[This is a #TBT repost from 2007]

My first XTERRA. 2001, Richmond, Virginia. On a borrowed bike. Yes, that is a Speedo, and that is a jogging Camel Back!

My XTERRA start:

After racing professional road triathlons for 10 years, and really focusing on the Sydney Olympics in 2000, I decided to try XTERRA triathlons for fun, so in 2001 I came over to the US mainly to race road tris. I was completely unprepared for mountain biking. So for XTERRAs I traveled with my helmet, a 2nd hand pair of MTB shoes, old MTB pedals and a pair of yellow Michelin Python tires. The rest of the bike I would borrow at the race venue. Or sometimes a week before. Like this 35lbs beauty with cutting edge suspension above….

2001 Winning Chicago Mrs Ts Triathlon. Borrowed everything. I raced Olympic distance non drafting road, ITU draft legal and XTERRA till 2004.

That year I won the XTERRA USA Series and most of the XTERRAs I did. Also 6 of the 8 road triathlons. Including the legendary Mrs. Ts Chicago Tri with its record setting 8000 participants.

Back to XTERRA:

Unfortunately (actually, fortunately) Ned Overend was my biggest competition that year. So great was my surprise (and pleasure) when just a week before XTERRA World Championships Ned gave me a brand new Specialized M5 dual suspension, a brand new Specialized helmet AND brand new Specialized shoes! It was like Christmas. (By then my old Sidis needed screws to keep the uppers and the lowers together) What he also gave me was a Specialized cycling jersey his wife cut the sleeves from. He shrugged and said I could wear it if I wanted. Of course I wanted! Ned is such a great person, the bike rode like an off road motor bike, I immediately fell in love with the product and the Specialized brand. I won World Champs by 10 minutes, and I went from living from hand to mouth  to being able to make a good living thanks to generous sponsorship by some cool people & companies.

Like every XTERRA World Championship, the 1hr TV show was aired on CBS on Super bowl Sunday. Right before the game.

Proud 2001 World Champion posing with Legend and Hero – Ned Overend.

Ned guided me through the pitfalls of negotiating a sponsorship contract for 2002. Up till that year, I have never made money from the sport- always living from hand to mouth, sometimes selling some of my cattle my dad keeps on his farm when I had to buy expensive air tickets. I had no idea how much to ask, Ned said “ask for this and that.” That’s exactly what I got. The future was bright and rosy. I was over the moon to be part of the best bike company in the world.

Now it is 2007 and I have been with Specialized for 7 years. I have won 3 XTERRA World Championships, 5 XTERRA USA Series titles, and more than 30 individual XTERRAs. This year I won every XTERRA I did. (except 1 mechanical) I raced my Specialized road bike at the Athens Olympics, have won many big road triathlons from Japan to Chicago. Nicknames that stuck were “Caveman” and “King of XTERRA”.

At every XTERRA there is an XTERRA University where I teach “The Art of XTERRA” to amateur athletes. I get dozens of emails on my website from fans asking about tire selections, equipment and bike choices. (I’m known as the dual suspension prophet that down hills like crazy)

This year a fan admired my Carbon Epic at a race and commented about the unpainted frame. I told him “It saves 180g”. He said “Well, why didn’t they just leave the Specialized stickers off and save more weight?” I replied “Of course Specialized wants to have its name on my bike” And he said “But that’s unnecessary, EVERYONE knows Conrad Stoltz rides Specialized!”

2x Olympian
3x XTERRA Word Champion
5x XTERRA USA Series Champion
5x All African triathlon Champion
5x South African Champion
4x XTERRA South Africa winner
6 Triathlon seasons in France. Including 3 France Iron Tours. Captain of Montpellier Tri team. Countless victories.
7 Triathlon seasons in USA. Chicago Mrs Ts Triathlon winner 2001. With 8000 participants, the worlds largest triathlon.
4x Boulder Peak Triathlon winner & course record holder.
16 years as a Pro
20 years in Triathlon
26 years of bike racing
27 years of running
34 years of living

“Not everyone who has the genes to go fast, has the genes to hurt and suffer.” CS

