The Workbench

2010 Redux: Hell of a Year

2010-12-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

Every so often I haul out a jacket and find a boarding pass stub. Abu Dhabi to Chicago. Knoxville to San Diego. The ever-hilarious Las Vegas to San Diego, where seatmates ask “how’d you do, I still have a quarter left.” “Sounds like you did better than me!”

But for all the travel this year, just one trip to the wind tunnel (with Felt and Terenzo Bozzone as he was fitting to the new DA). Remarkable. Of course, I have two tunnel trips already lined up for ’11. God bless the fan….never get tired of it.

The year started with lots of new events. Abu Dhabi, Rev3 Knoxville. Ironman St. George, my new favorite most beautiful course, and stuff I didn’t get to, like the TriStar races. Love seeing the balance of events out there.

Of course there were the standby Ironman and ITU events. I found myself up many nights in hotels, the night before covering a race, watching WCS races on the Internet. I sure hope I get to one or two WCS events in 11, as I miss these races; it’s where the Maccas and Raelerts came from, but also where the Whitfields and Snowsills reside with authority.

While the expected dominance of the Ferraris in Gomez and Brownlee were expected, I’d say my race of the year in short-course came out of Stuart Hayes (above), who rode away from the pack and stayed clear to win at Kitzbuhel in August. Awesome.

A trip to Eurobike with my boss John Duke was remarkable. We had just one German meal (I had a nice plate of spaetzle), because our hotel was on the far north end of Lake Constance (meaning a significant drive to/from the Eurobike venue). As such, I ate most meals of wonderful local fare at….. McDonalds. The only draw to the golden arches was that it was the closest place with a wireless connection. So after we ate, Duke went back to crash, and I wrote and filed gear stories for the LAVA website at McDonalds… up till 2 a.m. most nights.

I love driving in Europe. And I love driving there with a Garmin’s Nuvi. Driving rental cars 105mph, the auditorial direction telling me to turn on Dresdnerstrasse, with Duke yelling at me in the passenger seat “DON’T DIE ME!!!!”

The week before Eurobike I was on my own for a trip to Italy with Giro. One of my all-time fave trips. (Shit, any time I go to Italy and eat pasta carbonara it’s a favorite trip). Riding flow tracks with Hans Rey, doing shit on a mountain bike in the Italian Alps that were past my skill level, doing a nosedive into an air pit off a quarter pipe (see the below vid). Great new shoes from Giro, and fun as hell testing them by climbing the Stelvio. Taking that one to the grave.

I’d have to say the close to the year was one of the most memorable in my career. Kona was remarkable, as ever. Macca versus Andi was Ironwar II, I don’t care who you ask. So good to see Macca take a second title, reiterating that he’s one of the greatest champions in this sport, period.

I got to watch him race short-course, make the transition, suffer, take his lumps, learn his lessons and make it to the top. I think these two images of mine below speak for themselves. (And man, I felt terrible documenting Chris’ rough time that day in 2004…but he was cool with it.) His time came. …twice now.

Macca, 2004, 0 Ironman World Titles

Macca, 2010, 2 Ironman World Titles

It was great to be there with my wife Donna racing, of course. But to capture the moment when the women’s pro field gasped when hearing that Chrissie Wellington wasn’t going to make the Kona start was remarkable; it was like a sonic boom. So too was Mirinda’s solid win. All year, she was a beast. My fave moment was at Oceanside 70.3, waiting to take splits, as the O'side Police ran the speed gun on her. "Wow, that little lady's runnin' real fast, huh?"

Caught Speeding

The chaser came with Chrissie’s utterly stunning display at Ironman Arizona. Every time Chrissie races, I know I’m privy to a front-row seat to an amazing display, and her comeback from being sick was f’ing awesome.

To say she goes “fast” just doesn’t cut it. Max Longree had to gather himself to re-pass Chrissie early in the run and hold her off the rest of the marathon, lest he become part of the many pro men who were “chicked.” He crossed, looked over his shoulder and said “amazing… that girl is just amazing.”

Watching her race was fantastic… as always, a front-row seat to history.

But the best part of that race was getting to see Jordan Rapp throw open the throttle again. The last time I’d seen him race, he was dragging a huge group around at Abu Dhabi Tri. After Abu, Jordan was left fighting for his life roadside after a collision with a vehicle. After a hard spate of rehab, I saw Jordan at Rev3 Knoxville, and couldn’t believe the knot in his collarbone, or the scars that were healing. He’ll always bear those scars, but he’s really put the event behind him pretty damn well. Well enough to score a sweet fourth-place finish. To see him tearing up as he came up on his wife Jill before crossing, was like witnessing a personal moment I shouldn’t have been privy too. I can’t wait to see him get after it again in ’11. Plus it’s sweet having him contributing to our mag. The dude knows shit…. Not many of those people around.

A look into a private moment for Jordan.

Finally, the year kicked off with the launch of what was just an idea a year ago. I left Triathlete magazine to help Dave House start a new title called TRI up in the L.A. basin (though he was nice enough to let me work from home). Just two weeks later, John Duke, who left Triathlete just after me, was walking with me in the parking lot at the Y to masters and said “you jumped too early.” I asked “what are you talking about” to which he replied “I can’t talk to you about it now, but let’s have coffee in a week or so.”

That coffee laid out what John had up his sleeve: a magazine very much in the same vein as what I was going to do with TRI. He offered me a place on his ship. I’d worked with him for 10 years and was grateful he thought of me to be part of his new project. With Duke at the helm, and with the WTC as owners backing it, I knew I would be fighting a tough battle trying to produce a title against that. So I joined him, as well as many others, who I generally considered the crème de la crème of our former employers, and collected some great freelance writers that we believed in and had strong relationships with (though we considered firing Ben Greenfield for his boxershort-and-tie rendition of the Village People's YMCA at the Ironman 70.3 Phuket after-party). So great working with Duke, Brad, Susan and Erica, Heather, Laura and Lisa, Wattie and Kayla again, with a few other talented new faces on board; we're having a blast making the mag we always wanted to see. The results speak for themselves.... we're a proud lot, and hope you like this new offering to the market.

What do we close the year with? Lance announcing his first tri DNS at the Rotorua Tri (via Twitter no less, not sure why he refuses a relationship with the endemic tri media, but I digress), leaving me feeling terrible for the poor race organizers, who probably poured a ton into that race. At least they have good national heroes in Bevan Docherty and Bryan Rhodes, and a possible showing by Peter Clode, who will make that title a hard-fought one.

Oh yes, gear? I’ll get into it on our website, but my top five for 2011 were the Trek Speed Concept (No. 1 by a long shot, for so many reasons), the Garmin Edge 800 (touchscreen!) The Timex Global Trainer (finally stepped up with true GPS, without needing an arm transmitter), Zipp Firecrest carbon clinchers (aero aside, the design just makes for easy-to-install tires) and Giro, entering the bike footwear realm with brilliant road kicks. I can foresee a tri shoe in the works…soon.

Looking into 2011, I’m sure there will be as many amazing elements as came stock with 2010. Already planning coverage for LAVA that will continue to make it all look as awesome as it truly is. If you want a sneak peek and our next issue, visit the blog of our photographer Donald Miralle, who joined me on my last boondoggle. (You'll find a shot of me at the Mercedes Benz Berlin museum, chillin' by my wings-up ride with the ice cream paint job.) If you call three days in icy Germany a boondoggle. It’s a piece I’m proud of, and proud to have Don’s work accompanying. A hint: It involves this guy, who put the entire men's 70.3 field in his rear view mirror in 2010.

I’m stoked my wife will be around a fair bit more. She just joined an old friend in Siri Lindley and will be training with Siri’s group in Santa Monica and Borrego Springs, so I’m checking Amtrak train schedules to L.A. Gonna be a fun year for her, with new teammates and new sponsors. I hope to update this space a bit more, but LAVA is taking much of my time, and Donna taking the rest of it. And training too….I hope to actually race at Oceanside 70.3 instead of just sitting on the back of a moto taking pics. Lucky I don’t forget to feed the cats at night!

Back in the Land of the Living

2010-09-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

Back in San Diego from Vegas after Interbike, and getting my mojo back. Sorta. I'm trying to keep my fitness somewhat intact, and while my swim and run are nowhere, my bike has been solid. It was fun going out with my wife Donna last week for a 90-miler. This Saturday I scaled it back to 66 miles, but the ride was twice as hard, with 105 degree temps and headwinds that were just beating me down... but not Donna.Not sure how the race in Kona will sort out (it's a pretty stacked field, if ya haven't heard), but I do know she'll have a solid bike time if nothing else. Never seen the girl ride stronger. Should be fun to watch her rip it up, coz she loves the heat, and she loves the wind. Pretty ironic, considering she's from the cold climes of St. John's, Newfoundland. The blood has permanently thinned. In fact, while I finish the ride looking like a salt lick, with helmet straps looking like they've been dusted in snow, she has not a bit of salt on her; years of training in the Philippines and Thailand have clearly tempered her body.

With a coming trip to Kona taking place next week, I may file a post or two here (maybe lift this blog off the ground again for a bit!) that may not be cogent or applicable at the LAVA Magazine site.... which is where you'll find a plethora of activities in the days leading up to the Hawaii Ironman on Oct. 9.

BTW, above is a shot of Donna headed up to Ramona, tearing me up Saturday. After a few 5.5hr rides with her, I'm very, VERY familiar with the look of her rear wheel...

Gu Launches Savory Gel Line

2010-03-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

On the heels of the wildly-successful Roctane line, Gu debuts a new line of savory gel flavors for 2010. I didn't realize there was a market for this, but clearly Australians and Kiwis will eat anything (see Vegemite and Marmite, each of which are supposedly discernable varietals of yeast extract), so I reckon this will be a hit with Down Under athletes. GU's PR agency said LAVA will be receiving a delivery tomorrow of samples of the new line for test. I haven't seen the nutritional count for some of these, but I would be very curious whether Mushroom Rush could integrate the cordyceps sinesis that has has been an endurance benefit in the supplement end of things.

Abu Dhabi Starts Saturday: Who’s gonna be crowned Arabian Prince (and Princess?)

2010-03-11T23:43:00.000-08:00

Pundits and experts are doing odds on who’s going to win the inaugural Abu Dhabi International Triathlon and its $50,000 first prize. (Am I missing that they’re taking odds in Vegas by spending too much time at the blackjack tables?) Normally, they'd be good educated guesses. Not here, not tomorrow. As the first race, we contend that a long shot could beat the oddsmakers, and I'm not even going to venture a guess.

Why? For many, it’s the first race of the year. For many, they’re coming out of winter. For some in the Southern Hemisphere, they’re coming into the race at year’s end. Who’s ready to go? Good question.

“That’s the exciting thing,” said Rasmus Henning (pictured below). “Nobody knows how anyone else is doing. And it’s the first race of the year for me—I don’t even know how I’m gonna do!”

Yvonne Van Vlerken of the Netherlands said it’s not about worrying about anyone else other than yourself. “I feel rested, and I felt like this before setting the world record,” she said. “I know the course is made for me—but that’s on paper. I don’t know what will happen outside.”

Then you’ve got folks that are playing their fitness down, maybe sandbagging a bit. “People are playing it down like ‘aw, we’ll see how it goes,’” said Trek/K-Swiss Aussie Joe Gambles. “But when that gun goes off, it’s going to be on. As soon as this race was announced last year, people would have put this on their front burner—forget back burner.”

Being the first race of the year, there are so many variables that I don’t think many are considering….like:

Who’s coming from Southern Hemisphere? Raynard Tissink (South Africa), Bryan Rhodes (New Zealand), Leon Griffin (Australia)

Who’s coming from heat? Tereza Macel, Rebekah Keat (Thailand) Faris Al Sultan (Abu Dhabi), Yvonne Van Vlerken (Fuerteventura), Eneko Llanos (Lanzarote)
 Who’s coming from cold? Rasmus Henning (Denmark), Bjorn Andersson (Sweden), Rutger Beke (Belgium).

If this was Kona, we’d all know where everyone was; at either heat (Kona camp, Canary Islands) or altitude (Boulder). But with everyone converging from their personal Bermuda Triangle, this one’s gonna be interesting to say the least.

Friday marked bike check-in for all athletes, (preceeded by a splash in the Arabian Sea for most folks) and gave us journos a good first look at athlete race rigs for 2010. Take a look at some goods from today’s check-in.

Belgium's Rutger Beke racks up for Saturday's race.

Dutch pro Yvonne Van Vlerken get in for a splash.

Locked and loaded are Phillip Graves' Specialized Shiv, and Julie Dibens' Trek Speed Concept.

Canadian Sam McGlone practices her beach start entry Friday morning.

Australian Joe Gambles is one of the other few Trek/K-Swiss pros lucky enough to have an early version Speed Concept.

Gambles (far left) chats with fellow competitors on the shuttle from T1 to the hotel Friday.

This caught our eye; Simon Billeau of France figures that the course is flat enough to run a single large chainring, using a custom-fabricated chainguide. Note the absence of a front derailleur shifter on the aerobars. For all that attention, he has a frayed rear derailleur cable, absent a cap.

Leanda Cave's Pinarello sports a set of the new Easton EC90 race wheels.

Abu Dhabi International Tri Press Conference: New Season, New Opportunities

2010-03-11T04:51:00.000-08:00

Change is here. Saturday marks the debut of the inaugural Abu Dhabi International Triathlon, and by all accounts, a new event, in a new venue, with new distances is being very, very well received.

Absent is the pre-race stress, the uptight, the cards-close-to-vest aspect. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s March and Kona isn’t until October. Maybe it’s the nice, warm temps and the hospitality that this first-year event is putting forth for the 800-plus athletes taking part in Saturday’s long-distance and short distance races. Thursday morning at the hotel restaurant resembled a class reunion as athletes from across the globe re-united after a winter off.

“This is the way for me—to be relaxed,” said Hawaii Ironman third-place finisher Virginia Berasategui of Spain. “I like it that way—things like Lava Java, things like that that help me enjoy the race."Great Britain’s Philip Graves echoed the sentiment: “It’s been grim at home—it was negative 6 (Celcius) when I left for here,” he said. “To get here, it’s the first time we’re all seeing people again. It’s great to come here and hang out.”

Of course, with a $115,000 pro prize purse on the line (including a cool $50,000 going to the mens and womens race winner) we can be sure that demeanor will change Saturday. It’s what drew arguable the finest, deepest pro field outside the Hawaii Ironman to Abu Dhabi. “Baring a few ex and current world champions, it’s the toughest field of the year, no question,” said South African Raynard Tissink.

Certainly, it’s great to see new investors in our sport, and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority is to thank. With German Faris Al Sultan as a catalyst (as someone who has spent tons of time training in the area) as well as the success of a recent success of a race that Richard Ussher won here, the tourism authority’s Faisal al Sheikh (above) has taken the sport into an arena that is accustomed to hosting Formula I racing, horse racing and cricket on a much larger scale.

“We’ve always created an initiated diversive, exclusive events in Abu Dhabi, and triathlon is a mass event that can be seen worldwide. We believe in this kind of sport,” said al Sheikh. “We firmly believe that triathlon, set against the backdrop of Abu Dhabi, will be a wonderful platform to showcase our city to the world.”

For Al Sultan’s part, he’s enjoying seeing a world-class collection of athletes on what is, in effect, his second home. “It was 11 years ago when I first came here to train and race,” he said. “It was my dream to have a world-class race in the emirate of Abu Dhabi."

The athletes have been nothing short of impressed.

“It’s certainly a great place to race,” said Team Trek/K-Swiss Aussie Joe Gambles. “I’ve never been to this part of the world, and it’s amazing to see the area, and see all the best athletes here. They’ve done a great job pulling this together as a first-year race.”

What’s the race going to be like? Being the desert we can expect to see lots of sand, and it’s fairly flat on the bike and run. But what we do have that is going to shake things up is a long two-lap 200k bike, preceded by a two-lap, 3k swim, and followed by a short 20k (two-lap) run. This is certainly a cyclist’s race, and it has some licking their chops.

“I’ve been waiting for a race like this my whole career, with a short run—I can’t be more excited,” said bike specialist Bjorn Andersson of Sweden. “Between me and Philip Graves, I think we’ll have a strong group at the front of the bike, and for those of us that aren’t very good runners, we need to build a gap on the bike.”

For starters, the swim will likely be under a light fog layer. This morning, a layer of cool fog blanketed the city. By 9:30 a.m. it had burned off, exposing a fairly harsh sun and temps in the upper 80s F. That should be good news for early starters on the bike, who may take advantage of the cool temps to nail in a solid gap to open the 200k bike.

It’s that long 200k bike, followed by short 20k run, that has everyone suggesting “what-if’s.” What if Phil Graves and Bjorn Andersson strike out to an unassailable lead on the bike and make it a two-man battle to survive the runners over the 20k run? What if the runners like Eneko Llanos is keeping things close? What if the short swim puts poorer swimmers like Yvonne Van Vlerken and Heather Jackson to the front of the bike in front of the likes of Sam McGlone and Julie Dibens? Or what if Tereza Macel’s heat training with TeamTBB in Thailand turns into her ace-in-the-hole?

Yes, there will be one constant: heat. “You won’t have an advantage by riding the course; your advantage comes from training in the heat, and that can be anywhere you can get it.”

Said Tissink: “I expect a lot of walking, and maybe some tears out there.”

Considering that many athletes here are coming out of their winters, one of those guys who did some heat acclimatization was Spaniard Eneko Llanos, and he’ll likely be one of those who aims to stake his claim on the run. The question is, there be enough real estate to reel in any potential runaway riders?

“It’s great to have a race this big, this early in the season,” Llanos said. “It’s a new format for everyone, and for me, I don’t know what to expect. There’s a lot of strong cyclists and maybe the run is not long enough. But it won’t change my race. I’ll ride my pace, stay as close as I can to them.”

Who’s gonna win? Check in tomorrow for a look at why all the oddsmakers with the various online publications are wrong, and every one should be “PK” (Well, that’s my bet anyway.)

Scot Fraser Cartmell of the Trek/K-Swiss Tri Team does some late checks over his Trek TTX on Thursday.

The swim venue for Saturday's race has been foggy and cool in the morning, as athletes test the waters at the foot of the opulent Emirates Palace (in right background).

Great Britain's Leanda Cave prepares for a Thursday dip at the Emirates Palace Hotel beach.

Under Cover of Darkness....

2010-03-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

... I've made it. After a four-hour flight from San Diego to Chicago, and the 13-plus hour flight from Chicago to Abu Dhabi (with pretty decent sleep thanks to a bulkhead aisle seat), I woke ready for breakfast. Too bad it was sundown (and thus dinnertime) when we touched down. Gotta get my mental clock readjusted.

The lion's share of race staff and athletes are staying at Park Rotana. Running into my homeboy Herbert Krabel from Slowtwitch at the airport, we taxied to the hotel, checked in, and went straight for food.

Food? No surprise to find athletes around that. Virginia Berasategui, Hillary Biscay, Heather Jackson, Sam McGlone and Rutger Beke were all milling about after a meal. Seems Sam's bike is AWOL, as is that of Leanda Cave and Julie Dibens. And to think we pay premium for the chance to have the idiots in baggage not only toss our fragile rigs around, but toss them on to flights points unknown. Don't get me started about my recent run-in with TSA, who took Donna's Zipp VumaQuad crankset out of her bag, and forgot to put it in.

Signing off for now. Tomorrow morning, race organizers are taking several press members to the swim start to check it out and stretch out with a swim.. perfect post-flight activity. That will follow with a late morning press confererence. Check in later with a report from the conference.

UAE: C U Soon!

2010-03-08T21:34:00.000-08:00

Im'ma keep this short and sweet since I have an early morning flight, but watch this space for some updates, news and images from the Abu Dhabi Triathlon in the coming days. Since my new venture (yes, my NEW new venture) with LAVA Magazine, doesn't have a website live yet, the next best thing is to deliver you some behind-the-scenes content here, as well as at our Twitter locale, twitter.com/lavamagazine

Arriving Wednesday night, keep an eye out Thursday as soon as we get on the ground and see the middle east for the first time. Experiencing new cultures will certainly be a wonderful experience, race aside.

A huge thanks to the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority for hosting LAVA; we appreciate the opportunity to cover this truly exciting race with a twist on distances (2k swim/200k bike/20k run) that may shake up how the pro mens and womens races shake out, and see a pretty exciting, progressive part of the world at the same time.

And fret not, you'll certainly hear from me about Yas Marina Formula I race track (part of the race course for the tri) and Ferrari World. You'll be sick to death of it, in fact. Especially if they decide to shut things down to let me do a hot lap in their two-seater F1 car. You'll never hear the end of it. Whatever. I don't know if visiting the track is on my itinerary, but I'm going there anyway.

Check in with you later. سلام

Terenzo Bozzone Signs with Felt Racing

2010-01-12T18:24:00.000-08:00

TRIATHLON WORLD CHAMPION TERENZO BOZZONE

SIGNS WITH FELT

New Zealand’s talented 2008 70.3 Ironman Champ chooses Felt for 2010 and beyond

Irvine, CA (January 11, 2010) – Felt Bicycles is pleased to announce the addition of 2008 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Terenzo Bozzone to its lineup of talented Olympic and World Champion triathletes. The 24-year-old New Zealander will ride Felt bikes, including the DA triathlon bike and AR aerodynamic road bike, in 2010 and beyond.

“After visiting the company and speaking with Jim Felt and the rest of the crew, I had no doubt Felt was the place I wanted to be,” Bozzone said. “Felt’s track record of producing aerodynamically superior bikes is second to none, and I’m confident I will be on the best possible bikes and well looked after.”

Bozzone already has dozens of major victories to his name, including the 2008 70.3 Half Ironman World Championship title. Born in South Africa and raised in New Zealand, Bozzone has seen success at every level of multisport competition. As a junior athlete, fresh out of high school, he won the Men’s Under-20 Duathlon World Championships in 2001 and 2002, and the Under-20 Men’s Triathlon world titles in 2002 and 2003.

In the following years Bozzone chalked up elite category wins at nearly every major half-Ironman. In 2008, he dominated the Ironman 70.3 series, winning in Kansas, Idaho and California, before taking the 70.3 world title in Florida.

“Terenzo is a fantastic talent and we couldn’t be more pleased he is choosing Felt Bicycles to help take him to the next level of his career,” said Felt company namesake Jim Felt. “He’s a proven winner, and the sky is the limit for this young athlete.”

Having conquered 70.3 competition, Bozzone is now turning his attention to full Ironman-distance competition. His transition to the longer format got off to a solid start last March when he finished second at his first full Ironman in New Zealand.

Bozzone competed at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships for the first time last October and despite suffering badly on the run he finished 11^th, showing great promise. “I am really enjoying competing over the full distance races and I think I have gained a great deal of experience this past year,” Bozzone said.

For 2010, Bozzone plans to continue competing in key 70.3 events, while also focusing more on the Ironman events. “My main goals are to get an Ironman title under my belt and win a couple 70.3 races,” he said. “And a top-five in Kona would top off the year for me. Long term, I aim to be the best triathlete in the world, and the most recognized triathlon is Kona.”

Bozzone joins a talented roster of Felt-sponsored triathletes in 2010 including Australian Michellie Jones and American Tim DeBoom—both two-time Ironman World Champions—as well as current Olympic champions Emma Snowsill (Australia) and Jan Frodeno (Germany).

NEW NEWS!

2010-01-12T12:34:00.000-08:00

I know this site hasn't been live for some time (twitter has been taking over my life instead) but to catch everyone up: I have left Triathlete magazine after a 10-year stint (minus a few months of unemployment a couple years ago). My new role is at editor with a new title: Tri magazine.
The above is a mock-up with a shot of Max Longree, by John Segesta. It's a bit cut at the bottom, but you get the idea.

I'm looking forward to the new challenge of starting a title fresh and making it different from what's out there. The one thing I am sure of is it will look super. The palate I have to work with is astounding: a 27-inch tall by 30.5-inch wide super thick stock mag with big, bright colors and lots of white space. It's like Michelangelo (though not comparing myself to that guy!) being told "dude, see this Sistine Chapel ceiling? Paint that sucker up." I can imagine Michelangelo licking his chops. That's how I feel right now.

I have a very good idea of what I want the title to look like, what I want to differentiate it from what's currently out there.

Yes there will be gear. Yes there will be big feature race coverage and interesting athlete profiles. We won't beat the web, but we'll have something that will merit a place on your coffee table. Online version? Not sure, will talk to the new boss and see.

Off to get some news together and create a skeleton framework. Wish me luck. And since I don't have a place for news to go... here's some to follow!

A Year's supply of... GOLD!

2009-09-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

Howdy... back from a hiatus on the blog, been so reliant on Twitter that I got away from this site. Will make more innane commentary here as I see fit... which begins with my bitching about the fact that I'm not in Friedrichshafen for Eurobike yet. I'm sitting at a hotel overlooking a Greg Norman Golf Course in Virginia... thanks to a tore-up tire on the plane headed out of San Diego. One day delay. Great.

As I burn through email, I came across this on Twitter: the guys at First Endurance are giving away a year's supply of Optygen.

Let me repeat that: A YEAR'S SUPPLY OF OPTYGEN. And not just Optygen, not just Optygen HP, but the new prototype that only sponsored teams (Astana, Columbia HTC) and pro triathletes (Jordan Rapp, Donna Phelan) have been testing, with a higher level of potency. This stuff is gold.

The $800 value aside, if you are training with regularity, this stuff will make you faster. There have been enough studies about Rhodiola Rosea and Cordyceps Synensis to prove the effectiveness in helping increase endurance. My wife, the aforementioned Donna Phelan ,is a First Endurance sponsored pro, and she's the most meticulous person I know who won't ingest anything that isn't good for her. For her to call me from Switzerland after two months asking me to FedEx a bottle of the stuff over because she is running low speaks volumes. Add to that the fact that First Endurance is among the leaders in testing (that is, testing to ensure their sourcing and packaging facilities are clean), and she's sold; Optygen is legal, and it works.

Here's the deets below:
First Endurance is running an contest based on the most-outrageous thing that has happened while training or racing. It doesn’t have to be long or extravagant, just outrageous.

Entries will be judged on originality, entertainment, and buzz. Photos, video, or audio increase your chances of winning.

Five finalists will be selected and their entries posted on the First Endurance blog. Readers can vote for their favorite. One Grand Prize winner will receive a case of 12 bottles of OptygenHP Prototype. The four runner-ups will receive a prize of 3 OptygenHP Prototype bottles.

Entering is easy:

Blog about your story. If you don’t have a blog yet, you can setup a free blog at wordpress.com.
Mention that this story is an entry for the First Endurance contest with a link from your post towww.firstendurance.com
Leave a comment below and paste the URL of your blog entry so we can find and read your entry

Detailed info on entering is here: http://tinyurl.com/kjz52r

Knock yourself out... this is a prize worth winning. Personally, I'm a big fan of it as well, hence my own excitement about the contest.

Now back to my scramble to get back over the pond to Germany. Then next week to Italy, to take part in Granfondo Colnago just south of Milan on Sunday. And I've got my Optygen and EFS Liquid Shot packed in my luggage (which is somewhere over at Dulles International right now) to fuel the day... however hilly that might be. I hope my 80 mile ride in the heat with Normann Stadler this past weekend is enough training (amid all my flights of late) to get through this one!

Tour Tech on Show in Monaco

2009-07-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

What are we in store for in France this month? Have a look...

