Cahaba Cycles Blog

Adventures in Cyclocross Tubeless

2011-11-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

This cyclocross sesason, I decided to go tubeless. I've suffered enough pinch flats over the years to know that tubes were out of the question, and I was not willing to make the investment in tubulars, especially after seeing some of the horrific results of failed glue. After a half season of racing and a couple mishaps, I think I finally have the tubeless thing figured out.

In order to get the Race Lite wheels on my Chronus working in a reliable tubeless setup, I purchased a NoTubes Cyclocross tubeless conversion kit, extra roll of yellow tape, and NoTubes Raven tires. The tires might not have been necessary, but I figured I’d use them since they are actually designed to work tubeless. I initially set everything up using all items in the conversion kit and went for a test ride at 40 psi front and rear. The test ride revealed that 40 psi was not enough to keep 200 pounds of man and machine from bottoming out. In the end, I settled on 43 psi front and 47 rear. A relatively low speed parking lot figure eight test resulted in some slight burping in the rear. One of the key’s to prevent burps is to use tape to build up the rim center channel thickness to a point where the tire can still hook the rim bead, and isn’t too tight to mount. It turned out that the yellow tape supplied in the NoTubes kit wasn’t enough, so I added thickness with a layer of electrical tape on top of the roll of yellow tape that I had already used on the wheels.

Everything worked fine for the first few races, and then I did a race with some very fast and rough off camber corners and managed to burp both front and rear tires. I examined the setup again and decided that the electrical tape was insufficient, so I removed it and bought a second role of NoTubes yellow tape. I used the entire roll, half on the front, and half on the rear. In the end, it resulted in an entire roll of yellow tape being used on each rim beneath the rim strip.

I don’t think any tubeless setup is completely burp proof, but one thing CX racing taught me this year is that the ultimate burp test involves locking the rear wheel while skidding around a rough off-camber corner. After numerous tests and one race, I’m pretty confident in the setup. Now, back to the motor…

Omar

Xterra World Championships 2011 and Other Season Tidbits

2011-10-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

Well, another Xterra World Championship is in the books....this being my 9th vist to the race in Maui, it was still another great time. My race went well, as I did take another 2nd Place at the World Championship, but I must say I am a little dissapointed in not coming away with the win. I guess being a competitive type A has its drawbacks! I did however get on the Podium and that is always the best place to finish with the best Off-Road Triathletes on the Planet. Not bad for this Bama Boy. OK, enough whining!
With the end of the triathlon season close at hand, I mean it's pretty much over for 2011, I can say I had a another great season. The end was successful with a GrandMaster win at the Santa Rosa Island Tri a few weeks ago, and a 3rd in my age group at Agusta 70.3 series, and a slot to the 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas next September. I will look forward to going to another World Champiomship next year, only at a different race distance....gives me a lot to work on for next year. I think for 2012 I am going to try and get into Leadville 100 also just for a little training in August, might be fun! I do look forward to the Xterra season 2012.....I plan on doing a few more Xterra Championships next year and trying to win a 11th Southeast Regional title....but for now we'll just race some local fun events and try to stay in shape for the Holiday season. I think I might even have to go out and try a Cross Race Event.
2012 is just around the corner and it will be a fun year for the Cahaba Cycles Triathlon community.....with Triathlon 101 coming back in May 2012, and a host of great cycling events, 2012 promises to be a super fun year of cycling, triathlon, and MTB racing for all the Cahaba Cycles family.
Thanks to all the Cahaba Cycles family for giving me the chance to race and play with the Best Bike Shop in the Southeast, hands down! Now let's go ride some sweet single track!

2011-09-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

With my triathlon season coming to a close and the soon to start "running season" for me, I want to give Cahaba Cycles a BIG thanks for they're support and help. I've had a great season this year and an AWESOME bike that helped me do it. I have to say, my Trek Speed Concept has been my favorite bike so far. It is really admired by all when I travel around to these races. Someone even stopped me to take a picture of it in Las Vegas last weekend! Here are the race finishes that my Trek and Cahaba helped me accomplish:

1) March: New Orleans 70.3: Overall female age division
2) April: Powerman Alabama: 2nd female pro finisher
3) May: Gulf Coast 1/2 Ironman distance Tri: 1st amateur female (second over all by 2 seconds!)
4) June: Buster Britton Sprint Tri: Overall female (4th with the guys!)
5) July: Vineman 70.3: Overall female age division
6) August: Rocketman Olympic Distance Tri: Overall female
7) September: Las Vegas World Championship 70.3: Overall female age division

Thanks to all the guys and KiKi for their help!!! Also a special thanks to Chris for a great Retul fit on the bike that made a HUGE difference!! I've had some of my fastest bike splits in a long time this year!

Sincerely,

Deanna Newman

2011-08-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

Cahaba Cycles Team Rider Casey Fannin Checking In for the 2011 Race Season. What a Crazy summer so far. I have finished up the 2011 Xterra Off-Road Triathlon season with a Overall Win down at the First Coast Xterra Triathlon in July, and have won my 10th Xterra Southeast Regional Championship Jersey. Next Xterra will be the Xterra World Championships on October 23rd on the Island of Maui, and I would love to win another Xterra World Championship, but I have a lot of work to do between now and then. There are a lot of tough dudes out there, and they all want to win that Jersey! I must say that my season has been quite crazy again.....broke my ribs earlier, and then got a major infection in my arm, and just last week coming out of the water at the Mountain Lakes Triathlon I cut my foot open! I still managed to get on the podium in 2nd place in my age group, and I think 20th overall, can't remember, but still a pretty good race considering I was bleeding like a stuck pig the whole bike, and run. Wow, training and racing has been a chore this season. It has been a successful season to this point however, and lack of training or not, I've enjoyed racing. I did miss several of my prime races due to STUFF, but that's life.
We have had a great summer out at Oak Mountain State Park with Triathlon 101 every Monday afternoon. There has been some regulars showing up every Monday, and I would say we've had a great time. We are going to continue through September and see how things end up with the season. We might turn it into a Duathlon 101 as the water cools off, or break out the Wetsuits. So, if any of you guys want to come out between now and the end of September, you're all invited.
I must say my 2 new pieces of equipment have been a blast to ride this season also. My Cevelo S3 has been my Tri/Road Bike, and has performed well as a 2 sport bike. It is stiff but compliant, and jumps as soon as you hit the gas, not to mention it is very Areo, and climbs like a billy goat, and It desends just as well! A great bike to ride, and you can Get you one if you go by Cahaba Cycles, a must for any bike enthusiast. My other girlfriend has been my Trek SuperFly 100 Elite. This 29er has been a joy all season. It has proven to be a very good bike all around in many different Xterra situations. It will be my choice at the Xterra World Championships as well.
Anyway, that's about it for now. I will check back in in a couple of weeks. We have a few more races to pull off before Worlds, and I hope we can get some fitness while doing them. We have the Black Bear Rampage coming up, also Augusta 70.3 1/2 Ironman, and Santa Rosa Island Triathlon. Should be fun!
Thanks again to the crew at Cahaba Cycles for all the great service and keeping me supplied with the best equipment for all my cycling needs. Mucho Gracias

Casey

Superfly 100 Observations

2011-08-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

This was my first year riding a full suspension bike since making the switch to 29″ wheels in 2008. It took a while to get my Trek Superfly 100 to my liking in terms of fit, shock pressure, and drivetrain issues. But once there, it quickly became my favorite mountain bike of the half dozen or so that I have owned over the years. The most noticeable differences between my SF100 and my last hardtail, are that I’m able to descend rough terrain with more control and speed and maintain momentum through rock gardens with greater ease. I’m notorious for damaging wheels and spokes on hardtails, but my wheels seem unphased this year under the full suspension. In my opinion, a large percentage of the extra weight associated with full suspension can be made up by getting away with a lighter rear wheel.

Most of the questions from other riders are about the modifications that I made to my SF100. In particular, I added the following:
1. Custom chain keeper that I made out of a K-Edge chain keeper and piece of metal from a handlebar basket mount
2. Seatpost water bottle mount
3. Zip tied pieces of innertube to make sure bottles only exit the cages when I grab them
4. Spare lightweight tube in space between seatube/toptube

I also used a Nokon full length housing cable to keep the rear derailleur shifting like new. My only complaint about the bike is that I sometimes accidentally knock the pro-pedal lever to the off position when grabbing waterbottles. I hear the solution is to simply turn the shock around, so that’s on my to-do list in the next few weeks.

