Tour Tech on Show in Monaco

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.

Monterey Musings: Sea Otter

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.

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

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!!!)