Posts Tagged ‘lene byberg’
Athletes’ Beauty Kits. And other random quirks
Seriously Bobby, you need 8 tooth cleaning tools? (ok 4, if you dont count the ones in the mirror)
On a recent trip to Keystone Colorado for the Specialized 2011 product launch, I shared a room Specialized Team Manager, Bobby Behan, who is a very very organized guy. (“like, you know”- Irish accent) When on the road, he always completely unpacks his whole bag right away- even if its just a 1 night stay. He neatly lines all his shoes in a row, all his watches in a row and his training clothing goes neatly in Specialized bags- lined up according the temperature rating.
Sharing the “road” with other athletes is always a trip. Jamie Whitmore had a pre-race ritual which led her to travel the globe with a her waffle iron and special waffle mix…
Breakfasting with the Specialized Factory Team is quite an experience in itself.
Sea Otter Cycling Classic. I finished 8th in the pro Cross Country.
Loved the Specialized 29er Epic. Andy pimped my ride between thrashings. Note my new race kit for 2009. Made by Luma.- more later.
Christoph won comfortably. Todd had a flat, I gave him my CO2 and he finished 6th- which allowed him to win the Omnium-(Short Track and XC combined) Great for Todd, Specialized and the 29er. Lene finished 2nd in the XC and won the ladies’ Omnium. A great start for the season. Burry had a head cold from the previous day and saved it for this coming weeks World Cup in Germany.
I had a close sprint finish with Jeremiah Bishop for 7th. A lot of fun. Quite surprised at my results. (16th in short track and 8th in XC)
I was stoked to be “randomly selected” for UCI drug testing. (Photos below) The 180bs triathlete tearing it up at XC? Of course he needs testing!
More stories shortly.
Looking forward to a good XTERRA season.
Here are some slides: Go to flickr.com to see the pictures titles.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
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!
Specialized tire testing video on i-am-specialized
Specialized tire specialist Frank Stacey and I talking tires at the Stellenbosch testing in January 09.
Photo by Gary Perkin.
I have been incredibly busy since my arrival in the US 2 weeks ago. Moved to Reno NV from Bend OR, did 3 days’ tire testing with Specialized and I bought a car. (yes, the legendary Red Rocket fizzled and died, now I have a 95 Toyota Previa- I like last centuries’ cars)
Of course there is training too.
And the 112 unread emails! As I plowed through most of them this morning I bumped into this great video for our Specialized Tire testing camp in Stellenbosch, South Africa earlier this ye
Specialized tire testing camp in Stellenbosch
Burry Stander doing rolling resistance testing on the rollers. He rode at 25km/h and at 35km/h with about 20 different tires and measured the wattage needed to hold those speeds for each tire. On the right (reading the power tap numbers) is Benno Willeit, our Specialized mechanic, and on the left is Tire Specialist Frank Stacey.
