Danish DH Cup #3 - Fyn

So the third round of the Danish Downhill cup went down on Fyn, which is a pretty flat part of Denmark. Nevertheless they have a okay DH track there with a couple of rockgardens mixed up with some jumps and berms making for a good track..
I arrived Saturday at 1 pm after driving the 250 km from the north of Denmark. I got some good runs in with my teammate Kasper Nancke who lives on Fyn, so he knows the track pretty well. I fairly quickly got up to speed on the short track so I called it at day after 5 runs. After I got the car packed up again we headed into Odense, where Kasper lives. We got a good burger for dinner and went to bed to get some sleep in.
Sunday, raceday we arrived at the track a about 10 am to get some runs in before the racestart at 12 pm. I got some runs in on the even more wet track, because of all the rain that came down overnight. Nevertheless I opted for the Maxxis Minions for faster rolling and more grip on the rocks and roots.
My first run of the two went pretty good, I could have carried some more speed in bits, but overall it was a pretty good run coming down on 46,320 about 4 seconds faster than second. The second run was almost identical with the first, holdning a bit more speed in the sections I felt slow on, crossing the line in 46,084 which lead to the win with a combined time of 01.32,404 which was 6 seconds faster than second spot. This was also my 9th win in a row, which I am quite happy with :)

Results: http://dh-cup.dk/ under resultater and Fyn.

Here is a little clip from the podium :) Enjoy - http://vimeo.com/46967929

Right now I am sitting in Copenhagen waiting on my plane to Munich so I can get on with my races for the next two months :)

- Sebastian Jensen

2012 Summer roadtrip

These past 14 days - 3 weeks myself and my buddy Christian decided that it would be fun to pack up the old Citroen Jumper I could loan from my grandfather and head down into Europe to do some iXS races and get some time in on the bikes i 2 Alpes and the Morzine area in between the races. 

THE car!

The German National Championships in Ilmenau was the first stop at the race. After driving through the night from thursday to friday because I needed to work :( Nevertheless we arrived about 9 am after a couple of detours :) So we ended up walking the track two times because we were too tried to ride and we would just end up crashing, so we headed to the hotel to get something to eat and get some sleep in, so we could rip it up on the saturday practice! 

Practice went good, I knew where the track was going since it was the second time I had been racing there. The track was alot of fun with a couple of jumps and berms mixed up with some good roots and rocks to keep it technical. Nevertheless we got some runs in and I felt confident on the track for seeding. Seeding was okay but with a complete stall up top so I knew I had something for the finals. 

Come finals day I was pretty excited to put in a good time because I knew that I had the speed to get into that top 20, which is my goal at the moment. Nevertheless I could not ride the finals due to a sprained ankel I suffered in my last practice run, which was pretty fustrating.. 

Chilling in Ilmenau

Next stop was going to be the European Crankworx i Les Deux Alpes were I had planned to participate in the Air DH if we could get down there in time to get situated, but unfortunately we arrived at about 11 am where the practice was underway so we decided to find our appartment and rest the ankle and buy a ankle brace so I could ride. Fortunately there was about 15 people from Denmark in 2 Alpes aswell thanks to Podium Sport. Luckily Lars Wilbur was on the trips aswell so I could lend a   anklebrace for the entire stay at 2 Alpes (thanks!!). So with my ankel sorted we got the key for our super small appartment and got the bikes fixed :) 

The following week we got a lot of riding in, riding from 10 to 17 everyday, which was super fun since there is a ton of fun an flowy tracks. One day we took the drive over the Alpe d´heux to have a go at the top of Mega Avalanche course which was an experience due to the different conditions from snow to rock only to gravel to dirt. It was quite a trip down starting at 3300 meter it seemed like I stood on top of the world :) It was a super scenic and fun ride down the mountain! The only thing that was lacking in the stay at 2Alpes was more "real" DH runs with technical rock sections steep passages but nevertheless it was a good week of riding and getting the know the Legend MKII more. 

