Posts Tagged ‘specialized epic’
Conrad Stoltz aka Caveman returns to Cahors, France, where he started his professional triathlon career 23 years ago. He explores the region on his mountain bike, and as usual, runs into some interesting situations…
Music: “CowboyZ” and “Moomin” by Die Neef: My cousin Stephan van As
Products:
Specialized Sworks Epic with Command Post dropper post, TERRA shoes
Suunto Ambit3 GPS watch HR monitor
Oakley Jawbone
Squirt lube
ClifBar
LOOK pedals
Supacaz grips
GoPro Hero 3
#TBT Caveman catches air at XTERRA Milwaukee 2005
XTERRA Milwaukee was one of my favourite XTERRAs of all time. Right in the middle of the city build by beer loving Germans, and stunning, rough and ready bike & run courses.
This year was insanely hot and humid – you can see I’m glowing like a ripe tomato, with top rolled up to get more ventilation. To manage the heat exhausted athletes at the finish, the city parked a huge double decker city bus with Aircon running flat out to cool cooked athletes down.
The 2nd year was pouring with rain, we had a duathlon and I crashed really hard- 3 times
Cant believe how far bike design has come in 10 years! The 2005 Specialized Sworks Epic was aluminium, the new Brain shock was on the seat stay, no Brain in the fork, bars were narrow, shoes were modified XC shoes (I cut the tongues out) and Mavic was the best wheels around. (Now we have Roval wheels)
“Not everyone who has the genes to go fast, has the genes to hurt and suffer.” CS
Caveman wins XTERRA New Zealand.
I cant believe that after 22 years of pro racing this was only my 2nd race in NZ. Last time was ITU World Cup in Auckland in 1995 or 96. Draft legal road triathlon.
After a rocky start to 2014 (2 punctures in 2 races, a biomechanical at XTERRA South Africa, a random injury, and some minor health issues- eye & skin cancer surgeries) its good to finally get the monkey off my back with a good win in Rotorua.
What a phenomenal course and venue! Beautiful blue lake called “Blue lake” surrounded by green mountains covered with dense tree fern growth 20ft tall.
I was out the swim in 5th or 6th, about 35” behind some Kiwi roadie, followed by Roger Serrano (ESP) and Ben Allen (Aus). After a fair bit of climbing Ben and I filed into Billy T neck in neck- some of the very best and unique single track I’ve ever ridden. Rain
When I planned my racing calendar this year, I decided to only do races I enjoy. Fun, technical, challenging, well designed, adrenaline filled and true to the XTERRA nature I fell in love with 13 years ago. I dont necessarily pick races to suit my strengths, (like this one with its 1600m of climbing on bike and 550m of climbing on run) but I like real mountain biking, real trail running, and preferably an interesting destination. That's why I'm still passionate about racing. When I'm having fun, I enjoy doing my job and I'm fast. Unfortunately the XTERRA Italy course changed from last year, and the fun factor was replaced with a "either you can, or you cant" attitude. Not the best way to attract newcomers to the sport, and not the reason I do this. While I'm on the topic: I'm writing this blog at the location of my next race. (Location withheld to protect the innocent.) Even though the course suits me relatively well, I'm quite disappointed with the seemingly hours of boring gravel road, dangerous down hills (only 30 seconds of it)- obviously not meant for mountain biking- avoidance of single track, and a no-imagination run course. All this when we're riding right through thousands of hectares of stunning pine forests – perfect single track terrain. Maybe I'm a quality course snob, but the poor quality of many XTERRA courses is frustrating and confirms my dreams of sometime soon building a phenomenal course(s) which would redefine the sport. Fun for the hard core athletes, yet accessable to beginners & kids. Think XTERRA / Urban Rage / Tough Mudder, with a lot of Caveman sprinkled on top…. Anyway, back to Italy: 
Got out the swim with Kiwi Braden Curry and someone else. About 30" behind Roger Serrano the Bearded Beast.
Hoping for rain because that's the tyre I've got. 
Early on we did a fun loop through the old town of Scanno. Probably my favourite part of the race- narrow cobbled alleys, down century old stairs, 
Watch out for fellow competitors, super slippery cobbles, and maybe an opening door… 
Past old ladies in traditional black, where today they watch a different world go by… 
Get off the brakes and bring some speed- faster is easier. After the fun and games of whizzing through town we climbed. And Climbed. And CLIMBED. As you can see below on my Suunto Movescount file, the 1st climb was 700m in one go – 43min for me. Mostly steep, gravelly, jeep track. I dont mind climbing, but then the down hill must be good. Unfortunately this year it plunged almost straight down the ski slope. In dry training conditions I glazed my brake rotors its so steep. Yet, going slowly due to the rain, it took me less than 8 minutes to get down. Not a good "Yahooooo!!" rating. (Divide Suffering time by Fun time to get Yahooooo rating: 43/8 = 5.3 Yahooooos) 
Click here for full interactive Movescount file. Braden and I climbed together, but when Ruben Ruzafa caught us, Braden went with him and I couldnt respond. My legs were heavy and HR low- an indication that my legs werent rested enough, and I was paying the price for too much pre riding. As can bee seen in "Bar Chart and Curve" section, my avs HR was only 146. I spent only 1hr36 (of 2hr55) going Very Hard (between 146-163), 39min going Hard (127-146) and 16min below 126HR. When fit and rested I can do 3hrs at 155hr avs. As we summited, the rain started coming down in huge drops, and the ski slope instantly became an ice rink. The Yahoooo factor went up. 
Loved the Command Post, (now available at your Specialized dealer) dropped the saddle, and the big knobblies on the front Ground Control 2.3 tyre came nicely into play. 
In less than 5 minutes, I was in the village down theeeeere. Straight down the ski run in the back ground. Some sections through the trees were real slippery, the trick was finding traction on the leaves and not in the mucked up "trail". Please dont do this on a under normal conditions on a normal MTB trail. But these were mostly goat trails and I didnt want to make unnecessary cartwheels and have to fix my bike with a piece of wood like this guy…
It was tough tough times for the age groupers! This guy broke his handlebar, found a stick to make a ThereIfixedIt.com #Cavemanstyle plan. Classic! 
Coming in with Carloni (FRA), behind a flying Ruzafa. 
The run was really challenging -technical, super hilly, scenic & fun. 
Stunning sections through Scanno. Loving the new Hoka Huaka racers. 
and surrounding hills. 
Save some energy for the views. 
The rain didnt dampen the crowd's spirits. Braden Curry is a hard core mountain man, and came steaming past me up the last climb to get 2nd behind Ruzafa. 
3rd for Caveman, 1st Ruzafa (ESP), 2nd Curry (NZ) 
PrincessHotstuff! Still trying to shake the cold she pickup that day- running around in the rain, cheering, taking photos and giving splits at every oppertunity. 
Eating lamb sosaties with Kiwis in Italy?!? Sam and Braden Curry & kids. Check out Bradens' adventure race, RedBull Defiance in NZ. 
Made many new friends (& touched up my French) here with Ezechiel and family from France. 
A super tough race for the age groupers. Bike wash on the swim course – not so much sympathy for the bike after a long day 🙂 
Ciao Italia! Grazie mille!!! Guten tag Deutchland und Austria for Specialized Germanic Dealer Event
