What a beauty. Just when I wonder how can they possibly improve on a bike, the Specialized enigneers comes up with a sox knocker offer. Herewith the completely redesigned 2014 Specialized Sworks Epic World Cup.

Caveman in action on 2014 Epic World Cup at XTERRA Worlds in Maui.

Whats new:

Awesomer suspension! The front and rear Brain systems are the most finely tuned of all suspension systems I’ve ever ridden. Even better than the “old” Epics. I like plush suspension and platforms (Brains) which unlock with very small impacts. The front and rear do this perfectly in sync. Of course, the blue Brain adjuster knob lets you choose you own settings. Its 95mm travel front and rear- I dont miss the extra 5mm we had on the previous model.

Specialized website for more details.

New geometry:

Shorter chain stays, steeper head angle, lower head tube, 1×11 specific,  two water bottle cages.

Squirt lube- lube of champions.

Did I mention the Mega chain stays! (behind the QX1 34T Qring at the height of the tubing is Mega!)  Out of the saddle climbing was never my thing, but now it so efficient and fast, I “dance on the pedals” all the time. Squirt chain lube keeps the drive train clean, smooth and just about maintanance free.

The new geometry is custom made for XC racing and the “Epic World Cup” does not disappoint. With sharper handling, a lively rear end (uphill and down hill) and faster excelleration, this bike is built for the rider who knows his/her way around the race track.

If you dont have the stomach for the World Cup handling or the legs for the single chainring, the more traditional geometry Sworks Epic with 2 chain rings is still available.

Nice, clean internal cabling everywhere. Brakes, gears and Command Post. Looks good but also saves pounds in muddy races- esp with the 1×11.

SWAT (Storage, Water, Air, Tools) technology:

Removable storage box for tube, CO2, tire lever and tire plug. Or sandwitches. Clean, quiet and with a low centre of gravity.

SWAT EMT tool storage cradle next to the shock mount. Slides in and out of place with a reassuring “click.” Its Caveman proof- I checked.

Brand new 27.4mm diameter Command Post with 5cm saddle drop (for me, not sure on stock spec) with internal cabling.

Roval Controle wheelset. New, wider rim design (bigger tire volume and more stable sidewalls) with low spoke count 24fr/28rr, new bearings and yes you guessed it- even lighter wheelset. Carbon, but Caveman proof.

Specialized Brain inside RockShox fork with sturdy & light thru axle.

Slippery/loose, powdery and grassy surfaces here in Maui- put the velcro of XC tires on the front- Specialized 2.3 Ground Control Sworks at 22psi.

This astonishing bike also comes with build in air conditioner,

and mini bar stocked with the best beer in Belgium…

More about this incredible bike soon.

2013 XTERRA USA Championship from XTERRA TV on Vimeo.

In the build up to USA Champs, Boulder received 20 inches (510mm) of rain in about 5 days- the annual rainfall usually expected in a year. Once the rain subsided the incredible devastation of the flooding became clear. We dont have a TV, so I only realized the scale of the damage once I ventured outside to try train. In the middle of nowhere, this car was swept off the road- the yellow “do not cross” tape stuck in the wiper telling part of the story…

In order to get some riding done, I crossed quite a few yellow barriers myself and “carefully” rode on the white line to avoid pot holes.

Flight over Salt Lake City was also watery

Liezel and Gary Mandy spent a lot of time and effort designing race kit, making sure the right logos are in the right places and the right sizes. And of course, once in Ogden- lots of time at the printers.  (Boulder businesses were closed) Stoked with the comfortable and light Castelli RossoCorsa kit with its hydrophobic INSTADRY SPEED FABRIC.

“I’m so awesome, they gave me number 1 AND 2.” At XTERRA your current Series ranking determines your number plate.  After 11 “go’s” at the USA Series titles- and 10 Series wins, (Silvain Dodet, FRA won in 2004) this years series was a nix for me. If you dont know the story- I crashed in Vegas- cut my hand, continued to race and train with the injury, which caused much worse (and harder to fix) compensation injuries. Which made me DNF in ‘Bama and DNS in ‘Richmond and put me out of the series. So I was free to travel and train leisurely for XTERRA Brazil, Italy and Cross Tri Worlds.

I jumped the gun a bit and deployed the Kona themed Hoka One One Bondi Speed shoes for this race. Other than the 29er feel over the rocks and great cushioning on the mine shaft down hill, I was hoping the colours (representing Kona Lava and tribal design) would match the fall colours of these beautiful mountain slopes around Snow Basin Ski resort. But unlike the spectacular past few years, the trees had not yet turned colours much.