Fontana Dam Jam

2011-08-08T16:45:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I competed in my final major XC Mountain bike race of the year at Fontana Dam. The rain held off all weekend, but the humid 90+ degree temperatures still made it into the western North Carolina mountains. It was my first time racing Fontana, and it was truly an epic XC race course. The climbs were absolutely brutal in both steepness and technical difficulty, and the descents were blazing fast and technical. Given the difficulty, the race organizers let each of the CAT1 expert waves of riders vote for 3 or 4 laps. The under 30 crowd voted first and came out almost unanimously in favor of 3 laps. When the 30-39 vote came up, I quickly threw my hand up in favor of 3 laps. Unfortunately the 30-39 age-group is overrun with bicycle masochists who favored 4 laps. At 35-40 minutes per lap for top amateurs, that worked out to very long XC race. I tried to stay relaxed and bounced between 3rd and 4th positions for the first 3 laps. Despite being well hydrated, the fatigue set in on the last lap. Fatigue quickly escalated to leg cramps so brutal that I was forced to walk several climbs and even stop for a minute to rest. I cramped out of podium contention in 5th place, but gained a lot of insight into my weaknesses and race preparation. It was a humbling race experience that I look forward to improving on next year. Even though the race didn’t go as well as planned, I had the loving support of family with me, and it was a great excuse to drive the Dragons Tail!

2011 Season Update

2011-06-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Cahaba Cycles Team Rider Casey Fannin checking in with a short report of 2011 Triathlon Season. It has been a fun ride so far. This season started with some injuries and things seem to be healing pretty well, now if I can only get in better racing shape.
Heres the season results so far:

MulletMan Triathlon 1st place 50-54 12th Overall

Xterra Fort Yargo Georgia 1st place 50-54 4th Overall

Beaches Fine Arts Triathlon 1st Place 50-54 14th Overall

Xterra Southeast Championship 1st Place 50-54 20th Overall

Buster Britton Triathlon 1st Place 50-54 23rd Overall

Bump & Grind MTB Race 4th Place 50-59

Xterra Lock 4 Nashville 1st Place 50-54 3rd Overall

I did defend my Xterra Southeast Championship for the 5th year in a row which qualified me for the World Championship once again. I will look forward to racing in Maui in October on a Totally New Course on the North Shore.
I must say that this is my First Season on my Trek Superfly 100 29er and it is exceding my expectations for sure. This Bike has carried me to all my Xterra Podiums with ease. The handling, cornering, and the balance of the bike is just epic. I would suggest to anyone who is thinking of riding a 29er, you should! Go by one of the Cahaba Stores, grab a demo and go hit the trails. I bet after a few minutes on the 29 platform you will be sold. Anyway, that's all for now, I have a few races coming up, next wil be the Jax Sprint Series Triathlon in Fernadino Beach and Chattanooga Waterfront and then Back to Xterra Racing at the First Coast after that. I'll post results as soon as I get them and have some exciting news about Cahaba Cycles and all the good stuff coming out of the shops.
Thanks again to the Crew at Cahaba for keeping the faith and putting out Super Product for all of us Bike Junkies.

Many Blessings,
Casey Fannin

Bumping and Grinding

2011-06-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a weekend of firsts for me… 1st-born child came home from the hospital, 1st Bump and Grind Expert XC Race win, and 1st Super D Race win.
Sydney entered the world at 10am on Thursday June 2. Fortunately we had great support from our parents over the next few days in the hospital. I ended up spending the nights and mornings in the hospital and loosening up or racing in the afternoons. It's all a blur now, but getting away and riding for a few hours each day definitely helped keep us all from overwhelming each other.

Once again, BUMP put on an amazing Bump and Grind Mountain bike race weekend. I can't help to think how lucky I am to have the biggest XC race in the Southeast right in my own town. BUMP added the Super D to the events this year, and it consisted of about 70% downhill and 30% climbing. I focused on minimizing braking, holding the quickest lines through the single-track, and hammering the short climbing sections. In the end, I managed to take the win by over a minute on the 4.5 mile course. It certainly helped that I've been riding the course on a regular basis for the last 4 years, but I also give credit to my Trek Superfly 100. Compared to the hardtail that I normally ride, the full suspension felt like I was cheating on the fast and rough downhill sections. The Super D was a reminder of the high adrenaline downhills that made me fall in love with mountain biking as a kid.

The weekend of racing ended with the XC race on Sunday. With near 100 degree temperatures, and over 31 miles of trail, it was more about energy management than anything else. I had to dial my pace back on the climbs to keep from overheating. Fortunately, I was able to make up for it by staying focused and railing the twisty single-track with few mistakes. In the end, this strategy worked to hold on for the race win. It was a truly memorable weekend!

Omar

2011 Xterra SE Championship

2011-05-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

What does it take to beat a top professional Xterra Triathlete? This past weekend, I attempted to find out the answer to this question by forming a relay team with 2 other Birmingham locals. Right now I’m focused on XC mountain bike racing, so I figured with two other single sport focused local athletes, we could easily shake up the professional podium.

Since I’ve recently spent more time on cycling podiums than in the pool, I decided to go with another former college swimmer for the swim leg. In addition to swimming in college, he still swims 2 -3 times per week and competes in road triathlons. The runner was a local distance runner who ran in college, and regularly runs 10k’s in the low 30 minutes range.

The 1500 meter swim started off with a mass start and the lead field of professionals quickly gapped all of the amateurs. At the end of the swim, we were about 4 minutes down on the top pros. With fresh legs and no equipment to fumble with in transition, I took off strong on the 20 mile bike and managed to pass a number of amateurs and a handful of pros. Unfortunately, the gap was too big to close, and the top 5 pros still managed to out split me by anywhere from one to six minutes! Our runner faired a little better, and managed to hang within a minute of the fastest pro run splits in the 5.5 mile trail run. At the end of the day we ended up behind the top five pro men in sixth place overall, and 9 minutes off the lead.

So what does it take to beat a top professional Xterra Triathlete? Maybe I’ll figure it out next year… One thing I did learn is that the top professional Xterra triathletes are phenomenal athletes who can outgun most single sport amateurs (and some professionals) at any of the three disciplines.

Omar

2011-05-22T20:33:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would send you a race update. Did the Gulf Coast Triathlon 1/2 Ironman last Saturday and had a good day. I won over all female (age group) and over all female master. I was second over all with the first female pro's time 2 seconds faster than mine!! Of course we couldn't see each other because she started 5 minutes ahead of me. I felt great and had a really good bike ride. I rode the course in 2:28. I had the fastest female bike split. The female pro pretty much beat me in transitions! I was 4 seconds faster swimming, she was 4 seconds faster on the run and I was just under 1 minute faster on the bike. Still loving my Speed Concept! It is really comfortable. If you are interested in checking everyone's race, as a lot of people from B'ham were there, you can find them at Chiptimes.com.
By the way, KiKi ordered a Rudy Project Wingspan aero helmet for me and I LOOOOOVE it!!! I think you might want to consider carrying those. It is so light I don't even notice it on my head. It also has good vents that have the option of covering completely or part of the way depending on the ouside temp. Definitely the best aero helmet I have ever tried. It also looks pretty cool which is hard for an aero helmet.

Thanks to all the guys at the stores for their help! And KiKi!

Deanna

Xterra Fort Yargo Georgia 2011

2011-05-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

Alright the 2011 Xterra Off-Road Triathlon Season opener was Saturday April 30th and it was a great day of racing. After a month of No-Training due to Broken Ribs as well as other "Life" Things, the Xterra opener was quite fun. The weather was perfect with lows in the 50's for the start and ending up with highs in the 70's toward the end of the race. Beautiful Spring time in the South. We had several Birmingham Locals over to race the Xterra as well as the SERC Series on Sunday.
I was a little concerned with my fitness, but I managed to pull off a pretty solid race after it was all done. My first race on the Trek SuperFly 100 29er was pretty solid for a tight, twisty single track trail. The bike handled well and was much more responsive during the race than during my pre-ride. I guess a little speed was all it needed. I think it felt at home on this course after the gun went off.
I mananged to get out of the swim in 2nd place overall, and held this position into the bike course. I kept thinking someone was riding me down, but it must of been some wierd flashbacks, or my Gaurdian Angel riding behind me! I came off the bike and started the run in 2nd place and did my best to hold this position for the 4.5 mile run, but near the end of the run my friend Mark Rudder ran me down along with some other young buck, right before the finish line! CRAP! I was not happy about that run, but it was still a fun day. I took 4th overall and won my Age Group for the start of the 2011 Xterra Season.
Full results can be found here:http://www.goneriding.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=192&Itemid=197
Now if I can defend my 2010 title I will be shooting for my 10th Regional Championship Title in the Southeast. It's still a long season ahead, but maybe we can build from here and have a successful 2011 season.
Major Shout out to the CAHABA CYCLES FAMILY for such Great Support and the best Bike Shop in the SouthEast. Coming up is the Beaches Fine Arts Series Triathlon and then the Xterra Southeast Championship out at Oak Mountain. Should be a fun Month!