Everyone in the industry seems to think I am in Monaco for the Tour. Sadly, I am not. As they say in France, C’est la vie. But this technical editor, however, on vacation in Switzerland, visiting my wife Donna Phelan, just as I did last year at TeamTBB camp in Leysin. It’s great seeing old friends (coach Brett Sutton and athletes Rebekah Keat, Lizbeth Kristensen and Erika Csomor), and all the new faces on the team. I brought my road bike and am excited to head out today after a day of jetlag sorting… got some new stuff to test, in a beautifully appropriate locale, the Swiss Alps. It’s a beautiful day today, and am sure it will be the same around the corner in Monaco for the race start today.

And among the things we’ll see during the month-long saga? There’s a ton...

Oakley Antifreeze Radar
This one debuts with Oakley's sprinters, who will wear an appropriately wicked liquid green frame that looks like frozen Prestone (which is in effect an impossibility what with it being call, you know, antifreeze... but Oakley makes the impossible possible), with a Jade Iridium lens.They’re limited edition, available in the standard Path lens or the new XL, with a longer 7mm nosebridge (which is functionally great for when down in the aerobars, so you're looking through the lenses and not over the frame) and available soon in that limited run at Oakley.com get'em while you can.

Castelli Apparel
While on invite at the request of Cervelo to see Carlos Sastre and Thor Hushovd do some aero testing at San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel this February, I had a chance to meet the folks from Castelli, and saw some prototype apparel they said would be debuted this July.

While you’ve now seen the new reverse jerseys (white instead of black), my interest lay in their tunnel-tested gear.
Like the Aero Race Team Jersey; the wind tunnel tested skinsuit, shoecovers and aero gloves will give the riders a technical edge to cut through the wind as well. Here's a shot of defending Tour champ Carlos Sastre checking out some of the fabric that Castelli's Steve Smith is showing him.

Further, and more of an aside: keep an eye out for a totally new TT helmet from Catlike with the Cervelo TestTeam; they had something at the wind tunnel that they were vehemently preventing me from taking photos of. Pretty cool stuff.

The body of the skinsuit is made using Castelli’s BodyPaint technology: a single piece of fabric to eliminate seams and cover your body as if it was painted on. It’s cut short in the front so that when the rider is bent over in the riding position, it lays perfectly flat on the front. A flat elastic leg opening means for smooth air flow. It’s finished with an aerodynamic flap to cover the riders race number. (maybe we’ll see this in triathlon?)

Castelli’s Aero Race Shoecovers also have a “golf ball dimple” fabric.

Giro TT helmet
We’ll see this one today; a two-year project, with aero testing taking place at the University of Washington Aerodynamics Laboratory Kirsten Wind Tunnel, as well as at UW’s liquid tanks doing fluid flow. It’s pretty impressive testing, which they captured on video and you can watch here at http://www.giro.com/en-us/media/#/asset:59/category:default/type:default. It' follows testing the team did with Lance Armstrong at the San Diego Wind Wind tunnel last Spring as well, in an effort to find yet another optimized helmet shape that will fit Lance's highly curved back. And there's the thing: not every aero helmet will fit every head.. but this one may be best for you.
Giro marketing director Kevin Franks went on record saying:

"Based on extensive wind tunnel and ride testing, we can report that the new Giro TT helmet that will debut on Giro riders tomorrow in Monaco is the fastest TT helmet in the world. The helmet is considerably faster than any other helmet in zero degree yaw situations, and remarkably faster in 5, 10, and 15 degree yaw situations. The helmet represents a paradigm shift in aerodynamic helmet technology."

We've asked if Normann Stadler will be wearing this at the Roth Challenge next weekend in Germany, and.. afraid not, Franks said... but probably in Kona.

Rotor’s 3D Carlos Sastre Crankset
The new 3D Crankset is of keen interest; designed in concert with Cervelo TestTeam, it has three longitudinally CNC-machined holes through the length of the crankarms to cut weight, while maintaining structural integrity. For the Tour, the crank goes yellow for one man: defending race champ Carlos Sastre. It will be available to the public, however.

Just six of these cranks have been made (good luck getting one), hand-painted by a design studio that does up custom MotoGP helmets.

Specialzied Shiv
Sure, we’ve seen this at the Triathlete magazine website. But we haven’t seen the new paintjob. Here’s Fabian Cancellara’s rig being built up in Monaco for today’s TT. Get some.
Cervelo S3 Tour Limited Edition

To commemorate Cervelo TestTeam's first Tour entry (and of course Sastre's title defense), a super-limited run of a black and yellow S3 frameset will be made available. Check cervelo.com for more info.

Fashion meets Function: Timex Debuts WS4

2009-06-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

It was the biggest “aw, man” moments of my recent trip to Connecticut. Fellow photographer Larry Rosa, a frequent contributor to Triathlete was in town to shoot the Revolution3 Triathlon. He updated his Facebook page with this one: “Touring the Timex facility.”

No way!!! How cool would that have been, to visit Timex? I totally forgot that Connecticut was the U.S. base for Timex. Oh, and Cannondale! If I had planned a bit better and announced my arrival to the East Coast, maybe one of these guys could have received me and taken me around. As you might guess, I love tours.

I messaged my contact there, Keith Meyer. “Dude, I’m staying in Southbury, heard you are nearby! I should’ve come visit your facility and done a tour!”

His reply: :You’re just a mile away, but we’re slammed. For sure next year!”

“AW, MAN!”

I now know why they’re busy. Yes, they’re pumping out Ironman watches at probably rate of one per second (what a standard that has become not just in our sport, but in timing in general, eh?) But they have the coolest new watch hitting the market, and Meyer sent me one to test. It’s chunky, it’s bright, it’s bling, it’s data-rich. And it’s different than anything else they’ve ever offered.

It’s called the WS4, and part of Timex’ outdoor action-inspired Expedition Series. This was a watch (can you call it a watch? How about a control panel?) that we feature in the coming High Tech issue of Triathlete. When I saw it, a colleague of mine and I jumped up and down in an email to Meyer “Can we test? Can we test? Can we test?” Meyer relented and sent two to test. He was (and still is I think) suspect why all of us at the office were so geeked.Well, first off, it’s different. Way different. On my flight home from the race sitting in the United lounge, a fellow traveler asked “what kind of watch is that you have?” When I told him Timex he said “oh, really? I didn’t think Timex made watches like that.”

“That” is meant as, watches that are super chunky, and in fashion right now. Watches like U-Boat, Nixon, Bell & Ross. Sturdy statement watches. It looks more like a tool than a timepiece. It’s the action sport’s version of cufflinks.

And going to Connecticut, a guy in fatigues on my flight saw the big bit of orange bling on my wrist. “Man, that’s some sort of watch? What does it do?”

What kind of fun can I have with this guy? I put on my faux-Tony Little voice; up a few octaves, turned to volume 12 as though fueled by Red Bull and mescaline:

“What does it do? What does it do? Hell, what doesn’t it do?” I held out my closed, upturned palm and started unfolding fingers. “Altimeter! Barometer! Visual weather indicator! Digital compass! Temperature! It slices! It dices! It does it all!”

I was rollin’. “And—get this, you won’t believe this one—it tells the TIME! (And has a stopwatch, countdown timer, alarm, chronograph, Indiglo night lighting, all the basics in your normal Ironman watch… but I didn’t get into all that with him.)

Dude laughed—he was blown away. “Wow, I gotta get one of those.” Sold, to the customer in the military fatigues. Mildred, ring ‘em up!

The WS4 is gonna kick ass with triathletes, triathletes, swimmers—endurance sports fans age 18 to 45. Want to swim with it? Sure, why not? It’s water-resistant to 50 meters. Would I take it running though? Well, I’d opt for a smaller watch—it is a bit heavier than a standard Timex Ironman watch. But if I was headed to the track from the office and forgot my dedicated sport watch, this does everything that one does and has all the key functions (stopwatch, lap, countdown timer), so again, sure, why not?

Of course, pro triathlete/fashionistas like Luke Bell and Amanda and Michael Lovato were keen on it—it was the first thing Amanda noticed upon seeing me. (Of course, anything as bright orange and large enveloping my wrist would do that.) Luke said it’s the perfect competitor, in our market, to surf brands like Nixon, Quiksilver and the like, for guys who want to have good data, but don’t necessarily want to be wearing a sport watch around all the time. It’s all about style. A big, chunky watch is stylee, and guys as old as 45 want to retain their young style as much as they can before they sign up for AARP.

I noted that what separates the WS4 from being a copycat is the function. While the surf brands typically promote tide features, the WS4 has none of that. Instead, it has stuff triathletes would feed off of and surfers couldn’t care less about: outdoor data. And I had fun playing with it all.

Setup was pretty easy. I only had to calibrate the altimeter or barometer, since both rely on the same pressure. After setting the watch next to a trusty digital indoor temperature reader, the WS4’s temp reading was within a degree of my baseline guide. Cool. Of course, the temp goes up to 85 degrees F or so when it’s on your wrist. But it’d be interesting to do a crazy hot track workout, glance at it trackside with your bottle between sets and come out of it knowing you were able to make time on your 800s considering the track temperature was 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

The digital compass (with a digital needle and display in degrees and cardinal points) is probably more for fun than anything, unless you race Xterra and have a penchant for getting lost. It has an adjustable declination angle that bumps up the compass’ accuracy.

The barometer shows current barometric pressure, as well as lows, highs in millibars (mb) or inches of mercury (inHg). It will track current and sea level pressure. That barometric pressure then allows the WS4 to host a little icon for estimated weather patterns—sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy and rainy. It’s your own little weatherman-in-a-box.

Final element: It comes in a rainbow of colors: It comes in black (black with a silver face or black with black face), orange (shown, as tested), blue, yellow and a stunning white.

Price for this functional, fashionable conversation piece? $200—absolutely reasonable given the amount of stuff you get out of it. Final tally? Cool for Dimes to dollars, this will be the perfect birthday gift for the triathlete who has everything. Or at least thinks they do. They don’t have everything until they have the weather forecast at their wrist.

Revolution3 Triathlon: A Classic on Deck Tomorrow!

2009-06-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

I'm back on the planet. I removed the poll asking whether I ought to be at the Tour de France—turns out I am not going. Ah well. I will be at that time (about a month from now) taking some vacation to going to Switzerland to visit my wife, though, and will instead cover the Roth Challenge in Germany. That's a better trip in my opinion—I've seen my wife for about four weeks in the last four months. Plus I'll bring my bike and try to tag onto the back of Donna and her TeamTBB teammates on their easy days before hopping on the rail to Roth.

Right now I'm getting my camera gear ready, batteries charged, etc., for tomorrow's inaugural Revolution3 Triathlon here in Middlebury, Conn. I love being at debuts, and this looks to be a real kick-ass kick-off.

My trip here has been sweet. Heather and Todd Gollnick, as well as the man making it all happen, Charlie Patten, are putting on a wicked, wicked race that will force all the rest of their competitors to step up their game. A pro section with plastic-laminated posters of the athletes at their racks? (See Alex McDonald racking his bike... easy to find your spot, eh Alex?) A lit-up finishline arch, a'la Vegas? a $100,000 pro purse? The investment in this race is significant, all the big names are here, and considering this race is growing into a series next year, I think this will be a legitimate contender to the WTC, who have been fairly content to deliver a consistent product, but that's about it. Let's see how they step up—for the race entry-paying age groupers, and for the now-race-entry-paying pros.

The coup de grace is a real course. Not a flat draftfest, no. This is what the sport is about—challenging yourself. And as Luke Bell and I found out, it will be just that.

Luke invited me to hop in his rental and co-pilot a drive over the bike and run course. Race literature says the race is challenging. Thank God for Google maps on my iPhone; the roads are so rural and twisting, we nearly got lost, and had to stop and ask a local for directions. That look on Luke's face below? It was a familiar one. He searching signs, me plotting our progress on my iPhone. We got done and he came up with this one: "I think this is gonna be harder than Wildflower." Read: this has the makings of a classic. Maybe even an ESPN-esque Instant Classic.

The entire bike and run course is rolling, without a single parcel of flat. It's net climbing on the outbound loop, and net descending on the way back on the bike. But it's nonstop rolling and thus work all day. There will be no two-hour pro mens bike times. I'd be impressed if anyone breaks 2:15—and the Wildflower bike coures record is 2:14. There will be some good speed on the return, but that's not why it will not be fast.

No, it because the run is stupid hard as well. So everyone will need to save something for the run. Same story on the run; opening miles will be fast, as it's a gradual descent. But there's a few pitches up, then a steep pitch down, leading to a gnarly dirt road section that is banked in the turns, has it's ruts and bars, and undulating as hell.

Tomorrow at 6:55 the pros kick off, age groupers going off 10 minutes later. You can watch the simulcast broadcast being put together by Rev3 at Triathlete magazine's site, at http://triathlon.competitor.com/rev3 I'm psyched to see how it all goes down. Because simple speed ain't an ally here; a combo of speed and strength on the hills will win this race. And whoever does should be fetted, for winning a tough race against a tough field.

Steve Larsen: A Study in Balance

2009-05-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

In Memoriam: March 13, 1970 – May 19, 2009

Balance. It’s one thing triathletes are famously notorious for lacking. It’s all training, all recovery, all clean nutrition, all the time. No time for movies. No time for anything. Sacrifice, it’s all about personal sacrifice. Courtesy? Empathy? Those are casualties of being a champion. You run across enough athletes—and the pros are the worst—and you become numb to the myopic element of our sport.

Then a guy like Steve Larsen comes along, and reminds you what it’s like to have a life.

Several weeks ago, I caught up with Steve Larsen at the Sea Otter Classic. Steve was racing cross-country long course as prep for the coming Xterra season, but while he had to face the likes of Christoph Sauser and his Xterra nemesis, Conrad Stoltz, he was more fired up about his some Massimo, who was doing his first big race in the junior cross-country event.

Of course, Massimo podiumed, taking second, and dad beamed. Steve had a “whatever” day in the race, but whatever—Massimo podiumed. The drive south from Bend was a roaring success.

By now, the proper obituaries are out; “Steve Larsen, a veteran professional triathlete with a race resume that included road and mountain bike championships, suffered a fatal heart attack Tuesday evening during a track workout in his hometown of Bend, Oregon. He was 39. Before Larsen found triathlon, he had already amassed a lengthy and successful bike racing career, compiling a race resume across a variety of cycling disciplines that will be impossible to replicate. Two NORBA national titles, world championship appearances across five disciplines (road, track, cyclo-cross, mountain biking and triathlon) before devoting his training to triathlon in 2000, earning an Ironman USA Lake Placid victory in 2001 among others…. “ It goes on, the guy with more decorations than a war veteran.

But his real resume reads best as the signature tag on his Slowtwitch handle “Steve Larsen - dad, triathlete, mtbiker, roadie & online retailer”.

The impact that Steve brought to triathlon is immeasurable. A guy with his palmares (we can say palmares when the guy raced the Giro d’Italia) like his has it at his option to be selfish. To be flighty. To be arrogant. Many pros take that option. Steve went the other way—he was a man of his people.

Want an example?

Just before Sea Otter, Steve made a trip to San Diego, driving his Jeep south from Bend to visit with retailers at his WorldTri.com online retail storefront. Steve said he was gonna be in town and asked if I wanted to grab a bit with him. As if there was any other answer—I told the office I was gonna be in late, and took whatever time I could having huevos rancheros with one of the baddest cyclists and triathletes to stomp on this earth…. and his son.

Of course I asked about his coming season race plans (he wanted to get back to Hawaii again, but wanted to have a fun Xterra season first) and we chatted about his online storefront—how business was doing, what the good brands were to carry. He let me in on something that tells you a bit about what made Steve Steve, as an aside as we were chatting about his business practice:

“I send out thank you emails to all my customers,” Larsen said. “It’s a little thing, but hey, I want my customers to have a positive experience.”

For cyclists and triathletes, this is akin to getting a personal thank you from the President for voting for him.

Those who met him found it impossible to not get sucked into the vortex of cheer and inclusion that is Larsen’s legacy. While Larsen reached the top of road racing, of mountain biking, and Ironman racing, he was always there for his fans, for the industry, his customers, for the media, fair with everyone, fan or critic. He was open with the triathlon forum community, answering any forumgoer’s question, about anything. In business, Larsen was faithful, a sponsor’s dream, and a well-spoken spokesman. As an online retailer, he was able to personally help plot your purchasing path with truly educated advice. If you had Steve’s endorsement, his suggestion it meant something.

But his family always came first. Five kids. Count ‘em. Five. One wife, Carrie. All those kids, his wife, his job, his training, there’s no place for sleep in there at all, is there? I asked. “I have a very patient family,” he said. “There’s no way I’d be able to race and be the kind of guy I want to be if it wasn’t for them. But…. it’s great when I can get out and do stuff with them,” as he threw a glance over at Massimo.

Balance.

***

Selfishly, I was disappointed when he retired from pro racing in 2003, as I always enjoyed watching Steve more than any athlete on the race course. You knew he would have a deficit out of the water. And you knew he was going to tear through the bike and get to the front, making so-called bike specialists look like they were standing still (when you make Normann Stadler say after the Hawaii Ironman in 2003 “he passed me like a motorbike,” that constitutes being on another level). And you knew that based on that gap, he might win that race, because he was no joke on the run.

But that competitive fire burned, and after a few forays as an age grouper, while managing his real estate business, he dove in again as a full-time pro. (while still being a full-time dad, husband and online retailer). I still remember one of Larsen’s first races back from retirement last year, when he donned a CAF race kit and entered Ironman 70.3 Oceanside. He had at that time received coaching consult from TeamTBB’s Brett Sutton, asking me to introduce the two. “I know he can make me faster on the run, and I want to try something different,” Larsen told me as we talked about how to approach Sutton for coaching. “The swim, any gains are negligible, but I’m sure he could help there, too.”

“But the bike, I got that.” I laughed.

Giddy with anticipation of the inevitable as I rode on the back of a photo moto, I awaited the arrival of Steve… and here he comes, cutting through the field to the front. If his male pro competitors were going 24 miles per hour, he was going 28. It was an absolute treat to watch him simply tear past big names who were clearly already giving their all. “How demoralizing for those guys,” I remember thinking, smirking with mirth. Even amid the monotony that triathlon can be, Steve’s bike power, his ability to become one with the bike and push through the air like a rocket was something to witness. Oceanside became like watching him at the Hawaii Ironman in 2001. It was one of those days where watching a guy do his job was like watching for the green flash during a sunset on the Pacific, or seeing Michael Jordan do an up-and-under that defies gravity. It was just a special moment, sporting or otherwise.

I found him after the race and said “Man, it sure is fun seeing you out here again.“ His reply: “It’s good to be back.”

While Steve grew his fame racing alongside Lance Armstrong on the Motorola Racing Team in the mid-90s and on the NORBA circuit, I venture to guess his enjoyment and happiness in sport came in the balance that triathlon afforded him. Balance with family, friends, business and his fellow competitors.

Steve is survived by his wife Carrie, and five children. Steve's business partner tells me that services will be held Saturday at 1 p.m., at the Old Mill near Les Schwab Theatre. There will also be a ride heading out in conjunction, before or after services.

At this point, I’ll let those who were lucky enough to cross paths with Steve speak…

“It was a delight to work with a man that had so little airs and graces for the status he reached in professional sport. To work with him made one realize why, after so many years, he still wanted to compete—he loved it and he was passionate about not just his competition. (He) was one of the few that had reached the top that spent as much time as he could putting back into the sport, and out of the limelight level. I personally, and I am sure all at TeamTBB pass on the warmest heartfelt wishes to his family." —Brett Sutton, TeamTBB head coach

“He had so much focus. When he was gonna go to Hawaii, he just plainly wanted the fastest machine out there. He was sponsored by Mongoose and he said they didn’t care, so we put him on the Lotus. When he came to me, he was a legend. For him to trust me on everything, the fit, I was like” wow, what a huge honor to work with him.” He
He was professional with everything he ever did, and easygoing. He was really enjoying getting back into the industry, it’s his passion. Absolutely the nicest guy. He was magic. My feelings and heart go out to Carrie and the family.” —Craig Turner, Xlab (Former owner/manager, Nytro Multisport)

“I considered Steve a friend. Last couple year he’s really encouraged me in my career, and then we’d slay each other on the Saturday ride. I consider Steve a friend, and I’ll miss that push, and that guy. But more importantly, it’s sad for the community. He has five kids, and they’re all active in the community. The community will come together, but my heart goes out to Carrie and the kids.” — pro triathlete and fellow Bend resident Matt Lieto

“He was a fierce competitor, one of the most fierce I’ve raced against. I was very intimidated by him. He would lose three minutes on the swim, catch me, and put five, six minutes on me. And he didn’t just overtake you—he chopped you down. He could push himself harder than anyone I ever met. On rides, he’d just push until it was just him, I’d just be dropped. But I got to see a side of him most didn’t get to see, as one of the most sincere, nicest people I’ve met in the sport. In 2004 Steve said come to Bend and I took him up on it. He let me stay with his family for a week. I trained there three years, and he was my best friend in Bend. He was my agent one year and was so unselfish about it. He drove me to the Bay Area and we saw sponsors, and afterward it was always Italian and great wine, and we would laugh for hours. I bought from him I sold through him a condo a couple years ago. I was leaving back to South Africa, and in typical Caveman style, I left my renovations unfinished. He finished them for me, then sold the place. Such a very selfless person. At Sea Otter, his son Massimo was like “you have a shoe named after you,” but I was like “hey, your dad has two tires named after you and your sister!” (The Maxxis’ Larsen TT is called TT after Larsen’s daughter Amalia, while the Maxxis Mimo is the nickname for his son Massimo). Everything he touched turned to gold, and he was always so professional. He was an example to me and other athletes of what a true professional was. Two weeks ago, we had drinks after the race, we were talking about the old days. Now he’s gone. I feel really bad for his family. As a friend. It’s not going to be the same to be in Bend.” —reigning Xterra World Champ Conrad Stoltz

“One of the things that struck me most about Steve was his humility. I last spent time with him at Sea Otter in April, where he had an absolute crap race. He told me about a fellow athlete on course, recognizing Steve as he walked along with his bike and blown tire, who slowed down to accompany him for a bit. The racer said that Steve had been his idol growing up, and he was honored just to race together for a few minutes. Steve was pretty emotional, and a bit surprised, as he recounted that story; it really touched him to hear that he had that kind of impact. After Steve’s rough race at Sea Otter, and his son Massimo’s stellar performance, Steve suggested that maybe it was time we switched our sponsorship to Massimo! It was so obvious, seeing those two together, what an amazing father and role model Steve was – and will continue to be – to Massimo and all of his and Carrie’s children.” — Holly Bennett, marketing manager, Gu Sports

“So sad hearing about the loss of Steve Larsen. Leaves a wife and 5 kids. Terrible. He and I were on natl team and Motorola together.”—Lance Armstrong, via Twitter

“We did one race together, one of my 1994, and all I knew and remember was that he was a fierce competitor. It was unique how he went from pro road to mountain biking, to triathlon; not too many that could to that. That’ll be his legacy; succeeding at a world-class level in three sports. I’m really sorry to hear this news.” —Gord Fraser, former Motorola Cycling Team teammate

“At Ironman New Zealand in 2003 he came down with his wife. They were fantastic people and he was such a friendly guy. It took me 18k’s on the run to catch him. That was when I first saw him. But in Hawaii, the speed he’d come past you at, you‘d think he couldn’t keen it up, but he could, he was such an incredible cyclist. It was out of sight, out of mind pretty quickly, an incredible sight to see. With some guys you have a good idea, but with Steve, you could only hope you could pull him back. I am very sorry for his family.” — pro triathlete Cameron Brown

“We first met at the Hawaiian Mountain Tour, he was one of the first Xterra competitors. To have him come back this year was special. When he started in Las Vegas, it was great to see him, full of life, the normal, professional, well spoken guy he is, ready to get down and dirty. We’ve always saluted him and he has a special place in the Xterra family. I’m flabbergasted, I don’t know what to say… it’s a tragic loss.” — Xterra President Janet Clark

Lance's Giro Long TT bike?

2009-05-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

So my friend Alex with SRAM travels with a lot of the SRAM teams and athletes at events. Of course, he's at the Giro with the Astana team, one of his component charges.

Alex also updates his Facebook a bunch with pics. And given his access (that is, "all), he generally has some cool photos. But this one caught my eye:It looks like Lance's TT rig for Thursday's loooong time trial; 61.7 kilometers from Sestri Levante to Riomaggiore. From what I've heard, it's lots of hills—hence a bike that recalls Lance's time at the Alpe d'Huez time trial.

Note the Hed ClipLite clip-on aerobars. Note yet another kick-ass Trek custom Livestrong paint for Lance.

Another note: Look closely at Lance's shifters. THESE look different. They look like something I saw on a SRAM-sponsored triathlete's bike recently... but cannot talk about. Yet. Alex, Please? Can I talk??? I'm champing at the bit over here.. I'll buy you a beer in Monaco!

Extra: Jay Buys a Bike Part! (And is happy about it!) A.K.A. the Debut of the K-Edge Chain Catcher

2009-05-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I just installed and tested (in the parking lot of our condo) a new product on my wife’s bike that I just bought and showed up in the mail today. Yeah. Me. Bought. Me, the king of swag, bought a bike part.

Well, it all came after I saw a piece one of our competitors, CyclingNews.com (great job, James!) did on this product at the Giro d'Italia. It’s the K-Edge Chain Catcher.

Now, I’ve been dreaming of this day for years. Because my wife (bless her heart) ain’t the most mechanically inclined. So when something goes wrong, as it often does, it’s just something she deals with. Dropped chains are something she deals with. Lemme explain.

Two weeks ago at Wildflower, I was heading out to take photos during the race, and I see Donna headed in the opposite direction—was she dropping out? No, she dropped her chain off the front ring as she headed into a climb. She tried so shift it back on before she came to a standstill, no luck.

So she had to circle around, and get it back on as she descended in the opposite direction. What fucking luck. There went about one minute, 30 seconds. That could have gotten her eighth place instead of 10th among the pros. Damn, damn, damn. Mechanical shit like this kills me.

Then this product came along, which I will go into in deeper detail in the coming days, as I just got off the phone with Joe Davola, husband to reigning Olympic time trial gold medalist (and former triathlete) Kristin Armstrong, who co-developed and co-created the AceCo K-Edge Chain Catcher out of necessity.

With the short chainstays and steep shifting angles on tri bikes, chain drop is a fact of life. This product is going to change all that—I will be shocked if about every pro triathlete, and any triathlete who cares enough to add a 10-gram piece to their bike to ensure they will NEVER drop their chain again in training or in a race, doesn’t have this on their bike by year’s end. It’s that important an advance in tri bike technology as I’ve seen in a long time. I have the Third Eye Chainwatcher on my cross bike, clamped onto the round seattube. But the aero tubes of tri bikes makes the Third Eye impossible to use.But the front derailleur bolt mount point for the K-Edge Chain Catcher takes that blockade and throws it out the window.

I’ll go into greater detail in a bit (with some interesting storyline about how it came about), and Joe is sending me a piece to test on my own. But where my wife is leaving for TeamTBB training camp in Switzerland this Wednesday, I saw the value in this, and had to have it for her. So I went online, bought it. Money well, well spent.

Wheeling the bike around in the parking lot just now, cross-chain, slap-dropping the front shifter, doing anything I could to initiate the dropped chain she had experienced on her 5-hour ride just an hour before. No dice. I don’t see that she’ll find anything different either… ever.

