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I never tire of this episode from XTERRA Richmond Virginia 2009. “Tire” pun intended…
Dan Hugo and I  pre rode the XTERRA Richmond course shortly after our arrival from XTERRA Northwest Cup in Coeur D’Alene, where I had a 4 inch nail puncture my tubeless tire in 2 places. See previous blog.
My replacement [...]

3hrs of rocky single track with Conor- Squaw Valley below.
Training is not all “tearing it up” and “no pleasure.” On the easy days I enjoy fun trails & scenic views with  good friend or 2.

Yup, I brought the big dog. This is the perfect 29er course- fast, rocky, rooty and technical.
Specialized Epic 29er.
For more on 29ers, visit my my 29er page on Facebook
-Command Post telescopic seat post. (notice dropped seat height for the technical terrain) I wrote about the Command Post exhaustively on this previous post
-Specialized Fast Trak LK [...]

Pic by Gary Perkin
Xterra Grabouw
Kevin Flanagan, 23 Feb 2010
Grabouw, 1.5km swim, 25km mtb, 10km trail run
By Kevin Flanagan
I “raced” the Xterra off road triathlon on the weekend. It’s really the grand daddy of off road triathlons in South Africa. It is a series of triathlons held around the country, and it was Cape Town’s / Western Cape’s [...]

This story made my day…
I play a bit of guitar myself, (on a $100 cheapy, and “play” used loosely) but being a frequently frustrated traveler with a $8000 Specialized bike in a box, I can really relate to this story: (feel free to substitute “guitar” with “bicycle” in the youtube video)
A musician named Dave Carroll [...]

2009 Wilseyville Hare Scramble write up, pics and video here.
The entry form says AMA championship series, so maybe it was a big race? All I know is I was as green as it gets. The newness of this unfamiliar sport opened my eyes to what athletes new to triathlon and  XTERRA experience. Nervous, excited, clueless, [...]

Photo by RichCruse.com.
My Specialized Epic S-works worked like a dream, and this course on Maui is infamously tough on equipment. A lot of work has gone into the preparation of the bike for this race in particular.
Here are a few highlights:
 
Specialized tires
Specialized has been amazingly helpful in helping me find a tire that is [...]

2009 XTERRA World Champs podium by Rich Cruse
From L to R: Olivier Marceau (4th), Micheal Weiss (3rd), Eneko Llanos (1st), Nico Lebrun (2nd), Conrad Stoltz (5th)
Yes, I am disappointed. (Thanks for the nice e-mails. True friends are the ones who cares no matter the result) I did everything in my power to get to [...]

If this regimen doent improve your bike handling skills, nothing will!

Damen, hats off to you.
I wonder if they also talk “rolling resistance” and “tire pressure”?

So, you are a trail mashing mofo; gnarliest of the gnar. Yes, you are a fit machine and can ride. You have skills. Skills, eh? How about swimming, mountain biking and running — as in consecutively… in one day… at race pace?
Whaddya say? That off-road triathlon stuff — Xterra — isn’t for true mountain bikers? [...]

Cancellara’s yellow jersey bike in the Tour de France…

That’s the question!

Dan Hugo and I  pre rode the XTERRA Richmond course shortly after our arrival from XTERRA Northwest Cup in Coeur D’Alene, where I had a 4 inch nail puncture my tubeless tire in 2 places. See previous blog.
My replacement tire was in the mail, so I rode the tire with the 2 nail holes, and [...]

This video was made for the “triathlon” part of the i-am-specialized website.
The a href=”http://www.i-am-specialized.com/triathlon” target=”_blank”>i-am-specialized website is aimed at being the public’s way of following Specialized riders’ racing and stories online. It is a new site and will mostly aim at internet video content. Internet video is the new TV.
I am honoured to be the [...]

This is where it all happens:

Specialized head office in Morgan Hill, California

Northern California has a booming High School racing programme. It is run a by a non profit organization and Specialized enthusiastically pitched in with a huge truckload of demo bikes for the kids to try out, and 3 World Champions on loan. Hence “Riding with the Champions.” Ned Overend, Rebecca Rusch and myself.
The kids could [...]

In search  of the holy rubber…
Following up on earlier tire testing in Stellenbosch*, Specialized’s tire whiz guys came up with 5 new prototypes to test. The goal is to make a tire that is very puncture resistant, but still rolls well and doesnt weigh as much as a tractor tire.
*Read earlier blog Tire testing Stellenbosch.
We [...]

XTERRA South Africa
If you dont know it yet, I LOVE 29ers!   (29er = Big wheels)
- Handles rocky, sandy, bumpy terrain better than 26inch.
-Larger contact patch= better traction.
- More comfortable.
- Better rolling.
- Keeps momentum.
Sure, the bike weighs a bit more, but we’re* working on it…
* Specialized.
My dad, (also 6ft3) has this saying- “A good [...]

For those who dont read Afrikaans so well- shame on you! Just kidding. It says here: Gert Stoltz won the Grand Masters (60+) agegroup at the recent 40km Sabie Classic mountain bike race. He beat the 2nd placed guy by 6 minutes!
Obviously he rides the fastest bike out there, (one of my old S works [...]

Burry Stander doing rolling resistance testing on the rollers. He rode at 25km/h and at 35km/h with about 20 different tires and measured the wattage needed to hold those speeds for each tire. On the right (reading the power  tap numbers) is Benno Willeit, our Specialized mechanic, and on the left is Tire Specialist Frank [...]

The climb was brutal, but once we disappeared into the clouds and the trail leveled out, it was as if we were in heaven. Trail riding heaven that is! The trails were tricky, rocky and scary at times.