I’m not going to go into it too much, but I slightly overcooked my last big training day a week out. Then 2 days of packing up an entire house and moving it to storage down in a basement didnt do much for certain muscle groups, general recovery and troop morale. Thus lots of rest, hardly any training, body work by Todd from Interative Healing in Boulder and eventually some light fly fishing was prescribed by coach Ian.

When Ian’s new recruit and fellow XTERROR Anthony Snoble heard about the “fly fishing scheduled into training” he yelled (New York style): “DUDE! I’m BROKEN from Ironman, and I dont get “fly fishing”!! What do I have to do to get “fly fishing” written into my training programme?!”

In Western Cape’s (South Africa) gin clear streams, Brown trout* is a rarity, but here in the Ogden Creek, below the swim course, they are a dime a dozen. Ok, maybe a dime a dollar on the Caddis fly, but once I put the Parachute Adams on, they were a dime a dozen… Considering its ankle deep water running next to a busy road and through some neigbourhoods, there are some good sized fish in there.

*No fish were hurt in the making of this blog. Also, thanks to our gracious home stay Guy Letendre for the use of his gear. And Colleen for her car. And their first born’s bedroom. And their bike tools. And the fridge and the kitchen. PS- Sorry about the damage to the contents of the M&Ms jar…

Homestay Colleen found other transport- just down the road.  Also big thanks to Eric from Specialized who gave my bike some TLC.

Race day:

After a week spent mostly in bed or massage table, I was quite uncertain what was going to come out.

The swim was looong. One of the bouys floated away, and I was holding it together nicely for the 1500m, but the other 700m didnt go so great and I lost about 90″ to the leaders. I swam 29.34 instead of the usual 19.34 -ish. Full results here.

After a few tentative minutes on the opening climb up Wheeler Canyon, I found my legs and started putting the power down nicely. I recently switched to the more oval (16% oval) QXL Qrings. (Non round chainrings) And found quite a few Watts gained compared to the “old” 10% oval Qrings. This is also part of the reason I didnt get to ride the ridiculously cool new 2014 Specialized World Cup Epic 29er I test rode in April. However, there is an XX1 style Qring in the works called QX1- which should be ready to go on my 2014 Specialized Epic for XTERRA Worlds.

Thanks to Nils Nilsen for the stunning pix as per usual.

By the time we hit the 1st of 2 puny little down hill sections on this beast of a climbers course- I was up to 2nd place. Chasing Leonardo Chacon– a respected ITU and Olympic athlete, and now an XTERRA cross over from Costa Rica. Leon has a smart coach, he sleeps on a volcano at 2000m, trains on a volcano at 1500m, got 4th at XTERRA Worlds last year, won XTERRA Mexico this year, he has been riding his MTB specifically for this and most importantly- Leon weighs 65kg. (143lbs) Now I’m 20kg heavier. I know- its all muscle, and more muscle makes more speed. Right?

Without getting all mathematical about it,  no matter how much you’ve trained or how fit you are, assuming everyone is equally fit- power to weight ratio is what its all about on a course like this. To draw a parallel to cycling: You dont see Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara (both 180lbs/82kg guys) contesting Mt Ventoux or L’Alpe d’Heuz?  And I’d love to see Nairo Quintana (57kg) bounce around on the cobbles of Flanders. SA cycling legend Willie Engelbrecht calls it “horses for courses.” But I think he was referring to the garage full of dirt bikes he kept- after his sterling cycling career.

This course is a point to point bike- lake to Ski resort- which gains 3400ft, but only loses 1500 ft. So there is about 1900ft gained but not lost. Not a fair course to have USA Champs on year after year for 9 years, but it is what it is and I have to make the best of it.

On the little 3min23 downhill halfway through the course, I cut Leon’s lead from 1.20 to about 30″. But after that it was all climbing again- up to 8000some feet. Leon kept the gap to the top of the climb- he is a Specialized rider too, so no equipment advantage for me there.

For the Strava fans, here the Strava file for the down hill during practice-  wonder how much faster my race time was.

I passed Leon just after the summit, and on the final drop to the finish- a weird, fast but mostly non technical yet dangerously leafy tunnel to the finish, I made a minute. (Video is in the making.)

Brewing behind me was the perfect storm:  The 3 hit T2 at the same time: Leon was joined by ex pro mountain biker and fellow tiny guy Ruben Ruzafa, (also Specialized) and mountain man, smart trainer, leader of USA Series and lover of altitude and mountains- Josiah Middaugh.