More soon on this.

King for a Day: Epic Tri in Ireland to Kick Off in August

2009-05-16T13:53:00.001-07:00

This one ain't a gear piece (will get back to that quickly, there's a few new things that are reaaaaally interesting to me, one in particular). And it's kinda long. So settle in...

Anytime a triathlon takes place on a course that people remind that “legend says…” then you know it’ll be an epic. Right?

“Legend says” that Madame Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire, is responsible for the heat and winds come one October weekend along the Kohala Coast. Anger her and you’re fate goes to the mumuku winds.

“Legend says” that Lanzarote local Cesar Manrique wanted to attune himself to the raw natural beauty of the rugged volcanic terra of the island. To plot a route for visitors to enjoy the raw beauty, he walked the island—naked. (Anyone who has been through Timanfaya knows how frickin hot and blistering that island is.)

And of course, the birth of the first Ironman in 1978 on the legend of a bar bet, is, well, legendary.

What is it about the upstart, the intrepid spirit of doing what has never been done before? Particularly, what draws us to it? For Commander Collins to come up with a challenge that not only went from a bet to seeing fruition is impressive. It turned Ironman into a sporting juggernaut. Same with ultramarathons. I guess it’s the sheer ridiculousness of it all that pulls us to this stuff like a magnet.

But there are ways of turning it up a notch.

Put the distance events in ardent locales, like with an epic swim at Alcatraz, or a bike at 70.3 Monaco or the Alpe d’Huez Triathlon that leaves you wondering halfway through if you’ll make it through without crashing. Then you really have something.

Put it in a locale that challenges our doubts, at the same time allowing you to take in with wonderment what you’re experiencing (as you do when you flip over and absorb the Golden Gate, Alcatraz Island and The City during the Alcatraz swim, or enjoy the simplicity of a farmer hauling in olives from trees while traversing towns at Monaco—as you’re suffering up a hill.)

There’s a new event on the horizon that I think promises to be that sort of epic event, called Eireman. For anyone who has a sense of adventure can agree that a triathlon in Ireland could be one of those unforgettable experiences. A race director is putting on an Ironman on August 23rd, and we’re hoping to be there to see if this really is a legend in the making.

Why, you ask? Well, envision biking and running over that rugged, untapped escarpment… a bit of misty rain in your face, maybe a bit of crosswind. What comes to mind for me is the Kohala Coast, at a much lower temperature, and with a lot more grass over

Race organizer Eoin Ryan says that while the area is called the Sunshine Coast, because it’s Ireland, there’s a good likeihood for rain. But hell, who said triathlon can only be held in 73 and sunny conditions? Why has Kona, or courses like Lanzarote, or Monaco, or Alcatraz, or become legendary events? It’s because of the heat, or the topography, or in this case, the possible rain.

What might make it legendary? Well, I can only imagine the beauty of riding past castles, forts, abbeys, old monuments, prehistoric burial sites and thinking of just how really old that patch of green earth really is. Celtics, Vikings, Normans, all fought for their piece of territory.

And yes, there’s true legend; thousands of years ago, Garman Garbh stole the crown from the tribe’s queen. The queen got a hand from a local witch, who flooded the mudflats, drowning Garman. The harbor was then called the Lake of Garman, the Gaelic word for Wexford—host county to the race.

And those who were king and queen at the time were called Eireman. So in reality, the man or woman who wins Eireman will be, quite literally, the first king and queen of Wexford in hundreds of years.

Think about that. Is that not epic and legendary?

Of course, it always comes down to the question for those who would want to do the race: what’s the course like? Ryan thinks this course will give Roth a run for its money as one of the worlds fastest.

The race will take place in Courtown Harbour, County Wexford (which is due south of Dublin on the Southeastern tip of Ireland). The day will set off with a swim in the calm Irish Sea in a counter-clockwise fashion in this not only wetsuit-legal, but wetsuit-mandated swim.

The bike is a four-lap 112-mile course (or a two-lap 56-mile bike for the half-Iron-distance event, or one lap for the Olympic-distance event) and as advertised, dead flat, on fully closed highways. Having raced on closed highways for the first time at 70.3 New Orleans not long ago, there is no greater experience (and deterrent to drafting) than a fully open road for cyclists.

After a few snaking turns in the early miles, the run is flat and straight. The out-and-back two-lap marathon moves you from from Courtown Harbor inland to the town of Gorey and back.

While there’s not much prize money on offer as yet (this is an upstart race, after all), the winners will take up an honor not bestowed upon any triathlon, Eireman, king and queen of Ireland. Epic.

What's cool is that on the one day are the various distance events. So one spouse could conceivably do the Ironman-distance event, with the other doing an Olympic, or a half, or a relay, and not wasting their day waiting for their spouse to finish the longer event.

Thanks to a bit of luck of the Irish, Inside Triathlon is jazzed to get a chance to document this inaugural event. Ireland is such a far-flung reach from the North American or Austral-Asian, or even middle-European triathlon centers of the world, that it will undoubtedly recall those early years of our sport, when it wasn’t as heavily vested into marketing as the sport is today. It’s not an M-Dot event as yet—and maybe it’s better that way. We’ll be keen to see how legendary it can be.

Check out the site at www.eireman.org.... and maybe look at booking an air ticket to be part of a kick-ass epic debut.

Gear Extra!! New Scott Plasma Images, Shimano proto wheels spied, new Rotor cranks and Nuun's new flavor .. and the Giro TV Schedule

2009-05-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

I’ll cut to the quick on a bunch of stuff;

First, Wildflower: killer weekend last weekend. Too much fun with great people. I got to piggyback my wife’s association with TeamTBB, which is sponsored by Avia shoes—which also served as Wildflower’s title sponsor. So Avia was there in full force, and looked after its athletes with a killer team environment for all its athletes, a great spread of food (cooked up by grillmaster Kenny Souza) and even the live pay-per-view broadcast of the Pacquiato-Hatton fight on Saturday night after the long-course race. It was “roughing it” in a cool way. Donna finished 10th, a great result given that she was two weeks removed from taking fourth at Ironman China. Trooper.

On to some other stuff.. namely, gear:

SHIMANO
I received a press release from Shimano that Craig Alexander is fully-sponsored by Shimano for the year, meaning he’ll not only be running Shimano parts, but he’ll also be running the new Di2 Electronic tri group. I’ve had a chance to play with the electric shifters, and it’s pretty wicked.

But what caught my eye was the attached image of Crowie. Check this out:
What stands out? How about the deep-section wheels?

I contacted my peeps at Shimano for some comment, and none was forthcoming. Shimano’s Devin Walton said that indeed, Shimano is working on some prototype products, a full-Shimano product (they are Shimano's own rims, not Zipps or anyone elses) that Crowie is testing, but that none of that means it will actually see the light of day in terms of production.

From what we can see, it’s about a 75mm rim, and as with their existing Dura-Ace wheelset, is set on Shimano’s silky D-A hubs. If there’s one thing the public has wanted from Shimano in their wheel line, it’s a deeper, more aero race wheel. (They already have a disc in the PRO line).

What does this all mean? Well, selfishly I hope to see those wheels become production—a deep-sectioned wheel on Dura-Ace hubs will be among the silkiest race wheels on avail. Those hubs are bad-ass. But more importantly, it shows that Shimano is really recognizing the tri market. They’ve slipped as SRAM has come on strong the last few years, but by actually prototyping with the reigning Ironman World Champ, hell, by hiring him on to ride all their products full-time, means they are making an investment.

An aside: for those looking at my previous blog post about Shimano’s new brake levers, the Dura-Ace levers will price at $185 while the alloy one I’m trying to track down pricing for.

SCOTT
Those wheels lead us to our next debut. On the fortnight of the team time trial at the Giro d'Italia, Scott sent the press some info on the new Scott Plasma. I'm gonna read up on it (as I just got the link), but wanted to post not only the below photo but a link to a presentation about the bike, which you will find at http://www.scott-sports.com/download/PlasmaTT/start.html

We'll be getting into this one as things settle down to see if and what the application is for triathlon. From my talks with Scott marketing manager Adrian Montgomery, the existing Plasma is still earmarked for triathletes geometrically. So this may be a TT-specific product, built within the handcuffs set forth by the UCI. Stay tuned.

ROTOR
Rotor Cranks is also using the Giro to debut its newest crankset, the 3D. They're doing a Giro version (with some pink accents) for reigning Tour de France champ Carlos Sastre. I was at the tunnel in advance of the Tour of California, and Carlos had a sort-of drillium crankset they were testing. It seems they are moving away from that and going into this new 3D direction. It seems to make a lot more real-world sense on its face. See the press release below;

Cervélo TestTeam and ROTOR collaborate on new 3D Cranks Product to debut at the Giro

Cervélo TestTeam riders will be using the new 3D Cranks from ROTOR Bike Components, when they start the 09 Giro d’Italia.

“The 3D cranks are the first cranks to have been designed with the input of a pro cycling team together with our ROTOR engineers,” said Ignacio Estellés, President ROTOR Bike Components. ”Drawing on a wealth of technical experience, this innovative product was developed collaboratively with Cervélo’s engineers, TestTeam riders and the TestTeam’s mechanic staff. We are passionate about supporting the riders, because they need these products in order to do their job well.”

“We have a four step protocol for product development with the TestTeam,” explained Damon Rinard, Cervélo TestTeam Race Engineer. “A partner, in this case, ROTOR develops and tests the proposed new product. We then review it and check the in-house data, testing it in different riding situations. Then the Cervélo TestTeam mechanics install it and the riders try it in training; both provide us with their feedback. Once it’s been approved at these three levels, the product is then available for the fourth level: use in races.”

The result is the 3D Crank - extremely stiff, to meet the high demands of Thor Hushovd and the TestTeam’s sprinters, yet lightweight enough to satisfy the needs of Carlos Sastre and the climbers on the team.

Utilizing a special manufacturing process, named the “Trinity Drilling System,” an extruded aluminum bar is intricately CNC machined with three drilled holes through the length of the crank. The result is a unique triple hollow crank arm that enables ROTOR’s engineers to remove the excess aluminum in the core while still maintaining the structural strength of the crank. With this new system ROTOR has significantly improved the Hollowminum technology they developed for their Agilis Evo cranks.

No attention to detail has been missed by ROTOR; even the graphic design on the 3D Cranks is unique with their impressive laser graphics. A special limited edition version of the product, with pink stripes along the crank (in a nod to the Giro) has been created for Carlos Sastre, with a special symbol that Sastre contributed etched with his name.

NUUN
Off gear, onto nutrition: I was just sent some of the newest Nuun flavor: Banananuun. (please excuse the soft iPhone image).

Very, very good stuff. same as the rest of the line in terms of operation (drop in a bottle of water and suddenly you have instant electolyte drink with 180mg of sodium and 50mg of potassium) and ease-of-utility. I dig it, but still like Kona Cola best among their lot. Will have to try it with rum, maybe a bit of Mai Tai mix. Certainly worth trying.

Finally... the Giro on Live TV! his is great news-we can follow the Giro on TV. Below is the stage-by-stage broadcast
schedule for Universal Sports...

LOS ANGELES – May 8, 2009 – Universal Sports announced a multi-year deal today to broadcast the Giro d'Italia as
the race celebrates its 100th anniversary, starting tomorrow. Lance Armstrong will make his debut in this race as he
returns from his retirement. Coverage of the race begins with a team time trial on May 9 from Lido di Venezia on the
Universal Sports Network and live online, all broadcast times available at UniversalSports.com.

Universal Sports continues to solidify its commitment to broadcast top cycling events with the multi-year broadcast
agreement. As part of the deal, Universal Sports will provide television and online coverage, including archived video
and television re-airs, for the 2009–2012 Giro d'Italia races. Previous to this agreement, the race was available on a
limited basis on the Versus network, and through pay-per-view on Cycling.TV. In addition to the Giro, Universal
Sports has had a long-term agreement with the International Cycling Union (UCI) to broadcast world cups and world
championships in Road, Track, Cyclo-cross, Mountain and BMX, as well as the Tour of Basque Country, Tour of
Missouri, Tour of Georgia and the Deutschland Tour.

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, available in 45 million homes, will present same-day
coverage of the 2009 Giro d'Italia, with nightly re-airs at 9 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET. The Universal Sports broadcast
team consists of Steve Schlanger and former professional cyclist Todd Gogulski, with Scott Ogle on the ground in Italy.

Date Events Time (all times ET)
May 9 Lido di Venezia 12 p.m.
May 10 Jesolo to Trieste 12 p.m.
May 11 Grado to Valdobbiadene 12 p.m.
May 12 Padova to San Martino di Castrozza 12 p.m.
May 13 San Martino di Castrozza to Alpe di Siusi 12 p.m.
May 14 Bressanone to Mayrhofen 12 p.m.
May 15 Innsbruck to Chiavenna 12 p.m.
May 16 Morbegno to Bergamo 12 p.m.
May 17 Milano 12 p.m.
May 18 Rest day
May 19 Cuneo-Pinerolo 12 p.m.
May 20 Torino to Arenzano 12 p.m.
May 21 Sestri Levante to Riomaggiore 12 p.m.
May 22 Lido di Camaiore to Firenze 12 p.m.
May 23 Campi Bisenzio to San Luca (Bologna) 12 p.m.
May 24 Forli to Faenza 12 p.m.
May 25 Pergola to Monte Petrano 12 p.m.
May 26 Rest day
May 27 Chieti to Blockhaus 12 p.m.
May 28 Sulmona to Benevento 12 p.m.
May 29 Avellino to Monte Vesuvius 12 p.m.
May 30 Napoli to Anagni 12 p.m.
May 31 Roma 12 p.m.

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM: UniversalSports.com will provide exclusive, live
coverage of the entire Giro d'Italia, starting with the Stage 1 team time trial
Saturday at 9 a.m. ET. Full schedule, as well as full-length videos, highlights, stage
maps, photos and breaking news available at UniversalSports.com/cycling.

Wildflower-bound

2009-04-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

In our last episode, I was up late-night in Monterey watching my wife at Ironman China on Ironmanlive. Now, she's here, tapping away at here blog next to me (having recorded a 4th place finish in 112-degree F temps) and we're checking in before we depart tomorrow morning for a Wi-Fi-challenged (heck, a cell phone coverage-challenged0 Wildflower—she's racing, and I'm working. Well, I guess we're both working. I spent the evening getting her bike race-ready; the team set her atop a 2009 Cervelo P3, and it's cherry.

I generally pooh-pooh sponsor-spec rides, but hers is a beaut; P3 with Oval Concepts bars, Hed Jet race clinchers, Vittoria Open Pro EVO-CX tires, Cobb Cycling V-Flow saddle and SRAM Red. And thanks to Dan Empfield for getting her set proper atop her ride... it was a longtime work in progress. And thanks to TeamTBB for providing her a bitchin battle ax. I'm the pickiest of the picky, and I'm finally happy with how her bike is set up.

I'll be at Wildflower doing more videos for the new, improving Triathlete website—I currently have some great interviews up there with Steve Larsen and Conrad Stoltz from Sea Otter, and will be doing video tours of several of the pros' bikes that I run across (perhaps including the above described one belonging to my wife).

But before that, I have a few things on that I'll be visiting when I get back. One such thing is my first test of the new Shimano 7900, set up for triathlon. Shimano was kind enough to release a test setup, which worked out perfectly, because my Guru Crono was in need of a gruppo. My buddy Andrew has been diligently building it up, and I'll be set to begin testing of the group in earnest. I'm actually keen to give it a go, as my experience lately has been on SRAM for the most part. It will be great to revisit the brand that has been the mainstay, and see what the new 7900 means to triathletes from a functional standpoint.

I have not only the group, but a few key pieces, including the PRO Missile aerobar. I was also supplied a set of the new aerobar brakes. THIS is the piece that most intrigues me.
These TT brake levers have gotten zero fanfare, and for triathletes, this is gonna be one that ranks in top-three. The Dura-Ace version has a carbon lever pull, the Ultegra version an alloy one. Both have what I would deem the strongest return spring I've felt—and I rate the Bontrager and SRAM brake levers to have among the strongest return springs.

For me, the return spring is a big deal. It means you'll have a positive feel every time you pull on the brakes. There's no rattle as I can see thus far, it's aero enough, and it has a tab at the end to prevent any last-finger slip-off. I think I'm really gonna like this lever.

Off to the land of lost cell phone signals....and a hell of a race.

Monterey Musings: Sea Otter

2009-04-19T00:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I have nothing better to do.

It’s just after midnight., I did two rides today, I’m tired… and I’m awake. My wife is racing Ironman China, and I must stay up to track Donna’s progress. Steady as she goes thus far. The only downside: I have a 3:45 wake-up call for a 6 a.m. back to Carlsbad.

I don’t know why I do this to myself.

So before I post a nice Sea Otter Redux with some gallery photos, I thought I’d give a nickel tour of my weekend. Thursday: take photos. Friday: press launches. Saturday: fun stuff. Yes, today was certainly the best day; a morning road ride, an afternoon road ride, some cool cross country race spectating,

Friday I took part in a press launch of the newly-re-designed Zipp 303 (which you’ll learn more about in my official redux). The redesign is awesome, and will be more attractive to triathletes with a slightly deeper rim section, a fully-toroidal shape (providing greater brake modulation, and a MUCH wider rim width.

So wide, in fact, that Zipp now as a 700 x 23mm Tangente tire to complement the existing 19mm tire. Aerodynamically, the 23mm tire mates perfectly with the wheel.

Zipp invited select media out for a test ride of the new 303—we were the first to ride it beyond those pros who debuted it at the Paris-Roubaix and a few other classics in the last few weeks.

Apart from the wheels being absolutely silky, we headed out toward 17-mile drive. A light fog was beginning to lift, then finally burned away as we rode along the snaky road that butts up against the Pacific. Salty sea air, sea lions barking, waves crashing against the rocky shoreline… it was a pretty ride.

Along the way back, we happened along a lone local I recognized: pro triathlete Alexis Waddel-Smith, out for a cruisy ride. It was good to catch up with her, and great to hear she’ll be at Wildflower, her first race back after dealing with some injuries. Her pink dyed hair and ever-optimistic smile are the calling card for Alexis—I’m glad to know she’ll be there. She peeled off and we continued back to town.

At the expo at Laguna Seca Raceway, the Triathlete team (myself and new media manager Kurt Hoy) were busy doing interviews. Check our site for some cool videos interviews with Conrad Stoltz and Steve Larsen, as well as a look at the new Zipp 303 (available now) and the new SRAM R2C shifters, which are coming to market very soon.

In the afternoon was the pro cross-country short track race, so I grabbed my camera and shot a bit of that, with Melanie McQuaid and Conrad Stoltz representing Xterra. And representing it well. Mel finished on the lead lap taking ninth, and Conrad (who was jazzed to get a front-row call-up and thus a good starting hole shot) and finished 16th out of 74 athletes. Conrad was jazzed to make a start against a field of top pro cross-country racers.

He’ll get the shot again tomorrow, lining up against most of them in the cross country race, as well as against one Steve Larsen, who has been hitting the MTB circuit a bit this early season. Expect to see him making some Xterra appearances this season, perhaps a few 70.3s and maybe even an Ironman… see my interview with him coming soon.

What was cool about catching with with Larsen? He was with his son Massimo—who finished second in his cross-country race on Saturday. The education has begun…

After the short-track race and a sip of water, Stoltz, his girlfriend and fellow Xterra pro Amber Monforte and I headed out for part of the cross country loop. I got to ride the new, not-yet-available Specialized S-Works 29’er hardtail. I’d never ridden a 29-inch bike, and now I can see why Conrad was lobbying so intensely to get one. The thing is FAST—the bigger wheels just cruise over stuff with greater ease, to put things simply. I’m instantly a fan—I remember when writer Roy Wallack sent us a piece on 29ers years back, saying they would be the next big thing. I thought he was talking, as Mr. T said “jibba-jabba.” Well, he was right.

I was concerned the hardtail would buck me, but I managed to stay upright. With Conrad ahead and Amber behind, I was riding a bit on edge… but had a blast anyway. And it’s always great when you have a guy of Conrad’s caliber telling you to watch out for that poison oak “leaves of three, leave them be—I’d never heard that, thanks Conrad!

But more importantly, he totally saved me on the descent to the fireroad that took us back to the expo. Sandy washboard straight downhill. I would have white-knuckled and summarily put on a yard sale if he didn’t tell me to let the front brake go and allow the front tire to surf over the sand “the moment you hit the brakes, it dives into the sand and it’ll pitch all over.”

Sure enough, against my chicken-ass instinct to grab handfuls of brake, I let it ride… as best I could. And didn’t eat shit, remarkably—the front wheel slotted into tire ruts, but it surfed right through and over everything. Again, thanks Conrad. My skin, collarbone and back thank you, too. Thanks to both Conrad and Amber for letting me tag along for a fun easy loop.

Folks, if you’re an Xterra athlete and want to have a greater race-day experience, go to one of the clincs the athletes, like Conrad put on in the days leading up to the race. You will learn something technical, and it might be the one thing that keeps skin on your forearm. I grabbed a shot of the two with my handy iPhone as we did a climb back to expo that smarted of Nasty Grade at Wildflower... it just went on and on.
The evening closer: a quiet pizza dinner with Kurt and his family, and my VeloNews compatriots; editors Ben Delaney and Matt Pacocha, and shooter Brad Kaminski. Nothing like filling the belly with Hawaiian-style pizza after a dual-ride day.

Of course, the sheer quantity of grub also helps me to be sleepy. Maybe I have to find out how China ends—in the morning. For once, though, I'm leaving Otter happy about the weather. It started cold, but it got about perfect by the end of the weekend—a rarity for a festival that is typically drenched with rain. Stay tuned for a comprehensive gallery of goods I saw that triathletes will dig.

The Loop is Closed: a new Vision debut? Maybe more?

2009-04-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

Thursday I head up to Monterey for the Sea Otter Classic. A festival of all things bike.

Except triathlon.

Kidding. It's actually a fun weekend of racing for the industry and west coast cyclists who take part. For me, I love to watch the dual slalom, and it's a fun opportunity to see the top pros in mountain and road do their thing, as well as catch up with friends racing.

And there's this big-ass expo.

Historically, this event is a mud pit. I have lost shoes in the mud taking photos of dual slalom. This year, the forecast is for good weather. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as I had my colleague Sean take my road bike up to join some industry folks on some cruisy social rides, and while I don't mind riding in the wet, what I detest is the inevitable cleaning that comes with it. And I don't want to have to ruin a bunch of hotel towels.

An increasing trend is to do product launches at Sea Otter, instead of Las Vegas at Interbike; with the launch, the media can then go out and test the gear with much greater ease. SRAM did this a few years ago when they debuted their Force road group.

I've several invites through the weekend, and have had to print them off so I can keep them in order. But one just came across from my good friend Max at Full Speed Ahead and Vision.

Evidently, they have a debut that they are hyping: visit www.theloopisclosed.com to see (or more pointedly, not see) what they're up to. A whirling globe of macro images that reveal... well, nothing. I see carbon, I see aluminum, but I see nothing that represents a part or piece.

I know they're doing some thing with their FSA Gravity group—which is fine. But where Vision was also mentioned in the mix, I'm curious to see what they have on. I know there was talk long, long ago (in a galaxy far, far away) about a road group coming to fruition. I've been led down that road too many times... but might there be something?

Maybe not, since I doubt they'd label a road group with Vision. But I'll be jazzed to see what they have up their sleeves. To create a website hyping the debut, I'm guessing it'll be no token launch. Will be updating from Monterey to let you all know what we've discovered is coming down the pipeline for '09 and beyond.

T.J. Tollakson's New Race Setup Revealed!

2009-04-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well... time for the vocal minority to issue their .02. Tis a detailed look at T.J. Tollakson's new race setup, as raced at Ironman 70.3 New Orleans last week.

We did a photo shoot with T.J . the day before the race in Nawlins. He said he'd kept his race setup pretty much on the low-low, the only folks seeing it being those in Tucson on the Shootout.

This new position, as I mentioned, was something he tested and developed on his own dime at the A2 Wind Tunnel in North Carolina. I know lots of athletes are at the tunnel at the behest of their bike sponsor, but T.J. is probably the first athlete who has gone on his own dime.

Granted, he was doing work for his front-end hydration systems, but again, I can count on one hand the athletes that are doing their own product development. So there you go.Given the steep angle of his setup, the solution of using jock cups as forearm cups certainly takes a lot potential fore/aft stress out of the equation (since he doesn't have to shift forward or back). His forearms and chest are so close, he likely doesn't get any eddying behind the arms and into the chest cavity.

T.J. said it was night and day the power numbers that I think he'll be posting soon at his Specialized Riders Club site. (After the race I hitched a ride back to transition with Chris Lieto—a guy known for being protective of his power numbers—and back to my hotel with Tollakson. As we all took off, TJ was offering up his SRM data to Lieto. Jokingly (and knowing the answer), I asked Chris what his numbers were. Nothin' doin.)

I settled into T.J.s aerobars and with the hands up so high, the custom-designed hydration system is literally inches from the face, at about chin level. To create his setup, all T.J. did was use a gasket he picked up at a store in Boulder, and insert it into the side of the bottle, allowing him a way to refill the bottle with course hydration. A straw driven in right in front, and voila, a simple but effective aero bottle. No splash, no muss, no fuss, and as he has tested, aero. Tollakson seals the deal with a bit of duct tape across the front of the extensions, sealing off the leading edge of his aerobar. I don't see a ton of age groupers running as aggressive a setup as T.J., but for those that might, it's a clever solution.

Glad I was able to spend some time with T.J. last week in New Orleans—save for the getting lost on about three highways back in to downtown. Man, his girlfriend has some patience. Kidding—it's something when you've got an athlete taking a journalist out to dinner because he's broke as piecrust. Thanks for the carbload of that alligator and pasta (or chicken and pasta in my case.. but that gator was good!)

Big Easy, Over Easy

2009-04-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

Didn’t think I would have anyone asking how the bet went. Good thing it turned out favorable for me; not only would I be deprived of the gloating at office, I would have been subject to Brad’s gloating. I’m trying to keep it civil. Honest. With just a little jab here or there. For now, Brad is my bitch.

Since then, he’s been threatening to throw people across the office and put people in sleeperholds. He’s clearly moved on.

So tale of the tape: Oceanside was from all accounts pretty ideal weather wise. Brad was on pace for a fast swim but was kicked in the shoulder by a woman from an earlier wave (yes, a woman), resulting in one of his frequent shoulder dislocations (I am not making this up). He found a nearby piling just 100 yards off shore and began banging his shoulder against it, trying to re-set the sucker in socket. So he accounts for five minutes of that.

On the bike, his first half was beset by a tight back. On the half marathon, his first half of the run, like the bike, was beset by the tight back. 5:19 was the final damage of his race.

My race? Considering all the travel I have undergone in the last three or four weeks (Arizona for TriFest, then Thailand and Arizona again for a couple birthdays), I was pleased that my impromptu taper on airplanes and in my car seat along Interstate 8 between Tucson and San Diego worked out so nicely. And it was nice to be on the run in Nawlins, knowing that I had run in hotter temps in Phuket two weeks earlier.

The point-to-point swim was awesome—longshore in the murky Pontchartrain without a bit of contact. Swimming was the one thing I did the least of (swimming once a week, getting in once every two weeks every so often as time didn’t permit) and I expected an ugly time. That said, I started easy and found a good set of feet that I latched onto, battering anyone who contested me for them. I wasn’t letting go of this pacesetter. Ended up with a 34-minute swim.

