Brian Smith 3rd at Xterra Worlds in Hawaii!!

I just checked Inside Triathlon and our own Trek-VW Brian Smith was 3rd at Xterra world championships in Maui, Hawaii!  His best result of the year, 1st American, and he was within sight of 2nd place !!!

a great result!!

He did it on a Top Fuel, and had the fastest bike split by 2.5 minutes.  Good suspension paid off in this case.  Brian said he was just floating through the rough lava rock, passing people left and right.

Jenny had her best swim of the season, and then rode into 6th place, before flatting fully 4 times in the rough lava.  She managed to finish the race, but was obviously disappointed because her form was there. 

Thanks to you both for the great racing !  Be sure to check out Brian and Jenny's BLOG for more details ... and watch CBS listings for the TV coverage of the race. 

RAD ROSS does Oktoberfest

After a tough 3.5 month lay-off from the bike, and with the prospect of a healthy knee, I decided it was a good idea to explore Europe by bike. Luckily,the new cross bike arrived just in time for the journey. Equipped with fenders and a plastic milk crate zip-tied to the rack, we set off on our 3 wk adventure. 
The plan was simple, start things off right and hit up Oktoberfest in Munich and then head south for the warm weather. As it turns out, the plan worked out perfectly as we "carbo-loaded" in Germany to kick things off. Once Oktoberfest was played out, we started our journey south through Bavaria and into the Alps.  The roads in Bavaria were amazing, nothing but rolling green hills dotted with small villages, and little to no traffic.  In fact, the majority of "traffic" consisted of old farmers on tractors and fellow cyclists enjoying the nice autumn weather.  Once we hit the Alps it was all business, tackling big climbs and even bigger mtns.  We stopped in Innsbruck, Austria for several days to rest (or I mean wreck) our already tired legs. On the "rest day" we decided it was a good idea to hike/run up to the top of the nearest mountain.  After a 12,000 (6k-up, 6k-down) vertical foot jaunt, our legs were toast. The next few days were spent hobbling around and wincing in pain.  After riding through the alps and into Italy, we reached the Mediterranean Coastline. The temperatures during the day hovered in the 80's, and we camped along the beach as we headed west toward the French Riviera.The roads in Italy are spectacular, and by spectacular I mean really hard.  We found out that a 100 kilometer day of riding somehow consists of 80k uphill! The roads are either straight-up, or straight-down as they meander along the coast.  Once we reached Nice, France, we started to head north toward Paris where I have family. After a quick layover in Paris, we continued on to Belgium where we got utterly destroyed by the local talent (ie old Belgium guys wearing day-glow 80's team kits).  I made the mistake of asking for directions to an old-timer who was more than happy to show us the route.Turns out, old Belgian guys can hammer on a bike and basically sleigh it for at least 35k. One of the highlights of the trip was watching a Superprestige Cyclocross Race in Rudervoorde, Belgium.  I've never seen such a spectacle at a race; old people, young people, women in high heels, kids wearing their favorite team jersey, people smoking cigarettes, and EVERYONE drinking beer! I've never seen so many people at a race before, and so much excitement in the air.  We knew we'd arrived when we saw helicoptors circling (all cross races are broadcast live on Eurosport) and giant jumbo-tron screens showing the race action.  What a great way to end the trip!  Makes me want to get in shape and race cross... Next up for me is the Iceman Cometh Mtb race in Northern Michigan. I've got a few weeks to somehow magically whip myself into race shape. Wish me luck!

Sue and Lea's adventure in Guatemala

Several weekends ago Lea and Sue went to Guatemala for El Reto Guatemala.  It's a new 3-day stage race that attracted the likes of Tinker Juarez and Tom Ritchey.  The local Trek dealers and distributor made a huge contribution to get our Trek-VW women down there, and this is what Lea had to say about it ... also be sure to have a look at the COOL PHOTOS!

I have no idea where to begin to describe my recent mountain bikeing endeavor in Guatemala.  Sue and I ventured to Central America to take part in the unveiling of Guatemala's first annual 3-day endurance race.  Armed with malaria shots, plenty of Cytomax (which exploded in transit all over my bike bag), and my dialed-in Top Fuel, I was ready to embark on what would be one of the greatest adventures of my life.