Casey

2011 Ft. Yargo XC Race

2011-05-04T05:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, my wife and I headed over to Georgia for the annual Ft. Yargo XC Mountain bike race. The race wasn't until Sunday, but we decided to head over to Atlanta on Saturday to grab some great seafood at Six Feet Under (Yes it's across from a graveyard!) and head over to Athens to watch the annual Twilight Criterium. The criterium is combined with a street festival and turns out to be one of the biggest cycling events in the country year after year. Needless to say, we had a great time watching the racers dive into 90 degree corners at speeds exceeding 30mph. Check out Brian Toone's race report here for more on the Twilight Criterium.

I was still feeling the excitement from the twilight on Sunday. Despite having to rely on a demo bike, I managed to ride a strong race. I started the first of three laps staying towards the back of the lead pack of five riders. I was sitting comfortably in 4th going into the second lap when the two leaders got tangled up in a crash. As the other riders regrouped I pushed hard going into the singletrack on the second lap. I kept the pressure on the pedals until I knew I was comfortably in the lead with a few miles to go on the last lap. Everything came together in the end for my first race win of the season!

Omar

2011-05-03T17:24:00.001-07:00

2011 MulletMan Triathlon Race Report

2011-04-18T04:49:00.001-07:00

The 15th Annual Mullet Man Triathlon took place Saturday April 16th at the Famous FLORA-BAMA Road House at the boarder of Orange Beach Alabama and Perdido Beach Florida. The weather was just about perfect with a cool West Wind and good Gulf conditions for the swim start. A solid field of Birmingham folks were on hand as well as about 300 other folks from around the region.
I must say I was quite nervous for the start of the race. I was 3 weeks out from breaking two ribs on my back side and have not been training very much. No swimming at all left me a little worried about my ability to have any success at all in the water, but once the gun sounded it seemed that with a little rough water and my love of the surf I was off to a good start. I exited the water in 2nd place out of my wave start and headed to the bike. Now, I just sold my Tri-Bike and had my Trek Madone 5.2 to ride for the race. I attached some Vision Clip-Ons and had a good bike to ride for the 7.5 Mile Time Trail into the 15-20 MPH Head Wind. The first few miles of the bike were quite a challenge, but once we made the turn at the State Park the ride home was Sweeet. I managed to ride a 42:43 for the 15 mile TT, not the fasted Bike Split I've ever put up, but good enough to get me to the run in good shape.
The run was the last and final hurdle, and into the wind for 2 miles was not the easiest part of the whole race, but again once we made the turn it was nice with the tail wind coming down the home stretch.
I crossed the finish good enough for my 1st Male Grand Masters Win, and good enough for 12th Place Overall. Not a bad start to the 2011 Season. Now it was time for some Famous Flora-Bama Party Time......we took advantage of that for sure! Oh, and my Wife Took 3rd Place in Her Age Group! She was stoked! Good Family Fun!
Thanks to all the Cahaba Family for making the Wheels Turn Smoothly, and taking care of all My Racing Needs. Until Next Report! Much Love.........

Casey & Andrea

2011 Tsali XC Race

2011-04-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I almost completed my first mechanical free mountain bike race of the season. I say almost because I made it through the race without any mechanical issues, but failed to make it to the race without a mechanical issue. My car held up fine, but unfortunately I forgot to tighten the quick release of a front wheel attached to my roof rack. 400 yards after hitting the highway, I watched my rearview mirror in horror as the wheel flew off. If the impact of the ground didn’t destroy it, the several cars that hit it afterwards did. By the time I retrieved the wheel, the only salvageable parts were the disc brake rotor bolts and valve stem. Luckily I still had another wheel with me. Cahaba Cycles came through by truing my spare wheel and mounting a new race tire before getting back on the road to the annual XC mountain bike race at Tsali.

The trail was in great condition and the race went extremely well. I managed a great start and took the lead position going into the singletrack. I pushed a little harder than I normally would at the beginning of a 31 mile mountain bike race and managed to get out of site from all but one of the 19 deep field. The one remaining rider got by me on a climb about half way into the first of two laps. I held my position through the second lap and finished up in second place after a hard 1:59 effort. The course was configured slightly different from last year, but the terrain and difficulty were very similar. I was extremely excited to see that I averaged a 7% faster pace than last year. Great racing to come this year…

Omar

Deanna's Powerman Exploits

2011-04-02T06:53:00.001-07:00

Raced Powerman Alabama March 27th and had a great day! Placed second among pro women, but the best thing for me was improving on my time from the previous year. I took a couple minutes off my bike time from last year which makes me feel good at the start of the season. I want to thank the guys at Cahaba Cycles for the awesome tune up on my bike prior to the race. No problems whatsoever shifting in and out of gears a lot with the hilly course. They also found a problem with my race wheel and got the part ordered and took care of it in time before the race. I'm looking forward to getting my new Trek Speed Concept bike to race the rest of the season. Should have it all together and ready for my next race, Ironman 70.3 New Orleans April 20th. Should be sweet!!

Deanna Newman

2010 Racing Season Report or Sort of.....

2010-12-05T05:25:00.000-08:00

Well December 2010 is here and I guess I can say that the Year is about to end. With injuries since July I guess it's time for closure on another racing season. Time to really start focus on 2011. I feel it will be a great year of racing once again.
For a year with injuries 2010 has been a successful racing season, as you can see from the picture above, Cahaba Cycles on the North Shore of Hawaii just before the World Xterra Championship, can't be all that bad. Totally Blessed indeed! The turtles wanted a t-shirt, so I promised to be back next year.
2010 had me in 14 Main Racing events which were 6 Xterra events including the National Championship along with the World Championship. 5 Road Triathlon events which included Ironman Lake Placid (could not do the run), but I'll get revenge on that later! 2 Duathlons and Bump & Grind, our local Big MTB race. I did make the podium at every event, and I feel extremely blessed to have had such good fortune at these races. I must say the highlight of the season was getting the Title of Mr. Xterra at the National Championship. It was a total surprise and a great honor. Again the word BLESSED comes to mind, not only with success at the events, but mostly from having a loving family to support me, as well as the Best Bike Shop in the Country.
2011 is basically here and the events are already getting attention. The first Main Event will be the ITU WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP in Spain which takes place in April/May of 2011. I will be racing with Team USA against some of the Worlds best at Off Road Triathlon, at least this is the tentative plan for right now. It looks to be a great event. If I can only afford the plane ride over! : ) Powerman Alabama is only 12 weeks away also......so I better get busy!
Make sure to stay in touch with Cahaba Cycles for some Spring/Summer fun on Monday afternoons during the season as I will kick off the Monday Afternoon Triathlon Series out at Oak Mountain. More works are in the making for this event, but it should be a fun time for the upcoming Spring/Summer season.
Huge thanks to the Cahaba Cycles Family, which without them none of this would be possible. Until my next entry, may all of you have a wonderful Christmas Season, and a absolutely Great New Year.

