The Workbench

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…