The element of surprise and teh fact we were pedaling our bikes for a ridiculously long time were the only expected elements in our 3 days of racing.  Each bend on the rough double track had a new surprise.  we rode through tiny Mayan villages where the locals had never seen high performance, painted bicycles, not to mention women in spandex riding them!  They would stare quietly in disbelief wondering what was rolling through.  The Guatemalan children ran next to us yelling in joy and would only get louder as Sue and I screamed Spanglish back.  Women balancing baskets of corn on their head would glance at us as if to say that hill that would make us drool and pant was nothing, try and wak up the pitch balancing 12 pounds on your head four miles to the village.  There were many dogs, at times looking rabid, that would sprint after us.  I guarantee these Guatemalan street dogs make your local wheel chasing hound look like a puppy playing in the sunshine.  They were hungry, and they kept up with me going 30mph downhill for good couple of scary minutes.  We turned corners to see another 2000 foot climb stretch out before us on a mountain that was supposed to be "a short 20 min climb with a couple of steep pitches".  I don't know if distance and time get lost in translation, but they definitly have a different definition of climb in Guatemala.  In fact there's not a flat spot in the country!

There were hours of climbing,  hours of sweet descending, and views of lush rainforest and steep mountain that made it all worth it.  On top of it all, Sue and I raced hard for 3 days to capture 2nd place in the Master Men's category.  There were only 2 women's teams so they had us race in the men's division, hence our new adopted nickname "Ms Masters".  The people were amazingly friendly and welcoming, and the Trek Guatemala crew completely outdid themselves, throwing us an amazing welcome and autograph signing party as well as being our tour guides and translators for the duration. 

A huge thanks goes out to Trek Guatemala, Johanna, Walter, and Jorge for the hospitality, and to Netzer and Oscar for putting on a great race!

Also be sure to check out the photo album with Lea's pictures.  I'm still figuring out how to post it, but it's in here somewhere ...

24 Hours of Moab Report

Trek/VW team manager Zack Vestal sent along this recap of the 2007 24 Hours of Moab.




24 Hours of Moab 2007 was a resurrection of the event, following disasterous weather conditions in 2006.  the weather accomodated 400+ teams and 60+ solo riders by steering a cold front to the north and east, leaving Moab dry, cool, and breezy.  Dust and dry were the order of the day, leaving teams and riders to focus on the fundamentals of the race.

Chris Eatough, our rider, was calm and prepared in the days leading up, and this level-headed approach carried through right up to the start.  Mechanic Steve Borkoski prepped 2 identical Top Fuel full-suspension bikes, with matching new 2008 blue SID forks.  Bontrager Revolt Super-X 2.2 Tubeless tires were chosen, to combat the deeps sand and reduce the potential for punctures on the short, sharp rocky sections.  Chris ran 85 psi in the SID fork, and 75 psi in Monarch rear shocks, aiming for a comfortable setup in the rough.

The course was classic Moab, with alternating sections of hardpack dirt, deep sandy wallows, and slickrock outcrops.  In nearly all of the rocky sections, multiple lines lensed out from the main trail, making line selection a minor challenge in some places!  All riders commented on the sand, noting it was sandier than in years, rendering some sections completely unrideable.

Chris came out of the opening LeMans-style start in about 40th place, and managed to work his way up to 6th or so overall by the end of the first lap.  Settleing into his routine of ultra efficient pit stops and a comfortable pace, he was in the Solo lead after lap 2 and never looked back.  He steadily gained 5-10 minutes per lap on chaser Josh Tostado.  Perrenial contender Ernesto Marenchin broke a chain on the first lap, and never recovered from the mishap, eventually abandoning around 11pm.  Josh suddenly dropped out of the top 5 around 12am and similarly pulled the plug in the early morning.  Chris managed to maintain a comfortable pace until around 3am, when he started taking longer breaks, needing rest, food, and warm clothing to combat the 40 degree nightime temps.  However, even these stops never lasted more than 10 minutes as Chris motivated through fatigue and soreness to lap 2nd place by daybreak.  Considering the laps were now taking 1:40 (as opposed to 1:15 near the start), this was a significant lead! 

By 9:30am, Chris had completed 14 laps, and the next rider down had only just begun a 12th lap.  It remained to be seen if the 2nd place rider, Travis Macy, could complete 2 full laps before the 12 noon cutoff, and therefore challenge Chris for the lead at 14 laps.  We on the crew watched and waited for Travis to roll through, completing his 13th lap and beginning his 14th.  At around 11am he came through, and begun a 14th lap, but we knew there was no way he'd manage to start a 15th lap before the cutoff.

