Category: Sponsors
Sea Otter Cycling Classic- Specialized dominates the Short track
Bobby Behan, car fanatic and Specialized Factory Racing team manager with Mike Sinyards’ Mini Cooper Works.
Todd Wells won today’s Sea Otter Short Track on his new Specialized 29er hard tail (20lbs)- Burry Stander got 2nd, Lene Byberg got 2nd in the ladies and Sam Hill won the Down Hill.
In the short trak the guys dominated, turned the screws and about halfway into the race, Susi, Burry and Todd had broken away, but Susi burped a tire and the other two painted the podium red. Quite a day for Specialized and I was really proud to be part of the team.
I really enjoyed my 2nd short track (the other was 5 years ago and had about 25 riders!) and was in about 13th place out of 130 starters when our little group got pulled off the course with 1 lap to go. Once I caught my breath though, it felt like someone poured gasoline into my lungs! With a bit more sprint and AT training I’ll be able to hang in and hopefully get to do a few more of these races.
Burry (in the green Oakleys) & Todd pre-riding the XC course. The leg and arm warmers are not so much for the bite in the air as the bite in the Poison Oak!
The Running Event. The Avia story: Avia AVI STOLTZ
Behold the new Avia AVI STOLTZ!
I’m super excited. The moment I got the shoes I test ran them into the Dallas sunset. As I stood there on the levee, I marveled at the full moon rising over the skyscrapers of downtown Dallas and I realized: “This is my proudest moment of the year.” “This shoe, with my name on it, that I helped build, is my 08 World title.”
A sneak peak at the new Avia trail racing shoe. From the Avia stand at Interbike
TaDAA!
This is the Avia trail racing shoe I helped design. Yes, trail RACING shoe. Avia Product Manager Ike Alvear extended the offer and said I could basically build my dream shoe for XTERRA racing. What an honour!
The sweetest bike of all. 2009 Specialized Epic S-works
The 2009 Specialized Epic S-works.
The press has hyped the bike up and Susi won the XC World Champs on it, but DANG, I was especially surprised by: a) the suspension and b) the weight. And, yes, it is a really pretty bike.
As you can see in the background, I tested the bike on a not-so-old lava flow at Edison snow park outside Bend, to see how the new Specialized Armadillo Elite (Fast Trak 2.00) tires would hold up through the sharp lava. I ran into big lumps of sharp lava as hard as I could (to test the tires for tire cut resistance) but every time the suspension just ate up the much anticipated jolt. When the suspension is not active, bike is 100% rigid- unlike anything I’ve felt since… well, since my Tarmac road bike. The New Epic’s suspension is definitely a few cuts above the “old” Epic. And I’m sure many cuts above anything else out there.