The bike was my favorite. I love flat courses—just love to tuck in and jam. Through 30 miles, that was it—jamming out east of town into Bayou Sauvage. Race officials said we might see crocodiles out there, and while I didn’t, a few pros said they actually saw a couple. But I saw some shit there I didn’t expect. A forest of trees, absent their foliage after the hurricane, looked like erect toothpicks. But something caught my eye; a 40-foot closed-bow boat was jammed in there behind the trees, clearly forced up nearly onto the road by the Katrina winds that shoved water high up the shore. There was no water around now, the boat stranded in a prison of trees, high and dry.

An out and back along the Bayou Sauvage was crankin at 25 mph. But I saw the guys coming back in from the turnaround at a much slower pace, and I knew what was coming: ugly headwinds. A turn onto the main highway was hoped to be a respite, but no dice; it was wind in the grill the rest of the way home. My early dreams for a sub 2:30 bike were gone, but I was happy to split 2:37. But I also wondered if I overcooked the bike.

As such, the run was gonna be the big question. At mile one, I got dehydration tingles in my arms, and expected it to be a walkfest. The sun beating down, paired with the humidity, reminded me of my run in Phuket two weeks ago. I found a cat who was cruising super easy, and just locked into his pace. I’d rather ease into the run and finish stronger, especially in the heat—at the advice of my wife. I didn’t want to walk a step of the run. At every aid station, it was water over the head, water across the chest, ice into my singlet, cool the engine room.

It paid off. After five miles, the sun tucked in behind the clouds, and the going got easier. I invited my run partner from Dalton, GA to join me when I was gonna pick things up after mile six. An aid station later, he dropped off and I never saw him again. So I picked up the pace 30 seconds per mile through the rest of the day, enjoying the shade trees that covered the rest of the run course.

Somewhere along the way, I had a laugh; some fans held out a bedsheet with YOU CAN DO IT! spraypainted across it. All I could think of was Rob Schneider’s little Cajun character in all of Adam Sandler’s flicks like The Waterboy and 50 First Dates.

I came across the finish in front of Jackson Square, the chute beset by spectators that were only a few feet wide, a Jazz band playing off to the side, and I immediately put this race in my top three of all time ever done: Monaco, Alcatraz, and New Orleans. It’s an ESPN Instant Classic. My time: 5:13. Brad spotted me 45 minutes, and I beat him outright by five minutes.

Thanks for the unofficial snag of images from Brightroom.

Some folks are bitching about not getting cold towels (queue teardrop) during the run. But goddamn it, what the hell do you want? The spirit of this event from the early days has always been one of self-sustainance (remember the days of using electrical tape to secure a banana to the stem?)

Just because you paid an entry fee does not mean it is a catered buffet with guaranteed deviled eggs, escargot and champagne flutes. Race director Bill Burke said he was shocked that so many first-timers (not first timers to that race, not first timers to the half-Ironman distance, but first-timers to triathlon) were laying out their transition race morning, and setting off for the swims start—without a bottle on their bike. And he took heat for being shocked about that. I’m as shocked. Granted, it was hot and people went through too many bottles. But sorry, no sympathy for these whingers. One bottle cage on your bike for a half Ironman? Really? Take ownership of your day—end of story. I learned it’s one more thing for my “First Timer” articles: bring nutrition. I thought it would be a no brainer, but I guess that’s what happens when you assume.

And logistics? I was from out of town, figured out the map, rode to the race start, checked in my bike and got a cab back to my hotel the day before the race. After the race, a shuttle got athletes back to transition. A point-to-point race makes the race itself greater than any out and back or loop—that’s the tradeoff. I’ll take a bit of hustle in periphery to the race in deference to the actual race experience. This is one reason this race makes my top five—I mean, we traversed town from Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River and the French Quarter. Without the “inconvenience” of a finish at Jackson Square, this race is just another 70.3. With it, this race is special.

Beyond this all, the race did something else; it wrote a check to A Shared Initiative, an organization that is helping rebuild houses in the Lower Ninth Ward. Burke took me on a personal solo tour of the Ninth Ward; upon crossing the bridge, he pointed in the direction of where a river retaining wall (which stood about 13 foot tall) failed, flooding a massive neighborhood with waters that ripped houses from their foundations, ripped the only possessions from folks, ripped folks from the lives of loved ones. Burke pointed out some green homes that Brad Pitt was having built to help rebuild the hood.

But the area still needs so much help. I’ll be doing a travel piece in Triathlete on this race. There’s so much to see, but athletes need to see this area.

I wanted to show two photos I took on my tour with Burke that resonated with me: one of a table set on its end, with a message to then-President Bush… which I am sure extends to President Obama. New Orleans is out of the media spotlight, but the area still needs help. Click on the pic to read what it says. The site was home to a headstone for one resident who died. Behind was a trailer, housing offices for the guys building some of Brad Pitt's new rebuild project homes. It was encouraging to see that, because beyond that, there was nothing but steps up to homes.. without the homes even being there.

The other is from inside a home, any home, about seven blocks inland from the wall. It wore the proverbial scarlet letter that so many of the homes wore: a spraypainted X, with numbers and codes that alerted emergency staff to status of lives—or deaths—inside. To see the waterline still set on homes was appalling.

But walking into this particular home, only held up by 2x4 supports, it hit home more. A pile of photos lay on the linoleum floor. A little girl features in the first one I see. I don’t know the status of the family, but to see this family’s belongings sitting, water-stained in this empty home was like walking on a grave—I felt like an intruder.Of course, if nobody pays notice, nothing changes.

This 70.3 race, with whatever tourism dollars were generated by athlete presence, helps rebuild the community, the city. This was my first time to New Orleans. I saw a t-shirt that said “Recover, Rebuild, Restore New Orleans” Of course, I also saw a t-shirt that said “I got Bourbon-faced on Shit Street.” Whatever your pleasure, injecting dollars, tourism or otherwise by doing as little as buying a t-shirt, or an order of beignets and a cafe au lait, helps get this great city back on its feet.

After the race, I joined the LifeSport crew—coach Lance Watson and athletes Brent McMahon (your race winner), Linsey Corbin, Chris Lieto, Magali Tisseyre and Justin Park well as elite age groupers Nat Faulkner and Sean Bechtel—for some Bourbon Street revelry. Much fun was had by all, but things, as they probably always do on Bourbon Street, devolved as the night went on. Starting the evening with Hurricanes at Pat O’Briens was great; Brent drank, hilarity ensued. Upon leaving at 2:30 a.m., you think we can get out unscathed?

No, not when there’s a bar open with a mechanical bull. Park, Tisseyre and I were dumb enough to ride the bull. I had to represent my Tucson rodeo upbringing (well, it was merely watching in the stands as a kid). I wrapped the rope around a hand and channeled Ty Murray.

I sucked. We all did. But it was fun.

Taking my Pacificos home from work now. Don’t like my choice of that beer for my race earnings? That’s ok; you don’t have to drink it, and summer is coming soon enough, it’s warm enough to start drinking it here in San Diego.

Next up: a detailed look at T.J. Tolakson’s race rig.

Aerus to New Orleans: a bike travel case review

2009-04-08T00:38:00.000-07:00

Before I go into detail about my dusting of Brad from our little 70.3 bet this past weekend, I must, MUST announce how much I spent to fly my Specialized Transition from San Diego to New Orleans on Continental Airlines (which has a $100 bike fee each way): $50. Total. That was the extra baggage fee.

How’d I do this? Chance Regina from Blue Competiton Cycles showed me a bike case that one of their company brands, Aerus, sells: a soft-sided bike case—no fancy name, just their bike case. It doesn’t have caster wheels or a hard base, or a fork block. But if you can see past that simplicity (which is what makes this an airline charge-avoider), it has lots of padding to protect the frame, padded pockets for the wheels and skewers, and a padded shoulder strap. Without all the other reinforcement plastic and rivets, it makes the bike and case light—on the airline scale, my bike weighed in at 31 lbs, in the case. Add to that its small size and the fact that there were no bike-related logos on it, and the gate agents had no reason to suspect it was a bike.
Only things you might need after the fact? Maybe some pipe insulation for your tubesets, and brace blocks for your fork and rear dropout (so a heavy drop on your case by the luggage throwers doesn’t break your fork or rear stays), and that’s about it it. There's no room to pack extra shoes or helmet, but this is meant to hopefully skirt the airline folks—the more you want to load it down, the more it raises red flags.

Of course, they ask what it is, and here’s where you have to be clever, and state what it isn't. I have two things that two people suggested to me, each of which worked like a charm, neither of which I will share with you because, well, it's like a kid's favorite hiding place; once you tell someone, and they tell 10 of their friends, and they tell 10 of theirs, it's not much of a hiding place anymore, is it? If you're clever, you will think up what your excuse is.

I told Joanna Zeiger, and she and her husband Mark were on their iPhone, looking at it at that moment. For pros that make so little money to begin with, any way to cut crazy travel costs is huge. Hell, for any of us, any way to cut travel costs is huge.

Heading out of San Diego, I had to take a pic of the thing, sitting there, pleased that I had not been worked for yet another c-note on a flight.

Chance, thanks for the chance to test this case—it works like a charm. If you travel a lot, the TriAll3 is awesome and bombproof. But with costs as they are, a softside is worth checking out. And at just $265 for the case… how can you lose?

Well yeah, of course, the airlines can always lose your bike.

More soon on how the Brad vs. Jay battle went. And the sordid details on how Canuck Brent McMahon parties on Bourbon Street after winning his first 70.3. Hint: it involves Hurricanes mixed with Rum and Cokes at Pat O'Briens as he partied with his LifeSport posse. As a journalist, I was simply an observant, a proverbial fly-on-the-wall. A fly that Brent kept feeding Hurricanes and beers.

Eve of Ironman 70.3 New Orleans

2009-04-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. 'ol Brad, and his 45 minute buffer at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside. I won't announce his result, and I never like to count my chickens before they've hatched, but... my brother, who finished his first Ironman 70.3 at Oceanside today in 5:40:09 (great job, Jon!), chimed in that even he would have fallen well, well within the 45 minute buffer had he taken the bet.

Do they sell Belgian trappist beer by the case? No, no chicken counting....

This morning, I circled with Inside Tri freelancer Stephanie Pearson, photographer Robert Murphy (he of all the kick-ass photography in the new Inside Tri) and pro T.J. Tollakson for some magazine shots. Always good to hang with T.J. because as a trained engineer, he loves to play and tinker with his bike setup. He has a wicked new Praying Landis setup that I'm sure the Slowtwich iPhone wielders in transition here in New Orleans will be running to his bike to check out. Say what you will about his setups, he does them all on his own—he doesn't wait for companies to go through tooling and prototyping—he does his own prototyping, with whatever he can find that will get the job done. He actually has several of his custom carbon Kona setups backordered for a bunch of consumers.

Here, getting the job done with a setup that works here in New Orleans means a couple of armrests comprised of jock cups, and a really, really cool bottle that refills, has a straw that is right at his head position (no ducking to take a drink) I have shots on my camera, which is currently with Stephanie, and will load to our website soon. But I'm sure the Slowtwitch-erazzi will be all over it. For it's MacGyver build, I settled into it—and can see how it's a comfortable setup for T.J. He has power numbers that back his position and prototyping. I am sure lots of companies are looking at T.J.'s ideas with careful thought; and I told him I'm sure he'd be able to find a job with any of the tri companies once he's done racing if he desired; he's a thinker and a tester of the outside-the-box variety.

After a long ride from my hotel at the Riverwalk area of town along the Mississippi River to T1 at Lake Pontchartrain (which, as you can see is a bit brackish), it was a cab home. Time to connect with T.J. for dinner right now, then chill out, watch a bit of Ironman Australia and South Africa, with a nice 4:30 alarm a fun bus ride across to the race start and a 7:20 wave start. Looking forward to that finish in the French Quarter—I love half Ironmans, but this one promises to be pretty fun.

UPDATE: Just back from dinner with T.J. and his girlfriend Ashley, and I ran into Hawaii Ironman race director Blair LaHaye and her husband (and St. Anthony's Race Director (Philip LaHaye). Seems Nawlins is Philip's hometown, so he had several tables pulled together, and several kids clawing at him.

But the cool thing about dinner? We struck out at two pasta joints (one had a line out the door, the other was completely gutted of its pasta by triathletes that beat us to it), so we went to a Southern place, Mulates. Live New Orleans band playing (complete with a guy playing the washboard). And T.J.'s dinner? Alligator, on a bed of penne. Awesome. I tried the 'gator, and... it tastes like chicken. I'm serious. I'll actually order it next time.

Unless the gators on the swampy part of the bike course (they said in the pre-race briefings that they're out there) get me first.

Garmin Loves Triathlon!!! Forerunner 310XT (finally) debuts

2009-04-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've gotten to hang out with Garmin marketing man Jake Jacobson for the last few years at a bunch of the key events, from Sea Otter to the Tour de France. If you check out the Garmin.com blogs, Jake is the man behind them (and face on 'em). Every time we saw one another, I would ask him the same thing: "When will you cats make a Forerunner that is Mac-compatible, and when will you make one that's watertight for swimming?"

His polite reply: "I hear ya—we're working on it." Every time he saw me, he'd smile and roll his eyes, because he knew my first questions. We both knew some hearty souls would take their Forerunner 405, stick it in a Ziploc bag , shove it under the swim cap and race their entire Ironman with it—it would come out with some awesome tracking, revealing just how crooked some of us actually swim. Change it from run pace to bike pace in T1, then back to run pace at T2. Voila, a full race, GPS tracked.

Downside? The units were water resistant, not waterproof. You could race with it, but it's user risk; it dies, it was a warranty-voider, and thus your loss.

So I asked, again and again: When will you have a waterproof Forerunner? And make it Mac-compatible? I am addicted to GPS tracking; I love the wireless data, the integrated power on the bike. And I'm useless now without knowing my pace on the run, especially in a race, knowing whether my perceived effort is honest or fatigued, and when/how much to pick it up if I wanted to hit marked time.

About a month ago, Garmin quietly made their units, from the Forerunner to the Edge 705 (both of which I have been actively testing and absolutely in love with (save for the Forerunner 405's inability to get wet) Mac-compatible. The ONLY reason I have a PC was to run my data to My Garmin Connect page and MotionBased. Now, all it does is store all my music. Half the battle was won, and I was uploading through my MacBook, which I can and am now doing from the road for the first time.

So today, a miracle: this press release confirming that Garmin indeed loves triathletes, and created a product just for them. It does it all; run pacing, bike speed, calorie burn, ANT + compatible (So I can run my PowerTap data through it), 20 hours (20!!!) of battery life that will last an Ironman, wireless data transfer... this thing is going to be Nirvana. I wish I got to test it this weekend as an all-in-one. Instead I'll be patching data from my Edge 705 with my Forerunner 405 after the race at New Orleans this weekend.

Well... maybe I wouldn't want to let the new 310XT be water-devirginized in Lake Pontchartrain. Perhaps I'll wait till I get back to the Pacific.

And it's about time to get an external, dump the music on there, then dump the PC.

And Jake: you don't have to deal with my incessant questioning anymore; I think you've answered about every need from a triathlete.

About time! (And tracking, power, speed, and pace!)

To watch a video of how the 310XT works, click here.

***

Garmin® Gives Fitness a Facelift with Forerunner® 310XT,
the Waterproof Multi-Sport Watch with Longer Battery Life

OLATHE, Kan./April 2, 2009/Business Wire — Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the Forerunner 310XT – the waterproof multi-sport solution in Garmin’s popular line of GPS-enabled fitness devices. Boasting up to 20 hours of battery life and a sleek, comfortable design, the Forerunner 310XT was announced in preparation for world-class marathons in Paris and Boston, where it will be on display at Garmin booths in each location. The Forerunner 310XT will be sold on its own or packaged with a new waterproof, soft-strap heart rate monitor, which will be more comfortable than previous models and is expected to be available during summer 2009.

“The waterproof Forerunner 310XT is the evolution of the iconic Forerunner 305, building off of what users love and introducing key benefits they’ve requested,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “By adding unmatched wireless connectivity, up to 20 hours of battery life and a more comfortable build, Forerunner 310XT will bring Garmin’s leading GPS technology to more athletes and events than ever imagined.”

During and after the workout, Forerunner 310XT blends the best wireless connectivity of all of its predecessors in the Garmin fitness family, syncing wirelessly through ANT+™ technology with Garmin heart rate monitors and foot pods, compatible third-party fitness equipment and power meters, and the user’s PC or Mac for automatic data download.

The swimmable Forerunner 310XT is waterproof to a depth of 50 meters, so you can wear it in the pool or the lake to time your swim. And its slim design, simple interface and flexible wristband mean Forerunner is easy to wear in any conditions. When you're ready to jump out of the water and onto the bike, Forerunner 310XT moves easily from wrist to bike with the optional quick release and bike mounts, making the transition between sports effortless. Forerunner 310XT categorizes multisport activities in one workout and can also log transition time in the process, so you can analyze your performance from start to finish. And the extended battery life – up to 20 hours – means that endurance athletes can push themselves farther than ever.

Positioned around the large, vivid display, intuitive buttons provide a simple interface without sacrificing space on the customizable data screens. And even in the loudest gym or largest crowd, users won’t miss their milestones as Forerunner 310XT’s audible signals and/or vibration alerts tell them when they’ve reached integral parts of their race or workout.

Garmin is also announcing a new waterproof, soft-strap heart rate monitor that is streamlined and more comfortable than ever, yet rugged enough to withstand swimming. Though heart rate data does not transmit while underwater, this new waterproof strap means that triathletes can plan ahead by wearing the strap under a wetsuit, shaving crucial seconds off their transition time. The new soft-strap monitor is expected to be available during summer 2009.

For out-of-water activities, Forerunner 310XT tracks speed, distance and location accurately and effortlessly, and users benefit from the precision of heart rate-based calorie computation. Runners and cyclists can adjust the pace and speed of their Virtual Partner without stopping in the middle of a workout, and the Virtual Partner is always on and ready for a challenge.

The waterproof Forerunner 310XT can be used outdoors or indoors (with an optional, streamlined foot pod that can fit on laces or under certain shoes’ insoles), making it the ultimate year-round, all-weather training tool. And the high-sensitivity GPS receiver with HotFix™ quickly acquires and sustains satellite reception, whether you’re tackling a wooded trail or jogging through the urban canyons of skyscrapers. An optional speed/cadence bike sensor helps cyclists monitor their pedaling cadence and wheel speed.

Once the workout is done, the training is far from over. Using ANT+ technology, the Forerunner 310XT sends workout data to the user’s PC or Mac via automatic wireless data transfer. There’s no need to take off the watch or bother with cables as the computer automatically syncs with the Forerunner 310XT once it’s in close proximity. And the data transfer is a two-way street. Runners, joggers, cyclists and hikers can send courses, goals and workouts to their Forerunner 310XT before they begin, and then the data gets sent back to the user’s computer when the workout is over. Athletes can log their workouts, track their totals, set goals, share workouts with coaches, friends and family and participate in an online fitness community at Garmin ConnectSM — Garmin’s online training site.

The wireless features of Forerunner 310XT are enabled by ANT+ personal area network technology. ANT+ is a leading wireless interface protocol enabling ultra low power applications like fitness monitors. ANT+ offers all the benefits of digital wireless communications with much lower power consumption than other wireless protocols.

The Forerunner 310XT is the latest breakthrough from Garmin, which has spent 20 years using technology and innovation to enhance users’ lives, making Garmin a household name in the automotive, aviation, marine, wireless, outdoor and fitness industries. To learn more about the Forerunner 310XT and Garmin’s other products and services, go to www.garmin.com and www.garmin.blogs.com.

Nawlins: Half Iron, Full Party

2009-04-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

I’m starting to revisit the wisdom of the last couple weeks. I have my first race of the year coming up this Sunday at Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, and in the last two weeks, I have probably 20,000 air miles logged, having gone last week to Thailand to visit Vittoria Tires production facility, Phuket for a couple days of decompression, back to San Diego. I’ve chased that with a weekend drive to Tucson for two birthday parties. My cats don’t recognize me anymore.

Regardless, I’m grateful to have the chance to be here for the debut of this race in Nawlins. I am about 99.9 percent sure this race will be a roaring success, for several reasons:

First, the race is being put on by rockstar race director Bill Burke and Premier Event Management. Throughout my career, I have been impressed by the level of energy that he puts into assembling races. He was the man behind the popular Dannon Duathlon Series a decade ago, which—while du ain’t as fly as tri—were some of the funnest races I’ve ever done. Plus it spawned some awesome talent, from Paul Thomas (former national champ and now national sales manager at Kuota Bicycles) to Kimberly Bruckner (now Baldwin, who kicked ass on the road with the T-Mobile team before retiring a couple years ago) to multi-time national champ Greg Watson. He treated the athletes like family, and does the same today with all athletes in his races. He is known for organizing great events—and doing every bit of the grunt work. I recall the LA Tri last year, watching him hustle to put on transition racks at Venice Beach the evening before the race. Bill is a high-energy hustler.

Second, New Orleans (well, Metaire specifically) is PEM’s home. Which means Burke and crew will roll out the red carpet, since this is in their backyard. No way they're not gonna put on a good show.

Third, I think our community (not just us in triathlon, but us as Americans on the whole) wants to see the New Orleans area recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, by injecting some tourism dollars into an already depressed economy. Burke promised to take me on a tour of some of the areas ravaged by the Hurricane, including the Lower 9th Ward, an area still struggling for survival.

Fourth? Even with 70.3 Oceanside, this is turning out to be a sick field; reigning 70.3 World Champ Joanna Zeiger, Des Ficker, Natascha Badmann, Kate Major, Heather Gollnick, Nina Kraft, Yvonne Van Vlerken… this sounds like a European championship. And the guys will have Macca, Brent McMahon, Tim O’Donnell, Chris Lieto, Brian Fleischmann, Chris McDonald, Brandon Marsh, Luc Van Lierde, Joe Umphenouer—this one is revenge of the American ITU short-coursers. Looks like everyone is keen to race.

I’ll be updating here a bit on my trip last week to Bangkok and visit to the factory where they make Vittoria Tires and Geax Tires (I even got to make my own Geax mountain bike tire), as well as my quick side trip to beautiful Phuket. I must say, while I may be jetlagged and knocked sideways from my trip, there’s nothing quite like run training for a potentially humid race in New Orleans on the run course for the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, in literally humid training conditions. Good practice.

Meantime, I turn my attention to gluing up tires and taking on a visual of this course, which looks on paper fairly flat (good for me), but will invariably draw those wheelsuckers with no morals (bad for me and the rest of those who hold a utopian view of a world without cheating drafters). I hope the officials do their job and sit those pack bitches on the side of the road. And if they don’t come, I hope they get stitches, cramps and GI distress that leaves them bawling.

Can you sense I loathe drafters? If I could have the guns and knives-spinning-from- wheels on my bike that my boss John Duke wishes he had on his car for shitty drivers in his way, I’d be a happy boy.

And I’m looking forward to scooping up a finish at famous Jackson Square, right down in the heart of the French Quarter. Maybe they’ll have a hurricane (the drink!) waiting for finishers! And I’m trying to envision the finishers medals… with beads?!?! Hopefully things don’t get as sideways in the finish gantry as they do during Mardi Gras….or hopefully they will!

Meantime, on to the little bet Brad Culp and I have; he’s racing Oceanside, I’m racing New Orleans. He gave me 45 minutes (45 minutes!!!) and winner gets a case of beer. This is easy money. We both just got our battle axes set up yesterday (see above).. should be fun.

Lance Armstrong's new carbon fiber clavicle!

2009-04-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

I wonder what today is... whatever, this is awesome!

BONTRAGER INFORM® TECHNOLOGY AIDS ARMSTRONG'S RECOVERY

(Waterloo, WI) – Lance Armstrong and Bontrager today released more details regarding Armstrong’s recent collarbone surgery. While it was previously reported that Armstrong’s right clavicle was screwed and plated back together after his March 23rd crash at the Castilla y Leon stage race in Spain, Armstrong and equipment sponsor Bontrager, jointly announced that he was the world’s first recipient of an inForm® CarbonClavicle™ Upgrade.

Originally slated to be released at the AAOS (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeon) Convention May 18-24th in Las Vegas, Bontrager moved up the launch date of the inForm CarbonClavicle to aid the return of Armstrong to the peloton.

“The original intent of the Bontrager inForm line was to use medical research to aid us in creating better cycling contact points, such as saddles, shoes, and grips. But when we did the research into the most common cycling-related injuries, the broken collarbone proved to be an area where we could actually help cyclists get back on the road sooner,” relates John Balmer, head of Bontrager Development.

The CarbonClavicle, available for both left and right shoulders in four male sizes and four WSD (Women’s Specific Design) sizes, is an actual carbon fiber replacement of the clavicle. Developed with the aid of Sports Medicine Specialist Dr. Mark Timmerman, a Bontrager consultant, the inForm CarbonClavicle has greater shock absorption, greater impact strength, and a greater tensile strength—all while being grams lighter than the OEM bone.

“The installation on Armstrong was completely coincidental. But I must admit, the Bontrager marketing team was doing high-fives when we heard about Lance’s crash. It really was a marketing god-send. I mean, could there have been a better way to launch the new Bontrager medical Upgrade line?” explains Chris Clinton, Bontrager Marketing Manager.

The installation procedure is substantially quicker than the conventional collarbone repair procedures of stabilizing, drilling and pinning, as this is a full replacement. Essentially, the broken bone is completely removed and the CarbonClavicle is anchored in place. Armstrong’s procedure took approximately 30 minutes and will reduce his recovery time from 3 weeks, to 5-7 days for the sutures to fully heal.

The delay in releasing details was due to an extended approval process with the UCI, which has now ruled that since this piece is structural yet provides only minor aerodynamic advantage over the traditional ‘bump’ of a healed broken clavicle, it falls with the current parameters of the UCI rules.

Future sponsorship plans include full support and pre-emptive upgrades for the full Trek-Livestrong U23 team. “These guys are early in their careers, and if averages apply to the team, we think we can prevent about ten or more future breaks across the 12 members of the team,” adds Clinton.

Backed by Bontrager’s best-in-industry 5-year warranty, inForm CarbonClavicles will be available through referrals from Trek and Fisher dealers exclusively. Retail prices will be set by the retailer.

For more information, please visit Bontrager online at www.bontrager.com.

Extra Extra: Raelert to ride Blue Competiton Cycles

2009-03-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

I could see this coming, but I had no idea who would win the grand prize: the chance at a guy that my colleague Brad Culp and I agree upon as the future of Ironman racing (the singular time we actually agree on something): German Andreas Raelert.

The bike signing became official at TriFest, when Blue Competiton Cycles marketing manager Chance Regina pulled me aside to announce the news; Blue had just signed recent Ironman Arizona champ Andreas Raelert to ride Blue.
Just who is Andreas Raelert? If you don’t know by now, you’re in for a lesson in the next couple years. His early claim to fame is having raced on the ITU circuit, competing in the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens games (finishing 12th and sixth, respectively).

Last year Raelert quietly won Ironman 70.3 Monaco (the hardest 70.3 in the world… sez me) before he nearly ran down Terenzo Bozonne at Clearwater 70.3 Worlds to finish second. Just a couple weeks later, Raelert was at fall Ironman Arizona, taking part in his first Ironman. He summarily destroyed the field, beating Chris Lieto and Jordan Rapp en route to a dominant Ironman victory. I shook my head at the apparent ease and poise in which he won that race—it was as if he had done it all before. Speaking with him after the race, he was one of the nicest guys I'd come across.

