Caveman wins XTERRA USA Nationals
The “professors” at XTERRA University the day before the race. XTU is a 90 min session where a few pros talk about the Art of Xterra, the course, equipment, nutrition and take questions from the audience. Lesley Paterson, Josiah Middaugh and the other guy. Not sure what I was talking about here. (Now that we have a great 29er, can we get tires THIS wide?” Maybe we can have a byline contest?
The last few days before the race was very demanding in terms of press, appearances and meeting and greeting. Not much time for relaxing or yourself. I’m far from famous, but I can just imagine what someone like Lance Armstrong has to deal with on top of trying to win races.
XTERRA.TV interview time. Here is where you are supposed to talk smack/say something profound and recite lines like:”I am xterra”. Then: “I AM xterra” And of course “i am XTERRA.” I’m not the typical back to front baseball cap kind of guy, but the TV crew wont allow sunglasses or shadows in your face. I fact, they fry your eyes and burn even more wrinkles by throwing more sunlight into your face with the silver UFO. I’m not a fan of acting and reciting lines- (as can be seen here) but the XTERRA TV crew is a great bunch, the shows always come out really well (despite the dodgey footage and forgotten lines I dish up) and of course TV is what drives participation and sponsorship.
Specialized “Meet the Pros” time at Binghams Cyclery- the Ogden Specialized dealer. Here Melanie is signing posters and John Harrington and I talked tires and suspension till the cows came home.
Taylor Seavey doing his XTERRA.TV interview. I love mentoring Taylor. (Teaching technical skills, equipment, pacing and mental stuff- which Taylor is really good at- in fact, I learn from him…) Its been great watching him progress and getting a glimpse into this character. I’m slowly learning sign language, but we mostly communicate through his parents Siri And Darian. What an amazing family. Think “live in a self made yurt in Alaska” and “traveling and racing out of an RV for the summer.” Check out his great race report here.
The crew would ask the question to his mom, (Siri, in white tshirt) who would sign to him, Taylor would sign his answer and his mom would translate.
Taylor’s motivational bike decal. He rides a Niner 29er
Speaking of decals, I just had to snap this sticker on the back of a huge, lifted truck…
Finally, race day:
I stole this pic from Taylor Seavey’s site. Taylor is in the orange cap, ready to jump on my wave (Blue cap) when the gun goes…
Photo by Genespix
Not much down hilling on this course, so I had to make every bit of altitude loss count. Fortunately with the Brain suspension on my Specialized Epic 29er, I could stay off the brakes and in a lot of places, put some watts into the ground.
Nice fall colours. Photo my GenesPix
Pic by Eric Wynn
That “Koos Kakebeen” jaw, is me whistling for a 21k runner to get the hell offa the trail. Already bleeding and havent even hit the downhill yet.
When I designed the Avia AVI Stoltz shoe, I had this rocky run course in mind- perfect shoe for this run.
Both run pix by Genespix
My next project is making a good racing visor. I bought a few (in case I screw up) and took a sharp knife and scissors to them. Any company interested in helping make a quality Caveman Racing visor, lemme know. I already have the plan, the knife & the scissors…
As far as the race- my form surprised even me- I had a 5min20 lead off the “anti Conrad” uphill bike, and won by 5min despite very little run training. Obviously my coach, Ian Rodger is great at crisis management. This week he has been coaching me (and managing crisis’s) for a full year. Ian, NEXT year I’ll try cut back on crisis and it’ll be plain sailing- Thanks for the hard work!
TOP 15 PRO MEN
| Pl | Name | Age | Hometown | Time | Pts | Purse |
| 1 | Conrad Stoltz | 36 | Stellenbosch, South Africa | 2:24:03 | 100 | $2,500 |
| 2 | Nicolas Lebrun | 37 | Digne, France | 2:29:02 | 90 | $2,000 |
| 3 | Josiah Middaugh | 31 | Vail, Colorado | 2:29:38 | 82 | $1,500 |
| 4 | Dan Hugo | 25 | Stellenbosch, South Africa | 2:29:44 | 75 | $1,200 |
| 5 | Felix Schumann | 28 | Tuebingen, Germany | 2:30:03 | 69 | $900 |
| 6 | Seth Wealing | 31 | Boulder, Colorado | 2:32:17 | 63 | $700 |
| 7 | Branden Rakita | 30 | Manitou Springs, Colorado | 2:36:41 | 58 | $500 |
| 8 | Cody Waite | 31 | Lakewood, Colorado | 2:37:29 | 53 | $350 |
| 9 | Will Kelsay | 28 | Boulder, Colorado | 2:37:40 | 49 | $200 |
| 10 | Matt Lieto | 32 | Bend, Oregon | 2:40:47 | 45 | $150 |
Also: Adam Wirth (41), Scott Gall (37), Craig Evans (34), Brad Zoller (31), Justin Hurd (28)
Fastest Swim: Seth Wealing/Branden Rakita (20:44)
Fastest Bike: Conrad Stoltz (1:25:11)
Fastest Run: Scott Gall (35:13)
After a huge breakfast and a look a the papers with the Letendre family, my Ogden home stay of 5 years,
we hit the 8hr drive home. We have 2 days to paint the house and there is lots of paint scraping to do…
With a radar detector, 4×4 decal (fake), and Wal Mart compression socks, we blitz by the Bonnyville Speedway salt flats.
Way to go Caveman!
Awesome Big C!!
Good luck for Worlds.
Hi Conrad,
Ek is Baie bly om te sien jy doen so dam goed in die VSA. Ek het al baie oor “jou” skoene gelees.
Weet jy dalk waneer hulle beskikbaar sal wees in SA. My NB 1100 is nou klaar van te veel oor Klapperkop (Pretoria) en die Groenkloof natuur reservaat hardloop.
Groete
Deon Swart