Chris had won!  He walked into the timing tent around 11am, scanned his RFID badge for the last time, and logged out of the race as the winner, with 14 laps by 11am.  Travis ended up with 14 laps by 12:41pm, an amazing result for an otherwise unhearalded rider.

Chris of course was exhausted but satisfied, pretty much the same state that we on the staff found ourselves in!  Soigneur Chris Furer did an amazing job with food, cooking up meals for the staff as well as for Chris, and asst. mechanic Andrew Sheppard provided time splits and relayed on-course information to the tech pit as the race unfolded.   With this event falling so late in the year, full darkness lasted from 7pm to 7am, neccessitating extra dilligence and care with regards to light batteries and warm clothing.  Everything, including the bikes, were absolutely, 100% FLAWLESS, and I would personally consider this to be the smoothest 24 hour event I've ever staffed. 

Thanks to all who brought us here, and thanks especially to Chris Eatough for being the best guy a team could ever hope to work for!  You earned it!

24 Hours of Moab Gallery

Eatough Preparing for 24 Hours of Moab

It's 5 days before the EAS 24 Hours of Moab, and I'm on the phone with Chris Eatough, the world's foremost endurance mountain biker. I'm in the middle of telling him that 2 other racers have joined the competition, mostly because of his attendance. And not to freak him out more so than he might be already, but I just have to tell him of the flattery...

"Chris, they each said that you are their measure. They're coming to the race just because you're there."

"I've heard that before, and it's nice to hear it from a new source. It will certainly be nice to have the competition," he says in his British accent that hasn't wavered a bit since his move to the U.S. a few years back.

We continue talking, and like the good blogger/race director, I realize that now is the perfect time to capture some of his pre-race emotions and expectations...

What have you been doing to prepare for this?
I'm still training, but I'm  done with training rides for the most part at this point in the season. I trained up to about 5 hours per day last week, then down to 3 hours a day over the weekend. I didn't feel like I needed to do too many huge rides, mainly because I don't want to overtrain.  My riding is focused on fine tuning.

What do you mean by fine tuning?
I try to do some event specific rides. Since Moab is a desert race, I try to mimic the course style as much as possible. I've ridden it before, and I know there are not many steep climbs like Conyers (site of 2006 24 World Championships). Moab has more gradual terrain, with a more constant power output. It helps that back home the temps have been similar.

Do you use a GPS unit?
I have one, but I don't use it for too many specific things.
I use it to not get lost.

When was your last 24 hour race?
24 hours of 9 mile in Wisconsin was the last. I've done plenty of long stuff since then with the National Ultra Endurance Series and the BC Bike Race. Nothing has been extreme long distance, but nothing too crazy... Probably the most extreme thing has been staying up at night with the little one.
I don't really prepare myself by doing crazy long distances. I gradually prepare myself. 7 hours is my longest training ride. I fee like longer than that would actually be detrimental. My theory is to build it up consistently to the event that I'm aiming for and go from there.

Who do you see as your biggest competitors?
Ernesto Marenchin, he got 2nd at Solo Worlds 2 years ago. He's won some Granny Gear races in the past.
Dave Harris is also really consistent. As a finisher of Moab in the top 3, I'm expecting him to be competitive.
Nat Ross usually does the race, but he wasn't on the sign up list. He's always a very strong competitor.
Josh Tostada [no web link found] also not on the list, but a very strong rider. He's an altitude climbing specialist though, and Moab's only 5500 fee. It's not a place where altitude will be a factor.

Are you doing any special gear preparations?
I've been  testing  my lights at night to dial in my setup and the angles I want to use. I've also been using a Top Fuel to train for the race.
I have some new RockShox stuff -- the new Monarch rear and the new SID -- and I've been dialing those in as well. I like the  new SID, but I really think it's more like a lightweight Reba with 32mm stanchions. It feels closer in performance to a Reba too, but it's been sculpted, to shave weight. The Monarch is really nice  too -- responsive and smooth.

What does your crystal ball say?
[laughs] In regards to the race?
I'm really looking forward to it. Moab is a classic mountain biking destination, and it's been six years since I've been there. I'm looking forward to doing a Granny Gear race solo. I've done a bunch as teams, but never solo. This race is tough to predict because it's a new race. But I feel stronger, my  crew is in place to help me, I have my  gear prepared and I feel as ready as I've ever felt.

[The Trek Family wishes Chris a safe and successful race and looks forward to Sunday's results!]