Caveman wins by 5 minutes. Extraordinary conditions makes racing even MORE fun at XTERRA Denmark.                      Photo credit: Martin Paldan. I'm borrowing from XTERRAPlanet.com: [Conrad Stoltz and Kathrin Mueller captured the XTERRA Denmark Championship in “Viking weather” at the beach and forest of Tisvilde. The ominous gray skies opened up just as the race started at 1pm.  The cold North Sea, somewhere around 17 degrees Celsius (63 Fahrenheit), was just the start of the challenge Mother Nature dished out for competitors.  To follow was slick roots, soft sand, biting trees, treacherous, relentlessly steep hills, pouring rain and slinging mud that made for blinding conditions. Nobody handled better than the “Caveman” – seven-time World Champ Conrad Stoltz who won his second major in as many weeks (it was XTERRA England last Sunday).  By midway through the two-lap bike course he was up by almost two minutes and by transition it was more than four. Interestingly, the last split he got was still 1:40 (from after the first lap on the bike) so he figured he better lay down the hammer early on the run lest he might get chased down by the younger guns behind him.  As such, he made even more time after the first lap on the run, until he heard he was five minutes for the good. “I got off the bike and heard I had 1:45 on three people, and thought I’m gonna have to run hard because who knows how fast guys like Ben are going to run. I didn’t know I had that time,” explained Stoltz, who collected his unprecedented 51st career XTERRA Championship win. He shared his thoughts after the race, saying “During the swim the rain came pouring down, which changed everything.  It made a relatively easy course quite technical, which made it fun for me.  Today was much more technical and slippery than yesterday.  I crashed one time and I could hear my neck go “crraaacck”.  I just clipped a pedal because you can’t see with all the water and mud in your eyes.  It was just a little bump in the trail and my pedal caught it and I went flying and I could hear my neck wrench. And the run course was very challenging, long sections sliding down my backside, holding on to trees.  This was my first time here and I really enjoyed it, and would love to come back and support the sport here.  People here are passionate about the outdoors and it’s great to be a part of this event.  It’s really true to the XTERRA tradition where you can combine a great country and experience with exceptional racing.  I think the race was fantastic.  Muddy and cold and wet, you really have to thank the volunteers for braving these conditions as well.  Hopefully it grows from strength to strength and XTERRA builds roots here in the Viking country.” Behind Stoltz was a marvelous duel for 2nd, with Dan Hugo (7 World Tour wins this season), Ben Allen (2 World Tour wins this year and 7 last) and Francois Carloni who captured his first major in Greece this year. Allen led out of the water, followed by Hugo and then Stoltz.  About 6K into the bike Stoltz passed Allen, then Hugo caught up and those two rode together until Carloni went flying by during the second lap and took a one-minute lead on Allen and Hugo heading into the run.  Ultimately both Allen and Hugo caught and passed Carloni (as did Jan Pyott to take fourth down the finish chute) with Allen finishing runner-up.]   Whatever you do- dont touch the roots! Stay off the brakes, go straight, or go through the air- or option D- "all of the above." I did cheat a little- by running a new super sticky Specialized rubber compound called #Gripton on the front tire:

 

Ducking wet branches & staying low with the Command Post seat dropper.  

Going from dense forest to beach in 10 seconds.

Long, soft beach run x2 to amp up the pain.

Trying to find traction. Each lap had 5 really steep, short hills- and down hills. Hard enough after the sandy run and pedally bike, but in the wet there was no grip on the trail- you had to go find it in the leaves and grabbing onto trees

The muddy parts of the run course were also the steepest parts. Really really steep. Knowing it might be "a bit damp," I beefed up the grip on my Hoka Huaka racing shoes by putting 5 short screws into the sole of each shoe. But by the time we were on the course, it was much wetter than anyone anticipated, and no amount of crews could stop me from going down at least half of the 10 little hills on my backside, out of control…  

How could road running ever be "fun" again?!

Finally putting the good form I've had all year to good use. XTERRA Championship win #51  

I thought I "washed" my face with the water from all the soggy pine branches, but apparently not…. Pic by #PrincessHotstuff

My race kit is officially trashed. Europe has been wet this year: 3 of the 4 European races I did has been in the rain. (Italy, Germany & Denmark were mud baths while XTERRA UK was summery)

Hats off to Steen Aagaard and his XTERRA Nordic crew for the big effort and fine details. Also Specialized Nordic who brought the Test the Best fleet. The #Fatboy was by far the most popular test bike.

With the XTERRA Europe Series drawing to a close, there was some tooth and nail racing! Well done everyone.

If you took this check to the restaurant, you could buy about 10 beers… A local brew sets you back 80 Kronen – $16 or R160  Not a cheap country, but quite unique and definitely worth coming back for.

Impervious to the cold, (I'm wearing my entire wardrobe) "tough like a Viking"- Organic chef Casper Vulpius served delicious warm food from his modified Airstream all weekend. (I liked the venison, wild rice and chutney)   Racing in the wet is not only a physical and skills challenge, but also equipment wise: After 15km the sandy watery mix had completely worn out my rear brake pads, which encouraged smooth lines and early braking (front only) even more.

Now that is a clean chain. Sand and dirt sticks to Squirt chain lube's wax, which then falls off the chain- leaving the chain clean(ish) even in the harshest conditions. "Dry" lube does not refer to "only use in dry conditions." It means after its applied properly, your chain will feel dry to the touch. As opposed to "oily" – like other lubes. These conditions wreck havoc on your drive train.  Squirt chain lube, official chain lube sponsor of XTERRA, is a wax and water emulsion with no petroleum products added. Petroleum (oil) is what makes the sand (dust in dry conditions) stick to your chain and creates a grinding paste, which quickly eats up your drive train. Not to mention the high friction and noisy chain it causes.  

