Category: Avia
The Mario Cipollini board room at Specialized HQ
The Lion King “Super Mario” Cipollini was a delight to follow- on the road and in public. His flair for fashion, clothing and glamour bordered on preposterous. It was delicious. But he was a remarkable sprinter who hated climbing and was quoted “If I wasnt a professional cyclist, I would be a porn star.”
But Mario was an amazing marketing vehicle and his sponsors’ ad campaigns still come up in cyclobablle. His pro career spanned 20 years, he had 42 Giro stage wins, World Champs in 2002, the list is too long, go read it on Wiki.
I will be racing XTERRA Worlds in my birthday suit!
I got this birthday card from the Balega folks in South Africa. Tanya is always very creative with the Photoshop…
If your Afrikaans is a little rusty:
“Happy birthday Conrad, Enjoy every moment, Bert, Tanya and the Falke (Balega) team”
Also, my LUMA race kit by Greek artist Miltos Manetas can just in time for my birthday: Read more here.
Had an amazing sushi dinner with the AVIA Team last night and they spoilt me again:
XTERRA USA Champs race report, Ogden Utah. Rather late than never
All pictures by Nils Nilsen
My dad is right- one can count a humans’ age like a tree- by the number of rings it has. My dad says he is at the age where you can count the rings around his knees. One can count the number of USA XTERRA Titles I have won by the number of rings I have when smiling and squinting into the sun… (its 7, if you cant bother to count)
Seriously, check out why my dad will kick your dads ass HERE.
Avia AVI STOLTZ review
My own customization for the muddy ski slopes at XTERRA Vermont
From Triathlon Product Reviews
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Avia Avi Stoltz Xterra Racing Shoe
After the traction disaster that my wife and I both suffered during the Granite Bay Duathlon, we went looking for a shoe with better traction that qualified as a racer. We both have significantly different needs. I sometimes qualify as a Clydesdale as I hover around 200 lbs, but I’m a pretty neutral runner. I usually race in a light weight trainer (like the Brooks Ghost for example) with the green superfeet insole for just a little support. My wife Tatjana weighs about 115 lbs and is one of the fastest 40+ runners in our area. She pronates moderately, but since she is so small, she doesn’t need a lot of support. She usually races in a racing shoe that has some support built in and orthotics or the same green superfeet insoles.
Rich Cruse was my boss for 10 minutes
I met sports photographer Rich Cruse at my 1st XTERRA– Richmond VA 2001.
Since then we have become close friends, but also we managed to do a lot of business together. He would shoot pics at races and make me look good- not an easy task- and I would offer it to the press and sponsors who would buy them off Rich. That way Rich made a living, I looked somewhat good, and the sponsors and magazines got great pics.
I attended Vineman 70.3 this past weekend to work at the Avia stand– my shoe sponsor. We worked the expo and race day, sold shoes and had great meals and wine afterward. Shoe designer Ike and I also brainstormed on the 2010 Avia AVI STOLTZ.
From the AVIA booth I saw Rich sprint across a big field with about 60lbs of camera gear flapping in the wind. I ran over and offered to help him carry. We got to the finish just before Aussie Joe Gambles, the winner. I wanted to give Rich’s camera back but he said:“Shoot!”
So I “shot”:
Thanks for the credit Rich!
