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In Johannesburg, attended the Specialized Concept store opening here in the amazing Melrose Arch last night. Good to see fellow Specialized riders Burry Stander and Dan Hugo and caught up with journos (read “old triathletes”) from way back. Paul Ingpen, Sean Badenhorst and the like.
All the best for South Africa’s only concept store. Looks great. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

I’m very lucky to have a full quiver of Specialized bikes to chose from!
After watching a few youtube videos on the Waco course, I decided to travel to Waco with my 29er Epic (Aluminium)- it loves rocky, rooty and twisty.  But 30min into pre riding the course on wednesday I had to “call a friend” [...]

Pic by Gery Perkin
Good luck to fellow Specialized riders Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander on their quest to win the much heralded Cape Epic mountain bike stage race. 1500 riders from all over the globe tackles the 730kmin 8 days with 15 000m of climbing on sunday.
Read more about the Specialized team and their charity, [...]

MultiSport | March 11, 2010
Poised to dominate the triathlon world in 2010, Specialized has launched its first-ever comprehensive triathlon team, with multiple athletes in each of the three major specialties: Long Course, Short Course, and Xterra. Hand selected by Bobby Behan, Specialized Global Marketing Manager for MTB and Triathlon, the team athletes represent the best [...]

TV interview for www.i-am-specialized.com. Photo by Gary Perkin

Caveman on a road bike. (Specialized Tarmac SL2) by Gary Perkin

Some call it the Supersonic Divorce Machine, some call it The Red Rocket, but I know where my money would be if ever there was a Manufacturer Tandem Olympics.   Say it was a 6km drag race, I would put Fabian Cancellara and Mario Cipollini (circa 02) on this thing, wear ear plugs for the [...]

The Lion King “Super Mario” Cipollini was a delight to follow- on the road and in public. His flair for fashion, clothing and glamour bordered on preposterous. It was delicious. But he was a remarkable sprinter who hated climbing and was quoted “If I wasnt a professional cyclist, I would be a porn star.”
But Mario [...]

After 10 months of focused training where every session and equipment choice was geared towards winning XTERRAs, it is fun to to try some of the other bikes in the garage.
I’ve had this S-works Enduro for 2 years now, but until a few weeks ago, it had less than 5 hrs on it. Most of [...]

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 [...]

Sounds like a fun job to me. But then you have to be a legend first. (And kick butt at 54!)

All pictures by Nils Nilsen
My dad is right- one can count a humans’ age like a tree- by the number of rings it has.  My dad says he is at the age where you can count the rings around his knees. One can count the number of USA XTERRA Titles I have won by the [...]

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? [...]

Melanie McQuaid, myself, Shonny Vanlandingham and Josiah Middaugh “teaching” The Art of XTERRA at the Paul Mitchell XTERRA University.  Pics by Nils Nilsen
I dont have 3hrs to write a good race report right now, but I know monday everyone spends half the day on their Facebook and reading about the weekends race results before real [...]

XTERRA Utah 08
Saturday I will toe the line for my 7th XTERRA USA Series title. The Series title points to consistency throughout the season. After consistently winning a few races earlier this year, I got a nail through the tire in Idaho, and cut my foot in Richmond. (go here to see those juicy pics [...]