The course meandered through what seems like little hills and menhirs, (planted stones) but they are in fact Viking graves. Kings and chiefs were buried here- with their servants, to look after them in the after life. And the servants didnt have a choice…   Traditional Danish country home with thatch roof and Danish flag  

Our Danish summer vacation rental with South African braai, and blackberry and raspberry bushes all around.

Did you know? 40% of the Danish population ride their bicycle every day… (as you think about that figure, consider the weather)

On my day off, we visited the town of Helsingor and (above) the castle of Kronborg. Also known as the castle from Shakespeare's' "Hamlet". Even though Shakspeare himself has never been there

Dating from 1500 AC

Sweden on the horizon and the gateway to the North Sea, the Danish King collected a gold coin (each way) from passing ships.

Holger the Dane: "According to the legend, when the kingdom is threatened by a foreign enemy, the stone figure will turn into flesh and blood, and Holger the Dane will rise to defend his country. "

#PrincessHotstuff at the gates

Kronborg Castle B&W #PrincessHotstuff Now visiting family in Treviso Italy, some R&R for a week, then back to USA for the ramp up to XTERRA Worlds in Maui.    

Braaap! I havent had this much fun doing my job in a long long time. After being frustrated by many of the "ho hum" courses lately, the UK course was fantastic! "Semi retired" XTERRA Pros Sam Gardner and Richard Stannard personally built the trails and did an incredible job. The trails were easy (and safe) enough for everyone to ride, but going fast is tricky.

Vachery Estate in Surrey, is famous for the scenic  British country side. We home stayed with cycling legend Carl Hutchings and Terry. This was basically the view from our bedroom window.      

We made the most of the "Bahamas like weather" this British summer (note #PrincessHotstuff's summer wear) and visited a nearby town and tried warm beer. (only twice- the 2nd time to make sure its really really supposed to be warm)

#Caveman EPO.* This is the stastiest beetroot juice we've ever had. (90% Beetroot juice and 10% Apple juice) *Beetroot juice is proven to boost red blood cell count.

Chilling with Carl and Terry at the Squirt chain lube stand. #PrincessHotstuff puts to test the eco friendly, bio degradable chain lube and bike wash. Apparently a German rider once mistook the Squirt sample in his race pack for an energy shot, drank it during the race, and afterwards went the the shop to buy more of that "Squirt energy product…"   Memorizing all 1000 turns, one had one pre ride a fair bit- lots of fun…

Thanks to Saffer Carel du Plessis (not the rugby player) and his wife for the stunning pics. All the good photos in this blog is by Light Trapper

Calm before the storm. Next to me in the beard is 23 year old Rock band singer, physio, super swimmer and fresh u23 Cross Tri World Champ from Spain-  Roger Serrano.

100% focus. With the light changes through the trees and open fields, choosing the right lenses for your glasses was crucial. Oakley Radar XL with VR28 lenses

There was not a single rock on the course, so I lowered my tyre pressre by 2 psi to 20psi.  To reduce deflection (like rolling resistance) on this bumpy terrain, I took 10psi out of my front and rear suspension. I did bottom out the fork quite badly a few times…

I did plow the fields a but with my pedals, but fortunately my well worn LOOK Quarts' are #CavemanProof. I also tried, for the 1st time the Stages Power meter. Its the small black piece on the crank arm. Amazing how small it is and how well it works. Not sure how to interpret the power data yet, (as MTB is very erratic compared to road power) but the numbers indicate huge spikes in power. (see below)

Peak power was 992W and avs was 340W. Power file.

The day after disastrous ITU Cross Tri Worlds in Germany (last week- blog in the works), I made some huge changes to try get rid of the back pain. I moved my saddle forwards 3.5cm (huge move) to its "old postition" and moved from oval chain rings to round chain rings- in order to accomodate the power meter I've been trying to use the past year. Despite the huge changes in such a short time, I felt much better and only had some back pain.

Describing the course in a blog is impossible- here James Walker shows us how NOT to overtake a lapped rider…

I was 1 min down after the swim, and came off the bike with a 5 min lead. So I could really enjoy the technical trail run.   Check out this short video I made of the run : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Zvo7b7jwY&list=UU5HJTF5nzeSPJonIgie455w

Stuff dream are made of. Jumping water canals,

Over trees.

50th XTERRA Championship win. The 50 XTERRA wins I celebrated in January 2013, counted all the XTERRAs I'd won- apparently the 4  XTERRA Buffelspoort wins with its 2500 participants does not count.

Couldnt do it without the loving support and friendship of #PrincesHotstuff

Big turn out from South Africans- almost felt like racing at home. Dankie julle!

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