Posts Tagged ‘specialized’
SA TT Champs
Warming up for SA TT Champs while coach Ian Rodger deftly wields the microphone and spray bottle. I will have to wait for the TV show to hear what he said- Jack Parow was pamping in the iPod.
More pix from CycleNation.co.za
I was quite disappointed in my ride. Like I said in the previous post, we needed a few more weeks to sort out pacing, position and most importantly more sustained efforts. (as opposed to relatively short intervals) A warm up race or 2 would have helped. I started conservatively, but when I tried to build from 10km, the hammies started catching fire- I turned on 415W avs, but on the way back my hammies were raging and I had to back off the pace till about 25km- losing a lot of time, confidence and combativity. (ie I psyched myself out and gave up. Not the usual Caveman routine)
At 30km Daryl Impey (winner) caught me by 1 minute. By then my hamstrings had recovered a bit, and I rode with him relatively comfortably till the finish. 390W avs at end. Pretty pathetic considering what we’d done in training. We learned a few things and will come back stronger and better prepared. (probably US TT Champs)
2nd to 5th was only 20sec apart and I was only 2.5sec out of 2nd. I’m sure I could have puckered up and found a few seconds. Like I once heard a French coach yell at a youngster: “You do not think DURING the race, you think AFTER the race.” Old guys still learn lessons.
Results from Cycling SA website.
5,4,3,2,1, partez*
SA Time Trail Champs is later today
I know ALL about time trailing- as long as its sandwiched between swimming and running. Here is a pic from ITU World Cup 1996? in Bermuda, wearing my favourite outfit and sporting my first free bike. A Sunn, I had to give back to Montpellier Triathlon club in France at the end of the season. Check out the matching purple Carnacs and luscious hair…
Its the big TT day. I’ve been staring at the ceiling since 5am- the competitive juices are pumping on the double. If it was Xterra I’d still be snoring. This is a new game and I’m really excited. If only we had 2 more weeks at sea level for prep… (thats what athletes always say, but this time its true- fiddled with handlebar position last night, not sure about drinking system and guessing about wattage and pacing)
I am really lucky to have a whole support team- squatting in and around my homestay (Bernhard
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
I’m a little behind with the blogging, so I’m trying to quickly squeeze a few topics into one blog.
The Good:
Long, easy mountain bike rides on the Highveld. Drinking water straight from the spring. (Fountain)
You may have to fight a frog, a tadpole and a cow pat for the freshest water,
but as long as you lock the gate, no one gets hurt…
Ironman World Championships, Kona, Hawaii. Pix by Conrad Stoltz
Macca piloting his Specialized SHIV out on the Kona Ironman course. By Conrad Stoltz (I’m showing off my mad camera skills, hoping to someday get paid for this writing/photography hobby of mine).
The reason I havent blogged in a while is the lack of interwebs connection at our Kona condo. Been knocking out some amazing power numbers on the bike, and other than recovering and eating, havent found the energy to go blog. I find it hard hard to sit and blog from a coffee shop (Lava Java of course) squinting at the screen in the sun, with the stunning ocean views, Big Island pork pizza in one hand, typing with the other and ogling the sea of finely chisseled/ tanned/ tattoed/ coiffed Ironman bodies streaming by.
Back to the race.
Clipping or cutting tires
This is a quick post to explain to John Harrington (facebook discussion on 24 August ) about clipping tires.
(There is more, but I couldnt screen shoot the whole thing- was born in the 70s)
These Specialized Captain 2.00 tires clogged with mud at XTERRA Vermont in 2009 (Read more about the race, rotten foot and tire story here) Not knowing Vermont, I didnt bring real mud tires, so I had to make do, so I used a sharp wire cutter and clipped every 2nd knob out of the center line of knobs. Which would help the mud shed (fling off) the tire easier when speed increase.
Real mud tires are narrow (sinks to the bottom of the mud where the real traction is) with few, but tall knobs. Tall knobs provide more grip (like paddles or spikes) and few because, too many knobs will let the mud pack onto the tire and make a thick sausage like the pic above.
Downhill racers are famous for cutting tires to suit certain courses.
Off course, a rainy pre race taper allows for plenty of cutting time, so here is my product. Cant see on the pic, I clipped every 2nd knob out of the center row of this Specialized Captain for better mud clearing.
Of course, its a tedious job, it takes seemingly hours and 1 slight mishap and you can throw the tire in the garbage.
Before the new fast rolling Specialized Renegade tire the Specialized Factory Team (especially Susi and Burry) used to cut the Fast Trak knobs shorter for less rolling. (and less stopping/cornering 🙂 ) But now they’d cut Fast Trak tires for more grip on somewhat muddy courses. If it gets real muddy, they’ll go with a full on mud tire. Except Burry. He just sticks to low knobs and goes with the sliding- I saw it 1st hand at Sani2C…
