Posts Tagged ‘29er’
Christmas day training
Wakey wakey. Its Christmas! And there is some training to be done.
A hearty breakfast to put the POW in Power. Some of us has Avia AVI STOLTZ for breakfast…
Caveman on Specialized 29er Epic, finishes 2nd at Thrilla Cyclo Cross
Conrad Stoltz -my 1st Cyclo Cross experience. On a mountain bike. Ok, a Specialized Epic 29er, but still a mountain bike.
If you were expecting the XTERRA USA write up, its coming. Actually, this is the 1st of a 3 part series of the 10 days leading up into XTERRA Nationals, explaining my interesting preparation, but mostly just mouthing about how amazing my 29er Epic is- which I did all 3 races on.
When I rode my 1st 29er it was love at first sight. I was so impressed with its rock riding ability I put this bad video on youtube in 2008 and it has over 36 000 views already. Wish I was smart enough to put some voice or music over it.
Then I was all fired up for 29ers, I wanted to race them. 1st time I did was at XTERRA South Africa in 2008.
Then I got onto to those poor MTB engineers at Specialized, I started nagging at them for a race 29er for over 4 years, and I bet when they see me coming they quickly duck behind a planter or into the ladies toilet. But finally the bike came, and frankly, it blew the doors offa my expectations and Specialized is yet again, THE leader in the industry.
Back to the story:
I decided to jump into the 3rd leg of the much lauded Thrilla CX Series in Bend, OR. Bend is a bike crazy town- half the community watches these midweek ‘cross (that the cool way of saying it) races and the other half races. And I leanrt that a true ‘cross fan can be a scary thing….
I felt like a bit of a doofus on the start line with my mountain bike with balloon tires, Command Post and water bottle. Suspected I’d be booted into
Big weekend for Specialized
Ned Overend won the Single Speed National title. (the big race, not the old man’s race) And he did it on a Specialized Rockhopper 29er! (mid range aluminium frame)
I took this pic at the Specialized 2011 bike launch in Keystone, CO. Not quite sure how he went up that mountain at that altitude with 1 gear?!? (I needed all 20 gears) Maybe that’s why they a call him “Deadly Nedly” or “The Lung.”
One of my favourite Ned quotes: “I only stretch when I’m injured”
XTERRA Bama quicky.
Thanks to Felipe Bastos’ fiance for the pic.
3 wins in 3 XTERRAs.
29ers dominate: 1-5 in mens’ race, 1st in women’s.
Was one of the hottest races I have ever done.
Borrowed from the interweb: (time for bed here)
After being out –I wasnt “out”, I was just handicapped. C -with injuries for a good part of 2009, Conrad Stoltz is back to his winning ways and added the XTERRA Southeast title to his resume. With her win in the women’s race, Shonny Vanlandingham proved that she is indeed the one to watch.
Caveman Conrad Stoltz charged into the lead during the bike and was first back into T2. From there the South African stormed to the victory in the very hot and muggy Southeast conditions. Josiah Middaugh came across the finish line about 2.5 minutes later to take second place and Craig Evans who doesn’t reside too far from the Oak Mountain, Alabama course rounded out the podium.
“I’m real proud of my 29’er,” said Stoltz after the race. “It’s the first time I’ve used it in an XTERRA and it worked brilliantly. On a bumpy course like this the bigger tires ride better. They have a bigger contact patch with the ground that gives you better traction. You don’t have to brake as much so you can keep your momentum rolling. It’s like an extra suspension, and because it’s so smooth you don’t get as tired.”
Shonny Vanlandingham duplicated what Stoltz had done in the men’s race and pulled away from her competitors on the very technical and difficult bike course in Alabama aboard a 29er. “I caught Melanie on the long climb, and thought if I could keep the pace it’d be a good day,” said Vanlandingham.
Read more on www.slowtwitch.com
XTERRA Southeast Championships
Pelham, AL / June 13, 2010
Top 10 men
1. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 2:21:27
2. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:23:54
3. Craig Evans (USA) 2:26:55
4. Seth Wealing (USA) 2:31:20
5. Cody Waite (USA) 2:33:53
6. Will Kelsay (USA) 2:40:05
7. Scott Gall (USA) 2:40:24
8. Kevin Carter (USA) 2:40:46
9. Damian Gonzalez (USA) 2:47:26
10. Ryan DeCook (USA) 2:43:18
Top 8 women
1. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 2:38:02
2. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 2:42:05
3. Lesley Paterson (GBR) 2:46:28
4. Renata Bucher (SWI) 2:49:41
5. Emma Garrard (USA) 2:49:57
6. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 2:55:06
7. Fabiola Corona (MEX) 3:00:02
8. Tracy Thelen (USA) 3:02:19
XTERRA Alabama preview
Yup, I brought the big dog. This is the perfect 29er course- fast, rocky, rooty and technical.
For more on 29ers, visit my my 29er page on Facebook
-Command Post telescopic seat post. (notice dropped seat height for the technical terrain) I wrote about the Command Post exhaustively on this previous post
-Specialized Fast Trak LK S Works 2.00 tires. 24psi front and 29 psi rear. This course has a super rocky high speed section with some water bar jumps, so I run more psi than I normally would.
I’m very tempted to run The Captain 2.00 in the front- it has taller knobs and corners better in the loose (or if it gets wet), but they roll quite a bit slower, (about 30W vs Fast Trak) so I’m going to go with the Fast Trak, use the Command Post and finesse the loose corners.
-Roval carbon wheels- super stiff and light.
-LOOK Quartz Ti pedals
Blood Rock is famous here on the Oak Mountain, Alabama bike course. Thanks to BUMP for building, maintaining and advocating this epic course. On race day, its lined with spectators, who take incriminating pictures of failure and cowardice…
