Now THIS is a race report!

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

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 [...]

Being a novice again. 2009 Wilseyville Hare Scramble

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

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, [...]

Interview with Triharder.co.za

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Triathlon is booming in South Africa. Ironman in PE, the 70.3 in Buffalo city, the XTERRA Series in its 6th year, a budding ITU programme and various off road multisports events.
Triharder.co.za is a cool new South African  based triathlon website and here is an interview I did a few weeks ago.
TriathlonTeam.com, (of which I’m a [...]

When giving everything is not enough

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

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 [...]

I will be racing XTERRA Worlds in my birthday suit!

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

I got this birthday card from the Balega folks in South Africa. Tanya is always very creative with the Photoshop…
If your Afrikaans is a little rusty:
“Happy birthday Conrad, Enjoy every moment, Bert, Tanya and the Falke (Balega) team”
Also, my LUMA race kit by Greek artist Miltos Manetas can just in time for my birthday: Read [...]

The Caveman Cometh (and he’s on a 29er)

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

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? [...]

THE XTERRA U.S. PRO SERIES SHOWDOWN…err, THROWDOWN!

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

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 [...]

10 Questions with South African XTERRA athlete, Dan Hugo

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

For starters, and the reader’s benefit, write a short paragraph about yourself:
I’m evading reality but painting a canvas with all the colour I can find. There’s a definite lack of technique, more just splashing lines and blobs of colour and allowing them to take on a story of their own. I was inspired, you see, [...]

Champions’ training. Different strokes for different folks…

Monday, August 31st, 2009

In search for the holy grail of sports performance, Irish National Team ITU member, Gavin Noble (Dublin Triathlon Champion this past weekend) cranks out the Watts in the lab. This kind of lab testing will give Gav and his coach all kinds of numbers they can play with in training. Tests will be repeated often, [...]

Avia AVI STOLTZ review

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

My own customization for the muddy ski slopes at XTERRA Vermont
From Triathlon Product Reviews
Sunday, April 26, 2009

Avia Avi Stoltz Xterra Racing Shoe
After the traction disaster that my wife and I both suffered during the Granite Bay Duathlon, we went looking for a shoe with better traction that qualified as a racer. We both have significantly [...]

Conrad Stoltz. XTERRA triathlete. Shooter.

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Photo and camera by Rich Cruse. www.richcruse.com

Customizing your Specialized Epic for mud.

Monday, July 20th, 2009

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 [...]

Sprint finish with Seth Wealing for 2nd…

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Sprint finish with Seth Wealing for 2nd…                                                               Pic by Nori’s iPhone
This is the race report from Trey Garman at XTERRA.  For press, email trey@xterraplanet.com. The XTERRA home page is  www.xterraplanet.com
(I will write my own report after breakfast)
Sugarbush Resort - Warren, VT (July 12, 2009) - The two reigning XTERRA European Tour Champions, Frenchman Nicolas Lebrun [...]

Cavemans’ special XTERRA taper

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

D Day -1 some people spend the whole day in bed, wearing their compression tights and visualizing their race.
The Caveman’s instincts pulls him to the river for FLY FISHING!

A Brown Trout in the Mad River on a  size 20 barbless Royal Wulfe fly.  3 weight rod with 12 ft leader+tippet. Got to love the waterproof [...]

Surprise visit to XTERRA Vermont.

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

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 [...]

The magic of Home stays

Monday, July 6th, 2009

People always wonder why pros prefer home stays at most races. Why not stay in a “nice hotel” and “rest up for the race?”
There are many reasons why home stay families are the best way of experiencing away from home racing: (in no particular order)
- When you travel as much as we do, you hate [...]

XTERRA Richmond. PG 13- B&G- Blood and Gore

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

The black stuff in there is rotting steel girder and James River mud. They breed us tough in Africa…
3 minutes before the start I moved a stray swim buoy to where it should be and kicked an old, rusty steel girder lodged in the mud under water. The gash was huge and completely black with [...]

XTERRA Coeur D’Alene

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Specialized interview with Jay Prashun at Sea Otter

Friday, June 5th, 2009

A race report from 2004 where Steve Larsen pushed me to the outer limits of Paindom

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

2003 XTERRA USA Champs: Steve smashing it…
2004 Xterra USA Champs- Lake Tahoe
When: The night before the race.
Where: Hyatt, Lake Tahoe.
Who: Steve Larsen and myself.
What: Watching TV.
Which show? 2003 Xterra USA Champs, Lake Tahoe.
The year old images on TV brought back strong memories of last years’ epic battle. Steve Larsen, Mountain bike legend, Ironman champion and [...]