I also recall after interviewing him, the collection of triathlon brand peeps who descended upon the guy, businesss card flicked out to the friendly German. He was a hot commodity. I imagine he had quite a few bike companies pitching him, but am glad to see growing Blue (with their Triad as the rig he’ll be using in long-course racing) be the winning suitor. This kid’s stock is on the rise, and that bike is serious business.

“We’re really thrilled to have Andreas with us. We wanted to put a top-name athlete on a Blue,” Regina told me. “With this signing, it makes us a true contender for Kona, in our fifth year as a bike brand. We’re already working closely with Andreas, and will be doing some custom paint for him in some coming events, “

He makes his debut on the Triad at St. Anthony’s Triathlon. He’ll be doing some ITU races in Europe during the summer, and will be riding the RC8 in those races. While his debut at the Hawaii Ironman is a focus, so is a top finish at Ironman German in Frankfurt in July.

Camping without the tents: Triathlete visits Cliff English’s Mad Miles Tri Camp

2009-03-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

The travel season has begun, as have racing and camps. I’ve had barely a breath this early season currently in Thailand (was in Bangkok, now in Phuket) for a work junket (and squeezing in training and, currently, "enjoying" a bad sunburn thanks to a snorkel trip, 92-degree temps and a blazing sun, hold the ozone layer). But before that, I was in Tucson for TriFest, a weekend of riding, running and general triathlon stimulation.

But before that, I spent a day with coach Cliff English of Cliff English Coaching in Tucson, Ariz. He and his wife Samantha McGlone (she of 2006 Ironman 70.3 World Champ win and 2007 Hawaii Ironman runner-up finish) along with fellow coach Paul Cross, were leading a diligent group of triathletes through the biggest day of the “Mile Madness” training camp held in Tucson; a 100-mile ride, from the East side of Tucson to the tiny ranching town of Sonoita, Ariz.

I pulled into the host hotel on ride morning and was greeted by Cliff, Sam, Paul and fellow Tucsonan and ITU pro Doug Friman, who was helping out with the camp. There were several camps being held the week before and week following TriFest, but I wanted to tag along and see Cliff’s operation. I visited with this camp last year when Peter Reid made an appearance.

This year, I simply wanted an excuse to hang out with a group of the coolest cats in the coaching (and racing) game, and ride in the sag van with Doug. Cliff, Sam, Doug and Paul are some of the nicest guys you’ll ever come across, but what draws me to hang out is the low-key element of the class. There’s no powerpoints about heartrate zones. Yes, it’s covered, but in a way that makes it easy for a guy like, well…. me, to understand. To boot, the camp was also hosting running coach Bobby McGee, someone I was looking forward to meeting as well.

The small group of athletes received as much attention as they required or wanted; on the ride, Sam rode with a group of hammerheads at the front, while Cliff and Paul settled into groups that went at a more sustainable pace.

I had a chance to meet one of the age-group “hammerheads” at the front; Dean Harper. Dean was not only a Bay Area pro back in the 80s, he has the distinct honor of gracing the very first issue of Triathlete magazine. “ I remember Bill Katovsky asked if he could take some pictures of me in my garage for his magazine,” Harper recalls. “He said he wanted to get Dave Scott on the cover, but was too intimidated. So instead I got the honor!”

The group of athletes finished their long ride at Saguaro National Park East. After a quick change into run kit, everyone was ready for a breakdown of their run form by McGee, as he rode alongside runners who had that funky form you only find after nailing a 100-mile ride—the one that looks like the legs are detached from the body.

For those who wonder how Sam McGlone is going after injuries kept her out of the Hawaii Ironman and the 70.3 World Championships last year, let notice be served; the Canuck is healthy, fit and ready to race.

“I love coming to the camps here,” McGlone said. “This year is a really good level; there were some guys putting some work into me today. A long supported ride with my 12 best new friends, it’s a great way to really get my season going—it’s been a long road.”

All told, it was just what I would want out of a camp: a good time, good education (how can you not when you have Bobby McGee analyzing your off-the-bike run form?) with good training in great winter weather. There’s something tangible to have in your back pocket 180 miles of good, outdoor riding in a matter of a few days, knowing the rest of the country is in deep freeze. Cliff and his cronies host their camps in the spring (before he’s full-time with many of his elite charges and is getting his wife ready for the Ironman season), so check out his site for those camps at cliffenglishcoaching.com

Eastbound and Down; a visit with Vittoria tires

2009-03-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

I had another “you know you’re in SoCal when driving to work this morning; looked in the rear-view and there it was, that ubiquitous yellow; the Mavic team car. Did I miss something? Is there a Tour of California, Round 2? If I experienced a flat tire, would they go NASCAR-style and come out with a spare and start turning the four-bar to get my wheels off? Too funny.Speaking of “tahrs” (that’s tires in southern drawl), I am getting set to meet up with Rudi Campagne of Vittoria tires. I am a guest of Rudi, Vittoria North America’s Ryan DeLong, and Vittoria to do something I’ve long wanted to do: tour a leading tire production facility. This trip will take me to their production facility in Bangkok, Thailand for a tour next Friday.

Rudi and I met two or three years ago at the San Diego Wind Tunnel; as a supplier to then-CSC, he was there with Cervelo and Zipp testing tires as they relate to wheel and rim shape. Tire pairing with rims is without a doubt the next frontier in aerodynamics. It’s the very first thing the wind sees, and smoothly transferring wind from the tire onto the aero sidewall of the rim is a true science. And Vittoria is, really the only tire manufacturer that I have seen paying attention to and developing around it.

This year, Vittoria is working with Cervelo Test Team, which is no surprise; Phil White and Gerard Vroomen only paired with those brands that are endeavoring to optimize the ride. Those two don’t go after slick marketing; they go after testing results, and let that speak for itself.

Not to kiss anyone’s ass, but speaking as a guy who still buys his tires, Vittoria has long been one of my favorites. While Conti has always been a default day-to-day ride due to its longevity (it just seemed tougher), when I really, really wanted to treat myself, I’d buy a set of Vittoria Corsa CX’s. There was something about the silky casing and the ride it provided—I still haven’t found a tire that as closely replicates the ride quality of a good tubular.

I’m looking forward to seeing whether Vittoria has an answer to my durability question. A tire as light, flexy and silky as the Corsa CX couldn’t possibly be as flat-resistant as a denser, heavier tire… can it? Of course, I held onto my Corsa CXs without a casing or tread cut, so, maybe I’ve subconsciously proven it to myself. Yet I still auto-default to Contis for training…

So as I get set to take off Tuesday night and arrive Thursday (damn international date line), I’m putting it out there to you: what do you want to know about Vittoria’s tire production? Casing? Tread? Rolling resistance? Aerodynamics? Puncture resistance? File tread versus slicks? I already know what I want to find out, but if you have any burning questions, hit me up, and I will hit up Mr. Campagne himself, as well as his engineers. I’ll hopefully get to take a bunch of photos during production, so hopefully it’s an enlightening experience as to what goes into the rubber that hits the road.

I’m also looking at a side trip to Laguna Phuket; just an hour flight from Bangkok, I’ve never been there for the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, but from everything I have heard from the pro triathletes that have been there, the race is brilliant, but the venue is second to none. One of the race hotels, the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket Hotel, was listed last year by Conde Nast Traveler Gold List as one of the best places to stay in the world. I am sorting things, but I think me and my hosts will be staying there. Shame that I have to fly an hour south to get in my training for Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, on the Laguna Phuket Triathlon course, eh? At least I’ll be heat and humidity acclimatized!

Tested: New First Endurance Optygen Prototype

2009-03-11T16:09:00.000-07:00

I gotta keep this succinct because a.) I need to hit the road and ride home before dark (well, thanks to daylight savings time I have a bit more), and b.) I don't have much info for you.

But I have this: a new prototype version of First Endurance's Optygen HP.
There is a lot of study about Cordyceps Sinesis and Rhodiola Rosea, both adaptogens used first by Tibetan sherpas on Everest climbs. Those studies have shown the stuff helps drop lactic acid levels, raises oxygen utility and raises aerobic threshold.

I've used the Optygen HP since it came out, but was surprised when I received a package with bottles, for both myself to test, as well as my wife Donna, who's sponsored by First Endurance. To say I love the stuff is an understatement; I am full-on into training for a half, and Donna has just finished an Ironman a week and a half a go and is doing another in a month. I would say my energy levels, and effort levels are much higher, and Donna has said the same.

And the new prototype?

I don't know what they have done, but they have kicked it up a fair bit. There is some data on the label, which Mike Fogarty of First Endurance asked me to sit on—for the time being. He said that Astana was using this prototype in advance of and during the Tour of California, and the feedback from guys like Levi Leipheimer, they said, was nothing but super positive.

Of course, anything I could say would be anecdotal, but man, I did a hard ride last weekend to Dana Point, wanted a sustained race pace, with a little t-run afterward. No lactic acid, no drama at all...nothing but power. I am the king of sitting on wheels (well, only that of my wife), and I was getting uninvited limpets that day. Now I understand her plight of the wheelsuckers.

So yeah, First Endurance has something cooking. If you don't believe in performance supplements you should believe in this one... I wish I could be a bit less graphic, but... the shit works. It really does. When this new blend comes to market, it'll be worth a try. Heck, the existing Optygen HP is worth a look if you've not tried it.

Anyway, it's fun to be a writer who gets first looks at this, and gets to test it alongside the likes of Astana and the few sponsored pro triathletes that have their hands on it. I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out for the next month; I have a race April 5 in New Orleans, and am glad I have this stuff in my arsenal. After all, I have a colleage to beat, and a case of beer to win.

Tested: Oakley Jawbone

2009-02-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

For most any performance optic, the idea is to increase peripheral view, hence all the frameless designs that allow you a greater viewing area. It’s why Lance always preferred the M-Frame, and why triathletes like the Half Jacket and Radar from Oakley, or frame-free designs from other brands.

Well, Lance ain’t wearing the M-Frame anymore, and guys like Chris Lieto are racing Ironmans in the new Jawbone. Why? Wouldn’t that be counterintuitive? We got a chance to test it, and find out why the Jawbone takes the conventional wisdom of frameless design and tosses it aside.
I recall meeting up with Oakley product manager Steve Blick at the Tour de France last year, and the world got its first look at these glasses, as Thor Hushovd and George Hincapie debuted them in Brest. I couldn’t believe how rad they looked. Then Chris Lieto wore them out front of the bike at the Hawaii Ironman, wearing a black and yellow LiveStrong version. After Kona I visited the Oakley factory in Foothill Ranch and it was the first question out of my mouth for Blick and Greg Welch: when are they coming to market?” “Soon” was as much as I could get out of them.

At the Tour of California Solvang time trial last week, Triathlete was invited to the official press launch of Jawbone. And yes, they have a release date.

The big selling point with this glass is SwitchLock: the lens is fully contained by the frame, which opens to allow lens swaps. The design is ingenious: the rubbery nosepad is a hinged pivot that can turn up, releasing a clasp on the lower “jaw” of the frame. The frame swings out of the way allowing for removal and swap of lenses, fingerprint-free. When the skies go dark, change ‘em out for lighter lenses, or clear. Voila.

But there’s a lot going on in the interior. Like the fact that the lens, while nestled in the frame alcove, is suspended off the frame, isolated from the flex of the frame. We noticed on our test pair a thin foam buffer on the inside of alcove that contains the lens edge. When you install the lens, it rests upon it instead of the plastic of the frame itself— and is isolated from the frame. “This way, all the compressive stresses have been removed from the lens orbital,” Blick says. What that means is that regardless of the size of your head, or the width of your helmet’s retention device upon which the frame temple sits, the flex of the frame won’t screw up the frame curvature, and thus distort your optical view. Since fully-optimized optic viewing is a hallmark of Oakley, it was an impressive detail that ought not be overlooked— and one that not to many other brands would even consider.

While SwitchLock is the hook, for us one of biggest thing is the smallest; the Jawbone sports thin little folding armpieces. I’ve been training and racing in Oakley’s Radar since they came out, and have loved, like all of us, the absence of a frame on the sides and bottom. But they have a thick armpiece that can be a hassle getting around helmet retention devices. Like all glasses, I had to place them over my road helmet’s retention device, rather than under (because putting them under creates a tension focus behind my ear, which gets painfully uncomfortable, especially on long rides. But the stiffness of the burlier temples still put some focal pressure on my temple.

Oakley countered it on the Jawbone with a thin, slightly flexy armpiece. And that would be my biggest question with Jawbone: would they hurt my head? Answer? Nope. The thin arms are meant to flex naturally over the The armpieces went under over retention device, and being so thin, flexed nicely, eliminating any painful stress points. It was awesome. “

Coming home, I tried it again with my aero helmet, another litmus test. Again, it worked, sliding into the tiny temple slots easier than any glass had heretofore. It was, again, awesome.

OK, so why so great for triathlon? Well, for the above reason is one. But the frame design is another.

That size, parlayed with your head position when in the aerobars (or on your hoods when on your road bike) put your eye level at about the top third of the frame. Meaning there’s plenty of view coverage below, and nothing obscured. But it’s the top where we care; we’re looking straight up the road, and the frame (and our helmet) are always in the way. “We worked with all the leading helmet manufacturers—some of who are our competitors—cooperating so that we can deliver the best experience for the consumer.”

The Jawbone’s upper frame is thin, butting up against your helmet to give you just that bit more viewing when you’ve got your head tucked. “Testing with Davis and Taylor Phinney and Brian Lopes and George Hincapie, we found we needed a larger field of view off the stem,” Blick said. “When your head is down, we minimized the obstruction at the top of the orbital as much as possible. So when they’re on, you’re not looking at the top of the frame, you’re actually getting a clear field of view.”

Other minutae about Jawbone:

• Each set of glasses sold will come with an extra nosepiece; the hinge of the nosepiece can be popped off, and replaced. Further, those nosepads have a bit of rise to them, which will help fit better with athletes with smaller, lower nose bridges, letting it sit off the face better. “Those bigger nosepieces really worked well for Hincapie and Cavendish on the wet climbs, helping keep air flowing through the glasses and keeping them from fogging up.

• Speaking of fog, Jawbone has option of standard or vented lenses, the latter being designed for greater air flow, warding off fog.

• Each set of glasses sold will also come with a spare set of glasses.

• It will come in eight colors options (I'd show them all, but the conversion to jpg ain't working so well, and the colors are all off) but the basics including an all-white frame, an all black frame are complimented by the neon orange Retina Burn top/black bottom that Lieto ran at Ironman Arizona, as well as a variety of lens options including photochromic, clear, vented and non-vented. Prescription option will be available as well.

• OK, so when will we all be able to get ‘em? Oakley promised a release in May. Pricing will vary, based on lens selection. Non-Iridium glasses will price around $190 Blick says, up to $250 for Transitions or polarized lenses.

Oakley was clearly proud of their product. There were easily 100 people who had a hand in the design of this optic,” Blick said. “It took us three years to create Jawbone, but we already working on something else—we’re not done yet. But this one’s ready to go.”

Zipp ZedTech: Addressing Freud’s Model of the Psyche

2009-02-20T07:44:00.000-08:00

Well, race season has begun, Fabian Cancellara took the prologue at the Tour of California (and summarily bowed out), and heading into today’s time trial, Levi Leipheimer has the lead as the sun is finally making a showing in California. Was it just me who found it intriguing that longtime Cerveloite Cancellara won aboard a Specialized? I loved the California bear motif on Levi Leipheimer’s TTX, and the understated matte black Lance had going on his rig. And we saw a bike with triathlon heritage, the Kuota Kueen K, cutting its teeth in UCI road racing on Team OUCH.
And of course, we saw an idiot steal the equivalent of a cycling Mona Lisa (aka Lance Armstrong’s TT bike), then return it on the sly. To quote Ricky Bobby said in Talladega Nights: "That's just dumb." I thought they would have to pull out this test bike, from when I was at the tunnel last fall during his fit and product testing session. We'll see what he rides today at high noon.

Yeah, it’s that season, to start seeing who’s on what, what prototypes are going on, which is why I’m in Solvang today; to not only watch the TT, but also see what everyone has on their bikes. The Tour of California is a bellwether to what we’ll see the top pros in triathlon upon. It’s my favorite time of the year. I got a look at Cervelo TestTeam on last Tuesday at the San Diego Wind Tunnel and saw some pretty wicked stuff, and I’m quite certain I’ll see some things that will be of keen interest and utility to triathletes. I’ve already been asked to a few team and camps, with the promise of seeing some special stuff.I spoke to the folks at Zipp S peed Weaponry, who pointed me in the direction of some athletes’ bikes to see some special stuff when in Solvang. While there’s a lot of sex factor to their goods (and rightly so), Zipp has been delivering wheels that are so well engineered, studied, tested, it’s no wonder the Indiana-based company is one of the leaders. I was reminded of that when Zipp’s Andy Paskins reminded me that there will be heaps of athletes this weekend running Zipp wheels unbranded, wheels that the teams pay for of their own impetus.

OK, why the leading headline? That’s quite a statement, eh?

Freud came up with three facets of the human psyche: the id, the ego and super-ego. The id is impulsive action, satisfying for the now. The ego reasons for long-term benefit. And the super-ego keeps it all in check, with reason that serves as a conscience.

Maybe Zipp has a psychoanalyst on staff; ZedTech creates the watering mouth effect for the id (can you say custom color decals and hubsets?); the desire for something for substantial drag numbers that the ego will require; and takes care of that nagging super-ego with the consideration that if you don’t have these wheels, you’ll be slower. And your mind finally gives, saying, I gotta have these.”

While on its face they look the same, The 2009 iteration of the Zipp line, including the ZedTech configuration, have undergone massive changes, that will improve us both fashionally and functionally.

ZedTech is all about, well, me. Well, I mean you. “Me” in terms of being able to show your style. While the ZedTech consumer gets the dimpled hubs (the rest of the Zipp consumer base does not have access to this option), it’s about the color and flash.

So like Burger King thing, Zipp says you can have it your way. To illustrate it, visit zipp.com/zedtech. Here, you can visually build your wheels graphically. You can choose pre-created decal designs, or do it all on your own.

Zipp invited me to experience the ZedTech customer’s experience, and the fun part is picking the look of your wheels. At the website, you can select every aspect of the wheel; decal color, hub external cap colors, bearings (steel or ceramic) and spoke nipple color.

Designing your decal design is all you. You can use a full color palate to determine the colors of the individual Z-I-P-P lettering, background and Advanced Technology Group lettering underneath. Zipp marketing manager Andy Paskins tells me he’s seen some “interesting” designs so far. Very political of him not to make any judgements. I hoped the crew at Zipp didn’t laugh at my design idea, whatever I came up with.

I have bikes of mostly a red or blue motif, so I wanted something that would work on either bike. I also went to the University of Arizona, so I thought, why not an Arizona Wildcats color concept? I chose a red inner lettering with blue trim and white ATG lettering. The hubs would be red, spoke nipples a simple grey, and went with a simple standard bearing setup. The wheels? It would be the Craig Alexander Special, the same wheelset he ran to take his Hawaii Ironman title last fall: a 404 front and an 808 rear.

As cool as they look, the true advancement in the new wheels (not just ZedTech but all wheels) comes in the details. First, Zipp re-designed the rim shape, with a slightly more blunt and rounded apex to the rim. The brake track has been angled a bit more as well, Zipp says.

The biggest advance from a functional standpoint comes in the new 88 front hub and 188 rear hub, which are 276 grams a pair. Gone is the somewhat flimsy carbon fiber dust cap on the non-drive side. In comes a bearing shield, and a clinch nut on the non-drive side of the rear hub.

The bearings are now a fair bit more protected from the elements with that dustcap replaced by the bearing shield. But more importantly you and I now have the ability to set the pre-load on the bearings. There is a factory setting of .08 Nm, but if you feel like you want it a bit looser for a more free run when it’s set and secured into your dropouts wih your quick releasen, you can do it with a 2mm hex key. Of course, it’s your onus to be sure they’re not too loose, so as not to allow too much play that can damage your bearings.

The big, stiff 17mm axle is larger than that found in cross-country mountain bike version, and you have the choice of either ceramic bearings, or Swiss-made steel bearings that Zipp says are rounder than many other subpar ceramic bearing offerings on the market— 10 millionths of an inch of tolerance, which is 2.5 times tighter a tolerance than the other guys. So, the wheel will roll better and faster with less friction and drag with such a smooth bearing.

Hub manufacturing has other proprietaries that make the flanges more crack-resistant. And, each front and rear hub has its spoke holes cut specific to a rim, for the most direct, optimal travel of spoke from hub to rim—reducing stress risers. Boring stuff on its face, but when your high-strung wheel has a weak hub and it fails, it’ll matter. Especially on race day.

About two weeks later, the box showed up at our office, and for your spend, they deliver with a showroom-floor perfect polish. The hubs are gorgeous and with the color option really set off the complete complimentary look of your bike. They’re also a fair bit more silent than their predecessor.

Complete with a set of Zipp Tangente Tubulars to complete the I got to take a maiden test voyage up the Coast Highway from Encinitas to Carlsbad. Are they fast? Does a bear…. ok, I’ll just say they are hella fast, unreal light. Braking was great, but no better than it was ever before; maybe I need a screaming descent to test that re-design. Nothing quantative here, but I’ve been on lots of wheels, and the sturdy build, the engineering, the testing I’ve seen them do, lead me to have a hell of a lot of faith in them that they have proven the wheels as fast. So it’s the wheelset I often default to when I am packing my bike away for a race.As a tinkerer, I love, love, love the ability to adjust my own preload. For those who like to know every facet of the bike, you can really tailor your bike for race day, making sure that you are getting as much resistance-free play with the wheel in the dropouts as you want—the wheels will be fast, and you have the ability to ensure that’s so.
My test set will make their true race debut at Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, which I will be covering and racing in early April. Meantime, I’ll watch the pros roadies put this new gear through its paces. It’s a wonder if any of the guys know just how much work went into these new 2009 wheels. Fortunately, I get to hang out with engineers like Josh Poertner and talk about this stuff for an hour or so in the Sands Convention Center halls in Vegas during Interbike.

See, the things you learn when you stay out of the strip clubs. It's enough to... uh... placate your ego.

Off to Solvang to see these wheels put to work…

2009-02-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

It was the talk of the office, that ad. You know which one I ‘m talking about; the thing ran in VeloNews and drew some readers letters. Of course, it delivered on drawing attention to the new iteration of the Octane line of apparel.

It’s one thing to sensationalize for the sake of it. Of course, Pearl Izumi didn’t build it’s legacy on slick ads and weak product. I remember wearing the ubiquitous Pearl Izumi socks on a daily basis when working at REI in Seattle many moons ago, and a bunch of us floor monkeys used to have a shop thing; wear the socks mismatch. One black, one white with blue trim. It was a dumb thing, but it was our thing, and it was only in those “IP” logoed socks.

Back to today. I spent a long time with Cache Mundy from Pearl Izumi while at the Tour de France last year, since I was around the Garmin team hotel most of my time before the race kicked off in Brest. So I got to see all the cool stuff that they co-developed with Allen Lim, like seamless aero gloves (shown in the new issue of Inside Tri), and the aero skinsuits that I wish I could race in out of the water. Of course, their design would prevent me from standing upright after the race, the stitch optimized exclusively for being in the aerobars.

Suddenly, Cache and PI marketing man Geoff Shaffer made me a testing guinea pig for a couple of pieces. I was one of the first to get to run in the newly revamped Peak shoes, supplying me with enough prototype pairs of the shoe to get through my first ultramarathon last spring.

Recently, I got a chance to test their hottest new offering, the Octane. Italian-made. Ultra expensive, and totally different to anything I’d ever been in, from any brand.

Now to be fair, I know what you’re saying: “Assos is the best.” And to be fair, I’ve ridden in the Swiss-made Assos bibshorts just once. I had a those of shorts that were summarily sent back to the retailer after one ride. They were very nice, nicer than most other shorts I’d worn….a great cut and a natural feel. But they were a bit small, and they didn’t have my size. Oh well c’est la vie. I opted instead for shorts that didn’t require a week of Ramen to financially recover from, some basic Pearl Izumi Microsensor shorts, which did the trick.

Such luck, I get a job where I get to test these shi-shi goods, irrespective of the cost. That totally aside, I can firmly say that this new Octane, is the Assos-killer—or at least a major rival to the brand. The Swiss do things nicely, but the Italians do it with more style, and in this case, a level of comfort than I’ve ever experienced. And with a few four- and five-hour rides under my belt in them, I have to say they are the best bib-jersey combo I’ve ever worn. Period. Some things are worth spending on. For comfort in saddle, the Octane can go toe-to-toe with Assos.

Tangibles? The ad spells out that the outfit is like a second skin. Most every brand makes a kit form-fitting, but this is in another realm altogether. The cut of the full-zip is very, very athletic—tight around the ribs, flaring at the lats, with a long back. So there was very little excess material flapping. At the same time, it didn’t bind, the materials moving seamlessly with me. It was like a tailor-cut suit. There’s mesh across the black back for cooling, anti-microbial underarms, all the basics. And all with a styling that doesn’t scream “dork” like so many ride outfits do.

But it was the bib shorts that were so damn nice that I am hand-washing them after every ride, hanging them in the shade to dry, because I want them to last forever.

Where do I begin? I guess in the chamois, where comfort originates. Pearl Izumi has several chamois’ through their line, but they use a brand-new PRO 4D chamois, its new best. It’s pre-formed, super breathable and thermal-regulated (so it stays dry). I’ve been riding my road bike all winter, and the upright position hits a raised section at the chamois aft that has a different density. Waaaay comfortable.

It also has four-way stretch for more comfort. When you build in a seamless, anatomically-designed short with just the right seam angles, the ride will be great. Add a stretchable chamois, and the comfort level just goes off the scales. There hasn’t been a short that moves as well in the saddle as this one, by miles, without a bit of exaggeration. Early or late in the ride, and of late, in the aerobars on my tri bike, it feels like you are in a custom-built kit.

So, it made sense that they did an ad with a chick in a fairly sheer kit. No, the kit’s not sheer (thank God) but like the ad purports, it fits like it’s that dialed. The bibs are $275 or $250 for a short, and $225 for the jersey. When paired together, you look so pro, it’s sick, as the alabaster whites, brilliant reds and glossy blacks that bring the outfit together are the epitome of Italian style. That is what set this apart visually from the rest of the chartruse-mottled or USPS team-outfitted yahoos out on the weekend ride.

But it’s what’s inside on the design that makes it better than any outfit I’ve ever ridden in. I commute during the week in whatever I have, but this kit I save for my epic weekend rides. And if I need to do a mechanical on my bike mid-ride, you better believe I’m packing a hand wipe, coz chain grease fingers ain’t touchin this kit.

Larsen goes Online with WorldTri.com

2009-02-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

When it comes to pro athletes, there are egotists (just a few), but mostly there are a ton of cool cats. And then there is Steve Larsen.

First, he’s a legend on two wheels. If it consists of racing, he has won a national pro title at it. NORBA mountain biking, junior road racing, cyclo-cross, whatever. Then he delved into triathlon, finished fourth at his first big race at Wildflower, and won his first Ironman at Lake Placid in 2001, blazing the bike on that hilly course in 4:33.