See ya on the Trails,
Casey Fannin

Cahaba Cycles at Xterra World Championships

2010-11-08T05:40:00.000-08:00

Cahaba Cycles Team Rider Casey Fannin here reporting on a fantastic time in the Islands of Hawaii for the Xterra World Championship.
The beauty of Hawaii never ceases to amaze me. I feel very blessed to get to compete at this event. This was my 8Th year to compete at the World Championship, and my performance this year was a little off compared to years in the past, but with my injuries and lack of training that was to be expected. Still, the Xterra World Championship is just a fantastic time.
The race took place on October 24Th on the Island of Maui near Makena Beach at the Maui Prince. It started off with a 1.5K open water swim in the waters of the Pacific. A 2 loop course for the swim makes it a little tight for several hundred yards after the cannon fires off for the start of the race. There were about 720 plus starters for this years event, so it can get a little aggressive for the start. I had a great start position and was able to get into a good groove for the swim. I came out of the water around 23 minutes for a 2ND place in my age group behind my friend Tom Monica from California, he's a very fast swimmer and I never saw him, so I was on the chase all day. The bike course is a 20 mile track up into the Kula Ranch area above the Makena Resort. It has over 3000ft of vertical climbing in this short 20 miles. I say short with a grain of salt, it is a tough course with lots of sharp lava, and plenty of kewave thorns. I came out of the swim and got on the bike in the mind set that I had to try and catch Tom. I felt OK on the bike but I could tell it was just not going to be my day. I never had the power to go....it felt like I was going backwards. Oh well, I became the hunted. I wanted to just stay in the place where I was so my mind set became, don't lose any spots! I pushed has hard as I could and came into transition 2 in 2ND place. Out on the run I went. The run course is just under 7 miles with plenty of climbing in itself. I've been nursing a stress fracture since July so I was plenty worried about getting run down by anyone who might be behind me. I just tried to hold what pace I could manage. It was with relief when I got closer to the finish and was able to look back and see no one in sight.....I came home in 2ND place 1 minute down from Tom.....I took 2ND place at the World Championship for the 4Th time since I have raced in Maui. A World Champion Jersey would have been nice, but it was not in the cards this year. It has been a tough season for this Veteran, but a good one.
I'm very thankful to have friends and family that support me at this crazy sport, and put up with all the training that it involves to be successful. I could not do it with out the help and support of Cahaba Cycles and the Malki's who supply me with the best bikes in the business. Also, to Chris who keeps my bikes running in tip top condition. I can honestly say I've never had mechanical issues at all in any of my races. That alone says a lot to the caliber of employees at Cahaba. Thanks to all the staff for treating me like a King.
Now, I mention the best part of Maui was the Famous Xterra After Race Halloween Party. It was Crazy Fun.....I should have won, but I'll tell you the story if you ask me.... Until next time

Casey Fannin

New Gear

2010-10-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to talk about my latest update to my Orbea tri bike. Finally upgraded my pedals with the help of Heath at the Cahaba store to some really cool Look Keo Blade Carbon pedals that are about twice as light as my old ones. They weren't hard to get used to at all. He also hooked me up with some Bontrager RXL Hilo shoes with eSoles inserts. I've always added my own inserts with Powersteps due to plantar fascia problems, but I havn't needed to with these. They give great support and are lightweight. They are also really comfortable without socks with no chafing in a half ironman. Chris out at Trussville tweaked my fit using my original Retul measurements as there were some changes in seat height needed with the new equipment. It is all working out great! Oh! Also wanted to say I love my new bike case that is inflatable. Its made by BIKND and its called he Helium. Cahaba stocks it. It was SO much easier to fly and travel with. Was also lighter weight. Highly recommend it! The guys at Cahaba can take care of anything I need!

Xterra National Championship 2010

2010-09-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Cahaba Cycles Team Rider Casey Fannin here reporting on the Xterra National Championship in Ogden Utah.
Well, the 2010 Xterra National Series has come to and end. 2010 has been a rough season for this veteran. I have had a Stress fracture since July, and it has been very frustrating for someone who loves to run.
I traveled to Ogden to do the National Campionship Race with no High Expectations at all. I must say it was for craps and giggles because I did manage to Win the Southeast Regional Championship for the Ninth Year. This would be a nice end to the series for me, and we were presented with our Jersey's at the night of Champions Dinner on Friday Night. Every year Xterra presents either man or woman with the distinquished title of Mr. Xterra or Mrs. Xterra, and to my Great surprise they Happen to choose me for the title of Mr. Xterra for 2010. I must say it was a great honor to be chosen. Along with getting my Jersey, this made for a very worth while dinner for me. Saturday we had to race and I was quite nervous that morning for reasons I mentioned before, being injured and all. It began with a bang of the famous cannon and we were off. I felt good on the swim, but was slower than I expected. I came out of the water in 3rd place in my age group and that is where I would stay for the remander of the day. I pushed my Top Fuel has hard as I could but at altitude I can only go so hard. It is a challenge going from 600ft. of elevation to 5000ft. and climbing to 10,000.....just kicks my butt every time. Well I continued pushing as well as I could, and still no one in my age group came around me on the bike......that was a little relief, but I still had to run a 10k and I had not run for some time. I knew it would be painful. I managed my way through the first mile, which is straight up for the first several hundred yards. OUCH! Once on top I managed to hold my slow pace and finally started back down the hill with a great bit of relief. I come across the finish in 3rd place at the National Championship..on the podium, it was a great feeling being somewhat competitive with the lack of training I had. Another Xterra Series in the books, and success at that!
None of this would not be possible without the support of Cahaba Cycles and the Great Crew that takes care of me. My bikes are the best, and the Malki's are 2nd to none when it comes to support for the Team. Thanks a billion!
Now it's time to focus on Xterra Worlds in October, and we'll be headed up to Racoon Mt. 8 hour race next weekend in prep for Worlds. I'll Check in with another report soon. Thanks for the read and we'll see you guys out riding.

Sincerely,
Casey Fannin, Team Cahaba

Ironman Lake Placid

2010-08-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

Cahaba Cycles Team Rider Casey Fannin Checking in with a short report on Lake Placid.
Well, Ironman Lake Placid was not meant to be for me this year. 1 week before the race I was sidelined by a stress fracture in my lower left tibia. We did make the trip to Lake Placid, and I did the Swim portion as well as the Bike portion of the race. After about 1/2 mile of running I had to pull the plug. Pain in my lower leg was just too much. It was a great trip and I will return to justify my DNF one day, but I need to heal for now. We still have Xterra World Championships to attend in October as well as Ironman Florida so I need to focus on those two events right now.

Fools Gold 50 mile MTB Race is this weekend August 21st over in Georgia. Looks like we'll be heading over for some nice Mountain Riding this weekend. I'll check in later with some updates.

See ya Soon,
Casey

The Mid Season Race Report and Other tid bits

2010-06-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is. The Hot Dog Days of Summer. Already in June we have had more consecutive 90 degree and above days on record for the state. Perfect time to get out and ride.
It's been a great race season so far, and I have had some successful results with the Xterra Season underway. With a New Trek Top Fuel 9.8 under me it has made the journey that much easier. The Top Fuel has performed flawlessly. We have made a few changes to the bike with some Stan's Olympic ZTR Disc Wheels, as well as some XTR Cranks. This has brought the weight down to 23.5lbs with peddles and gear bag, not bad for a duel suspension bike. A few more upgrades will come later, but for now it's a great bike to race on or just hit the trails for some fun. The Pro-pedal Platform makes this bike easy to setup as well gives it a perfect suspension to stay comfortable all day. With the Fox RLC 100 up front it completes the package nicely.
Race Results to date: Xterra Fort Yargo 1st Place 50-54, 5th Overall
Xterra Uhwarrie 1st Place 50-54, 3rd Overall
Xterra SC Cup 1st Place 50-54, 25th Overall
Xterra SE Cup 1st Place 50-54, 16th Overall

There's still a lot more racing to do in the Xterra Series. I was able to qualify for the Xterra World Championship once again and will be heading to Maui to defend the World Title One More time. I am well on my way to winning the Southeast Region Championship for a Ninth Time. Hopefully all will stay healthy and I can finish out the season with Great Results. Next up is Xterra Lock 4 in Nashville as well as Xterra Panther Creek August 1st. Then on the Nationals and Worlds.

Bump n Grind was also in the mix over the last few weeks and I was able to race well there also. Securing the win in the 50+ Category with the fastest Cat2 Bike Split of the Day. I wanted to race expert, but since I did not have a current licence they only allowed me to race Cat 2. Next year I'll buy a licence.

Now for the road side of Triathlon. It has been a busy Bike year for me. I have moved to a New TT Bike in the Cannondale Slice 2. This bike is Completely Awesome. It took me to a Age Group Win at Buster Britton Triathlon and it is currently helping me train for Ironman Lake PLacid in 4 weeks. This bike was a good choice for me in it's price point and components package. A solid Bike with a Great Mix of Sram Red and Force Parts. The bike tracks well at high speeds and is comfortable for longer rides. We'll put it to good use at the Upcoming Chattanooga WaterFront Triathlon witch serves as the Southeast Championship. Should be a good Warm Up for Lake PLacid 2 weeks after that..........Whew, I'm getting tired just thinking about it all! But, it's what makes the Journey all that much more fun.

Thanks to all of the Bike Support From Cahaba Cycles as well as the Crew over at Homewood Cycles as well. Special Thanks to Chris Tyree for keeping my Bikes in Tip Top Racing Form. Great Big Thanks to The Malki's for letting me race for the Best Bike Shop in the SouthEast. More news to follow as the Season Unfolds.

