iXS Dirt Masters

This past weekend the first round of the German iXS downhill cup was held at Dirt Masters in Winterberg. The downhill is a part of the whole Dirt Masters festival, that contains Slopestyle, Enduro and 4X plus a big EXPO area.

The loamy dirt

Bo and I arrived late Wedensday night so we could get situated with the pits and everything before the first practise Friday afternoon. Come Friday the sun was out and the skys were blue. We walked the track and talked about a few technichal sections before we got in our riding gear and went for a few runs getting to know where the track was going. It was acually quite hard the get in some good runs since there were a lot of people on the track and the track was changing every run because of the many startes and the new sections. After the first practise session was over, the skys opened up and the rain came down hard all night resulting in a pretty wet track for the practise Saturday morning.
Saturday I decided to take use of the license training and therefore not going up for practise at 7 in the morning. So I went up late when the track was more dry but still pretty rutted and wet. Nevertheless I got some good runs in with a couple of line changes.

Bo Andersen - Race Run

When the practise was over at 13 o´clock the seeding runs started. I had a okay seeding run ending up on 45th spot, which was okay since I did not ride two of the more risky lines (but much faster) and make a few mistakes. Therefore I knew that I could do better for Sunday and get that top 25. Bo seeded 12th in Masters and still had some in the tank for the race.

Sebastian Jensen - Race Run

Then Sunday came around which started out cold and rainy eventhough the forecast said 25+ degrees.. I got 3 runs in hitting the fast lines and actually felling quite confident that I could get down the hill in a good time. Unfortuantly that rain started again for the race and made the track a big mud hole. Nevertheless we had to race the pretty rutted and wet track. The first of the race runs seemed to be at least 10-20 seconds slow which was quite a bit on the 2 minute track, so the fast times from yesterday was out the window. Bo´s race run did not go as planned, by that meaning that he had crashed a couple of times and generally having a bad run due to the poor conditions but still managed to get in the top 20. My run did not go much better than Bo´s. When I hit the first forrest section I hit my pedal on the ground and rode the entire section out on my seat. But I got going again eager the get the lost time back resulting in making mistakes and then crashing and tearing a legament in my shoulder, but I still got down the hill in 67th place.. So now I need to heal up for 2-3 weeks before I can slowly start riding my bike again.

Sam Pilgrim - The Slopestyle hero at 222Racing

Eventhough the weekend was not the best resultwise we had a great time at the festival watching the Red Bull Berg Line from the iXS telt, which was unreal and generally having a good time with the many happy people all riding their bikes or cheering others on! I can not wait to get back next year!

Results: http://www.ixsdownhillcup.com/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=11&Itemid=529&year=2012&month=05&day=19&title=ixs-german-downhill-cup-1-winterberg&uid=d7ca848ea5f5a99289c51b0c8e335c55&catids=14&lang=de#results-final

- SJ

1st round of the Danish DH cup - Mols

So this past weekend the first round of the danish DH cup was held on Mols (the nose of Denmark). The track is very naturel, with a few man made sections. Overall the track is quite high speed and loose.

Bo Andersen - On the pedals 

Practise saturday was rainy and windy, which was not the best conditions on the very exposed track, nevertheless we had to get some runs in. I got all my lines dialed quite quick and called it a day, since my shoulder was hurting after a crash from the previous weekend in Winterberg.
Sunday started out with good weather and a lot of new faces, which is always good. After getting into the new shorts and jerseys from Sombrio we got cracking with some runs. I was feeling quite good and knew I could set a good time against the other guys. Since we are racing two runs where the two runs are combined to one time, the racing needed to be consistant but fast.

Kasper Nancke - On the pedals as well:)

My first run went pretty good with only a few mistakes - I ended up with the fastest time. For my second run I rode a bit conservative, since the second fastest rider on the first run got a DNF in his second, so I could relax a bit, since I had a good gap to second spot. Both my runs were the fastest at a 50,1 and 50,8 ending up being 4 seconds faster the second place:)
The full results can be found on http://dhmtbk.dk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12315

Sebasitan Jensen - Pinning it down the fastest section of the track

Overall it was a very fun weekend catching up with everybody again and seeing some new faces. The rest of the team did also put in some good results wtih Kasper Nancke in 3. spot and Bo Andersen i 4th.

Podium - Kasper Nancke - Sebastian Jensen - Mike Thisted Christiansen

Next weekend Bo, Christian and myself are going to Dirt Masters in Winterberg, GER to race the iXS German Downhill Cup there. I am hoping for a top 25, but we will see if my shoulder holds up:)

Photos by Stefan Hovaldt - http://shphoto.dk/



- SJ

Første afdeling af den danske dh cup på Mols.

Første afdeling af den danske dh cup på Mols.

Så blev sæsonen skudt af igen med en god start på Mols. Om lørdagen var der som altid åbent for os som vil nå at træne sporet ordentligt igennem inden det store race om søndagen. Det var en dag med dårligt vejr, meget overskyet og en masse småbyer. Ikke det bedste, men trænes skulle der. Det blev til en masse gode omgange, med en del nye linjer efterhånden som vi lærte sporet at kende i løbet af dagen og endte med at vi hver især havde fundet vores hurtigste linjer gennem banen, til søndagens race.
Søndag startede godt ud, med en masse nye ansigter indenfor sporten og der kom flere og flere til i løbet af de første træningstimer. Og allerede fra morgenstunden var der fuld knald på folk. Rigtig mange af de nye var hurtige så det var bare op på cyklen og få det hele indøvet så vi kunne kører fra dem. Seb kørte som altid usædvanlig hurtigt og der skulle hænges i for at følge med ham. Og trods ændringer på sporet i løbet af dagen lod det ham ikke stoppe og det resulterede i hans faste plads på sejrsskamlen – nr. 1.
Jeg selv løb ind i et par vanskeligheder på sporet, da teknikken lige skal finjusteres igen efter jeg har ligget skadet hen over vinteren og derfor ikke har fået kørt ret meget, men i mine race-runs glemte jeg alt det jeg ikke havde fået trænet og fik 2 stort set perfekte gennemløb, som placerede mig på en 3. plads, meget tæt forfulgt af Bo som kørte sig ind på en 4. plads, selvom han påstår at han ikke trådte i pedalerne.

Så alt i alt en meget vellykket start på sæsonen for 222cycles!

Banshee Legend MKII - 2012

 So for 2012 I got myself a new Banshee Legend MKII. This one is a bit lighter weighing in at about 17 kgs. which I am quite happy with:) 

Spec-list:
Frame: Banshee Legend MKII - w. Marzocchi Roco WC shock/350 lbs spring and Burgtec offset bushings.
Fork: Marzocchi 888 RC3 EVO V2
Headset: Acros Ai.25
Bar/Stem: ODI Flight Control bar an stem w. ODI Ruffian MX grips.
Brakes: Avid X9 - 200mm
Seat/post: SDG I-fly
Drivechain: MRP Camber/Podium 36t ring and a S4 chainguide
Gears: Sram XO
Pedals: Burgtec Penthouse
Wheels: Halo 4XR rims laced up on Acros FR.75 hubs with Halo spokes.
Tires: Maxxis High Roller II with Maxxis Welterweight tubes.

This past weekend I have been in Germany to test out the new bike and get some more speed, before the season starts this weekend :)

Stay tuned for some clips and a blog post :)

- SJ