That year, Larsen opened Steve Larsen’s Wheelworks in Davis, Calif. and learned something I learned before my magazine days; retail bike storefronts are hard, hard work, especially when you’re training full-time and raising five kids. (OK, I didn’t have the kids or wife, but hey, I can sympathize that fitting athletes, installing bike racks, changing flat tires and explaining the merits between chamois A and chamois B is taxing. Remains involved in commercial real estate as well.
So he stands as a rare, rare bird—I mean, can you name another athlete who has represented America in world championship events in five disciplines: road, mountain biking, cyclo-cross, track and, of course, triathlon? Didn’t think so.

The guy has done so much, his brain is a fountain of knowledge, and he more than happy to share it. He’s always been approachable by age groupers (even when he was retired for a brief respite and participated an age grouper) who wanted his opinion on the best wheel setup for Lake Placid, or advice on bike position. Even my wife, who very rarely seeks advice, has taken some good advice from Larsen.

Now he puts that experience to work with his new online retail portal, WorldTri.com. All the good things about selling bike stuff, absent the storefront, staffing and other encumberances. Certainly he wouldn’t sell anything that he wouldn’t realistically use on his own, so that’s a level of endorsement in its own right. At the same time, Steve is available to customers to help them with their purchase, whether its his opinion about an aerobar, tire pressure. It’s like getting cooking advice directly from Bobby Flay.

I had a chance to ask Steve a few questions, simply because I wanted to know what his plans are for this year, how his new online site affected things, and hoped to be present for any of his races. For as much as I’m impressed when Normann or Torbjorn put the wood down on the bike, I get a special kick when I see Larsen—as he did at Oceanside last year—ride through a bunch of pro men like they are standing still. I hope to see him get back on the podium again in Kona—a sure thrill for fathers of five everywhere.

How much fun was it delving back into the race scene after five years away from it and how jazzed was your family seeing you racing again?
It was a lot of fun. We travelled a lot with my two oldest kids when I was racing professionally and I always imagined what great experiences those would be for them. As it turns out they remember very little of those trips so I thought it would be fun to get out and compete and share with them the good I think comes from sport and a healthy lifestyle. And although I still have high expectations, it was important to show them that winning was not what was most important, but instead embracing the opportunity to compete and challenging yourself to be your best regardless of your ability or time available to train.

How would you rate your season? You had a tough run in Kona, but short of that, you had what I would think to be a successful campaign; a nice podium against a solid field at Vineman 70.3, a solid qualifier at Ironman Coeur d'Alene, and a good swim/bike in Kona... before that run grabbed you.
Performance-wise, Kona was a disappointment as I know I was trained to go much faster. But aside from that, that race and this season were very gratifying. As a father of five kids running two different businesses I was very proud of what I was able to accomplish in those races against the world’s best endurance athletes. Without a doubt my result at Vineman, finishing behind Bozzone and Alexander was the most gratifying. It showed me that when it all comes together I still have the ability to compete amongst the best, which was something I wasn’t totally sure of until that point.

What spurred you to start a new online retail storefront? I'm sure it will be much easier than doing the true storefront thing.
I have been looking for a way to stay involved in the sport of triathlon for the long term. I enjoy what I have created with Steve Larsen Properties on the real estate brokerage side, but I am much more excited about the opportunity to educate consumers and share my passion for triathlon and its healthy lifestyle. We ran a successful brick and mortar store and were well aware of what that entails on a daily basis. Through online sales we can reach a much broader audience while maintaining a more flexible schedule than a retail storefront would allow.

How involved will you be with dialogue with customers? No doubt, your personal experience and insights is worth a lot for the guy who is considering Wheelset A versus Wheelset B.
I will be very involved, specifically in selection of the products we sell and doing my best to be available to answer customer questions. We are taking our time in building our product line and are committed to only selling products we have used and believe in. No matter your ability, we hope to offer good insight and recommendations that will allow you to perform at your best without breaking the bank. Over time, we will have very specific choices to help guide your buying depending on where you are currently in the sport. The newbie triathlete does not need a $6,000 dollar bike and $600 dollar wetsuit to enjoy our sport. It may not be what the manufacturers want to hear, but I know if we give people sound and honest feedback they will be customers of ours for the long haul. And if there is one thing I have it is endurance, so I am looking to help customers from their introduction to the sport to their eventual Kona qualification, not just one sale and done.

How will this new venture, along with your real estate workload and being dad adjust your race sked for ‘09?
As with everything, things can change, but what is in your crystal ball for races? For my own motivation (like many others) it is important to commit to racing each season. It is a different challenge for me now but one I look forward to nonetheless. My hope is to compete in three or four 70.3 races, perhaps one Ironman (I am thinking Canada), and a trip back to Kona. Best case, I would add two Xterras as they are still some of the best events around.

Guess the Part; Solved!

2009-01-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

Folks, we have a winner! Matthew Shapiro did it piecemeal; he figured out it was a CO2 mount... that was half the battle. Then he needed to sort out who made it.

I had a lot of great guesses (and I bet some engineers can use those stabs as ideas for bike solutions... like an aero cable router). The maker: Profile Design. I saw this in a new 2009 catalog (though it's not on the website... your best bet is to ask your local retailer to stock 'em) and I asked to see one. I was thoroughly impressed. But like I said, it lacked the sex appeal of all the carbon stuff that goes into the mags.

It mounts vertically between your hydration system and bottle cage (the square nut serves as a spacer for your other bottle bolt, so the cage is flush.

Once the thing is on, you can screw a CO2 vertically into the threaded hollow, on either end, holding two. The package comes with two mounts, so you can mount as many as four CO2s to a rear hydration system. Mark Vandermolen from Profile Design says you can mount them under your downtube bottle cage as well.

What does it mean? It means for my wife, as you can see in the picture of her bike, she can save space in her tool bag (which she puts in her rear cage on her HydroTail). For race day, she has them at hand, and now wrapped with electrical tape to a tubular tire, or a seatpost.

Erika Csomor, whom is staying here in San Diego and I passed one to, is jazzed, as she said she has typically put CO2s in her Bento Box on race day. Now she has more room for more important stuff in there, like food.

They're easy to access, easy to know how many you have for race day, and you don't need to wrap them to your frame with electrical tape.

Maybe some of you are rolling your eyes: "That's it?" If you race and see stuff littered across the race course, one of those things that causes massive fear of riding over is a CO2 cartridge. The more you can affix stuff to your bike without rudimentary methods, the better off we all are. And you look just a little more pro.

So there it is. It ain't a solution to our economic plunge, but it will make your training and racing a bit more organized. The less electrical tape on a bike, the better.

Thanks for all the great guesses, and thanks to Profile Design for sending me a prize for the giveaway. Maybe I'll do some more of these giveaways again.

Guess the Part, Win a Prize, Part 2, and a fun bet

2009-01-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

OK, I've had a few stabs, but no hits. Jordan Rapp excluded himself and gave up, asking to know what it was. He now knows, but is thus eliminated from grand prize contention.

So I'm sending another shot at a cocked angle. It's a bit soft... sorry, my iPhone sucks for macro shots.Other hints: It is comprised of aluminum, for what it's worth. The hardware with it are what is included in the package, if that gives you any leads.

It is a product in the line of a major aerobar manufacturer. American company. But the product, being as small as it is, is not on their website.... at least I can't find it there.

Before I sign off for now and await some more guesses, I gotta put out there a bet my esteemed colleague Brad Culp and I threw together. We're both racing the first week of April; he at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, and I at Ironman 70.3 New Orleans. From what I see, Nawlins will be an easier, flatter course. But heat could be a factor, I don't know. Or cold and rain could be a factor in Oceanside. Could go either way.

But none of that matters to Brad, for his ego is larger than the Obama Fan Club. No, he said he will slay my time by more than 45 minutes. He may be faster than I am, but hell, gimme some credit. I figure I will come withing 30 minutes.

So we have a bet: regardless of condition at either race, I come within 45 minutes of Brad's time, and I get a case of beer of my choice. I fall outside it, I owe him a case.

Of course, if you've seen his blog, you know he like to fancy himself some sort of alcohol connoisseur. Of course, I've seen him drink Zima and say "man, this stuff is awesome, bro, especially when you mix it with Red Bull, gimme a glow stick so I can get loose on the dance floor" so I don't give his brew opinion much credence. Zima? Sad.

I'll take his 45 minutes. He may give me a case of beer, but I'm not all taking. I'll buy him a box of cookies to bury his sorrows in.

Interoffice smacktalk prattle off. Let's have some guesses.

Guess the Part, Win a Prize!!!

2009-01-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

Seldom does a bit part wow me. But this one, which I received a couple weeks ago, did. It’s metal, it’s simple, and it will change your life. And there’s a little drawing for this existence-altering piece of technology that ranks up there with the door knob and the round wheel. (You know, after square wheels were just not cutting it).

O.K. I’m exaggerating. But it makes your riding experience, on a smaller scale, more enjoyable. It’s also the kind of thing that I want to put in the magazine, but most will look right past it, as it lacks sex appeal. It’s not carbon, it’s not gloss, and it’s not aero tested. But when I put one on my wife’s Cervelo P3, people were asking “where’d you get that? She’s had to refer all questions to me.But it has utility for triathletes in a big way. It’s good for races, and good for training. Good on road bikes, and good on tri bikes. I visited Dan Empfield and showed it to him, and managed to elicit a “cool.” From him. If ever there was a vote of confidence, that was it.

I spoke to the head engineer for the American-based triathlon-specific company about the design of this little widget, who said “It was a team effort all around.”

What is it? That’s my question to you. A tab to tape gels onto? A surface for installing race numbers? Hmmmmm…. what could it be?

The first person (aside from those few who know me and have seen it) to sort out what it is and who makes it, I will send you a pair, compliments of the company, and announce the winner at this very globally-read blog. And it will change your life forever. I shot it under studio lighting (flourescent lights) against a contrasting background (my laptop) to give it scale, with one of my best cameras (my iPhone). This is as good as it gets, folks.

No more hints…. Time to give me your best guess!

Press Releases Galore, and some editorial: Macca to SRAM, TBB to Avia

2009-01-07T09:58:00.001-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AVIA SELECTED AS OFFICIAL FOOTWEAR PARTNER OF TEAMTBB

Aliso Viejo, Calif. (December 18, 2008) – AVIA, the leader in endurance sports racing footwear, is proud to announce its partnership with teamTBB. As of January ’09, all teamTBB athletes will train and race in AVIA footwear. TeamTBB’s coaching staff and athletes will also work directly with AVIA’s footwear engineering team on innovative new product designs.

“We are thrilled to be joining forces with the best multi-sport teams in the world,” said Ed Goldman, Vice President of Marketing for AVIA. “Our decision to partner with teamTBB is not simply a one dimensional sponsorship; their athlete assets are unmatched and their commitment to improving the lives of young people through sports is honorable. We are looking forward to a record breaking season in 2009.”

Teamtbb is a development squad that provides hope and opportunity to many young athletes and struggling pro’s that would have had no opportunity or pathway to being able to become an earning professional athlete. Teamtbb provides physical, psychological and mechanical information to all of its athletes and more important its current leading athletes are the role models to the rookie and development athletes.

In addition to its professional and amateur athlete programs, teamTBB also works to ensure that youth around the globe can participate in multi-sport events through its social development projects and its franchise, The Bike Boutique. The Bike Boutique provides unique lifestyle services through its bike lifestyle stores and encourages cycling as a means of transportation supported by its bikeLodging™ services.

Alex Bok, Managing Director of The Bike Boutique Holding and teamTBB says about this new partnership “We have completed a long selection process to finally team up with one of leading endurance footwear companies. Avia became our absolute preferred choice as a result of their shoe technology. Avia’s shoe technology is totally aligned with our coaching staff’s vision of what requirement the ultimate endurance shoe should meet. Secondly, Avia is a company with a unique brand image that is not afraid of taking a fresh and innovative approach to the footwear market.”

Starting in January, AVIA running shoes will be sold in all Bike Boutique locations world-wide. For more information on The Bike Boutique and teamTBB please visit www.teamtbb.com.

About American Sporting Goods
American Sporting Goods is a manufacturer of performance athletic footwear and apparel based in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Brands under the ASG umbrella include AVIA, And 1, rykä, Nevados, Yukon, NSS, APEX, Turntec and Triple Five Soul.

About teamTBB
teamTBB is a professional organisation for triathlon and bike related sports and nurtures a unique culture by providing hope and opportunity for young athletes. teamTBB is committed to building a better world for youth and has started various social projects around the world.

TEAMTBB CONTACT:
Alex Bok
+65-9752-8080
alexbok@thebikeboutique.com

***

We thought Macca to SRAM was inevitable, considering his switch to Zipp a few months ago. And TeamTBB's move with Avia is a smart move; Brett Sutton doesn't pick up a brand without a hands-on look at the product. And after I saw the new AviBolt 2 and the new AviStoltz trail shoe for '09, I thought those two shoes were a massive surge for the brand; the trail shoe (which has no bearing on the tri team, save for co-designer Conrad Stoltz and new Avia signee Melanie McQuaid) is kick ass, with a low heel to prevent ankle rolls and an aggressive, grabby tread) is one I look forward to trying on the trails.

But the AviBolt 2 is gonna shake things up, as it's the shoe that, like the Pearl Izumi Peak, is an underground star. Superlight, low heel, ultra flexible for unimpeded gait, and with a touch of stability, to keep your form together late in the marathon. All these Nike, Asics and with big, cushy heels (especially when worn by middle-aged trophy wives at the gym) are a joke; you shorten the achilles tendon and are effectively running in stilletos, heel striking by default. A shoe with a low heel promotes a midfoot strike and better run form. It ain't for everyone, but for fast runners—or a fast pro tri team—a low, light, racer with a touch of posting is the ticket. Newton has that in the extreme, Pearl Izumi has it in the Peak, Nike has it in the Luna Racer, and now Avia has it in their new '09 shoes. It seems some brands are learning that "gee, big cloud-like heels are the opposite of what real runners need, and that we can run fast like Abebe Bikila did back in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games."

Well, maybe not that fast, or that cool... I'm keeping my Pearls on my feet for now. Anyway, interesting pickups for both SRAM and Avia.

FSA's 11-speed road group coming into focus?

2008-12-29T19:24:00.001-08:00

When SRAM was making the debut of the Force group a couple years ago, there was nearly equal level talk about Full Speed Ahead bringing its own complete road groupset to market. Of course, SRAM went gangbusters, and FSA, well, the line "it's coming" has been getting long in the tooth.

Then I came across this, at rouesartisanales.com...

By the looks of these patent drawings, something is in the pipeline for an 11-speed road shifter. I have contacted FSA and while they don't deny that they're working on something, they are quite mum about any details whether regarding function, dates of release, and what the group is to consist of.

Regarding the shifters, Roues Artisanales makes an interesting note: while conventional shifters sees the cable wind mechanism in the shifter in a perpendicular fashion (since the levers push and pull in that direction, the cable spool on this FSA shifter lay in front-to-back parallel with the cable run. How the shift lever winds the cable in that orientation (since the inboard shifters typically push inward will be interesting to see, as will shift cable placement, which may port directly out the back of the shifter as it does with the brake cable, eliminating the need for under bar shift cable routing, thus making for an even cleaner, potentially easier-operating cable run, with less cable and housing needed.

The rear derailleur, instead of pivoting up and down the cassette via a standard parallelogram, has mechanical pivot on either end of the spanning bar that would normally be a parallelogram.

There is also word that there will be a bar end shifter that will go with this group, and that it may very well depart from standard function—but no further details were provide.

I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I am sure Interbike next year will be an interesting one—if the drama lasts that long. The media—well, at least me—will be harassing FSA at Sea Otter at the very latest.

2008-12-24T15:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas...

...and enjoy the wonders of the season (even you guys paralyzed by snow in Seattle)

Cheers, Jay

The Perfect Last-second Gift

2008-12-22T17:53:00.000-08:00

If it wasn't for my wife, I would be, as they say, late for my own funeral. If I say I'm gonna be somewhere in 10 minutes, add 20 minutes to that, and that'll be my arrival.

So with days till Christmas, I announce the wickedest holiday gift for a triathlete, the one who has everything. It's not a $12,000 carbon thing. It's not even a $200 carbon thing. It's a jacket. Not just any jacket, mind you. If that was the case, I'd be pimping my wool-lined, corduroy O'Neill jacket that wards off cold, chill and hollow-tip bullets.

No, this one, the T-Zero is better. I used this tri-specific transiton area jacket just before one of notoriously chilliest—and bone-chilling—races in North America: Escape from Alcatraz. It's put together by the guys at True Motion, and took design and feature cues from pro triathlete Jordan Rapp, a guy who is one of the most tech-saavy athletes out there. True Motion sent me one to test, and my first thought is "how do you test a jacket? It zips up, it zips down."

Well, with Rapp's involvement (as well as that of Paul Bashforth of True Motion, a guy I finally got to meet at Ironman Arizona No. 2 a few months ago when he numbered my wife before the race), it goes without saying that the thing will be tech loaded. But the biggest feature for me: two zippers. At Alcatraz—shit, at any cold-ass morning race—the one thing I look forward to least beside the line for the porta-loo is the line for body marking. Because once you make the front, you have a minute of unendurable chill as you take off your hoodie and freeze as the volunteer puts your number on your arms.

The T-Zero solves for it with a simple solution: zippers on the shoulder. No need to take off the jacket, just unzip, number, and zip up. As we waited to board the Hornblower, with the cold air coming off the bay, it was a pleasure to get to "test" this jacket.

But the thing is packed with other stuff. First, it's inside is a nice, warm, brushed twill. But the outside is a nice windblocking outer. Points there. There's a clip inside one pocket, allowing you to lock your keyring to it, so after the race you're not hunting around for your keys that fell out of your jacket.
MP3 pocket with internal cable run and external headphone port, check. Partitioned rear zip pocket, internal mesh pockets for your phone..... there's a place for everything on this one. A long tail, a high collar... there's no way cold is getting in.

It's $130. Not a bad price to pay for a jacket that will keep you focusing on just the porta-loo... and your start. And if you are looking for that last holiday gift for a loved one, just order it direct online at true-motion.com, drop an IOU in their stocking to let 'em know it's coming, and tell them you were late... but that it was my fault. I'll take the hit—I'm used to it.

Ain's High-tech Sponsorship Search

2008-12-19T11:02:00.000-08:00

I remember the first time I saw Ain-Alar Juhanson race, at Ironman Lanzarote. The Estonian, six-foot-three or something, was just grinding his teeth down, riding up to Bjorn Andersson and away from else. Sitting on the back of a moto, I quickly snapped a couple pics and bailed out, for fear he'd bite my head off. Once on the run, I was shocked to see this big, focused guy moving pretty good down the road on the run.

He won the race, like he typically has at Lanzarote, which, with its heat and wind, is largely regarded as the toughest Ironman on the circuit.
But for his gap-toothed grimace on the bike, I expected someone with the charm of a NFL linebacker, a typical cold Eastern European. I found interviewing him he was quite the opposite; he was friendly, comical, an all-around good guy. I had heard he had been on a ferryboat that went down, taking some of his triathlon colleagues with him, and he spoke openly about it—it was clear his motivation was to honor them.

The above shot is from Kona this October; I had been faced down the Queen K awaiting the lead women when I heard "Jay!" from behind—Ain had clicked off the fastest bike of the day (an amazing 4:26:14), and was running out of the Energy Lab and back into town to a great 14th-place finish. If you can go well in Lanzarote, Kona can—can—be an easier prospect.

He recently pinged me on Skype and proved that while our Triathlete mag publisher John Duke is espousing how our sport is so vibrant, that we are not the ones being laid off, we are doing the laying off, it sure ain't recession-proof for the pros. He lost his previous title sponsor, and the hunt was on.

But instead of doing like most pros, sending resumes out, Ain went tech. Posting a YouTube video, he wondered what I thought. If I could figure out how to put a YouTube video up, I'd do so.

But it's just as easy to click HERE to check it out. I thought it was a pretty clever way to seek out a brand that might want to align with a big, smiling monster.

While some thing the life of a pro is a luxurious one, I can attest, it is as close to the poverty line for many of these guys, even Ironman champs like Ain. Hopefully it's just a blip in his program. Because while there's lots of good guys in this sport, there are few like Ain, who can win with a massive, gap-toothed smile.

Done...finally

2008-11-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

The race season is finally over, at least over here in North America. I've just attended and covered the last race of the season. I love covering the trips international, but it's always nice having one in my proverbial backyard, which was the case for Ironman Arizona part deux.

Despite being the last race, it didn't fail to disappoint. I got to see a few things I think few have picked up on, including a prototype Bontrager/Hed wheelset aboard Chris Lieto's ride... which is above. I'll be doing a blog update soon on a recent trip with Steve Hed to the San Diego wind tunnel, the day before he provided councel to Lance Armstrong. With Bjorn Andersson there, and lots of prototype work going on (some of which I'll be permitted to show you), you can be sure Steve is pushing Zipp to be top brand in the market.

I also saw this guy. I think maybe he was confused that it was the new Ironman Sahara. We saw no sand dunes (or coyotes, roadrunners or rattlesnakes on the Tempe course for that matter), so I think we can be sure his grill stayed grit-free. I ran into Fletch Newland from Cervelo roadside on the race course, who did a bike count at Ironman Arizona, and he said he saw a BMX bike in the racks at Ironman Arizona... right down to the race number plate on the front of his bars, held by a gooseneck. Not a stem, a gooseneck.

He said he talked to the guy and he was not only an Ironman first-timer, he was a first-time triathlete. Talk about trial by fire. We saw him cruise by out on the Beeline Highway, and as I marveled, I should have tried to catch up and have him pop a wheelie and do a tabletop off some berm.

I observed several other things. First, the race was the deepest* pro of the year outside Hawaii, with nearly 90 pro men and women. Note the asterik—for pros, there was some pack fill. But as always, the cream rises to the top. My wife Donna, who did the swim and bike and passed on the run due to a calf tear, knew that "depth," particularly on the mens side, would off the ratio of the seven available Kona slots. With about 60 pro men, five spots went to the men, two to the women. It wasn't surprising when she came out ahead of many of the pro men. But when she found she was passing several "pro" men on the bike, that spoke to the fact that of the 60-something pro guys, maybe 10 were real contenders. The rest? I just wonder how they got a pro card.

I think Jordan Rapp is on the creep-up. He raced in Tempe both times it was on this year, and had solid podium results against solid fields. For as skinny as he is, he's unbelievably strong. I think Joanna Zeiger will be sticking to 70.3s for a while—she admitted as much that as much as she loves them, Ironmans aren't her bag.

I think people are pathetic. Kona was awesome, with drafters getting pinged. I think we all heard Clearwater was a challenge. But with the multi-lap format on the bike, I saw lots of good, but wham, I saw three instances of pack riding that was abysmal. Jimmy Riccitello is doing a good job, and I know some courses, like Arizona, make it hard to put multiple motos out there—one wobbling rider caused a rider behind to swerve into the path of a course moto, ending the athlete's day and breaking the front cowling off the moto. It's tight out there.

I'm sure there's those who are cheating for that elusive Kona slot. But these mid-pack guys (and girls mixed in) have nothing to gain. I think the four-minute penalty is too slack. For many, it's just a nice rest, with little effect on their day on the whole. Eight minutes would be a proper first offence. 10 minutes would be brilliant. When people get caught now, they figure it into the minutes they saved being in the pack—it's a net-zero loss, a wash. If the rules could change, if officials would err on the side of being too harsh, well, the world would be a better place. And less people would be capable of cheating... themselves. Honestly, I wonder how they can smile as they sleep, knowing their new PR was the result of cheating. I couldn't do it.

I think the rockstar award for the day in Tempe goes to Kieran Doe. Everyone has their reasons for finishing a race. But from mile one, he was experiencing foot pain and decided to pull off his race flats and did the entire run in just a pair of socks. For those that don't know the Arizona course, half is on cement path, and the other half is on crushed rock. Either way, it was painful.

He said he did it for friends and family, he had to finish for them, tearing up a bit as he told me. Clearly, it was more that being that simple. Whatever the reason, it was an impressive show; being first out of the water, leading most of the bike alone, then soldiering through the run. He'll have more Ironman wins than his first in Canada a year ago, but this year, Arizona wasn't in the cards for him.

The last thing I noticed was German Andreas Raelert. This guy is like so many that have segued from ITU racing, and found out they have a natural affinity to distance racing. He was an Olympian in Sydney and Athens, and quite honestly, I only remembered him by name from short-course, because the sport is so.... so not our sport, as competitors.

But he made a bit of a name for himself by almost running down Terenzo Bozonne in Clearwater at 70.3 Worlds. Then he firmly made a name for himself with a balanced, dominant race in Tempe. In the finish chute at Ironman Arizona, representatives from different brands were approaching him—I'm sure to congratulate him, but also to pass their cards and interest in sponsoring him. As a journalist I found him to be a great personality, excited about this new chapter in his sport, with the same excitement that we heard from Andy Potts about racing Kona. He nearly earned it by winning in Clearwater, but he removed any technical doubt in Arizona. This guy is a rising star.

Now it's on to winter (which has already seen snow with a trip to Halifax to see family), will be tempered by several projects, and which is also the perfect time to play with the new positons I found in the wind tunnel, as well as tweak and adjust to changes with Donna's setup. Granted, Ironman Western OZ is on soon, as will Ironman New Zealand, Pucon and the rest of races going on Down Under. But soon enough, the season will start again.

Newsflash: Macca to Zipp!

2008-11-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

News you can use...

Blue Carolina: A company's quest to make you—literally you—faster

2008-11-12T16:50:00.000-08:00

I’ve returned from my East Coast swing to A2 Wind Tunnel. Chance Regina of Blue Competition Cycles hosted me on the trip to Charlotte, N.C. The goal: experience just what the Blue Triad buyer will: an hour of time in the wind tunnel.

That is, a free hour of time in the wind tunnel. To do whatever I wanted. Get fit, play with parts, whatever. Or pretend I was Jimmy Riccitello and break wind, which he found comes back around and gets you, right in the grille.

The last time I had been tunnel fit tested was about six years ago. Then, I was given a VHS tape of my runs. That’s like Betamax and regardless, I’ve evolved my fit so much in those six years that it would have been moot anyway. It was time for a new fit. Beyond that, I wanted to try some different equipment and positions.

A2 is adjacent to AeroDyn Wind Tunnel. If you’ve listened to me before, you’ll know AeroDyn does all the aerodynamics testing for the NASCAR teams, with the tunnel rented out by the big teams on a literal 24/7 basis. With that business locked down for the next year and a half, tunnel owners decided to build a second, smaller tunnel next door, catering to the rest of the industry outside cars. And, says A2 engineer Mike Giraud, about 80 percent of his business now is bike-related, whether it’s athlete fitting or manufacturers coming in to test prototype gear.

What’s great about Giraud, is that in his other life, he was a triathlete and a fitter. He spent several years as the team mechanic on the Saturn road team, then wrenching and fitting for the Timex Triathlon Team. The guy knows bikes and fit. To the right is Regina on the left, and Giraud on the right, both setting up my test bike.

So if you do the Blue Triad deal, the value is apparent; wind tunnel time at tunnels around the nation ranges from $700 to $1800 per hour. They will pump out numbers you have to decipher yourself. After you get yourself to Carolina for your tunnel test, you could bring your own coach or fitter with you to break down your numbers, but barring that, Giraud has the capabilities. I’ve been around enough fitters to know he knows his stuff.