Cahaba Cycles Team Rider
Casey Fannin

2010-06-21T19:15:00.001-07:00

I've had my Orbea Ordu tri bike for about a year now that I got from Homewood Cycles. I have absolutely loved it! The only thing I didn't do was take the time to be properly fit just right on it because I am always so busy. I thought eyeballing it and going by how I felt was good enough even though I really knew I was just rationalizing as I didn't want to take the time to be fit. After spending more time on my bike I could tell I didn't feel quite right and was having neck and lower back pain as well as left foot pain especially when I ran. I also noticed when racing or pushing hard on the bike I tended to want to shift myself back on my seat to get more power. I heard about the Retul fit at Cahaba Cycles, and after procrastinating more, I finally went and visited Chris at the Trussville store for the fit. It took about two hours but he was so thorough to get it just right. It has made a world of difference in how I feel on the bike and even my run off the bike! I feel like I'm in the right spot on the seat when pushing hard, not needing to adjust myself. Also, my neck pain is gone and my back is so much better! My foot has even gotten well when I thought it was from other reasons. He adjusted my cleats just a hair and I think that was what it needed! The best thing to me is that not only do I feel more powerful and comfortable on the bike, but my legs feel so much fresher on the run. So don't underestimate the importance of a proper bike fit. Everything preached about it is true. It is every bit worth the time and money!! I got to test it out first hand at Buster Britton last weekend. I felt awesome on the bike having one of my faster times and ran each mile faster on the run for a first place win!

Deanna Newman

Xterra Ft. Yargo

2010-04-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

Despite downpours, the annual Xterra Ft. Yargo took place this past Saturday in Winder, GA. The Ft. Yargo course is a notch down in difficulty compared to the longer Cup races with intense climbs. This makes it a great way to start off the Xterra season. After a long winter of short course pool swimming, my arms started screaming for mercy about half way into the 800m lake swim. A few more weeks of long course swimming will help my open water form. I spent a lot of time on the bike this year, and it paid off when I finished the muddy 10 mile bike course within a minute of my time last year in the dry. My effort on the bike resulted in the fastest bike split of the day and 1st place overall position going into T2. Unfortunately, my extra time on the bike this year meant less time running, and it showed when I ended up in 3rd place overall (1st place AG) by the end. Despite the inclement weather, Xterra Ft. Yargo was a well run event, and I had a great time. Time to run...

Omar
www.ozonexterra.com

Tsali XC Race Weekend

2010-04-14T18:27:00.001-07:00

Leading up to this past weekend, half of my attempts at mountain bike races this season were tarnished by mechanicals and horrific weather. I enjoyed a great change of fortune on Sunday after successfully completing the annual XC race at Tsali. It was my first trip to Tsali, and it was well worth the 6 hour drive from Birmingham. The trails were in great condition and lived up to their legendary speed and flow. This years course started with an 1/8 mile climb up a jeep road to the first section of singletrack. After getting stuck in eighth position behind a small pileup at the entrance to the singletrack, I managed to battle through the field for a second place finish. I’m still trying to get my Xterra legs used to fast paced XC race starts.

After the race, my wife and I left Tsali and drove to Asheville NC for a short2 day vacation. It was our first time visiting Asheville, and we had a great touring the Biltmore, visiting Mt Mitchell, and enjoying great food in the surprisingly Bohemian downtown area. We capped off the awesome trip by taking the scenic route home through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

Omar
www.ozonexterra.com

Stans Crest Wheels

2010-04-02T16:21:00.000-07:00

High quality wheels are one of the biggest bang for the buck bicycle upgrades. I recently purchased a wheelset built with Stans No Tubes new Crest 29er rims. Cahaba Cycles built the rims with an American Classic front hub and DT 240 Singlespeed rear hub. Check out my last post for why I’m using a singlespeed hub on a bike with gears.

Standard black rims were out of stock, so I got a set of the powder coated white version. Even with the powder coating they were 370 grams each out of the box on the shop scale. As a reference, typical high quality 29er cross country rims are ~100 grams each heavier. This is my first experience with No Tubes rims, but they have noticeably short sidewalls. In fact, the sidewalls are so short, I was skeptical that a tire would stay on securely. However, just the opposite is true. I tried several tubed and tubeless setups with various Bontrager tires and a Seguaro tire and had excellent results. Tires emit a secure popping noise when seated properly on the rims. The only setup issues that I had were when I omitted the soapy water step and blew a tire off. Apparently the soapy water does help seat the tire bead! Notubes has extremely detailed and helpful setup videos on their website.

So how do they work on the trail? Acceleration is noticeably quicker. I managed to pinch flat one day when I hit a large rock while riding with a tube. I’m ~190 lbs geared up and the rim survived without any damage. The short sidewalls provide less leverage so this makes sense. After about 12 hard rides, neither wheel has required truing. Best of all, my bike is a pound lighter over the stock wheels set up tubeless. The majority of savings are from lighter rims and the lack of rubber rim strips required with No Tubes rims. So far, the rims are living up to their hype.

Omar
www.ozonexterra.com

Xterra Off Road Duathlon

2010-03-31T15:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday March 27th was a the season opener for Birmingham’s local Multi-Sport Tribe with the Powerman Alabama weekend. Saturday kicked off the event with the Elite Duathlon Championship as well as the Xterra Off-Road Duathlon. We were greeted with a beautiful morning with sunny skies and temps in the low 70’s by race start. A solid group of Off-Road Athletes towed the start line for a 1pm start. With the sound of the gun we were off and running. The first run of 8k was all on the new BUMP Lake Trail Extension, which when completed will take the loop around Double Oak Lake. The loop was mostly single track and with some small rollers felt a little long. By time we had hit the trails a young buck from ATL had taken a nice lead and by time we had made it back to Transition 1 he had moved ahead about 5 minutes. David Meadows and I stayed together for most of the loop and I was lucky to get around David about mid-way through. I’m glad I did because David out-split me on both of the bike and 2nd run legs of the race. Once on the bike my Trek Top Fuel felt like it was ready to race. We did the BUMP Trail Counter Clockwise so it made for some difficult short climbs and it really felt like it had no flow at all, but finally my legs came around for the first race of the season. Chris “THA WRENCH” Tyree had my bike tuned and ready to go for me on Friday before the race, so it was performing without too many glitches. I rode down the 2nd place guy after about 3 minutes and asked him how far up the next guy was……his reply stunned me when he said 5 minutes, 5 minutes would be a challenge! I gunned the Top Fuel and started the chase. Finally after the Blood Rock Climb I caught site of him just ahead on the fire road. I punched the Top Fuel again and rolled right past with some words of encouragement and a “Good Run Dude” statement, now I was in the lead. It’s all nice being in front but you know guys are on the hunt behind you, and I knew David was back there! I had to keep moving! I’ll admit my legs started feeling the first race of the season a little early. By the time I had moved back around to the RC Track I knew I had another 20 minutes on the bike…..that really hurt! I held on and pulled into transition 2 with a Very Small Lead over David. Thank Goodness it was only a 2k run to finish, cause I had no more to give. I had no idea David was so close until I caught him out of the corner of my eye coming up fast! I gave what little I had left and was able to cross the finish line in First Place just a few seconds ahead of David. Tough race with tough competition. A good end of the day!
Thanks to Cahaba/Homewood Cycles for the great support, and by having the best equipment to race on. Thanks to Chris for keeping my bike in Top Form, and Thanks to the Malki’s for their Generous Continued Support.
　
Until Next Time,
Casey Fannin

Six Speed MTB

2010-03-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

This season I’m running six gears on the freehub of my Gary Fisher Superfly. I decided to use six gears instead of the normal nine for a few reasons. First, six is the max # of gear cogs that can be run on most single speed rear hubs. And why would I want to run a single speed hub? Because the wheel can be built without dish (laterally stiffer/stronger) and a better chainline (no cross chaining). The laterally stronger wheel build also means that I can ride a lightweight rim with less risk of damage. Another very small benefit is reduced weight from eliminating a few gears. I figured these benefits combined would outweigh the downsides of fewer high gears and more shifting to the big front chainring.

Now for the how… For starters, I’m still using the stock unmodified SRAM XO shifters, front derailleur, crank, chainrings, and chain. For the hub, I’m using the lightweight and strong DT-240 singlespeed version. For the cassette, I could have choosen loose gear cogs of my choice and put them together with standard 9 speed spacers. However, this would have limited the number of gears to five. Also, the hub has a lightweight aluminum freehub body, and if individual cogs aren’t pinned together, the pedaling torque will cause them to eat into the freehub body over time. To cut down on potentially damaging the freehub body, I choose to use the pinned together 18-32 gear cogs from an 11-32 cassette and only one small loose gear cog. This gave me the following 6 sizes: 15, 18, 21,24,28, 32. In order to fit all of these gears on the shortened singlespeed freehub body, the back of the cassette spider was milled down by clamping the cassette in a bench vice and using a facing tool. I’m not sure how much metal was taken off of the cassette spider, but if too much is taken off and the cassette ends up too close too the spokes, spacers can always be used on the freehub to push it back out.

