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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

 
Loved the Specialized 29er Epic. Andy pimped my ride between thrashings. Note my new race kit for 2009. Made by Luma.- more later.
Christoph won comfortably. Todd had a flat, I gave him my CO2 and he finished 6th- which allowed him to win the Omnium-(Short Track and XC combined) Great for Todd, Specialized and the [...]

Bobby Behan, car fanatic and Specialized Factory Racing team manager with Mike Sinyards’ Mini Cooper Works.
Todd Wells won today’s Sea Otter Short Track on his new Specialized 29er hard tail (20lbs)- Burry Stander got 2nd, Lene Byberg got 2nd in the ladies and Sam Hill won the Down Hill.
In the short trak the guys dominated, [...]

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 [...]

Frank checking tire pressure, Chris and Mike coming back from checking out the rocks, and me snacking on a peanutbutterbanana
This was the 2nd and last day of tire testing. We also looked into trail side tire fixing:

Specialized tire specialist Frank Stacey and I talking tires at the Stellenbosch testing in January 09.
Photo by Gary Perkin.
I have been incredibly busy since my arrival in the US 2 weeks ago. Moved to Reno NV from Bend OR, did 3 days’ tire testing with Specialized and I bought a car. (yes, the legendary Red [...]

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 [...]

Spot the Caveman? (In Specialized’s all red.) Nervously peering around the pack on the far left.  Typical triathlete, I distrust all forms of pack riding. I like to blaze the open road/trail, pick my own lines, and set my own pace. Here, (on the 1st few kms of open roads) busy little 18 year olds [...]

 
My bags are packed and I’m ready to go… my last day in Stellenbosch for 2009. Scary thought. I’m leaving for Durban in the morning for the start of the Sani2C mountain bike race.Its probably the most stage race I have done in South Africa. I did the Cape Epic in 2005 and 2006 with [...]

And why I’m not racing Xterra Temecula coming Sunday(2005):
It all happened on a sunny afternoon about 6 weeks ago. As usual, I played my own little “carry all the groceries in one trip” game. A 15 kilogram bag of potatoes (Caveman staple diet) obscured my view of the trail leading up to my cave, but [...]

This I wrote for the 2002 Lifetime Fitness Triathlon brochure.  They asked us to “talk trash”- a new experience to me, so I let loose and talked trash!
In my 15 years in triathlon I’ve learnt a few lessons:
One is: THE MORE GEAR YOU HAVE, THE FASTER YOU GO. Ok, I have TONS of gear. The [...]

 
My 2005 off season reading was Brian Lopes’ book on mountain biking skills. As a fairly competent mountain biker, I was amazed at how much there is still to learn about the art of making an off road bicycle go fast.

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.

“It was a dark and stormy night…”
No, just kidding!
“It was a bright and sparkly morning… Six of us - all friends and family- got together for a little informal XTERRA training camp on our farm near Lydenburg, Mpumalanga. Uh, thats South Africa.
These guys are all relative newbies to sport. Sorry Gustav- rugby (even provincial rugby) [...]

I just got back on the farm after riding 3 of the 4 days of Sabie Experience. Sabie is only 80km from our farm and when my good friend (and Specialized Factory team damager) Bobby Behan said we were invited to ride, we couldnt say no. Despite still being in the midst of “ice cream [...]

Checking my flexibility, Scott Holz, bike fit guru at Specialized’s OSBU headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA.