Category: specialized tires
THE XTERRA U.S. PRO SERIES SHOWDOWN…err, THROWDOWN!
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 again) Those setbacks, (setback seems to be a Caveman consistency in itself) means that the points are closer than I would like. I really dislike this course- its lots of climbing and a little bit of down hilling. 2800ft of down hilling is lost with this point to point race up the site of the 2006 Winter Olympic Super G course.
That said, Ogden is a great town, the people are really welcoming and the scenery is amazing. The trees are turning red and yellow on the mountain slopes. The Utah Sports commission is putting a lot of money into promoting sport and sports events in the state, and they are quickly building a sportsman destination reputation.
I borrowed this piece below from the www.XTERRAplanet.com newsletter. For press info, and pics, say you are a journalist and want to be placed on the mailing list, email Trey Garman. For video on previous XTERRA races, go to www.XTERRA.TV
“It all comes down to this. The 8-stop XTERRA Cup Series for professionals that started in early May wraps up with the ultimate showdown of XTERRA’s best on Saturday, Sept. 26 in Utah. And when we say the best, we mean it as the top 13 ranked men and women are on the start list – the lone exception being fourth-ranked Dan Hugo who just suffered through two weeks of a severe flu and painstakingly decided to stay home in South Africa to build an 8-month-base of training so he could tackle 2010 with a vengeance.
Specialized rider Burry Stander wins his first UCI World Cup
Lukas Flückiger, Julien Absalon, Burry Stander, Ralf Naf, Mathias Flückiger. Champery World Cup podium.
A week after winning the under 23 World Championships in Australia, 22 year old South African Burry beat two time Olympic champion and 4 time World Champion Julien Absalon to win his 1st UCI World Cup victory. (Burry is currently 2nd the the World Cup series behind Julien)
I read on Specialized team mate, Todd Wells’ website that last week Burry’s best lap at Worlds was 40 seconds faster than anyone elses. Granted, the u23 race was shorter and probably had less traffic, but still, it was a sign of things to come. Todd had the 3rd fastest lap and finished 8th on his Specialized S-works 29er.
We are really stoked for Burry.
Follow his blog on i-am-specialized.com
Surprise visit to XTERRA Vermont.
This is by far the hairiest XTERRA course I have ever pre ridden. Sure, its almost all uphill, but it is super technical and slippery. It has been raining for the past 3 weeks and everything is slimy.
Speaking of slimy, my foot is fine. The cut is 90% healed up and I even ran on it the other day…
A clever story about a flat, Caveman teeth and ingenuity
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 just put in a tube. Of course it flatted. I changed the tube. It deflated faster than I could pump. Before putting our last tube in I carefully inspected for sharp objects.
It also deflated faster than what I could pump.
We still had a lot of riding to do and I wasnt going to call it quits.
I was going to make that tire tubeless again.
First I used a bottle cap to scoop the sealant from the healthy front tire and put it in the rear. With the 2 huge holes.
XTERRA Midwest. Battle Creek, Michigan
Winning smile & story time. During a week like this, so many things happen, its impossible to keep track of it all. I’ll try to give some perspective here.
My new race kit is officially here. It arrived from Hong Kong on Friday. My mate Gary Mandy hooked me up sweet with LUMA kit. I have a white kit, a black one and a red one (pictured) to chose from. And cycling gear
X mas came early!
TOP PRO MEN
1 ) Conrad Stoltz 2:03:16
2 ) Mike Vine 2:04:13
3 ) Josiah Middaugh 2:04:27
4 ) Dan Hugo 2:05:27
5 ) Nico Lebrun 2:06:00
6 ) Seth Wealing 2:06:31
7 ) Brian Smith 2:08:20
8 ) Branden Rakita 2:10:10
9 ) Craig Evans 2:10:20
10 ) Ryan Decook 2:13:09