That was the easy part. The tricky part was modifying the SRAM XO rear derailleur to stop before pushing the chain into the spokes. The modifications consisted of longer b-limit & lower limit screws, and a stop fabricated for the derailleur. A small hole was drilled into the derailleur parallelogram and it was tapped. The picture below shows the new screw holding the new metal stop. This was required because the longer lower limit screw by itself ended up interfering with the high travel when adjusted to properly limit the lower travel.

So how does it work on the trail? The initial adjustment was kind of tricky, but once the limit screws were dialed in, basic shifting was unchanged from a normal SRAM XO setup. The most noticeable initial difference is the ability to shift down all six gears with one thumb flick. Also, with large 29 inch wheels, I have yet to find a trail situation where I needed the missing larger gear ratios. I ran out of gears on a few faster pavement downhills, but XC races are won climbing, and that’s where this setup shines. Since all six gears are available with any front chain-ring combo, I can stay in the middle ring without shifting to the small ring on climbs longer than with a standard setup (I never used the 32/34 combo in the standard 9 speed setup due to chain rub). The clunky shift down to the small chainring ring is probably one of the biggest equipment related time zappers in a race, so this is a very good thing. Finally, if I do end up on a course requiring all nine gears, a standard nine speed wheel/cassette can easily slip back into the dropouts and shift flawlessly after a few minuntes of shifter/derailleur adjustments.

Much Thanks to Ace mechanic Tyree at the Homewood store for getting this to work!

Omar
www.ozonexterra.com

Powerman

2010-03-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Powerman Alabama was this past weekend with it being the Elite National Duathlon Championship. I was third elite female qualifying for the World Championship that will be held in Scotland later on this year, August or September I believe? Not sure yet if that fits into my schedule. It was a very hard course at Oak Mountain with a 10k run, 60k bike, then another 10k run. As everyone knows at Oak Mountain, all hills! Cahaba Cycles set me up with a sweet set of new race wheels that I raced on for the first time and I have fallen in love with!! They are the Bontrager Aeolus Clincher, 5.0 in the front and 9.0 in the back. The perfect combination that made for a sweet ride!! It was also pretty windy, but I didn't really feel it at all with the 9.0 in the back. I can honestly say that these are the best race wheels I have ever had. They look really cool too! I also have to thank them for keeping my bike tuned up just right. Had quick, precise shifting of the gears and absolutely no hang ups! Also great advice from Andrew at Homewood on the best tire pressure to race on! They also have all the goods for nutrition. I like the Gu Chomps and Gu gels. Love the new Gu Jet Blackberry with 2x the caffeine! Love the Bonk Breaker bars too! I like them for when I start getting hungry before the race starts, couple of bites holds me over. Thanks Cahaba!!! Deanna

Great Deals to Make You Faster

2010-03-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody,

Spring is finally coming! The days are getting longer, warmer, and filled with cyclists buzzing about like busy bees. For some of us, that means the race season is just around the corner. If you are like me you were a little too cold to get much riding done this winter. So, I have some great deals at the shop to make even the laziest winter cyclist super fast. Check it out:

First up on the list, I've got a smokin' deal on our last 54 cm Cervelo P4 still left over from last year. TheP4 is the most aerodynamic bicycle in the entire world. Our P4 is decked out with Sram Red, Carbon Vision Aerobars and a magical water bottle that makes you go faster. This bike retails for $6800, but just like all our other 2009 stock, it's got to go to make room for our 2010 orders. So just for you, my fellow cyclist, you can have it for a mere $5440.

So I know what you are saying, 'I don't ride Triathalons...I'm a roadie and I like to climb!'.

Well, I have just the thing for you. How about a bonafide set of Dura-Ace 7800 tubular wheels? They are fast, stiff, and most of all...lightweight.

MSRP = $1999

MTBP(Mention this blog post) = $999

Last but certainly not least, I have a tantalizing offering for roadies and tri-geeks alike. Bontrager Aeolus 6.5 carbon tubulars and Zipp 1080s. Need I say more? I think not...

MSRP on these badboys are high...however, seeing as how I need to make room for some 2010 wheels...maybe we can cut a deal. Come in and ask for me, Andrew, and we'll see if we can't get you out the door riding with some deep dish hoops on your bike.

How 'fit' are you?

2010-01-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow Birmingham cyclists...

I hope everyone is well. I don't know about all of you, but for me, typically this time of year I spend more time dreaming about high-end bikes, reading about gear, and talking about bikes than I actually do riding my bike. Not that it's awful to fantasize and gawk at things that I know will help me to enjoy riding more. All that winter research can really come in handy when the spring rolls around and parts need to be repaired or replaced for the upcoming season.

That being said...

Parts and gear aren't the only things cyclists should be spending time researching in the winter. A cyclist's fit is far more important and will yeild more speed than carbon wheels, super-light tires, or stiff cranks. Many professionals in the bike business, including myself, don't spend enough time emphasizing to customers the importance of their fit. Typically, this is for no other reason than the fact that being trained to properly fit another cyclist is a time-consuming, expensive affair. Lucky for Birmingham's cyclists, Cahaba Cycles has spent the past few years investing heavily into becoming a premier fitting destination.

Recently two Cahaba Cycles employees, myself and John Pugh, attended Trek's Fitting Services seminar in Nashville, TN. During this two day seminar, John and I were able to build upon our current fitting knowledge and further understand how to make any rider comfortable and fast on their bike.

The teacher of our seminar, Michael Sylvester, is a world-renowned fitter based out of Portland, Oregon (bicyclefittingservices.com). Michael's fit philosophy is based on individual flexibility rather than arbitrary formulas that fit everyone the same. Learning to assess a rider's flexibility is tremendously important in determining what position is friendly to a rider's comfort level and power output. Other factors, such as a cyclist's body alignment, previous injuries, and activity level also provide a trained fitter with vital information to tailor a bike to the individual.

Attending the Trek Fitting Services seminar is only one of many investments Cahaba Cycles has made in turning our shop into the South's best place to get fit. In addition to paying professionals to educate our employees, Cahaba Cycles has purchased the tools necessary to get the best possible fit for our customers.

Last year we outfitted our Trussville location with the highly-specialized Retul fitting system. This fitting system allows a trained, knowledgeable fitter to see all the angles being made by a rider's body while riding his or her bike. By using a series of sensors and motion capture technology our fitter is equipped with a plethora of information about the rider's position.

If you're interested in getting fit by any of our trained fit specialists give us a call or stop by, we'd love to tell you about what we can offer and what you can gain from a proper fit.

Andrew Boyd

205.879.3244

aboyd@cahabacycles.com

Xterra World Championship

2009-10-30T06:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I competed in the annual Xterra World Championship in Maui Hawaii. This year, I finished the course over 40 minutes faster than my first and last attempt in 2007. My final time was strong enough to finish third in my age group and complete my goal of making it onto the podium. I credit my successful performance this year to several factors, not least of which was focusing on improving all of my weaknesses from my 2007 attempt.

Starting with the swim, the 500+ person field made the Xterra mass start complete mayhem. If you're trying to get out towards the front, its almost a certainty that you will either get hit, kicked, or possibly even dunked as everyone charges for the first buoy. Unlike the Xterra U.S.
Cup races, which utilized calm lakes, the swim in Hawaii took place in the ocean. The waves added another layer to the excitement and difficulty. After loosing time in 2007 due to poorly navigating the rectangular course, I made sure to do pool drills this year that involved sighting. By swimming in a straighter line I was able to improve my swim time by a few seconds and also save valuable energy for the rest of the race.

The transition to mountain biking occurred after a short run up from the beach. The bike course started out on flat pavement and turned up a fire road that zigged and zagged along the south face of the dormant volcano, Mt Haleakala. Besides the 2500+ ft of climbing in 19 miles, the bike course was littered with sharp loose rock to make things more difficult. The weather this year left the course a little smoother than past years, but the lack of shade and multiple steep and rough grades still made the ride incredibly strenuous. Going into the race, I spent a lot of time this year incorporating intense climbing in my training... something that was missing from my training the first time around.