Morzine

The last stop before the iXS cup in Bad Wildbad was Morzine where we meet up with two danes, Jakob and Rune Madsen also known as Team Madsen Racing. Rune was riding his bike after a two year break so it was set to be a fun 4 days of riding in the Morzine area. Once again we got so much riding in that I could write a book about each run, so I will just stick to the highlights of the days. As always the Avoriaz mountain is super fun to ride, with a lot of roots and rocks it makes for some super fun and technical tracks another highlight would be the day trip over to Champery to ride the legendary WC course, and it is true what they say.. it is pretty steep, I think it would be hard to do a full race run down that hill!! Nevertheless it was a great experience to ride the track and get over there because we need to get over three mountains with fun decents and good views. It was pretty good few days riding different tracks than in 2 Alpes! 

Bad Wildbad here we come!

Geneva Lake 

So for the last stop we had decided to participate in the #4 round of the German iXS cup in Bad Wildbad. Bo Andersen and Christian Lynæs took the 1000 km drive from Denmark to Bad Wildbad to race there and take a couple of days off in Todnau, Lac Blanc and Hahnenklee before heading home. For the first time on the trip Christian and I arrived in a respectable time at about 3 am so we could get a nights sleep before the trackwalk and the first practice session on friday. The iXS course at Bad Wildbad is pretty rocky and rough but super fun to ride, when you get to know it. Since I had done a race there in the past I knew where it was going so I could push it a bit more, which was fun! 

Bad Wildbad 

The seeding on saturday afternoon did not go as planned since I went of track and caught up with the rider infront of me, but I still managed to seed 34th, which was okay considering my run. I was quite confident I could crack that top 20 if I could hold it together.. Unfortunately I had a crash in the top section in my race run, but still came down in the same time as my seeding run.. Pretty gutted since I did some runs with Danny Sørensen, also from Denmark, before the finals and followed him pretty good and he ended up 21th, but thats racing I geuss... 

So that was my recap from my 2012 summer roadtrip :) This weekend I am going to race a Danish DH cup on Fyn which should be fun! 

Until next time

Sebastian Jensen

Danish DH cup - Rold

This past weekend the second round of the Danish DH cup was held in Rold forrest, where about 60 people decided to race. The 500 meter long track is filled with manmade jumps and obstacles which makes for a fun and fast track that has a bit of everything. This year they made a few changes in some sectiones, for the better. 

Since I had not been on a bike for 14 days, because of my shoulder injury, I was not completly sure if I could ride my bike. Nevertheless I had a go at it and rode 4 runs in the practise, Saturday. The shoulder was a bit sore, but I could ride with it so thats good :) So after the runs I went up the track and looked at a couple of lines on the new bits, while some of the faster riders got some runs in. 

Kasper Nancke tyre-tapping..

Come race day Kasper Nancke joined me and we would get a few runs in before the race started at 12 pm. At this track we had two race runs on two different tracks with practise in between the first and second race run, the times would be combined into one time. Nevertheless we got going with the first runs. The times on the first track were pretty close. Kasper came in 3rd fastest with a 51.990 and I came in with the fastest time with a 50.508 closely followed by Mike Thisted with a 50.680. I knew I had the speed to clock in a faster time, since I hit a rock that had rolled onto the track which caused the I hit it at full speed resulting in a pretty out of control moment and a bent crankset.. Nevertheless had to get on the gas for the second race runs. 

Sebastian Jensen - Race run no. 2

After some practise on the second track and a good lunch break the raceruns began. The second track had some faster sections that I felt comfortable and I was pretty sure that I could put in a good run. Kasper was up before me and put in a good effort and posting the second fastest time at a 54.169. My run went pretty good but I knew that I could have pushed it a bit more in one section in particular, nevertheless I came down fastest with a 51.371. So with the times combined Kasper got 2nd on the day and I ended up 1st - a pretty good weekend for 222Racing, so Kasper is second in the overall and I´m first. 

