Good stuff- read Dan’s report here
Amber was 4th in the Ladies’. More later…

Er, make that “was”…
Will Kelsay and his lovely lady, Shelby, visited South Africa for a few weeks. They spend a few days in Cape Town, then a few days in my house in Stellenbosch before tackling the Garden Route.
I’m busy renovating my house and of course,they got roped into some manual labour:
Will was super excited [...]

The pros are into pre season fad diets!
Macca urged the Twitter community to join him in his pre season cleansing diet comprising of juices for a week. Matt Lieto just started his Month of Salad…
Now I urge you to join me in my Month Of  Mopane Worm Cleansing Diet! Mopane worms are a delicacy in [...]

For my Christmas present I went from this:

to this:

Its great to be back home- spending Christmas with my parents, my moms extended family and my amazing grandma (and biggest fan) who turns 92 today.

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 [...]

Rich Cruse and Nikola

Costume by Rich Cruse

Caveman style, of course!
Problem: The sticky Vermont mud clogged up my Specialized Epic’s  rear triangle. The sticky tires then picked up dead leaves and really stuffed it tightly between wheel and frame. This was taken in training 2 days before the race.

Caveman solution:
Take a 1 liter water bottle, cut it to bits and zip tie [...]

My last evening in Richmond was dinner at Dr Moose Herrington’s house. (he did the surgery on my foot) Dr Rob Green was there too, so tri talk was the main topic and Libby Herrington makes a killer chicken burrito!
Big was my surprise to see the elaborate welcome his 3 kids organized: A well researched, [...]

Hi, this is Nikola…
I just chatted to Lisbeth, Conrad’s mom, and got some info on how Conrad is.
He was operated last night due to the infection from the cut he got during the XTERRA Richmond race.
The leg was infected and they needed to clean and flush the wound.
Conrad will stay in hospital for at last [...]

Usually, this is the kind of scenery you’d expect…

Amber and I were riding through a tree lined Reno street. I think I shifted my hands from the brake hoods to the bar tops, and in that split second my front wheel hit a short, stubby stick in the road. The handle bar wobbled, I grabbed at the wobbling bar, missed, and fell on [...]

I went from this:

Roodewalshoek, Lydenburg, South Africa (Yes, that is a Cheryl Crow speedo)
To this:

Reno, Nevada, USA

I built a short Enduro track through a stream and some dongas on our farm. My mate Werner came over for the day and we rode till dark. Serious fun and hard work!  I finished my long run 1st thing in the morning and had the day free for fun “XTERRA training”…
This was my last [...]

 
Owen makes a killer Cappuccino at Mill Coffee Shop. I stayed at De Oude Meul Guest house for a few days- breakfast was

What happens in Africa when you leave your bike stationary for too long. (Wont say how long, but not long at all!)
It is a kind of wasp that made a nest and probably laid some eggs in the suspension pivot of my Specialized Epic.

NO kidding. A perfect little wasp home. This guy is quite some [...]