I had a minute lead, but these guys chopped it down by the summit of the 1st of 2 big climbs. With another big climb looming, and my ass dragging, I had no answer as the 2 little and one medium guys took off. The 700ft gained on 8k of the run is lost all at once in 2k. With no one to chase and no one chasing, I shuffled down, saving the quads for Worlds training starting in Kona yesterday.

Josiah and Leon had a spectacular tussle down to the last mile, when Leon dropped the hammer and won by 55 seconds. I know Josiah’s prep was far from good- I’ll let him tell (or not tell) you more about it. Ruben who was 2nd to me at ITU Cross Tri Worlds, was 3rd, about 30″ behind Josiah. XTERRA Worlds is going to be action packed!

Bradley Weiss had breakthough performance for 7th- Dan was 5th- so 3 Saffers in the top 10.

Not overly stoked with 4th, I decided to get my own trophy in the creek on the way home.

The next day we were on our way to Kona. Princess Hotstuff formulted complex formulae to find the cheapset flights. They include factors like cost of flight, luggage fees, bike fees, time spent travelling, bonus mileage programmes, and pervious bad experiences. American, US Air and Cathay Pacific are voted off the island for ridiculous bike fees.  The cheapest way to Kona was with Alaskan Air (which included the cost of the hotel) and had us spend 22 hrs in Seattle. It broke up the travel nicely and we got to see parts of this amazing city.

We took the light rail to the fabled City Church on 1st Street, and was inspired yet again by pastor Judah Smith. Look out for the webcast dated 22 Sept called “Still havent found what I’m looking for” on TheCity.org.  Afterwards we strolled over to the Space Needle- and even though the weather looks nice when the picture was taken here in Seattle Alaska, you may as well keep the umbrella out for the next rain or cold wind. We were wearing our entire winter wardrobes and later the evening used the umbrella as a wind shield…

Warm me uppers in the Space Needle.

Other than the weird and wonderful- When is Cape Town getting and amphibious bus tour? Think about it-no traffic, no okes selling cell phone chargers at the robots, no hi jackers and no speeding cameras…

we also visited the Pikes Place market and totally mind blowing Chihuly Glass museum.

Day 1 in Kona: XTERRA Worlds training camp is ON! Bring on title #5…

Love riding challenging trails and single track?  Tahoe and NorthStar trails, majestic views, blue skies, woods, thin air and yes, lactic acid! Mind boggling single track, stunning scenery and the camaraderie of a team mate.  Sounds good?  The Epic mountain bike race is for you!

This endurance orientated event is aimed to be a 5 star experience:

– 5 Star course:  3 days of trails that will take your breath away.  Literally and figuratively.  (I recently rode them at a leisurely pace in 2 days and was exilharated – yet thuroughly pooped – at the end.)

Stages 1 & 2 are about 35 miles each and stage 3 is about 25 miles. Long enough to knock the stuffing out of you, but not so long that you couldnt face a few beers and share some laughs afterwards. (Maps available on the website) The course features a mix of mostly fire roads and jeep track but also a fair amount of some of the best single track I’ve ever ridden. There will be wave starts to spread the field and the opening miles will be fire road to thin the herd. Be prepared for plenty of climbing. About 3500ft to 4500ft of  climbing per stage. Fortunately, what goes up, must come down – always something to look forward to.

This event is aimed more towards endurance riding, rather than hours of bone and bike crunching single track. You dont need advanced skills or a hard core trail bike for this event. DO bring a descent level of fitness for the 6400 ft (2000m) base altitude. And remember- everything goes up from there.  Also bring a few layers of clothing for the crisp fall temps.

Stage 2 is mostly fire roads with some good, long sections of fast, flowing single track like the one above.

Plenty of space to overtake early on.

Stage 1 features awesome single track – including the infamous “Sawtooth”, “2 Beavers and a Bear” and

“Twin bridges”.  This is one is the baby of the 3…

Leave the lightweight tires and tubes at home… I recommend going tubeless with a strong sidewalled tire like the Specialized Fast Track Control 2.2.  If it stays very dry and loose that time of the year – a more knobbly Ground Control 2.3 / 2.1  front / rear combo in the Control casing – or something similar will give you grip in the corners and help you float on top of the loose stuff. If it rains (or in the rare case, a light sprinkle of overnight snow) – this sandy course will be fast and packed down nicely.

A dual suspension bike is nice, but not a must – there is a single speed category (a category also known for its love of fully rigid bikes and curious facial hair).  XC bikes – like Specialized Epic 29er  – and modern trail bikes (with a good pedal platform)  Stumpjumper or similar – will work well.

