{"id":5829,"date":"2015-09-04T13:52:45","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T11:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conradstoltz.com\/?p=5829"},"modified":"2015-09-04T13:54:26","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T11:54:26","slug":"last-call-for-the-caveman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conradstoltz.com\/index.php\/last-call-for-the-caveman\/","title":{"rendered":"Last call for the Caveman – an XTERRA tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Conrad<\/a><\/p>\n

We’re currently in Cahors, France on a final farewell tour\/training camp – dont have time to blog, so I shamelessly copied and pasted from XTERRA newsletter:<\/p>\n

LAST CALL FOR THE CAVEMAN<\/em>
\n\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure this it,\u201d explained the most iconic XTERRA athlete of all-time, Conrad Stoltz, about Sunday\u2019s European Championship race in England being his last XTERRA.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have regrets.\u00a0 I\u2019m 41, I had a fantastic career, have lots of memories and have done a lot of neat stuff,\u201d said Stoltz, adding that the best thing that ever happened was the birth of his baby girl Xena in the off-season. \u201cShe changed our lives in a huge way.\u00a0 Everything else pales in comparison now that we have this little bundle.\u00a0 My retirement means we can really spend a lot of time with her and we literally have her with us all the time.\u00a0 Being a Dad is indescribable.\u00a0 It\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Awesome could also describe Stoltz\u2019 career and his impact on the sport.\u00a0 Well beyond his unprecedented 51 career championship wins (53 if you count Buffelspoort) and seven world titles is a gentle giant beloved worldwide for his warm smile and welcoming demeanor as much as his fearless downhill skills.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stoltz is a rare gem of a person \u2013 genuine, caring, smart, and giving.\u00a0 There are so many great examples showcasing the strength of his character.<\/em><\/p>\n

Flashback to Tokyo, Japan, 2011, at one of the busiest subway stations on earth. Stoltz noticed a woman struggling with her luggage at the top of a stairwell at the exit. While hundreds of commuters quickly navigated their way around the woman, the Caveman worked his way through the crowd \u2013 like a fish swimming upstream \u2013 to help her, grabbing the cumbersome luggage and carrying it down a massive flight of 100 stairs to the bottom.<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the past 15 years XTERRA has had the pleasure of seeing him perform countless acts of kindness \u2013 from signing autographs and providing simple words of advice to full-blown mentoring gigs and visiting sick kids at Children\u2019s Hospitals.<\/em><\/p>\n

Marita Oppenheimer, an avid endurance athlete who was spectating at XTERRA Worlds a few years back, discovered the Caveman\u2019s \u201ccoolness\u201d firsthand. Afterwards, she wrote this note to TEAM Unlimited CEO Tom Kiely to share her story\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Sunday was just one of the best days of my life. I found Conrad Stoltz\u2019 water bottle at the bottom of the last bike hill, and felt like I won the lottery. He is such an inspiration. I mentioned to my friends that, wouldn\u2019t it be great if I could somehow return it to him, because it seemed like a special bottle, unlike all the others.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hours go by, and I\u2019m sitting alone on the lawn of the Ritz in the shade, and I was emailing my Husband to let him know how much fun I was having, and then I decided to prop up my special water bottle on the grass, and take a photo, just in case I lost or left it somewhere. So, I took the picture, and I hear a voice behind me, saying \u201cOh, so you like that water bottle, eh?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

And I turn around, and there are two men, and a woman standing there, and I responded \u201cYes, look at it, look whose name is on it! It\u2019s my favorite guy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The woman says, \u201cIs the note I wrote you still under the bottle?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

And then, I realize that it\u2019s Conrad Stoltz. I couldn\u2019t believe my luck. Under the bottle his fianc\u00e9e (someone mentioned later in the day, that they were getting married) had written, \u201cMy champion, I love you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh my gosh. So I told Conrad, I was really hoping all day that I could return his bottle to him, because I felt it was a special bottle. He said, \u201cyou keep it, I have more\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

It just brings tears to my eyes, still. Then, they asked if I\u2019d like a picture with him. I couldn\u2019t believe it, because I never would have had the nerve to ask. Then we all hugged, and I wish you could have seen my face after they left. It was amazing. The best part was, that they were just the nicest, sweetest, most kind people, ever. \u2013 Marita Oppenheimer<\/em><\/p>\n

To put Marita\u2019s note in further perspective, Conrad had to pull from Worlds on the run that year \u2013 he couldn\u2019t breathe. DNFs are not part of his culture, so you can trust his disappointment was off-the-charts, but despite this \u2013 his character remained true.<\/em><\/p>\n

Perseverance. Conrad has that in truck loads. When in 2006 he broke his back pre-riding the course at Nationals, he didn\u2019t give up. He actually showed up at the race two days later to support the rest of the XTERRA Tribe, arm in a sling, pain pursing through his body \u2013 but his character was holding strong. The next year he won everything, including his third world title.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2009 after slicing his foot open before the start of the East Championship, while retrieving a buoy that had gotten unhooked, he didn\u2019t give up. He won that race.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2010 when he wanted to go home and be with his Dad while he was in a fierce battle with cancer, his Dad told him no, to race and make him proud. He did just that by winning his unprecedented fourth XTERRA World Title in his honor. ESPN paid tribute to his effort by naming it a top 10 play.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Conrad\u2019s dad said, \u201cI once showed him a dung beetle that was trying to roll his ball of dung up a very steep incline. The ball kept rolling back, but the beetle kept retrieving the ball and pressing forward. I said to Conrad, \u201cThat\u2019s how one should live one\u2019s life. One never gives up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Trust that his retirement has nothing to do with giving up, it\u2019s more about moving on to start the next chapter of life with his lovely wife Liezel and baby Xena. It\u2019s a move we can all admire.<\/em><\/p>\n

Watch clips from our interview \u201cCaveman in Cranleigh\u201d on Facebook.com\/XTERRAplanet.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re currently in Cahors, France on a final farewell tour\/training camp – dont have time to blog, so I shamelessly copied and pasted from XTERRA newsletter: LAST CALL FOR THE CAVEMAN \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure this it,\u201d explained the most iconic XTERRA athlete of all-time, Conrad Stoltz, about Sunday\u2019s European Championship race in England being his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[1749,1854,1754,1853,1836,1313],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n