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Wonderful Copenhagen & Xterra Denmark

8th Sep 2014

I couldn’t wait to visit Denmark for the first time in 5 years, have a nice holiday with friends… and hopefully finish off the European Tour in style.

Happy end to the European Tour

13 years ago I booked a one-way flight from London to Copenhagen, for something silly like £29.99 on Ryanair. It was the first time I’d flown by myself, and I boarded the sardine tin armed with nothing but a massive rucksack and a rudimentary knowledge of Danish (which I’d attempted to teach myself in the university language lab in between taking my Geology and Ecology finals!) I had no idea where I would even sleep that night, but I was determined to find a job, learn the language, make friends, and live in Copenhagen for a year. Oh the fresh-faced optimism of the 21-year-old new graduate!

Needless to say this would be the greatest challenge/adventure I had ever undertaken. But the lessons I learned in self-belief, determination, resourcefulness- and sheer unwillingness to give up, still serve me today. I’d say all those skills are pretty darn useful in Xterra racing too ;)

So the minute I saw Xterra Denmark listed on the European Tour, I was in!! I couldn’t wait to revisit “Wonderful Copenhagen”, show my husband where I used to live, and catch up with some of the friends I made all those years ago.

Sightseeing in Nyhavn

So the holiday part of our trip was amazing- we arrived to Copenhagen at its best- in warmth and sunshine, enjoying the sightseeing and coffee culture, and I even did one of my old favourite running routes round the city lakes. I used to do km reps round there with my former athletics club! We had a couple of lovely “hyggeligt” dinners visiting old friends, and were feeling relaxed as we headed up to Tisvilde- the Xterra venue- an hour’s drive from the city.

The Viking weather Gods were unsettled up North, though, and it was under threatening skies that we met up with Mike and Shula- our friends from TVT- to recce the swim, bike and run courses. Or rather- Mike and I did the recce-ing; Simon and Shula had the far more important task of getting the beers, pastries and Cocio* in! (*Cocio = the best ever Danish chocolate milk!)

Pre-race viewing of Jaws before our sea swim!

Most athletes were staying at the nearby Youth Hostel, and it was pretty cool; self-contained apartments formed an athletes’ village- and of course this being Denmark, it had a nice cycle lane into town :-)
Pre-race pasta prepared, although I’m not sure “Jaws” was the best TV viewing the night before our sea swim. But it was the only English programme showing, and luckily none of us seemed to have trouble sleeping!

On race day we woke up to rain. While the bike and run courses were at the “easy” end of the scale technically, this would be a whole different story in the wet! The sandy soil turned to mud and clay- making the steepest climbs almost impossible on the bike without spinning out, and steep downhills on the run a lethal mudslide.
We actually saw one Pro lady get her bike out the car, look at the conditions, put her bike back in the car and drive off!!
One down...

Race briefing under foreboding skies! (Credit Camilla Hylleberg)

The sun tried to come out as we warmed up and racked, and everyone (except I’m guessing Conrad Stolz- who enjoys a good mud fest!) was hoping the course would dry off while we were in the swim…

But little chance of that- as no sooner the gun went, the rain started again. Our spectators claimed to be as wet as we were by the time we finished the swim!
The sea which had been calm for 2 days was choppy and wavy today, making it tough to sight or swim in a straight line. I had a frustrating swim with age groupers zig-zagging across me constantly- it seemed I could never move forward in the pack because someone would just swim in front and I’d stall. Anytime I went wide someone seemed to follow and push me wider and further off course, so in the end I just gave up & settled into the group of red hats (=other Pro women) who I trust more to swim in a straight line and a steady pace. In the end I exited with Renata, Carina and Helena who’d had a great swim… Inevitably I wouldn't see them after T1 until the finish!

About to get very muddy! (Credit Martin Paldan)

The bike was super muddy and slick, I left my glasses in T1 as I couldn’t see anything through them, but soon regretted this as I spent the next 1:55h with mud and grit constantly flicking in my eyes- from my own tyres and anyone in front. Lots of hills we’d ridden in the recce were totally churned up and unrideable in the mud- especially when the person in front of you stops to walk there’s nothing you can do. That is the same for everyone, but most frustrating for me was trying to ride the downhills with my eyes closed or having to scrub off speed to try and minimise the mud flicking. Yes it sounds lame, but I literally can’t see when too much grit gets under my contacts as they move out of place. Its days like this I think I should save up for anti-fog clear glasses and laser eye surgery!!
And some trail shoes…

…I’d been apprehensive about the run having skidded on my arse testing one of the descents, and having only road shoes to race in. But actually I really enjoyed it- trail shoes or not everyone was skidding all over the place, grabbing hold of trees or just sitting down and sliding which was the fastest method in places! The final km of each lap was a tough slog running on sand, but I was gaining time on several of the girls in front. Sadly it wasn’t enough to catch anyone and I had to settle for 7th. Just enough for the final podium spot though, so I was happy!

Happiest on the run :-) (Credit Martin Paldan)

This left just the 4th discipline of cleaning endless muddy kit before it could be packed- thanks to Simon for cleaning mine and several of the ladies’ bikes! A well-earned dinner in one of Tisvilde’s many posh bistros, and finally calling in on the Swiss party house! We arrived just in time to watch Alistair Brownlee win the World champs in Edmonton (via laptop), and celebrate Katrin’s win today, Jan’s 4th place, Renata’s 5th, and Cedric and Franziska’s top AG results.

Everyone is looking forward to a few weeks off racing… then see you all in Maui!!