Riding Report... Denmark 'training Camp'

It just so happens that we have family living near Copenhagen.. I love the place, Copenhagen is warm and friendly like a small town atmosphere and the sheer volume of cyclists makes you want to shout at our planners and councillers here. Just down the road from our in laws place is a cracking forest , where my brother in law has shown me a pretty riding loop . Last time I brought my helmet , pedals and shoes and thoroughly enjoyed a couple of rides on an aching Rockrider MTB.
This trip was to be different, I had full permission from my wife to travel with my bike. So after lovingly wrapping the Focus (Pit bike)  it in bubble wrap, pipe lagging, ring clothes, taking dangly bits off, I delivered it to a disinterested looking chap at over sized baggage at Gatwick south , half expecting not to see it again until March.
I needn't have worried. £58 well spent. EasyJet did alright and after reassembly I was pleased to see that it was no more trashed than when it had been sat in my garage.
So the Christmas stuff was done and dusted and boxing day gave me my first opportunity to nip out for a ride.
Rude Skov. despite Denmark being small it has plenty of forests, Rude Skov is only a few kilometres from 'base' and is about 1 1/2 times the size of Hundred Acres ( my local 'forest') Its a varied 4.6 mile loop with plenty to keep you interested.
across a squirrelly field and straight into the woods and the first climb. deep ruts, plenty of surface puddles  greet you the soil is a mix of clay , dark slick mud over roots and that springy leaf mould type soil that you get in pine forests.

 A really tricky short descent is made even hairier by rounded rocks and grey wet clay.. no problem on a mountain bike, but on a cross bike, quite scary. Fully commit and let go of the front brake ; hoping the rear can control speed and keep you out of trouble.winding along until  a steep run up means passing the grinders on 29ers and 26" beasties. they may have an advantage on 90% of the tracks, but the rooty 'steps' on wet soil means a cross bike will win every time .. Run it!!

Denmark had suffered similar high winds in the preceding weeks and numerous trees had come down forcing a dismount and clamber before setting off again.
It soon opened into a moorland / cleared area  and the pace can go up a bit, good practise with running over the fallen tree hurdles.
a short section of rooty trees and fire track until you met the road again.

Opens up by the lake

The second half of Rude has a different character. Lots of roots and micro climbs keep you focused and some long snaking sections through the trees means you can get the hammer down and speed up a bit. one last long run up which is part of a rocky downhill track.

Sunrise in Rude Skov

It seems that despite Denmark's love affair with the bicycle there is virtually no Cyclocross bikes or scene at all. Quite often we were met looks and questions regarding my bike. while we did eventually meet a few riders, the whole thing was very new. Hopefully it can grow and I can get a few races in next time, as I was missing Wessex league races.

 despite a few northshore bits Rude Skov is pretty natural. Erosion and alternate lines abound the wet weather really makes it a mud bath, but cool different kinds of mud.:-) But it was close to 'home' and good training.I could have defaulted to the firetracks that criss cross the forest, but decided to stick to the blue dot path as I knew it and it was good keeping the heart rate up while dashing between sections, then waiting for my brother in law.

Geel Skov. is very different.. lots of tight cornering, punctuated by steep bannks, is a fair decription..

. It suited us as we were allowed to take Chico the dog with us and has a lot more walkers milling around. The circuit is very manufactured and meanders its way around the forest, ekeing out convoluted lines and taking in some very interesting sections, getting the most out of whats available. Local clubs must have spent ages cutting sections into hill sides, building berms and clearing scrub. Downhill from the carpark is a great way to start. then imported gravel and berms greet you a heavy dark wooded section all on rooty slickness.up and down, looping back on itself it was very technical on the roots, and I had to dismount and run some of the awkward banks. One section was imported gravel and hardpack, a few berms led you into a wall ride around a bomb hole. confident and incredulous of the sheer inventiveness of the trail builders. the stupid grin was soon replaced with wide eyes as three successive drop offs tested your confidence. a short pump track section into sand and onto a deforested area. Punctuated by switchbacks up and down steep banks. I had to take the chicken run around some 5 foot drop offs ( not going to do that on a cross bike)a glorious ridge before a section of long grinds and slope, uphill again and down.,. this part , while probably great on a 29 er in the dry or summer , it felt very contrived as even the cross bike was struggling with the meandering around trees and mud. 3/4 of the way around and things became claggier and claggier. While my riding partner hated it and soon ran out of steam, I loved it. slick mud, tight corners and a kilometre or so to run. Even overtaking on the outside and bunny hopping logs :-)

Gloopy shit

It was fast and a lot of fun. the last section, back up to the carpark was pretty quick and I was knocking on the door of claiming the Strava segment ( another ride I would have , but it wasn't to be, the rain returned and I caught a shitty cold)
I got  a few miles in by popping into Rude Skov on the way back. As a training camp it was crap. I couldn't sleep properly, and my food was less than optimal. I eventually succumbed to the cold that everyone else had been through, but I got  a lot of technical riding in , where normally I would have had none. sections got dialled and i grew in confidence in cornering around the trees. It was mainly too technical to really open up the fitness as my bike handling limitations held me back, but it was brilliant fun,
TRIMP scores for the week were pretty good and my PMC shows a good blip, that peaked my CTL and would have left me nicely set up for the last Wessex league.

The bike handled things OK. I dont really have a reference against, but I figured athat  a29er would be awesome for most of this stuff.
On the cross bike I struggled on the really tight winding stuff, the drop offs were horrendous, NorthShore no chance and meandering around tree roots hard going on the arms and back.
It was quick to run up stuff where everyone else had to spin a granny ring, so it felt like it flowed better.

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I went through a set of brake blocks ( salmons ) but not much sand and the mud was like soup (not grinding paste), so the pit bike will probably be ok. I was very suprised how expensive bike components are over there!!
I will definitely be travelling with my bike again. and maybe go further afield exploring different forests.