Posts Tagged ‘specialized 29er epic’
Photo Credit: zooom.at / Markus Berger
Fighting for Five: Conrad Stoltz on the hunt for his next XTERRA World Championship
He has the resting heart rate of a bear in hibernation but the VO2 max to rival any elite athlete. He’s run, swam and pedaled through more (and more gruesome) injuries than he can remember. But he’s not Superman – he’s the Caveman. 39-year-old Conrad Stoltz is one of the most recognized and decorated triathletes there is – and with good reason.
With 20-plus years of racing experience as a professional, he has 52 XTERRA career wins and is a four-time XTERRA World Champion. He also has three ITU Cross Tri World Titles and is a two-time Olympic triathlete.
“The first year I did the XTERRA World Championships in Maui, I had a flawless race and won by 10 minutes,” says Stoltz. “It felt so easy, I told myself I was going to win this thing five times in a row.”
That was in 2001. Since then, the Suunto ambassador and South African athlete has had many trials and tribulations in his quest for 5 XTERRA World titles on this course littered with sharp lava rocks and Kiawe thorns: flat tires, mechanicals and crashes
Caveman wins Xterra Las Vegas
For my dad.
We’re flying to South Africa in an hour for his funeral.
Liezel and Specialized mechanic Joe before the start. Vegas got its annual rainfall in one morning
XTERRA World Champs 2010- Race report
I have never felt so emotional at a finish line before.
To understand the significance of this win, you have to walk the last 10 XTERRA Worlds years in my shoes:
My 1st win in 2001 was really a life changing experience– Not only did I discover and win this amazing XTERRA thing on a beautiful Hawaiian island, but I became a real, professional triathlete. Ned Overend liked what he saw during the season and gave me a brand new Specialized dual suspension bike the week before Worlds- FOR FREE ek se^! No more borrowing bikes! Overnight, I actually made money from the sport. Good money. (in my eyes anyway) It was my 10th season as a pro, but I still lived pretty much hand to mouth up until then. (Lived with my parents while in South Africa, drove my dads old Cressida etc) But the day after the race I signed with an agent (Scott Fairchild) and within weeks the space on my kit was sold out. (In fact, they asked me to wear jammers instead of speedos, “because we’ll have more space to sell.” I think they were just relieved to get me out of Speedos…
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
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
