seeds are mainly praised by ultra endurance athletes as a real alternative to energy gels. That fact is what made curious to try them out. My very first experience was at my solo 24-hour race in Rold Skov in Denmark earlier this year. I had packed 24 servings of Chia gels (recipe is to follow) in small plastic bags. I swallowed one serving per hour, along with small servings of rice/chicken/ketchup also prepackaged in small plastic bags. I raced from 12 am to 6.30 am the next morning only with a few refueling stops. At this point I had had a defect on my bike for a couple of hours, only  getting worse and not repairable, so I chose to bail it while it was still fun and avoiding...

An important aspect in the preparations for the AZT race is testing how the bikes handling is affected by the luggage. During a 149 km long training ride in Northern Jutland i did a testride on Slettestrand mtb trail, situated close to our family summerhouse. The trail is both highly technical and has some nice flow sections, great for testing the bikes ability to maintain its handling. What I found is, that the luggage does not affect the handling that much. On the flow sections I can throw the bike almost as brutally as usual, climbing is also not a problem, lifting the front wheel over obstacles, but the drop sections causes the front and rear tyres to touch the front bag and the saddle bag. The latter is mainly because I refuse to discard my dropper post. The front bag is my Osprey Talon 22 containing tent, sleeping bag and sleeping pad. The reason why my backpack is used on the front is, that I am using it to strap the bike onto, for the crossing of The Grand Canyon. I find it too...

On june 23 in the afternoon I boarded the train from Copenhagen to Kalmar in Sweden to do the crossing from the east coast to the west coast on mountainbike. Approximately 410 km, ranging between long straight dirt roads through the endless woods, animal paths and rolling forest floor covered with rocks, toppled trees and moss. My bike was packed with tent, sleeping bag, freeze dried servings, snacks, a gas stove and a lot of other stuff. More about that in another post. I have done some 24-hour solo races, the longest covering 264 km in the wood Rude Skov close to Copenhagen. Nevertheless I was uncertain how my body would react to the long trip with luggage on the bike and between 3 to 6 kilos on my back, depending on the content of my water bladder. The trip should be the first in a series of trips aiming to get my body accustomed to the long days in the saddle and test my choice of clothes and gear for the Arizona Trail Race. And of course first of all just a nice experience....