Kasper Nancke - Sebastian Jensen - Rasmus Reding

Overall it was a good weekend with okay weather and prime track conditions. Eventhough I had not been on a bike for 14 days I felt good on the bike so I could not ask for more really:) 

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

Results: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/111220/DHCup_Rold.pdf

- SJ

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

Banshee legend 2012

Bike Check :

Spec list:

Frame:  Banshee Legend MK 2 ind black /w Bos stoy rear shock

Fork:  Bos Idelly Rare
Headset: Acros Ai 25
Bar:   Odi  Flight Control - 750mm
Stem:  ODI Flight Control Series Direct Mount Boxxer Stems - 50 mm
Grips:  ODI sdg look on i red
Seat:  Fun Race lite
Seatpost: Acros 30,9
Brake:  Avid cord R 200mm Front. 180mm Rear
Crank:  Mrp Camber
Chain Guide: Mrp G2 mini
Sprocket: Gusset 4X - 34t
Pedals:  Burgtec Penthouse Flats MK 3 
Gear: Sram x-9
Chain:  Sram
Rims:  Halo 4XR
Hubs:  Acros FR 75  /w dB kit
Tires:  Maxxis
Tubes:  Maxxis

Spring Ride

A few weekends ago I saw the oppontuity to test out my drivers license (you have to be 18 years old to drive a car i Denmark..), so I thew my Rampant into my mom´s car and drove 2 hours down to Mols, where there is a DH track and the 222 Cycles "headquater" is located :). I meet up with some from the 222cycles crew + more :) Firstly we needed to build a bit in the DH track, since the first round of the Danish DH cup is only about 4 weeks away. Frankly I did not do that much digging, since I am VERY good a saying where they should dig, haha :)

After a good session we drove to the 222 Cycles "headquater" where we picked up the new Legends + parts for them (bike check coming soon) and drove about 2 hours south down to Vejle where Bo lives. 

                                              

Nevertheless we had a good couple of hours of digging out in the sun before we headed down to Lasse´s vegatable graden where there is a sweet pumptrack and DJs. Lars got his camera out and shot a few pictures of me trying to bar drag and whip it. 

The next day a woke up the an awesome breakfast to start the day out with :) After the breakfast Bo and I started build up the new Legends with the parts we had at hand. After some bike-building we decided to try out Bo DJs in his backyard. Over the last couple of years the yard has grow a lot, resulting in being pretty big now! After a good day of riding in the nice spring weather I packed up me things and headed north to get back to school monday morning.. Nevertheless I had a good weekend with friends building and riding bikes! 

- SJ

Banshee Rampant - Bike Check

Why I ride the Rampant:

For quite some time I have been switching between the Banshee AMP and the Rampant. Both bikes have their pros and cons for the type of riding I do, which is kind of a mix between pumptrack, dirt jumping and downhill, therefore I opted for the Rampant because of the 4" of travel. Actually I spent the most of my time on the Rampant for different reasons. Firstly there isn´t a lot of downhill tracks around my house, that are fun the ride my Legend on and secondly the Rampant is so much fun to ride. I can ride the pumptrack as good as on a hardtail and rail the corners better than a hardtail. Furthermore it is really stable in the air and in general. Which is down to the suspension at the rear that makes me more comfortable, properly because of the fact that is reminds me of my Legend MKII a bit...

Setup:

I run my suspension pretty stiff both front and rear giving me the hardtail fell but allows me to push a bit more when I ride. On the rebound side I run it pretty slow, like I do on my Legend, which I just think is better:) As for tire pressure and tires it really depends on what I am riding, but I tend to run the Maxxis DTH´s with 60 psi most of the time, since is am too lazy to change them :) The bars are also pretty wide at 760mm for a DJ bike, nevertheless I like them wide and I also run the same with on my DH bike.

The build is kind of lightish I guess, since it around the 12 kg mark (26,4 lbs). It wasn´t really a goal of mine to make it as light as possible but build a bike that could take some hits. The bike isn´t too light nor too heavy giving it a nimble and responsive feel, that I am quite happy with:)

Spec list:

Frame: Banshee Rampant w. Fox RP2 - size M

Fork: Marzocchi DJ1

Headset: Chris King

Bar: Gusset Slade - 760mm

Stem: Gusset Staff - 50 mm

Grips: ODI Longneck XL

Seat: Gusset Slim Kev

Seatpost: Random..

Brake: Funn F2 - 160mm

Crank: Gusset Pigmy 853 w. steel axle

Sprocket: Gusset 4X - 25t

Pedals: Straitline

Chain: Gusset Expresso

Rims: Halo 4XR

Hubs: Halo Spindoctor/Halo DJD bushed

Tires: Maxxis DTH 2.4

Tubes: Maxxis..

You can find alot more info on Banshee site: http://www.bansheebikes.com/rampant.html

Pictures: Lars Mortensen

SJ