The first 2/3 of the 11k run was very similar to the bike course. Once through the hilly rock strewn portion, the run dumped out onto a beach for close to a mile of running on the sand. In 2007, I was so fatigued after the bike that I suffered from serious cramping issues that slowed me to a walking pace for a good portion of the run. However, by including more intense runs and hills in my workouts, I made it through the run without any issues this year. Overall, I was extremely happy with my final result. Every completed Xterra is a learning experience for the next time. Maui was no exception, and I look forward to more big improvements the next time around.

Xterra South Central Cup - Arkansas

2009-06-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, I battled the 95+ degree heat for the top amatuer title in the Arkansas Xterra Cup Race. Instead of the typical two lap format of most Xterra Cup Races, the 1500m swim was one big lap around a waterski slalom course. The combination of 20+ minutes of swimming with no break and 85+ degree water temperature made the swim noticeably more difficult than usual. After leaving T1, it took a full 20 minutes of riding before the fatigue in my arms wore off. The bike was a fun 2 lap course through mostly shaded rolling singletrack. I managed to stay cool during the bike by following Pro Will Kelsay's advice, and stuffing a ziplock bag of ice down my jersey in T1. I also decided to wear a Cammelback to ensure that I took in enough fluids to get through the entire race. With the lead secured after the bike, I hit the run determined not to let anyone by. Most of my recent training focus has been related to running. Luckily, it paid off in my ability to maintain a consistent pace and hold on for the ameteur race victory. Next Up, Racoon Mountain SERC Mountian Bike Race...

Omar

http://www.ozonexterra.com/

2009 Xterra SE Cup

2009-05-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

I gained a small piece of fame this past weekend. Unfortunately, it was for accidentally breaking the nose of 3 time Xterra World Champ Conrad Stoltz. The accident occurred less than 10 minutes before the start of the SE Xterra Cup Race. Conrad and I collided in the water while warming up in the murky lake water. Although the collision didn’t seem hard, the top of my head caught the bridge of his nose. Fortunately, Conrad remained in good spirits, and still pulled off a convincing race win. Unfortunately, my race didn’t go quite as well.

With a week old bruised hip muscle still nagging, I went into the race with some lingering hip pain. Fortunately, my bruised muscle, suffered during a mountain bike training ride crash, held up fine through the race. My main problem was on the mountain bike. About a third of the way into the course, I managed to puncture the casing on my rear tire. The leak was slow, so I attempted to keep riding. After a few minutes of loosing pressure, I was forced to stop and empty a CO2 cartridge into the tire (tubeless). I continued, and after a few more minutes, I started to loose pressure again. Once the tire started to roll on the rim, I stopped, put in a tube, and finished the race.

I learned a few things from this experience. Once a tire starts to loose pressure, STOP and fix. I probably lost an additional minute or two just trying to ride on a nearly flat tire. Also, although I’ve changed flats for years, I need to practice quick flat repair for race conditions. Conrad is notorious for flatting during races, but he gave a few tips for overcoming them. He recommended mixing Stans and Slime for a more effective tubeless tire sealant. He also recommended carrying small automotive tire plugs. Apparently they work on tubeless bike tires as well.

Although the flat put a dmaper on my overall race, I still managed to finish second in my age group and qualify for the Xterra World Championship race in Hawaii later this year. Next up, the 2009 Bump and Grind MTB race….

Omar

www.ozonexterra.com

29 " Wheel Comparison - Shimano vs Bontrager

2009-05-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

Occasionally I get to demo new products. Over the last two weeks, I have been riding and racing on Shimano's latest 29" MTB wheelset. My reference point consists primarily of my season old Bontrager Race-X Lite Wheels that came with my Gary Fisher Superfly.

After over 100 aggressive MTB miles, the Shimano wheels have held up extremely well. I removed the tires and valve stems and weighed the two wheelsets back to back. Both had stock skewers, tubeless rimstrips (Bontrager wheels only-Shimano doesn't need rim strips for tubeless), stock 160mm rotors, and Shimano XT 11-34 cassettes attached. Amazingly, both wheelsets came in at 2lb 5oz front and 3lb 4oz rear. Although they won't win weight weenie contests, they are light by 29" standards and within 1/2 lb of similarly priced 26" wheelsets.

The hub quality and engagements of both rear wheels feels nearly identical. The Shimano uses a straight pull spoke design (no 90 degree bend at the hub), which supposedly allows higher spoke tension and greater stiffness. Although the spokes are laced noticeably stiff, I was unable to tell the difference in stiffness while riding. The Bontrager wheels require a rimstrip to run tubeless. Shimano seals the spoke holes, so no strip is required. Both systems work flawlessly with tubeless setups. However, Shimano's system seems to make spoke nipple replacement a factory only procedure. In my 20 years of riding bicycles, I have never had to replace spoke nipples, so this shouldn't be an issue.

There were really only 3 noticeable performance differences between the two wheelsets. The bearing drag is slightly higher on the Shimano hubs (possibly due to the relative lack of miles). The closing mechanism feels less stout on the Shimano skewers than the Bonty's. Finally, the Shimano's use centerlock brake rotors instead of 6 bolt. Fortunately the 09 Bonty's now use the lighter and easier removal centerlock design. At $700/set, the Shimano's retail for $200 less/set than the new Bontrager wheels. In conclusion, the lower price and equally performing Shimano's are a great buy for a no fuss high performance cross country wheelset.

Omar

www.ozonexterra.com

A Long Weekend

2009-04-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

After two days in a row of racing, I finally regained enough energy to blog about it...

Saturday morning's Xterra triathlon in Winder Georgia started off with a half mile lake swim. After training in pools all winter with the luxury of walls to rest between laps, the first lake swim of the year was a small shock. Luckily, I have been swimming consistently this year, so it wasn't as bad as past years. Although I was third out of the water, I had a great T1 and started the 10 mile mountain bike leg in first. Friday's wetsuit emergency didn't leave any time to pre-ride the course. Fortunately, I had luck on my side as I safely navigated the bmx style jumps through one of the most technically challenging Xterra courses that I have ever ridden. I gained a sizable lead on the bike course, and despite recently overcoming a running injury, managed to comfortably hold form for 4.5 miles and take the race victory.

Sunday's 30 mile mountain bike race followed the same course as Saturday's Xterra bike leg. Once the horn went off for the 3 lap hammer fest, the lead group started off in a punishing pace. The fatigue from the previous day's triathlon set in before the end of the first lap. As the lactic acid quickly started to build, I slowed to a more sustainable pace and switched into training mode rather than race win mode. Although the mid-pack eighth place finish won't do much for my race resume, I added a thick layer of toughness that will pay off this season...

Omar
www.ozonexterra.com

Attack on Swayback MTB race

2009-04-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I picked up my first race win of the year in the Attack on Swayback cross country mountain bike race. The race was held in Wetumpka Alabama, about a 1.5 hour drive from Birmingham. It was my first time on the course, so I decided to drive down and pre-ride it on Saturday. Although the 8.7 mile loop was relatively flat, there were more turns than a potters wheel. This made line selection very critical in navigating the course quickly. Luckily, the pre-ride paid off and I made it through the race with only one mild "off the bike" experience. I felt strong throughout the 26 mile race and look forward to next weekend’s double header: Saturday-Xterra Ft Yargo & Sunday- SE Regional Championship MTB race.

Omar
www.ozonexterra.com

Two Days, Two Races

2009-04-20T13:48:00.001-07:00

This weekend was a big test of fitness for me. After years of being away from the race scene, I decided this winter that I wanted to race again, and began to train accordingly. Working at Homewood Cycles I was able to ride into work just about every day thanks to the fact that our shop has a shower. I've done a couple of races this year, but this would my first weekend racing on both Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, I left work at around 11:00 to head downtown to the crit course for the Cyclismo race being put on by Red Mountain Racing. After registering for the race I borrowed a pump from Jonathan Mitchell(RMW sprinter extraordinaire) and began to warm up. The course was FAST. No, actually, it was very fast. Not because of downhills or tailwinds, but because of silky smooth pavement and four-lane wide corners.

This being my first year back in racing, I'm racing Cat. 5. I lined up for our race at 12:45 and scanned the field. All the usual suspects were there. A few Red Mountain guys, some Steel City guys, a few folks in Bike Link jerseys and ten or so unattached racers. We were also lumped in with the Junior racers who were forced to start at the back of the pack.

Right off the bat, one of the Juniors(who is also a Cat. 3) jumped off the front and took off. None of the Cat. 5 racers followed since he didn't count toward our results. The first 10 minutes or so were typical of a Cat. 5 crit. Not too fast, not too slow, but pretty sketchy. After those first 10 minutes, Jason Carroll of the Red Mountain Wheelman jumped off the front and led the race for a lap or so. I honestly didn't think his attack was well-timed but I began to notice that none of the racers wanted to work to pull him back. So I moved to the left of the pack and began to sprint.