So what’d I find? I thought my aero position was pretty damn good… but I wasn’t that good. Giraud was able to determine that because I have long forearms, I tend to prop up on them and crawl across my aerobar, perching on about the front two inches of my saddle.

My test bike for the baseline was the one any Blue buyer will be aboard: the Triad. It’s the same bike I’ve been testing with for the last few months for a Triathlete magazine Bike of the Month review in San Diego, so I had lots of quality time on it in my baseline position. It’s set with a three-position seatpost, allowing a seat angle as shallow of 74 degrees and steep as 80 degrees. A2 also has any variety of wheels, aerobars, aero bottles to swap and try if you so desire. I ran my tests with the spec Aerus aerobar with s-bend extensions, and the spec Zipp 808 rear/404 front clincher set.

My notes:

• I tested two helmets I was most interested in; the Specialized TT2, and the Giro Advantage II. While the Specialized helmet is not available to the market, at least not yet, the nice cats at Specialized set me up for one to test. Between the two, the Specialized was most aero for me. And I say for me, because as Giraud reminded, every athlete’s flexibility and aero position will dictate what helmet will fit best and flow wind off it and onto a rider’s back.
• Aero helmets are not the end-all, be-all. Craig Alexander did an aero versus road helmet test at A2 earlier this year, doing a fit working with biomechanics expert Todd Carver of Retul fitting. For Crowie, it wasn’t about what was the faster helmet; he knew the aero helmet would be faster. He wanted to know by how much, and use that data to determine if it was worth the potential heat buildup an aero helmet brings about racing in Kona. The gains being too negligible, he opted for the vented helmet, Smart choice; he won Kona. So did Chrissie Wellington. It seems to me that TeamTBB coach Brett Sutton didn’t need to visit a wind tunnel to know that aero helmets won’t win the race—but they can certainly lose you one.
• The Praying Landis position didn’t necessarily work for me. It was the one thing that got me to duck my head (trying to replicate the images in my head of Levi Leipheimer shoving his face into his hands), but flexibility and just general comfort limited me.
• Ducking the head can yield massive, massive drag savings. Giraud noted that no matter how my bars dropped or extend, my head rise was seemingly locked into place for every run. It wasn’t until I attempted the Landis position that I consciously made an effort to dive my head down. Suddenly was taken out of the wind for a significant drop in drag.
• I also got a chance to test the new Vision aerobar hydration system. While it had a drag coefficient of 2.891 ft squared in a zero-yaw test, those numbers dropped to 2.571 when I was kicked over to a 15-degree yaw—a realistic crosswind situation. Just like Zipp’s test finding in the Sub 9 that the disc’s numbers dropped all the way to positive drag at a certain yaw angle, The increased surface area on the Vision unit meant more opportunity for laminar air flow, and thus lower numbers.

Bottom line, and need to practice tucking my head, and I can go lower in front. If I do that, I could manage to get my baseline drag coefficient of 2.792 ft squared down to 2.667. At least I ruled out a bunch of arm and aerobar positions that saw my coefficient rise to as much as 2.807. I have all winter to practice. Even for a guy who has access to coaches and fitters left and right, nothing can substitute or replicate the data you get when wind tunnel testing—what a valuable experience.

So you have to ask yourself, how valuable is it to drop massive drag watts through your position, or to buy a wheel that will get you maybe an extra six watts versus your existing race wheelset? Until now, the best a company could do to sweeten the pot of their bike sale is to bump up a spec. Or throw you a water bottle.

Blue has -gone one better—way better; they realize that the bike is a part of the equation, but the largest part of it is the rider. Optimize the fit, and aerodynamics, and you optimize the results in the race—which optimizes your experience. You can buy speed, and like many brands, Blue has that in the Triad with a tunnel-designed, engineered scythe of a ride. But Blue is throwing more speed—the opportunity to find your best position, to play with different options, whatever you want—to you for free.

Beyond that, Blue, along with Zipp and SRAM, is soon doing a giveaway, run in Triathlete magazine through March of next year: a draw for what they call the “Pro Treatment,” which they did for their sponsored pros Heather and Trevor Wurtele and Brent McMahon earlier this year. One person will win a Triad, and get a paid flight to North Carolina for two free hours of fit time at A2 Wind Tunnel. Someone’s gonna get lucky.

After the testing, Regina, having gotten wind of my affinity for NASCAR, pulled some strings. A drive through from A2 to an undisclosed location led us to Joe Gibbs Racing. For those that don’t follow sports, let me explain: Joe Gibbs is the legendary coach of the Washington Redskins from 1981 to 1993, earning three Super Bowl rings.

After the NFL came NASCAR team ownership, with Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin racing under his flag. In ’09, youngster Joey Logano will be driving the Home Depot car as Tony Stewart starts his own team.
And all those cars are headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina. Eric Groen was just off the plane from the race in Phoenix for Tony Stewart as one of his over-the-wall wheel changers. Groen took Chance and I around the facility.

And the facility was gorgeous. The main garage floor was pristine, with several of the cars lined up meticulously along the walls. Eric pointed out Stewart’s car that won Talladega a month ago. As we walked down the row, I saw one of Denny Hamlin’s cars, crunched to bits. “Is that….”

“Yep, that’s Denny’s car from Talladega,” Groen said. At that race, Goodyear was having a tread compound problem with its tires, and no matter the camber they set up on the cars, the tires were going right down to the cords—and blowing up. Denny’s was one that saw the front passenger quarter panel explode like a bomb had gone off. It's over there on the right.

After watching all the bump-drafting, I walked around for a look at Denny’s bumper, which was as scuffed and scratched as I thought it would be.

Eric took us through the fabrication room, where they build the cars from flat squares of sheet metal. Saw the TRD engines, and a room full of CNC machines cutting parts that any bike engineer would only be able to dream of having at their disposal. Saw the transport trucks, rows of Goodyears, and crankshafts in the engine room so beautifully polished, so sexy, I wanted one for my coffee table. Not only could I not have one as a souvenir, I couldn’t take pictures of it. Ah well.

Eric said that the guys working on engines would basically spend the day in a locked room for six hours, concentrating on just assembling that one engine. And for an engine room, it was, again, pristine. The solvent basins were without a spot of dirt.

Another interesting element; you know how the UCI has a frame measurement gauge that it uses at races to makes sure TT bike saddles and aerobar extesions don't go to beyond its regulations for legality?

NASCAR has the same gauge. Except it's massive, and they call it the claw. They drop this thing, *which you see below above Tony Stewart's car) onto the cars at races.

It has to be within an eighth of a centimeter, Groen said, at each of the points when it is winched down onto a car's body, for the car to be legal. If extends out, or flares in, the car can't go out for practice until it is spot-on, and the team has to hammer in or pull out the sheet metal to get it compliant. "Any little thing like that can be a big aerodynamic advantage for the car at the speeds they're going," Groen said.

So I left now knowing what a pro motorsports operation looks like and now its time to go back to work. Having been in two wind tunnels in the same week (I was at the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel last week with Steve Hed and was there the following day during the Lance Armstrong test) I’m back to the grill. Got a cool wind tunnel story to write.

ADDENDUM:

Oh, one more thing I forgot to put in this story, which is on the homepage: being a wicked mechanic, Giraud is a clever one. I've included two things he did; one was a little "pigtail" which he put on the rear derailleur to keep it in one gear, allowing him to change out bars during our test.

Another was a wicked-cool Craftsman compressor gun that he rigged with a hash pipe. Voila, the ultimate, portable, no-effort pump for your garage or the races. It even has a digital gauge on it, showing readings in tenths of PSI, until it reaches 100, where it goes in individual PSI. Show up to your local Ironman and it'll be like a guy walking through a sorority with a puppy: you'll be the most popular person in transition, guaranteed.

What's a wind tunnel fit worth?

2008-11-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

Just done with another wonderful SoCal ride, and barely survived an attack at a light. As a couple cars cruised through a light in wonderment as a mad swarm headed along with them, I was yelling at them to light a fire under their asses. Because while they were safe in their cars, I was in the path of the swarm, and had nowhere to go. When the last car moved through the intersection, I busted through, but just barely. If anyone saw the allergic reaction my head underwent when I was stung on the head (bee in helmet vent) earlier this summer, you’ll know how much I didn’t want anything to do with these bees.

I know the cold is coming (I know, I heard the Midwest already received its first blizzard of the year, and I’m sure my wife and I will get a good dose as we head to see her family in Halifax for Thanksgiving in a few weeks). But I guess that this sweet weather is the reward for the financially meager life my wife and live in Encinitas, Calif.

I headed out with Donna and former pro star Todd Jacobs and Donna’s swim partner/buddy Doug Compere. On the way back I did efforts on a Suplicy test tri bike, and in between I screwed with my iPhone. I wondered, what happens when you take a picture of your wheel while it’s spinning, with the phone? Did it freeze action like my Canon pro cameras? The result?
Cool as hell… it’s like the freeze frame photo finish shots from the Tour. I guess that means if I stand at a race finish line, I can be the official timing company of the local crit.

Well, Donna’s still out riding, so while she’s out, I figured I’d update my blog.

While I missed covering and seeing 70.3 Worlds (I had planned on going but the trip was scuttled), I am really, really excited about my next trip, which starts tomorrow: a trip to North Carolina again!

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel, thanks to an invite from Steve Hed. I got to watch Steve do some amazing prototype work, as well as Trek engineers who were doing some tire testing, each of which I’ll soon chronicle here.

Tomorrow, I’m boarding a plane for Charlotte. I made a recent trip to the A2 Wind Tunnel, and am going back again, this time at the invite of Blue Competiton Cycles. Blue has been doing tri bikes for a handful of years, but 2008 marked a major surge for the brand when they debuted the Triad, a tunnel-designed weapon against the wind.

Blue, however is adding a unique twist to the whole thing. You buy a bike from most folks, and you get a great bike, then have to figure out the whole fit thing on your own. Maybe you’re lucky and your local shop has a certified fit… which you’ll pay for to have done. Maybe you’ll pay to go to a wind tunnel camp. Maybe you bought the bike, and you’re done paying… and have to figure out the fit yourself, using Slowtwitch forum members to dissect your fit and the wallpaper and shag carpet in the background of your living room.
The folks from Blue have a different tack: you buy the bike, you get the fit for free. Not just a fit, but a wind tunnel fit. A fast bike is not fast when you have a bad fit. Blue knows this, and paired with A2 Wind Tunnel in Mooresville, N.C., to offer a wind tunnel fit, included with the bike. You have to get to Carolina on your own, but really, you have to make an effort to get to a wind tunnel anyway if you were paying, yes? And A2 is one of the newest tunnels out there coming out with great accurate data. Craig Alexander did his tunnel testing at A2 this year, trying to see value between wearing an aero helmet versus a vented road helmet. You saw his results in Kona... in a road helmet. It seemed in his case heat management trumped aerodynamics. But that was all secondary to to his bike fit.

What does “free wind tunnel fit” mean? I’m going to find out. I’m headed to the land of NASCAR (yeah, I know, I talk about it ad nauseum… there’s two race left in the season, so bear with me) to experience just what you get when you buy a Triad, and how much that can impact your experience with the bike. I haven’t had a wind tunnel fit in about six years and I’ve literally let my fit devolve to a fit based on feel, so this will be a genuine, from the ground fit to determine my baseline, an optimized mix of aerodynamics and power. You can do the power thing anywhere, but to get your true drag numbers, you can’t do it anywhere but in a tunnel. Blue and A2 are offering a killer deal. What’s it worth? Well, you can buy a Triad with an Ultegra SL group for $4,400. What’s a wind tunnel session worth on its own? I’ll find out.

Whatever it is, it’s a unique, and valuable freebie any way you slice it. This will be an interesting trip, one I've been looking forward to. Will update here shortly...

Back on the Grid

2008-10-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

So the race is over, obviously. Chrissie simply killed it, and Crowie proved me wrong. The women's race was the strongest race I'd seen in a long, long time. In the time from then to now I got to watch my wife finish in Kona for the first time, which was pretty damn rewarding for both of us.

Post race, was a blast. Even with a downpour drenching the awards banquet and the post-race party at Huggos on the Rocks, there was no stopping the fun. Before the rain came, Oakley opened its rolling O-Lab, which was actually quite interesting beyond the music bumping from it every time I walked by.

After the race, a bunch of the Oakley athletes were on hand as Chrissie Wellington auctioned off her race day glasses, with the proceeds going to breast cancer charity. I ran into Torbjorn Sindballe with Marc Andre Perron, Thunderbear's man at Argon 18. He was bummed about the fact that the mercury was just a tick above what his threshhold was for race day. And just a tick over meant that the boilerroom was ready for shutdown. Which was what ultimately happened to him. Hopefully he'll have a cooler day (and great draft marshalling) at Clearwater 70.3 Worlds next weekend.

So the O-Lab showed just how wicked the optics are. Greg Welch put a couple of tech guys on myself, Thomas Hellriegel and Stephan Vuckovic as they showed us about optic curvature and impact resistance. It was really impressive.

And reassuring. Welchy noted that Kenny Souza's crash years ago on Mount Palomar left some nasty scars under his eye, and that his glasses, which stayed intact, likely saved his eye. Below, Thomas checks out a lens that they fired a BB at.

Well, gonna keep this short, got some Halloween trick or treating to do with my nephew, then a three-hour ride tomorrow. Still loving the Santa Anas here in So Cal... winter's not here yet!

Friday Night Lights (Out): Everyone Underground, and Chrissie's Sunday Sunnies Auction

2008-10-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

Twas' the night before Ironman...

Friday is always the eeriest day of Ironman week. You see nary a peep. Sure, early morning you have a few folks doing sprint efforts along Alii, trying to milk in that last hard workout.

This morning, I joined Donna on a short, easy 20-minute run along Alii, then a little swim at the pool. There, we ran into her TeamTBB teammate Chrissie Wellington. She asked me a favor to get the word out about a little something:

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Chrissie would be wearing a pair of pink Oakley Enduring sunglasses, a limited-edition version with funds that benefit breast cancer awareness. Oakley is donating $20 of the $165 price to the Young Survivalists Coalition, a group dedicated to improving the quality of life to young breast cancer victims. You can order them online at oakley.com

Chrissie wanted to do more. So for those in Kona Sunday after the race, you'll have a chance to win Chrissie's sunnies. Chrissie will be on hand (with many other Oakley-sponsored athletes) with her race glasses at 1 p.m. at the Oakley Rolling O-Lab. (If you've been in town near the expo, it's hard to miss the MASSIVE truck and trailer booming reggae and rap. That will be the place to be.

Then her glasses go up on the auction block.

Want what could potentially be the race-winning glasses? Be on hand and bring your checkbook.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I ran into Terenzo Bozonne, who is in town with Specialized. Two nights ago I was invited to the Specialized House to join Macca, Terenzo, Peter Reid, at a Specialized Riders Club event. Good food, good beer, good company, good time.

Specialized also gave me a binder with their white paper findings of the Transition versus the benchmark Cervelo P3. It was interesting. I believe these have been posted at Slowtwitch, but as soon as I can get a digital version, I want to post this.

Anyway, Terenzo was signing autographs at the Saucony booth, and had a wrap on his right hand. And that hand was swollen and scratched. What gives, I asked?

Well, seems that a ride to breakfast saw him hit a pothole and go over the bars. He thinks he broke a few bones, but said there's not much he can do about it anyway, "I just gotta get on with it."

Meantime, he had to used that tattered hand to sign autographs. He insisted pulling me into his shot—with that bad hand. With Clearwater coming up on his radar, I hope his worst fears aren't realized, that it's just badly bruised hand better heal up fast.

Time to shut down... today I'm taking photos of the pros bikes as they check in their bikes. Tomorrow I'll be on the back of a moto shooting the race, sticking mainly with the women's race.

My picks: Could go a few ways in the men's side. If it's windy as hell on the bike and the packs disintigrate a bit, I like Normann. He looks soooo cool at the pro press conference. He said "I feel like the old guy, like Jurgen Zack here." No way. It's all the same guys as years past, and he's beaten them all.

If it's like last year, it is gonna be another battle between Macca and Crowie.... with the mental edge to Macca.

Women? Chrissie, hands down. It'll be a battle for second, where I like her teammate, Erika Csomor. After that, a scramble.

And I look to Donna to simply enjoy the first race, have fun, and do her race. Whatever place that put her is fine with me. She's done unbelievable work training with the strongest team in the sport and she goes well in the heat. If she goes like she did in China, just does her race and keeps it steady, it'll be a rewarding day. She ran into Michellie Jones this morning, and that was her advice: do your own race, don't worry about anyone else around you. Good advice from a champ.

A last bit: after my test of the Cervelo P4 yesterday, I saw Zipp designer Dave Ripley at the Zipp booth across the way, and spied two sets of Sub 9 disc, littered with autographs. Click on the image and you'll see Emma Snowsill, Andy Potts, Belinda Granger, Desiree Ficker, Terenzo Bozonne... a ton of sponsored athletes. I believe one will be for the office walls at Zipp HQ in Speedway, Indiana, but with the other, they're going to be doing a fundraising draw. This would be a very nice wheel that you'd never want to ride!

Before checking out for the bike check-in, I want to wish all those racing the best of luck and best of experiences tomorrow.

Thursday in Kona

2008-10-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

Well, the final preps are being made; I'm making some of 'em. Strapping race numbers. Helping sort nutrition. checking tires, wheels, spare tube bag, all that minutae.

It's been a busy week for me, playing media guy on one side, playing sherpa for Donna on the other. And being a sherpa is kicking my ass. Donna's bike needs more service than a Ford. Gotta help her get a creak out of her bottom bracket tomorrow sometime.

I did manage my first swim of the week as Donna and I headed out to see Scott Molina and a good San Diego friend, Kevin Purcell, at the Coffees of Hawaii floating coffee bar. But after that, today was a busy one: had to cover the Roch and Huddle's underwear run, was off to two press conferences, having a rendezvous with Ironman folks about race day protocol, attending the pro race briefing.

One person I saw at the pro meeting: Andy Potts. The Olympian is having his first crack at Kona, and he's bound and determined to have a good time. He told fellow Triathlete editor Brad Culp and I he had a conference with Frenchman Benjamin Sanson.

The reason: The two will conspire to attack the hell out of the swim. He aims at a 46-minute swim. Lars Jorgensen had the fastest one, in 46:41 in '98. If he and Ben pair up, I wouldn't put it past him.

I asked him "do you want to keep that plan on the lo-lo?" He said "No way, I don't care who knows!" Then I said "Are you worried about anyone sitting on your feet?" His reply: They can if they want to, but they'll blow up."

I love his attitude. He'll be fun to watch out there Saturday.

I also got my first ride on the new P4. I cannot go into detail tonite, but it is nothing short of fantastic. I want more miles on it.

Gotta run, got more duties to attend to. Tomorrow should be more chill. I hope. Gotta get that BB sorted first...

Landed in Kona, and Custom Kits: Can you look pro too?

2008-10-08T19:29:00.000-07:00

I've finally arrived in Hawaii and have, with my wife:
media registered
athlete registered
done a quick tour of the expo
had the bike tuned
And finally, made the press debut of the new SRAM shifter.

Which was unreal cool. The "trigger" people were thinking was not what I was envisioning—but was every bit as ingenious as I had imagined. Will get to that.

But first, I took Donna to the pool this morning, and ran into Michael Lovato. His training kit was one of the sickest out there; tribal tattoos and well-placed sponsor logos. So pro.

Which begs the question: who will have the sharpest kits in Kona this year? I can bet you one thing: Chrissie Wellington will look a hell of a lot sharper then she did when she came across the finish in first last year. She surprised everyone with that win, and

For most pros, looking after sponsors on your race apparel is paramount. And so is looking professional, with a color and match that shows you know what you’re doing, that you take your job seriously. The rest of us just take what’s available off the shelf.

Well, we don’t necessarily have to anymore.

The handiwork of custom design with many of the pros who will be racing this Saturday in Kona falls to one of the most creative designers in the sport: Kristin Mayer. Kristin and husband Dan live just a block away from my wife and I in Encinitas. So we often see one another at masters. Or we’ll honk at one another from our car as the other is headed out on a run.

Kristin’s an accomplished triathlete, scooping up podiums in her age group on any given weekend around here. But when she’s not training, she’s at home, in front of her computer, doing design work for HerSports magazine. Or, increasingly, with her race apparel design line, Betty Designs.

Which is where Kona comes in. If you see race-day shots of Michael Lovato this weekend (or have seen shots of Heather Fuhr and Michellie Jones, you’ve seen Kristin’s work. It all started in the late ‘90s, when Murphy Reinschreiber, agent to many top talents, wanted to lend a more professional look to his athletes. He wanted to make sure they didn’t look rag-tag, that their sponsors were properly placed for exposure, and that the athlete could add their style to the mix. “I would get to work directly with the athletes and try to come up with colors and motifs that reflected their personalities,” Kristin recent told me. So she went to work doing designs for Fuhr, Lori Bowden and Fernanda Keller. Working with Michellie Jones presented some cool new opportunities as well, designing both the race kit she wore when she won the 2006 Hawaii Ironman world title, but her matching bike motif as well.

“They really understood how to market her as an athlete and create the complete visual package to showcase her sponsors,” Mayer says. “Michellie wanted to support her sponsors, but she also wanted to look great and stand out from the rest of the women on the race course.

And as Murphy will contend, standing out doesn’t mean wearing white compression socks. Just bring up the subject with him and watch him get red.

After doing work for the pros, Kristin decided to broaden her design, making blank palates that anyone could buy. After all, age groupers like to look stylish, too. “In 2002 I began creating my own race gear out of the desire to race in something unique and "cute" and would match my race clothing to my helmet to complete the package,” she told me. “Through the process I found that the unit costs on producing a full custom tri top and short was less than some off-the-shelf (more boring) options out there. While fabrics and constructions are limited, the ability to come up with unique colors, patterns and motifs out-weighed this fact.

So after a few test runs (including doing the design on the super-bright HerSports tri team kit) Mayer launched Betty Designs last year, bringing custom design to teams—and individuals.

I know what you’re saying: most apparel companies do custom too. But not the way Kristin does it. When you see one of Kristin’s kits, you know it. Bright colors on contrast. There’s nothing reserved about her kits. Which is why they pop in photos. Instead of picking some pre-set design, Kristin works with you on what you want your custom race kit to be.

“I feel that I spend more time on a personal level with my clients and they walk away with something that really reflects who they are.

What’s it cost? Because minimums range from six to 10 pieces per item, an athlete/team can expect to pay around $1,200 and up for full custom race gear, all told. Some may blanch, but many will think, “well, I’m already spending on a custom paint job for my bike, or for $1,800 in wheels.” Age groupers that want to look the part, that are on a world stage like they are in Kona, and want to look after their sponsors in a very professional way, can do it, custom, while presenting themselves—and their style—in their best light. All they have to do is get out in it and go fast to back up the looking-fast part.

Kristin put it in perspective: “For athletes who spend thousands on their sport each year the cost is well worth it. After all, if you feel like you look good, you perform better.”

If you’re looking at going custom, you can visit Kristin’s website and check out her work at bettydesigns.us. Meantime, keep an eye out for Lovato this weekend to see her art in motion.

Because Lovato his other apparel choices in the past, including a hot dog Speedo and compression socks at worn at the Underwear Run last year, that was not art in motion. It was far, far from it.

After my swim (or at least for me, watching Donna swim, and running into the who's who of Saturdays' race—including Lovato, Cam Brown, Eneko Llanos, Chrissie Wellington, Paul Amey and Chris McCormack—we bolted for HP to have Donna's bike tweeked and dialed, then to the Royal Kona for the big press debut of the new SRAM shifter.

The technical term for the new shifter is the 1090-R3C aero shift lever. 1090 represents the top-level for all their road componentry.

And R2C? That is an acronym for how this thing works: Return to Center.

So here's how it works: the lever pulls up and pushes down. But instead of staying up or down, the lever physically pops back to its "level" start position. The shift you made, one gear at a time takes place, ratcheting the cable to your effort, but the lever returns to it's start spot.

It looks like you could dump gears just like on a road shifter, with quick, successive clicks.

It means no wrestling, shoving with your thumb or torquing your wrist to pull the lever up. In short: no stress. SRAM staffers said the Astana team doctor, who serves as the team psychologist, said it's a huge mental advantage to the athlete for that reason....you don't have to wrestle the bike to get it to do what you want.

While Michellie Jones, Torbjorn Sindballe, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Lieto have been the prototype testers since April, Michellie was on hand at the press conference, and I had a chance to play with the prototype on her bike. It is WICKED. I have loathed the act of literally leveraging your whole body when having to engage a downshift on the rear derailleur, or pull the lever to lift the front ring. Michelle mentioned that they are particularly awesome when its cold out, or immediately out of the water with wet hands. I think we can all attest to how hard it is to shift with numb and/or wet fingers.

To the left are early prototypes.

The front shifter will have two trim positions. While the existing protos are comprised of alloy, the finished product will have a carbon lever, with ti hardware. Other facts that SRAM dropped on us:

Their wind tunnel testing of the levers reported an average savings of 10-15 watts at 30mph. I'll have to ask how they tested that.
It will be mountable to existing integrated Zipp VukaShift extensions.
SRAM's 1:1 actuation ratio of cable pull means it will work with SRAM componentry only.
Projected weight for the set is 195 grams.

Saturday, Chris Lieto will be the one man using the prototype R2C levers. SRAM says spring is the date we'll get to use 'em as consumers. No price as yet.

My last salve: something that brought a smile to my face, found in Donna's race registration paperwork. You can click on it in full, but it is a letter that says, in essense, leave your family out of the finishing chute. Let's see if it happens.

Vegas Redux II: Celebrity Sightings

2008-10-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

I’m purging Vegas from my system since I’m getting on a plane tomorrow morning for Kona. While much of what was seen is out there, I have to say there were a lot more athletes there than I’ve seen in the past. There were several I didn’t run into (multiple-time Ironman champ Mark Allen and coach Luis Vargas of markallenonline.com) and some I saw but was too on-the-go to see (like Simon Whitfield).

So after four days in LV, who did I see? Conrad Stoltz, showing off the new AviStoltz trail shoe that he helped design with Avia. Low heel, aggressive tread, a sealed tongue and mesh upper that helps keep sand out.

Slowtwitch.com founder Dan Empfield (left), with Gerard Vroomen of Cervelo. This was minutes before the debut of the P4. The tension was palpable.

This trio includes three Ironman winners, two from this year: Ironman Canada winner Bryan Rhodes of New Zealand is on left. In center is former Ironman Malaysia winner Marilyn McDonald of Canada and TeamTBB, and on right is Marilyn's husband, Chris McDonald, recent winner of Ironman Wisconsin and fellow TeamTBB team member. While Rhodsey will be in Kona this week, Chris is passing on Hawaii this year to focus on the fall race at Ironman Arizona.

Cervelo's Gerard Vroomen, with Swede bike powerhouse Bjorn Andersson, and the new P4.

Ironman 70.3 specialist Chris Legh of Australia, chatting up Dave Ripley, one of the designers and product managers on aerobars at Zipp Speed Weaponry.

2006 Hawaii Ironman World Champ Michellie Jones and Holly Bennett, the head marketeer at Gu Sports. Holly was a champ to be on her feet at the show in Vegas given that she had just come from racing Ironman 70.3 Cancun and was bruised up from a bad bike crash. Michellie had gone down with her and essentially played the sherpa for Holly. A cool reversal of role from one of the classiest athletes in our sport.