– 5 Star accommodation:

Like it says – 5 star experience. Think Ritz Carlton Lake Tahoe for $225 a night…

Just roll out the door to the start line.

Enter the special pass code on the website  for the $225 Ritz Carlton per room per night sponsorship deal.

Plenty for the family and kids to do – Adventure camp, bungee trampoline, geocaching, gem panning, Strider& Roller skates, fly fishing, wine walks and the list goes on…

If both parents are riding, the Ritz Kid’s programme will entertain your kids with an adventurous and educational programme at a minimal cost.

Also, check the www.epic-race.com website for more affordable NorthStar condos and even “luxury camping” (you get your own tent and a thick inflatable air mattress) for as little as $25/night.

– 5 Star Dining: Then there is the weighty matter of Food: In this case, more accurately referred to as “Nutrition plan.”

The menu is carefully designed by the OSMO Nutritionist to promote recovery after stages, fuelling before stages and everything in between.

I quote from the website: Say, Friday night dinner…

Friday Dinner   

• Thai style salad, rice wine vinaigrette
• Build your own noodle/rice bowls
• Yakisoba noodles, rice noodles, brown rice
• Roasted Tri Tip, Chicken and Shrimp
• Steamed Vegetables
• Pho Broth, Coconut Green Curry, Kung Pao Sauce
• Sprout Bar, bean, radish, broccoli, etc
• Cashew and peanuts

I wonder if the above options are “and” or “or”.

Aid stations will also be 5 star- stocking products like Clif Bar.

– 5 Star Experience: Ride with a team mate and create memories to last a lifetime.

Epic Chix

Epic Race caters to women unlike any other mountain bike race

Hey Ladies, 

Ski season may be coming, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to hang up the bike.   Call up your riding partner and end your riding season with the Epic Race!     And in case you think you can’t, we’ve eliminated every excuse so that you can!    Just get to Lake Tahoe and we’ll take care of everything – all you have to do is show up and pedal.  Catering to women unlike other events, we’re providing an experience for you and a friend to join in on the fun.   Cross the finish line with your team mate and enjoy all the comforts of our Ladies Lounge.     A shared experience is priceless.

Race includes:

Women’s own start time(s)

Bike Valet waiting at the finish line (clean / tune and ready for the next day)

Ladies Lounge includes:

Wind trainers for cool-down

Post race massage / rub down

Recovery foods, rehydration

Eucalyptus Action Wipes – next best (immediate) thing to a shower!

Post race / cool-down with yoga

– If you’re a racing snake, check out the prize money page– this race has one of the biggest prize purses for any MTB event in the country. Pros, Amateurs, Industry Cup and Single Speed category leaders jerseys and prize purses.

I pre-rode Stage 1 with Andy Buckley from NorthStar his friend and self supported ultra racer Blake from Truckee. Some cool GoPro footage to come soon.

“You go first. No, you go first. I insist…”  The course features a good amount of Epic single track – Andy and Blake heading into 2 Beavers and a Bear trail on Stage 1.

Single track is for whooping and fire road is for story telling. Or chasing your breath – whichever way you like it.

Lake Tahoe view.

Truckee Meadows view.

I’m riding with legendary Todd Wells on the Specialized Racing Team.  Who are you riding with?

Register now and benefit from various sponsorship options.

A short recap of the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships held in The Hague – Netherlands.

2013 ITU Cross World Championships

Photo Credit: zooom.at / Markus Berger

Fighting for Five: Conrad Stoltz on the hunt for his next XTERRA World Championship

He has the resting heart rate of a bear in hibernation but the VO2 max to rival any elite athlete. He’s run, swam and pedaled through more (and more gruesome) injuries than he can remember. But he’s not Superman – he’s the Caveman. 39-year-old Conrad Stoltz is one of the most recognized and decorated triathletes there is – and with good reason.

With 20-plus years of racing experience as a professional, he has 52 XTERRA career wins and is a four-time XTERRA World Champion. He also has three ITU Cross Tri World Titles and is a two-time Olympic triathlete.

“The first year I did the XTERRA World Championships in Maui, I had a flawless race and won by 10 minutes,” says Stoltz. “It felt so easy, I told myself I was going to win this thing five times in a row.”

That was in 2001. Since then, the Suunto ambassador and South African athlete has had many trials and tribulations in his quest for 5 XTERRA World titles on this course littered with sharp lava rocks and Kiawe thorns: flat tires, mechanicals and crashes

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