Posts Tagged ‘Conrad Stoltz’
Crashing on the road, road rash, and scab-ology…
I was riding through a tree lined Reno street. I think I shifted my hands from the brake hoods to the bar tops, and in that split second my front wheel hit a short, stubby stick in the road. The handle bar wobbled, I grabbed at the wobbling bar, missed, and fell.
I was fortunate to hit the road with a very large body surface, think acres of surface- so the force of the impact was spread evenly.
I sat there stunned at the pain and shock of a road crash vs a dirt crash. The home owner walked over and took the stick away. I jumped on my wheel to get it to fit in the frame. Clothes torn, oil on skin and an amazing burning sensation- which starts feeling weirdly pleasant once you start riding again…
Juicy & tender.
Sleeping is the worst. You cant sleep on your favourite side, and no matter how careful, you’ll inevitably stick to the sheets…
A race report from 2004 where Steve Larsen pushed me to the outer limits of Paindom
2003 XTERRA USA Champs: Steve smashing it…
2004 Xterra USA Champs- Lake Tahoe
When: The night before the race.
Where: Hyatt, Lake Tahoe.
Who: Steve Larsen and myself.
What: Watching TV.
Which show? 2003 Xterra USA Champs, Lake Tahoe.
The year old images on TV brought back strong memories of last years’ epic battle. Steve Larsen, Mountain bike legend, Ironman champion and kicker of my ass at our previous meeting (Xterra Keystone 2003) was tearing up the bike course, setting off alarm bells in my head. I rode as hard as I could to keep him within striking distance, throwing all caution in the wind concerning pacing, the 500ft cliffs, the trees and the rocks whizzing by. Even my “if all else fails, I’ll catch him on the technical down hill” theory got blown out the window. I started the run 90seconds down- a tall order, even on a good day. The dueling on the bike was so fierce; we dropped the rest of the field by more than 6 minutes.
Once in my running shoes, I took off as if it was a 5k. Hoping to gain time quickly and trick Steve into thinking it’s my 10k pace. The pain was immense, the atmosphere was heavy with suspense, and the crowd went nuts. TV loved every second of it. The race for USA Champion was really close, and until the final moments nobody knew who was going to win*. Reality TV can only dream of this stuff.
Here we are, one year later, Steve, now my sports agent, and I, the athlete, sitting (very) upright in bed, (each his own, thank you) reliving last years’ epic dual. Who would have dreamt the turn of events in one year? From fierce rivals to team mates in 364 days.
For me, the 2004 edition of Xterra USA Champs was much less spectacular. My form lacking from too many months of racing (a common disorder known as Olympicqualificationiitis) and too few months of training, plus an almost comical “broken” collarbone scare**, 5 days before the race. I did what I could to work a small miracle. In order to win my 4th consecutive USA Series title, I had to win the race, and Sylvain Dodet had to place no better than 4th. I put all I had on the line- Lost a little time on the swim, a little on the bike and slipped from 3rd to 5th in the final kilometers of the run. Finishing 5th in a sport where one has had a 2 year winning streak is no fun, 3rd place in the series standings is just not good enough, but those are the realities.
I played the cards I had.
* I won.
* * Out of curiosity, I did a lap of this cyclocross race I was watching Steve and home-stay Michael race. On the football field there were two knee high barriers to negotiate, I approached them at all of 10mph, and dismounted cyclocross style to run the barriers, only problem was, the release angle on my new pedals was bigger than usual. I couldn’t get my foot out of the pedal in time and next thing earth was coming closer fast. I remember Ned’s advice- “Tuck and Roll” so I tucked and I rolled, but didn’t have enough speed to finish the roll, so I landed on my upper back and neck- bones crunching and joints popping. The crowd went wild- there were about 150 cyclocross racers and fans watching. I had broken a collarbone before -also falling on my back- and I know what it feels like. This thing felt broken. Within 30 minutes there was a huge lump and we were off to ER. X-rays showed no break, but the doc said it’s probably dislocated, with or without torn ligaments. Perfect preparation, 5 days before one of biggest races of the year. Next morning the swelling went down and it turned out nothing was broken, nothing dislocated or torn- just a big hit. Note, it was a big hit on a grassy football field, going 10mph, in front of 150 people. Funny, earlier that same day I was going 30mph down a rock strewn mountainside, weaving between trees, jumping logs, on an a trail I’ve never seen before.
XTERRA Alabama- this one is for Steve
Stoltz, McQuaid still perfect
in the Cup Series with victories
at Southeast Champs in Pelham
Shelby County, AL (May 23, 2009) – Another state, a wildly different course, yet the same result as Conrad “The Caveman” Stoltz and Melanie McQuaid roll to their third straight regional championship victories, this time at the XTERRA Southeast Cup at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, AL.
At about the same time the endurance community celebrated the life of cycling and triathlon great Steve Larsen (who passed away on Tuesday) with memorial rides and runs in his hometown of Bend, OR, many of Larsen’s friends in sport were riding and running in honor of him in the southern woods of Alabama today.
Leading the charge was Stoltz, who said “the technical parts are usually my strengths, but today I couldn’t focus. I did feel like I had amazing strength today though. This was a great victory for Steve.”
XTERRA Midwest. Battle Creek, Michigan
Winning smile & story time. During a week like this, so many things happen, its impossible to keep track of it all. I’ll try to give some perspective here.
My new race kit is officially here. It arrived from Hong Kong on Friday. My mate Gary Mandy hooked me up sweet with LUMA kit. I have a white kit, a black one and a red one (pictured) to chose from. And cycling gear
X mas came early!
TOP PRO MEN
1 ) Conrad Stoltz 2:03:16
2 ) Mike Vine 2:04:13
3 ) Josiah Middaugh 2:04:27
4 ) Dan Hugo 2:05:27
5 ) Nico Lebrun 2:06:00
6 ) Seth Wealing 2:06:31
7 ) Brian Smith 2:08:20
8 ) Branden Rakita 2:10:10
9 ) Craig Evans 2:10:20
10 ) Ryan Decook 2:13:09
Zappos.com rocks
I visited Zappos with Avia last week. Wow, what a place. Sure, they are in Las Vegas, but the people in the company are pretty amazing. Young, hip, creative and maybe somewhat kooky? (Kooky- Wait, thats like the pot calling the kettle black!)