Dan Empfield and VeloNews technical editor Lennard Zinn, discussing the finer points of fine linen that drapes the P4. Lennard will be in Hawaii for the first time to watch the race, and when he heard about SRAM marketing guy Michael Zellman's affinity for open-water swimming in brightly-colored Speedos (see my below post), he said he, too felt repressed for his desire to wander city streets in minimalist attire.

With all the pale Germans and leathery Brazilians that will be traipsing around town eating mahi mahi sandwiches in cafes wearing nothing but Speedos and Crocs, those two will finally feel liberated and fit right in.

Scott Forrestall (left) and Vinu Malik, the brainchild owner of FuelBelt. Vinu and Scott are both fast cats, kicking one anothers' asses in training over in their home base of Rhode Island. Vinu qualified for and is racing this weekend in Kona. I wish I could run business and be as
fast as this guy. Both are great cats, too.

Felt Racing-sponsored pro Tim DeBoom, and namesake Jim Felt. Felt is one of the nicest guys in the sport, and Tim, as historically one of the quietest, most secluded pros, has opened up to the point where he's doing a column in Triathlete about his experiences... which are really, really enlightening. Dealt some bad hands in races, Tim has been a warrior and while he was often dissed for being fleeting with the press, he was always genuine with me and has been one of my favorite pros to deal with.

Rhodesey with Tim Moxey of Nuun Nutrition and Blue Seventy Wetsuits. Tim is often on the other side of the camera, as one of the finest multisport shooters in the game. He's also all-around fun guy to be around with a wit you cannot touch. Rhodesy is the couch-surfingest pro on the Ironman circuit. He's spent time crashing on the air mattress at my old condo before, and has probably spent time rifling through your cereal cupboards, too. Arrrgh, mate! Good guy.

That was just a collection of the peeps I ran into. I also saw a few cool things, three of which I wanted to mention before I sign off of Vegas and onto Hawaii: First was the Pearl Izumi Tri Fly shoe that P.I. made up for Jan Frodeno before he won his Olympic gold, and had on display. It was a very nice one-off, especially for a guy who no one expected to figure into the top five, let alone the win. A nice way for a company to look after its athletes.

Another was the low-key setup by newcomer Feather Brakes. A moto-cross brand, they come into the superlight road aftermarket brake market with not only a pretty product, but one they aim to improve on performance-wise. The CNC'd bodies, with ti bolts and springs weigh 199 grams complete. They have upgrade kits to add anodized color accents (blue, pink, gold, black and red) to your bike. But they have a barrel that attaches to your brake cable and hooks onto the cam lever, making it easy to open the caliper to remove the wheel. We cannot wait to try this one.

Finally, I present MotorTabs. Nothing new save for a new six-pack offering (which is nice for the cash-strapped that wants to buy in small lots). However, this effervescent, drop-in-the-bottle-and-add-water) is THE most underrated nutritional tab on the market. Michellie Jones uses it, but whateverl nutrition is not sold on who's using it; it has to work for the user. I have used a lot of stuff, and when it came to my training for my ultra this spring, this was my go-to hydration. Greg Sellers, owner of the company, told me there have been several big-name riders on major road cycling teams that buy his stuff and use it instead of the sponsor-supplied goods, because it works. Good hydration, good salt, easy on the belly and easy to re-up on the go. They have fruit punch, orange, lemon-lime and a new grape flavor, but for me, lemon-lime is the go. I have heaps of drinks at my disposal, but when I go to the cabinet to do my bottles up for ride morning, I always go for these tabs as a default. This stuff is so good, I gotta recommend it.

I'm out. Next stop: Kona.

Breaking News: SRAM to make big bar-end shifter debut in Kona Wednesday

2008-10-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems Interbike wasn’t good enough to do a launch. And triathletes get the benefit of it.

I’ve just gotten word that SRAM is making a major presentation Wednesday in Kona, revolving around its time trial/triathlon shifting system for triathlon. The rumors that have abounded for over a year will be answered at a press conference Wednesday.

The press release says:
“This new SRAM shifter has been in development for over three years, it’s like no other gear changer on the market, and will redefine aerodynamic efficiency and comfort – so please join us to be the first to see it.”

Man, I love being in the media. There’s nothing cooler than getting the first look.

There had been rumor, as far off as a year ago, that a new shifting system was in the works. The new Red group came and went without an update to the carbon shifter that came with the debut of the brand’s first road group, Force. Many, myself included, were beginning to think it was wishful thinking, vaporware.

But this is SRAM, which has been exceptionally progressive. Progressive in not only in presenting three tiers of road groups (top-end Red, mid-tier Force and so-called entry level Rival) but re-designing the two latter groups inside a year’s time. Hell, major Shimano lifer (well, at least until a week or so ago) Lance Armstrong will be rolling his debut on SRAM.
I became a fan of SRAM when they debuted Force the first time. The above shot was from their press launch at Sea Otter a couple years ago…. I’m in the center, with SRAM’s Alex Wassman on my left and respected VeloNews scribe Lennard Zinn to my right. From there, they’ve stepped up the product, functionally and ergonomically. We have a Rival group in our office to test, and while most cases would see me not too jazzed about stripping a bike to put on an entry-level groupset that costs just $919 complete (compared to the $2,099 Red gruppo)

At Sea Otter this spring, SRAM did debut the 500 level alloy shifter and alloy brake levers, in alignment with the Rival group. They were very nice and represented a great value, but there was nothing truly innovative, despite my optimism.

Now, SRAM turns its attention to triathlon, and is making the debut on the world stage in Kona. I’m thinking they won’t trot out a revamp this time.

Now, consider that the bar end shifter was never meant for use on tri bikes. They were created well before Boone Lennon created the first aerobar—Campagnolo had ones with rubber covers in 1953. In the 70s and mid-80s, SunTour created barcon shifters that mounted on the bottom end of drop bars, where bar plugs typically go today.
So basically, while advances in tube shaping, frame materials, water bottle shapes, training, nutrition have evolved over the years, the lowly bar end shifter remained untouched, unevolved and neglected for decades. The most radical thing that happened came three years ago, when SRAM made the lever out of carbon. Sexy, yes. But functionally, it was the same thing.

Then along comes SRAM, which has been one of the most excitable brands in the market today. When you’re pushing the envelope, I guess it’s hard to not get jazzed. SRAM road PR manager Michael Zellmann is a big guy. If you’re in Kona and see a 6’3 dude traipsing around town, that’s your guy. He’s also a time trial powerhouse—think Torbjorn, just without the ability to swim. (Sorry Michael—but you’re welcome to throw on your tangerine Speedo and prove me wrong at Dig Me Beach next week).

Seriously though, being a SRAM marketer aside, as a TT guy I think MZ’s presence in Kona means he has a truly vested interest in delivering this debut. He was here to do the first count of groupsets last year at the pier. I think this year, he'll see a bigger presence in the race.

“We are excited to be launching our third bar-end shifter into the triathlon market in three years at this years Ford Ironman World Championships,” Zellmann told me this past week after sending the press release. “Triathletes have been underserved on drivetrain and shifting options for years.”

If they're on par with what they’ve delivered across the rest of their road range the last three years, I don't think I'm off base in saying we can expect to be wowed.

So what does that mean? Zellmann was mum. The rumor, as far as I have heard, involved something different than a traditional lever that moves up and down, pulling on the cable. Some of the Triathlete mag staff were in Chicago for the Chicago Triathlon this spring and visited the SRAM offices, taking a tour. Ad sales rep Sean Watkins said he was accidentally send into a room where something was on a table that he couldn’t sort out, and he was quickly whisked out.

Further, sponsored pro Michellie Jones has been spotted training in San Diego testing the prototypes. I’ve not seen ‘em. The term “trigger” has been bandied about, but for the last year, and despite my incessant badgering, SRAM has confirmed nor denied any of it.

So after the “how rad and revolutionary is this gonna be” question comes the “will anyone be running it in the race” question. Considering the tech-o-philes that SRAM sponsors, including Chris Lieto, and Normann Stadler, perhaps there’s a chance.

We’ll find out all Wednesday. Michellie is slated to be there to talk about her experience with it, and SRAM and Zipp will have several of their other goods on display, including the new SRAM S40, S60 and S80 wheelsets, and the new Zipp SLSpeed Stem… one of the newest objects d’art from Interbike.

I must say, I’m glad SRAM opted to make Hawaii the debut instead of Vegas. Further proof that SRAM is recognizing the tri market as an entity unto itself.

Oakley: Who's wearing what in Kona?

2008-10-02T23:47:00.001-07:00

I'm not in Kona until Tuesday, but am already learning what's going on in the way of product there.

Greg Welch, the 1994 Hawaii Ironman World Champ and current Oakley triathlon marketing man-of-the-world came by the Triathlete offices yesterday. I'm working on a cool-as-hell feature about the history of Oakley in triathlon for Slowt witch, and Welchy took me on a tour of Oakley HQ in Foothill Ranch, Calif. several weeks ago. I have to say, I was enlightened and bewildered by the sheer magnitude of the place and staff. There is so much creative brainpower there, it's no wonder they are so dominant in sport, and come out with some of the best-looking designs in sunnies. Even the building itself has a raw industrial vibe. The seating in the lobby: a row of pilot ejection seats, straight from some fighters. With all the snowboards, dragsters, bikes, motos and other accoutrements around, It's Disneyland for active adults.

And that's before you get to see the skunkworks. I even managed to go up some back stairs, down a grey hall, through some air conditioning hardware outside, then back in to an alcove of exposed piping, to get into a room that serves as a mental decompression chamber, complete with beer taps and nice, coooold beer. I'll be revealing shots of this amazing room soon (those that enter must sign the wall). It was fun to go around and search the sigs.... saw Conrad Stoltz's autograph up there.

The fact that my visit was also Welchy's first visit? When he does spend a lot of time roaming the halls in the aero position in the original Eyeshades. But that does tell you how underground this secret room is, even to those employees. We had to get clearance from the top Oakley brass to even get in there. I was honored to enjoy a beer with Blick, while Welchy—and I kid you not on this—threw two dead-center bullseyes in about three tosses at the dartboard.

Note the brass placard on the door. I had to leave my Glock 9mm 19 and Beretta .22 snub with the tip-up nose with the doorman. They don't play.

There was a lot I was not permitted to photograph... in fact, Welchy asked to hold my camera a few times, to assuage fears that I might see something and go rogue. And there's stuff that wont see the light of day, at least not next weekend. Like the custom helmet paintjob they had lined up for Samantha McGlone. It was cool, in pure Oakley style, and that's all I can say. I'm sure we'll all see it next year. Sam will be champing at the bit.

After seeing what Welchy's colleague Steve Blick did for the Oakley athletes at the Tour de France, I have wondered what Greg had up his sleeve for his athletes for next Saturday's race. Many Oakley athletes have a national motif in their eyewear, some just go for the basics. But a few of the high-profile athletes have something special we can all look out for.

Welchy said Aussie Craig Alexander will be wearing a green and yellow Radar, representing his Aussie colors. Reigning womens world champ Chrissie Wellington? She'll be wearing the new Enduring (which Welchy helped design) in pink, which follows a breast cancer initiative Oakley is promoting with that limited-edition version.

And Danish bike power Torbjorn Sindballe? He will be just the third pro Oakley athlete to be wearing the new Racing Jacket (Thor Hushovd and George Hincape were the others at the Tour this July). This one hasn't hit the market yet, but Torbjorn will be wearing the black and yellow Livestrong version of the Racing Jacket as he tears down the Queen K. I got to check out Thor and Hincapie's race prototypes, and they were waaaay raw prototypes they raced in. While the lens is fully encased, it has an ingenous method of releasing (through the nosepiece) to open a hinge, allowing the lens free for swap. Thunderbear clearly won't be easy to miss.

On the left is Steve Blick, the road marketing manager with George Hincapie's Racing Jacket, with Andy McSorley with , the eyewear brand manager in center holding Cadel Evans' purple Radar. And of course there's Welchy, holding his baby, the Enduring women's optic.

Many other Oakley athletes will have color combos that Welchy put custom assembled for the athletes. But in fact, the custom element isn't that unique to just the pros; Oakley just launched a full custom program online, where you can design your own glasses, from frame to earsock to "O" icon color to frame etching message, all to your taste. I understand Oakley will have it's rolling optics lab in Kona around the race as well.

I'l have more as I get on the ground next week, but for now, the news is filtering in, little by little. Stay tuned...

Interbike Redux, Part I

2008-09-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm out of Vegas, I can look back on it with a bit more clarity. My quick impression? Lots of new, different ideas. Bike and parts manufacturers can no longer just show up with an aero bike. They have to come strong, with data. When we're spending $7,000 on a bike, there better be some science behind the design. Everyone, from Ridley to Fuji to Ceepo were bringing something different to combat the wind. Even Kestrel had a new redesign of the Airfoil Pro that I was impressed with.

Which is where Cervelo has built it's empire. Phil White and Gerard Vroomen did the best to build a bit of hype—and deliver on it—with the debut of the P4, backed with a healthy dose of science, and $1 million of development.

And the hype behind the debut was a unique scene, one reminiscent of an Apple keynote, with Phil and Gerard presenting the bike with head mikes on, and a group of media and other onlookers on-hand for the unveiling. I Saw Simon Whitfield looking on, colleagues like Dan Empfield and Lennard Zinn, as well as a few other engineers from rival brands, all awaiting the unveiling. It was amazing the amount of people from competing brands that made time to visit the Cervelo booth. When I saw the below, I just had to get a shot.
Maybe Fausto Pinarello, caught by my camera, was irritated by my candidly catching him languising in the Cervelo booth. Or maybe he was longingly looking at that P4 in the case. To his credit, Pinarello's top-end TT bike is pretty solid aerodynamically. If they ever paid attention to triathlon beyond putting Cam Brown and Leanda Cave on their bikes, they'd make waves.

I take off Tuesday for Kona and will update here again before I head to the island... then will be updating here from the island as I cruise around town as a journalist, at the same time looking after my wife Donna, who is racing with her TeamTBB teammates. I have assignment to cover the women's race, so I'm excited to see what ought to be an incredible race, even in the absence of Sam McGlone and Michellie Jones.

The men's race will be excellent as always. If the weather is shit, expect Normann to do his thing and make life hell on everyone. If it's calmer, Macca is still my pick. His confidence is worth a lot to that guy, and he has all the confidence.

Of course, you have Torbjorn, Chris Lieto and my biggest x-factor, Steve Larsen, who will also look to inflict damage. It will be a fun race.

From Moto in North Carolina in to Velo in Vegas: a month redux

2008-09-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

Been a while, eh? I'm in Vegas for Interbike, which officially kicked off today with the first day of Dirt Demo. It's gonna be full-go for the next few days to see all the hottest new stuff.

I happen to be staying in the hotel with the guys who has been at the maelstrom of the "hottest" anticipation. Indeed, I ran into Phil White, half of the Cervelo brainchild with fellow engineer Gerard Vroomen. We walked and talked about a mile down the strip—he to do some shopping, me to get my credentials at the Venetian. There has been buzz about whether the new P4 Carbon would be coming. And like Gerard told me at the Tour de France earlier this year, he and his media team said they'll let me know when they have something ready. He told me that they've invested—get this—over $1 million in the development of the P4 Carbon. So when they want to let the world know, they said I would be on the short list of those who would get an inside track.

So... stand down, Cervelo-ites...at least for now.

Last we spoke, it was Olympics time. Jan Frodeno surprised us, and Emma Snowsill didn't. Great fun was had by all.

Around that time, I was the guest of Specialized to a unique test. I have a piece that will be going into Road Bike Action magazine as well as in Triathlete magazine. It was exceptionally informative, and unique: Specialized brought out the brains (engineer Mark Cote) and the brawn (six-time Australian National Time Trial ChampNathan O'Neill... that's Mark getting on Nathan's nerves, giving him a hard time about his helmet straps) to do some interesting tests, to draw some quantifiable numbers as to what the true benefits of a tri bike are over a road bike, in terms of rider position benefit, wattage output benefit, even bike-only aero profile benefit. It was quite interesting, and will make for good reading... at least for those who like to look at numbers and what they mean.

There was actually protocol for three separate tests that we were : a wind tunnel test at the new A2 Wind Tunnel, located in NASCAR's hometown of Mooresville. That was interesting enough. Then there was a 1k trial at an area loop for some outdoor comparison.

Then the finale was a series of 10-mile road trials at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. The test was held on the actual NASCAR track, which, for me, was a thrill. It was also held in conjunction with the Carolina TT Cycling Association series,which hosts a monthly time trial on the track. One of the coolest things I'd ever seen, cyclists of ever level out laying down the watts, in individual and TTT format.And then.... there was a unique prototype setup. Not a proto bike, but proto measurement device. You'll have to read the mags to see what that's all about.

The heat of the day gave way to the cool of the night as athletes raced under the lights. I'd wish I brought my bike! But it was Nathan, after a day of 10-mile time trials under the hot sun, who put on a blazing display in his last lap—just to see how fast he could go. He nearly fell over after the hot lap, but it was fun for us to watch from the infield grass. He passed on the customary infield tire burnout donuts.

One of the coolest dynamics I'd ever seen took place there as well: athletes warmed up in the garage alongside spare cars belonging to Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon. How unique. I had to get a shot of it, which you see to the left... that's Carl Edwards' Office Depot No. 99 behind the bikes.

With that trip finished, I headed home, excited about the coming Pepsi 500 NASCAR race in Fontana, Calif., up the road.

Enter Specialized marketing magician. Nic Sims. He's British and has the voice of the Geico gecko. And he's a great guy. Because he picked up my NASCAR fetish (I was flipping out as we drove past DEI headquarters), and made something cool happen.

MyDad retired a couple weeks ago. Dude can sleep in as long as he wants now. But I wanted to send him out with a bang, and Specialized helped me to that end.

All the boys in my family (that being my dad, brother and I) are big NASCAR fans. We went to PIR in Phoenix over a decade ago to see Dale Earnhardt race, several years before he passed. I like Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards. Dad and bro like Tony Stewart. But we all agree on one favorite: Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 88 car.

It seems Specialized sponsors one of the Sprint Cup drivers, and as such has access to the races. When I said “hey, if the ones in Cali never get used, gimme a ring,” I didn’t think anything of it.

But Nic rang, and got myself, and dad and brother, not only in, but in with garage and pit passes. For four hours, we got to wander up and down pit row. It’s the equivalent of courtside seats for the Lakers—at 78 thousand decibels. And you had Drew Carey shouting for the gents to start their engines, as well as some celebs I’d never heard of (whos’s heard of The Hills? Apparently, two actors were there and causing a stir). I guess I’m losing touch with what the kids are watching these days.

But we all knew who was passing from the garage to their cars. So we got to basically hang out behind Junior’s pit and watch Tony Eury Jr. do his thing directing the frenzy. The pit crew are surprisingly athletic, going through stretches, some running up and down pit lane to get their lungs blown open a bit.

That done, I went to Malibu to cover the Malibu Triathlon weekend. I did the Olympic-distance race with my brother Jon (finished 8th in my age group in 2:20, was pleased with that) But the next day I got to watch the paparazzi descend on Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey like flies on carrion. It was disturbing. John Segesta, Rich Cruse and I stood back and watched the rudest guys trample, bump and otherwise ignore anyone else around to get that money shot. Whatever. One tried to warn me he was coming thru. I promptly stopped, squared up, looked him in the eye and made him go around me. I have a greater understanding why once in a while, celebs snap and haul off on these clowns. I totally get it now.

That stated, it was chaos to even try to talk to any of the celebs as a journalist. But I got lucky. After the vultures left McConaughey to stalk J-Lo, who was still on the course, I cruised over and asked for 2 minutes. He gave me about seven, talking about his race in great detail. It sounds to me like he'll maybe be doing more triathlons. The fact that he was getting training advice from respected L.A. area coach Ian Murray of Triathletix meant he was taking it serious. The "coach" J-Lo was working with was no tri coach, that's for sure. Anyway, it was all good for the sport to get names like McConaughey and Lopez to lend exposure to triathlon.

And since I was shooting the race, I managed some shots of Matthew, and one I think my massive legion of women reading this blog (or at least the two who are reading it) will appreciate:

See? Milk (and training) do a body good!

Until next time... which should be not long after Interbike, and before the Hawaii Ironman in three weeks (three weeks!!!)

Beijing Bikes: Juraci Moriera’s Suplicy CS-0.7, and the Cervelo R3

2008-08-15T00:51:00.000-07:00

If you race locally in San Diego, you know there’s a sprint race about every other weekend. And if you go to these races, you’ll always see the same guy at the top of the pro results: Brazilian Caue Suplicy.

Caue has been a friend of mine for several years, when we were both coached by San Diego Xtraining coach Sergio Borges. Like many local-level pros, Suplicy languished in pro triathlon limbo-fast enough to win local sprints, but with the payout of a box of PowerBars. (If you read Triathlete magazine, you might recall seeing Caue in a story I wrote about the unglamourous life of a pro triathlete).

Well, Caue could see the writing on the wall. Sure, he wanted to continue racing, because going fast is kinda fun. But he wanted to take his experience as an athlete, and apply it to bike design. So came the birth of Suplicy Bikes.

I didn’t think much would come of the brand, but he’s surprised me. For one, he has been scooping up wins on his own bike. and has a collection of nice gear, road and tri and his order-online website and a few local shops here. At the Encinitas Sprint Triathlon that he won a couple weeks ago, Caue told me he managed to get his bike under an athlete racing in the men’s Beijing Olympic Games Triathlon: Brazilian Juraci Moriera. And he pulled out the stops.

It was thought that Brazil would have just one spot for the Beijing Games, and Reinaldo Colucci had the points on Juraci. But a late surge put Juraci on a plane and on the start for this weekend. He needed a bike, and Suplicy, ready to help a friend, supplied his lightweight road bike, the CS-0.7.

The frame has a slightly sloping compact design a fork with a 1 1/8” carbon steerer with an integrated cut-to-fit seat mast, and, as sold, features some of Suplicy’s house gear, including wheelset, bar and stem. The bike comes in eight sizes, ranging 50cm to 60cm. The stock offering is completed with SRAM’s Force groupset. Complete with this kit, the CS-0.7 retails at $5,000.

For Moriera, Suplicy was able to secure a set of the 2009 version of the Lew Composites Pro VT-1 carbon wheelset. which feature ceramic bearings in a Tune freehub body, and weight a guaranteed 850 grams or less. Yes, it’s that $5,495 wheelset. Moriera’s race bike is fitted with a SRAM Red groupset, a Vision by FSA Mini Clip-on, and Speedplay Zero pedals.

Frame weight for his 58cm frame: Suplicy pegs it at 6 kilograms, or 14 pounds, complete. One nice little details, Moriera's bike has the plug on the top tube's underside, for a tidy race number placement on race day.

Here's what Juraci emailed me today: "I really like the bike otherwise I don't think I would be using it at the Olympics! I'm very impressed with how light it is especially for such a big frame," he said. "I definitely feel that this bike accelerates better and is more responsive than any other bike I've ever ridden. This bike will be my weapon to defeat the hilly bike course. I was able to ride on the Olympic course yesterday and felt very good — the hill didn't seem as bad as it was last year so I'm very excited to use this bike at the race. I'll be racing the lucky number "8" on the Suplicy on Monday!"

It’s not news for those that have been watching the Games to see that Cervelo has sent its road athletes to Beijing on the new S3 road bike, complete with a floating Olympic ring motif, and will make these bikes available in a limited run. Differing from the Soloist, the S3 has cable routing that ports in at the front of the top tube (avoiding the extra weight and shift slop of a full housing run) and new, more aero stays. While Fabian Cancellara used the S3 to bridge to the break, then take bronze in the road race, the triathlon will see a few athletes: Canadian Simon Whitfield and TeamTBB pros Reto Hug and Nicola Spirig of Switzerland, and Mariana Ohata and Reinaldo Colucci of Brazil.
So in a race with what will certainly be some of the finest bikes, a little Brazilian designer has the newest (and certainly one of the most expensive at $12,000 as Suplicy puts it) bikes in T2 this weekend. And Cervelo will certainly have one of the cleanest-looking (and aerodynamically-fastest) new models on the racks.

Best of mechanical luck to all the athletes racing this weekend.

First Look: Blue Cycles new full-carbon tri bike, the Triad

2008-08-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Man, I love getting the inside track. Of course, they say, as in this case, "don't say anything just yet," but fail to realize they're releasing info to a person who's reason for existence it is to shout from the rooftops. I'm working on some goods for Slowtwitch, but wanted to get what little I do know out asap.

The guys at Blue Competition Cycles showed me some something I'd been told was coming: the first full carbon fiber bike from the growing brand. They've made a concerted push in ITU racing, and will have a bike under American medal hopeful Sarah Haskins in Bejiing this coming weekend. Pretty impressive for a company that has been around for less than, what five years?

But they realize who butters their bread—age groupers. Not the ones doing ITU racing, but doing 70.3s and Ironman and non-drafting Olympic-distance racing. So to keep up with the torrid technological spike in the last few years, they got busy. The result: the new Triad.

So, I was told to keep a relative lid on this. I like to push my chances when people say relative. I'll just bank on people not seeing my blog. Understand my quandry as a journalist? Who gets into the business of not telling people news?

Here's what I know—sorta. But I didn't say nuthin....

The new Triad is full-carbon offering which, upon first glance, it has rear chainstays similar to that of the new Scott Plasma, but takes on it's own looks thereafter. The seatstays are ultra low, and the bike has a 1" headtube. Blue's plan is sell this bike complete in a couple of build kits (SRAM Red and Shimano Dura-Ace), wiht Zipp 808 rear/404 front tubulars. They'll also have an Ultegra SL and SRAM Force version , with a more price-point wheelset.

Other details: the rear brake is located under the bottom bracket shell. It will have a BB30 bottom bracket shell with an internal cable run, and a geometry similar to their existing T-16 tri bikes with a 76-degree seat angle (with wide fore/aft variance with the three clamp positions on the post). And my sources say the rear end is super, super narrow—so narrow that a Mavic R-Sys wheel won't go in. Not that you would want to desecrate a bike like that with a R-Sys...

The bike will also come with something unique: regardless the build, once the bike is registered for warranty, Blue will send the buyer a certificate for one free hour of wind tunnel adjustment at the A2 Wind Tunnel, in Mooresville, North Carolina. For those that don't know, The A2 Wind Tunnel is a growing tunnel, which is a spinoff tunnel next to its big brother, the famed Aerodyne tunnel, which is rented out for the next year and a half and running 24/7 testing NASCAR cars and trucks.

So the consumer gets a very, very valuable benefit beyond the bike itself—much better than the ol' water bottle and cage that some shops try to "throw in." When you're buying a bike like this, the fit should be your next purchase... so why not make it happen in the wind tunnel? Just get yourself to Charlotte, hop over to A2 and get a fit that will rival anything you can get in the shop. It's one thing for a bike company to do the aero thing to optimize the bike, which they say they have done in creating the Triad. Few will kick in the extra to look after the rider's own drag.

The Georgia-based company currently has their newest charges, Ironman Coeur d'Alene Winner Heather Wurtele and husband Trevor Wurtele at the N.C. tunnel doing some fine tuning with their bikes for Ironman Canada and Kona.

And the bike will show up under one other person: Haskins. My Blue contacts tell me she was so taken with the new bike that she wanted it for Beijing. So on go drop bars and the bike makes it's race debut in the Olympic Games.

Pricing? Availablity? Don't know yet. I've probably said too much at this point... better sign it off.