Cam Goes to China

Unlike professional cross country riders, whose days are filled with gram-counting and exhausting
training rides, the professional freerider has a very different agenda. In the case of Cam McCaul, that agenda usually goes something like this:

1. Grab a photo or video guy.
2. Make sure his camera's turned on.
3. Find some place cool.
4. Do a sick trick.
5. Do it all over again.

But what happens when you run out of cool places to do cool tricks? Cam's answer was simple:
Find a place that hasn't been ridden -- like the remote landscape of Urumqi, China -- and film for the next New World Disorder, and scout for a possible location for the next Red Bull Rampage (or something very similar). 

My first question to Cam was, where's Urumqi?

Thanks to the wonders of the somewhat reliable, but always mostly correct Wikipedia, I found this map:
In the northwest corner of China, Urumqi gains recognition as the most remote city from any sea in the world.

• GDP per capita was about $2,400 in 2004 (roughly one-thrid the winnings of Cam's first place at the 2007 ClawWorx slopestyle competition).
• The city is also a major target of China's "Develop the West" initiative that's been going on for a few years now, so let's hope that GDP creeps up a bit more.

Maybe a new Rampage will help develop it as the world's premier freeriding area. Watch out Whistler!
Anyway, Cam has made his way over to China, and I asked him to send me some correspondence.
Here's the first thing I've heard from him since he left last week:

Well, we spent yesterday cruising around Beijing checking out all the sights.  Pretty cool.  I felt lke
I was strolling through the most giant Chinese restaurant in the world.  They do a good job back in the states mimicing real China in the restaurants, so needless to say I was hungry all day long looking at miles and miles of this restaurant-esque landscape. When it came time to eat, we found a pretty nice  pot. Everything tasted good except for the toilet waterand chicken bone soup.  I guess thats an aquired taste....  Lots of aquired tastes out here.    Deepfried scorpion was one of them that was being pressured on me in the street, but I told them that I was trying to cut back, and these days I really prefer deep fried basketball.  Getting on a fllight from here to the desert in a couple hours and thats when all the reall fun starts!  Who knows what we're gonna find out there.  Nobody has ever sunk their tires into this soil, and  'm honored to be the first one to be doing it.  Its like skiing fresh tracks on an untouched mountain!  im ecstatic to scope the scene, and once I do, I'll have another photo update for ya... 'Till then kids, remember.... Just say no to deep fried scorpion! - Cam

'Cross-Dressing!

It's that funky time of year when normal, mild mannered and otherwise well-adjusted mountain bikers decide to cobble together a spindly cyclo-cross bike and extend the competive season well into winter.  In the case of Trek-VW we have shiny new XO-2 bikes to air out.  The below is from Jeremiah Bishop as he takes a new bike for a spin last weekend ...  also be sure to check out his BLOG!

Cold Turkey Cyclocross!

This weekend, upon my return from Interbike, a friend of mine talked me into racing my first 'cross race in about two years.

It was the Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross Race, and despite more summer-like than fall weather it was a great day. The race was painful but very fun. I felt silly running with a perfectly good bike.

I thought the event would be low-key, but there were almost 400 riders participating in the race! The announcers were stoked I was there, and they gave me a lot more attention than I deserved. When I arrived at the barriers for the first time, I almost didn't know what to do. I quickly remembered and gave 'em a good show.

I had a good battle with a cross guy named Wess from Pennsylvania. He was way strong. With two laps to go, I attacked and finally got a good sized gap with just over one to go. But, then I flatted and had to ride it in. I got a wheel change to pull in for a solid second place.

Seems like cross is taking off in the US. It's good to be back!

See ya out there, 

Jeremiah

Photo credit Jonathan Bruck

Mr & Mrs Smith take on XTERRA National champs!

Trek-VW's own Mr & Mrs Smith, Brian and Jenny, raced in and around Lake Tahoe, CA this past weekend for the Xterra Off Road Triathlon National Championships.  And, despite chilly fall temps and fresh fallen snow, they came out with Jenny Smith in 2nd, and Brian Smith in 8th for the men!   What a great effort, congrats to you two!

Jenny Smith posted the fastest bike split after coming out of the water 2 minutes down.  She came into the 2nd transition right with the leader, and proceeded to hang tough on the run to consolidate her silver medal.   This is one of Jenny's best results in an Xterra and puts her in good form going into the World Champs in Hawaii about 4 weeks from now.

Brian Smith hung tough in a talented, multinational field.  He was sluggish out of the 58 degree water, but made up time on the bike leg to settle comfortably in the top ten with other national caliber athletes. 

Great work Mr and Mrs Smith!