Posts Tagged ‘Rebecca Rusch’
Riding with the champions, NorCal High School racing league & Specialized.
Northern California has a booming High School racing programme. It is run a by a non profit organization and Specialized enthusiastically pitched in with a huge truckload of demo bikes for the kids to try out, and 3 World Champions on loan. Hence “Riding with the Champions.” Ned Overend, Rebecca Rusch and myself.
The kids could choose between the Specialized Epic, Stumpjumper, Stumpjumper 29er and the
Interbike- Last Vegas. Dirt Demo
The Dirt Demo takes place in the desert outside Vegas- Bootleg Canyon. The trail system is amazing. Lots of everything- singletrack from mild to quite hairy, jumps, ladders and big drops, a small BMX track and even a huge shuttle for the boinga boinga guys.
I spent the day at the Specialized “village”. Hundreds of 2009 bikes were in stock- ready for potential customers to ride and hopefully order for their stores.
I went on a ride with Ned Overend, Rebecca Rusch and a few Specialized Riders Club guys. Its always great being in Ned’s company. He rode a Specialized aluminium 29er hard tail and I had to have my wits about me to keep up. Not sure if he got faster or if it was the 29er… Ned is such a legend.
Most people recognize Ned from far away (and many calls me “Christophe” (Sauser)) because of the rainbow jersey, but “Hey! Christophe put on 40 pounds!”. Speaking of Christophe, he test rode a new (still nameless) Specialized tire that weighs 330g with hardly any knobs at all. Susi is in weight weenie heaven.
Chasing Ned Overend (on a 29er?!) down fun single track. Lake Mead in the bacground. (Yes, I did take this pic while riding…)
Jan Frodeno in Beijing 2008
Lastly, congratulations to Jan Frodeno for winning the Gold in the Olympic Triathlon. What an amazing race. His played a perfect poker game and surely was unbeatable in the sprint. I saw Jan grow up in South Africa. (his folks live in Llundudno outside of Cape Town) He used to be more interested in surfing than triathlon, but the last few years he really improved as he is obviously very very talented. Last November I bumped into Jan in Stellenbosch- he was on his way to swim practice (I was in the middle of my 3 month holiday) and I asked him what he was training for in November. Jan said in a fake German accent: “For zie Oelympics” Well there you have it. Tons of talent, huge work ethic and fierce self belief. Good stuff bru.
I’m also very happy for long time friends (and previous medalists) Simon Whitfield and Bevan Docherty for their medals. Old men Rock! Simon was perfect tactically (for the amount of tiger he had in the tank) and Bevan is a beast all around. He raced XTERRA Worlds last year. Great people. I’m happy with the mens podium and wished i was there. Its not my game or passion anymore- I had my innings.
Missing my mom and the SA team out there
Specialized takes tire testing seriously…
Here is some video of our tire testing in Stellenbosch South Africa earlier this year:
Visit Specialized Factory Racing website for more
5 World Champions
Caveman (XTERRA), Rebecca Rusch (24hr), Paolo Bettini (Road), Chris McCormack (Ironman), Christoph Sauser (Mountainbike).
Yes, Specialized had 5 World Champions last year! Quite a big deal. We got together at the start of the Tour of California, and here is a peak from behind the scenes:
