Caveman gets 2nd at 1st Rev3.

Caveman’s 1st Rev 3 road tri. Pics by Nils Nilsen/Rev 3

Gorgeous day. Our first time to the eastern sea board. Water was warm, clear & clean. Huge turn out.

Each pro has their name, number and photo at the transition spot.And you get to keep the poster afterwards.

Photo by Dave Laskey/Rev3

Team Stoltz early race morning. Liezel is the most amazing team mate I could ever dream of. My racing is definitely at another level. Life is more fulfilling too- the sky is blue-er, the grass greener, the chain ring bigger (55) – even traveling is fun. And on race day when I forgot my helmet and bike number stickers at home (it was 4am), she showed some more of her brilliance under pressure: (only had 25min while I was warming up) My number was 411, so she got a left over number- 418, and cut out a “1″ from another number, and stuck it over the 8. Hey presto, I hope our kids at least gets their moms intellect and looks.

Caveman 3rd from right in Blue Seventy suit & goggles.

I love beach starts and ocean swims. Long legs and years and years of ocean racing and playing I’ve got it dialed- too bad the surf wasnt up. I even was leading for a little while and had a great, comfortable swim, coming out with all the main players and about 30″ off the swim specialists. The Defcon 4 swimming programme I started a week before XTERRA Beaver Creek has made a huge improvement in my start speed.

Once on the bike the pressure was on right away. The run from the beach was long, I got to the bike a little winded and once on the bike, was right in the middle of the pack. No time to rest. I had to ride hard immediately to get clear and out of sight. Our plan was to ride 420 avs W, and held it for a good while, but the hard start off the run tightened my glutes a bit. After 15min I had to ease up a bit to let them relax, and free wheel a few corners. But the damage was done. I turned 20km at 413W but on the way back slightly down hill, I let it slide (and rest the legs some more) to 400W by the time the bike was racked. I wasnt paying attention to the others, but Jesse Thomas apparently rode (and swam) outside himself, hanging on like an African tick, and only lost a handful of seconds to 20km. He was about 1.15 back at the end of the bike.

Click here for the interactive Training Peaks power file:

http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/6FOAXOB4KSJKIWZ3BHD2I2WQMQ

For the 39km: 52.07, 44.8km/h, 400w. Specialized SHIV. Pic by Nils Nilsen/Rev3

Yes, the wheels are “normal” sized. They look tiny. Cant wait for the 900c wheeled TT bike to come out… What does the Pharaoh of Aero think ? (Mark Cote, engineer at Specialized)

It worked great for Francesco Moser:

As per previous blog, I’m finally able to get some run training done, and felt solid all the way through to 7km. Which is ok for now. But 1min 15 is never enough to keep the fleet footed Jesse Thomas at bay. 2 years ago Jesse was borrowing a bike (when he won his 1st Wildflower as a “nobody”) and now he’s riding like a beast. He’s a real character, a fellow Specialized rider, AND a nice guy, so when he blew by me at 3.5km I didnt put up a fight. No point, as he was hauling donkeys anyway.

Luckily the 52min bike ride did damage behind and I had 3-4 minutes on the chasers, which included race favourite and Rev3 Series leader Richie Cunningham, who turned 39 the day before the race.

Go here for full results.

Not so rusty at road tri anymore. 2nd is losing, but I’m happy with my performance. It was a great experience in all- Liezel and I had never been to New England before, we ate sea food and drank white wine and had an amazing home stay in the country. Afterwards we visited good friends in Laconia, New Hampshire. Next year I’d love to do more Rev3s, in order to qualify for the $25k series money and more importantly, to get my swimming and running on standard so I can really whack the XTERRAs.

Hats off to Revolution 3 for putting on an amazing event:

– The organization was seamless.

– Each athlete felt valued.

– These guys understand marketing: The day before the race, video featuring pros were out on social media, shown at the venue, the event was live on the internet.

– Quality photographers, announcer, a video team, and a PR person doing FB and Twitter

– There was a pro panel for the age groupers and pros handed out AG prizes.

– AND we got our prize money on the podium. Something I havent seen since…. um, XTERRA Brazil 2007. Now I can fix our “new used” car’s differential.

Each pro has their name, number and photo at the transition spot.And you get to keep the poster afterwards.

Click here for Pre race Pro interviews

More interviews, photos and press on Rev 3 site.