It wasn't long before I caught Jason. I passed him and told him, "Let's go." I was worried he might be too tired to keep up the attack but he got on my wheel and a half lap later, he was taking over pulling duty and we were growing our gap. Five or six laps later we caught up with the Junior racer who jumped off at the beginning of the race. Now our break had a real shot of working.

The three of us worked hard for the next 15 minutes and our gap only grew larger. Long story short, on the last lap, Jason Carroll won the race and I took second. I felt dead by the time we reached the last lap, but being in a working breakaway was very rewarding.

A few things that helped me do well in the race were my new wheels and tire setup. I rode a pair of Race X Lite wheels with Michelin latex tubes, a Michelin Pro-Race 3 tire on the front and a Vittoria Open-Corsa Evo KS rear tire. The combo works out great...it was awesome. The latex tubes are very light, super puncture resitant and make your tires feel like tubulars. The Pro-Race 3 is a great front tire because it operates with much lower tire pressures than other high end tires - making it hook up well. The Vittoria rear tire is very high-performance and runs a pressure comprable to many tubulars providing low rolling resistance and fast acceleration when standing out of a corner. Most road racers don't think of running different tires which run different pressures, but coming from a mountain biking background I knew it would work well...and I was correct.

Day 2 - Attack on Swayback

On Sunday, my wife and I went got up super-early and packed up to go down to Wetupmka, AL for a small mountain bike race known as the "Attack on Swayback". We arrived at the race about an hour before the race and after registering I played with my tire pressure for a while. I was running Geax Barro Race TNT tires and I have had good luck running super low pressures with them (about 18 psi front and 22 rear), but I decided to run something a little higher this time (25 psi front and 25 psi rear). These tires are ridiculously fast....actually scary fast would be a better description. They roll faster than any other tire I've ever been on, and I've long been a fan of semi-slicks.

While pre-riding the course I soon realized that this was a very technical trail. Constant turns, short steep climbs, frequent roots and creek crossings were the story of the day. I only got to ride about 1.5 miles of the course before getting back on the road leading to the start/finish.

I was very nervous when the race started. It was my second race as a Cat. 2 and there were 14 racers in my category. But, the race started and I hit the trail in third place. Right away the guy in the lead crashed and I passed him. I stayed on the wheel of the guy in the lead for about 4 miles and we got a big lead over most of the riders. But, just as I began to get comfy in the saddle, I looked back and saw someone catching up with us. I told the guy who was leading that I needed to pass. I put it in the big ring and began hammering. I immediately opened a gap, but after about a mile I began to suffer and stopped concentrating on bike handling as much as I should have. I went down on a corner...hard. I rode another couples, still hurting...I ran into a tree at high speed. A couple miles later I clipped a tree with my shoulder going fast enough that it spun me all the way around and flung me to the ground.

All in all, I ended up crashing about 8 times by the end of the race(I'm really more of a roadie, I don't handle a bike well). However, despite the wrecks, I continued to lead throught the second lap. When I passed through the feed zone, my wonderful support crew(my wife) handed me an Enervitene Cheer Pack, probably the most effective gel on the market(at Homewood Cycles, we call it 'crack-in-a-sack'). It wasn't long before I started feeling better and I started going hard every chance I got, especially on the climbs.

8-hard miles of leading the pack later I came across the finish line in first place, my first win since racing as a junior about 7 years ago. It felt great to win and it was even better because I had my wife with me to share in the fun. I've been wanting to upgrade to expert and now I feel that I'm fit enough to do so.

Next race on the docket is the Xterra race on the weekend of the 23rd of May followed by the Bump and Grind on the 31st.

Keep riding everyone,

Andrew Boyd - Homewood Cycles

GSMR Training Race #3

2009-03-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure whether to call this the 2nd or 3rd training race since the 2nd one was cancelled due to snow...but, what a difference a week makes...one week 4" of snow on the ground, the next week temps near 80.

This past Sunday, Jim, Doug, Mervin, Anthony, Justin, Jason, and I drove up to Gallant, AL for the final GSMR training race. Apparently the nice weather got a lot of people out of the house and we had 65 racers in the B race (the most ever according to Bill Seitz). After not getting a good starting spot at the last training race, I was determined to be toward the front at the beginning of this race. I'm glad I got toward the front because the Steel City team decided they were going to put the hammer down on the first lap. Steel City had a large group of riders (at least 8) show up to this event. At the beginning of the race, they all moved to the front and really started driving the pace. We averaged close to 25mph on the first lap. Since Steel City was laying down the attacks, I was comfortable just sitting in and letting them work. The first lap was rather uneventful other than the pace being so high.

On the 2nd lap, it got a little more interesting with several attacks taking place and Anthony and Jason trying to reel them back in. After the climb on the 2nd lap, Jason went off the front and had one other person go with him. This allowed me to continue to sit in and save a little energy. After a little while, the group caught up to him and Jason sat up in the pack. A few other series of attacks continued to happen, but were all quickly shut down.

After we crossed the start line for lap 3, another attack went up the road, but we would not let them get too far ahead. After turn 1, me and one other person decided it was time to shut down the attack and worked together to pull them back in. Then after we took turn 2, another attack had gone up the road, but this time it was only one rider. I knew he was strong as I've seen him at a bunch of events, but was comfortable letting him sit out there and fight the wind for a little while. Then one of the Steel City riders (Brad), Jim, and I decided to pull him back in before the start of the 4th lap.

After we had pulled him back in, I somehow managed to get passed by a bunch of riders and was now sitting mid pack...which is not where I wanted to be as it left me vulnerable to not being able to chase breakaways. On the back side of the 4th lap, a good size group started to go off the front and I was working to get toward the front of the pack so I could react to them, but was stuck due to the large size of our field. Coming back toward the start line, the breakaway had gotten about 10 seconds on the peloton, and I was doing everything I could to move up the group. The next thing I know, there are riders ahead of me overlapping wheels and a crash happened, but I was able to avoid it. Due to all the chaos (which always happens after a crash), I was able to move up the peloton and Brad from Steel City and I decided to try to chase the breakaway. I soon realized that Brad and I were able to gap the peloton and were going to have to bridge up the the breakaway by ourselves. After Brad took his pull, it was my turn and I dropped Brad (unintentionally) and bridged up to the breakaway...luckily for me, they had slowed down a little to take in some water, gels, etc. before the big climb at the end of the race. I caught up to group which had about 10 riders in it and then Brad was able to catch up to us. We all started working together except a few people didn't want to pull so a few of us that were working decided to pick up the pace and try to drop the weaker riders. We were able to shed a few of them and had a good group of 7 riders all working together (Gavin from Bike Link, Brad from Steel City, a guy from Bicycle Works, a guy from BBC, a guy from Velo City, one other guy, and me). It was good that a lot of the teams were represented as we decided to all work together until the climb and sort everything out on the BIGclimb. When we took the final left turn onto the climb, I was sitting about fifth wheel. Gavin launched a big attack, which turned out to be the move of the day as he held it all the way to the top. I was not able to go with him, but was able to go around a few other riders getting into 3rd with the guy from Bicycle Works ahead of me by 30 or 40 meters. I put in a hard effort and really gapped the people behind me (by about 50 meters or so), but could not catch up to either of the guys in front of me. So I ended up third...which I'm pumped about considering how hard of a race it was. After I got to the top, I could barely get unclipped and get off the road...my legs were toast! That climb is so steep especially at the end of a race...I wanted to get off my bike and see if I could run to the top faster, but I just put my head down and kept pedaling.

RMW had a good showing with me in 3rd, Doug in 19th, and Jason in 22nd. I later found out that Jim had cramped before the climb and did not finish the race. I really wish he could have gotten on that climb with us because he is a great climber and I really wanted him to test his legs on this climb.

I want to give props to Anthony for doing a good job being a domestique and helping to chase down breakaways all day (especially after being out of the country for 2 weeks). I also want to give props to Jason for helping to push the pace and getting in that breakaway on the 2nd lap...both of you guys are riding strong!

So far, we've had a great start to the season and I hope we continue to build upon it.

Joseph
RMW

Snake Creek Gap Time Trial

2009-03-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I competed in the third and final 2009 Snake Creek Gap Mountain Bike Time Trial . Compared to my last few attempts, I was far more prepared. I decided to use an underseat tool bag and three 24 oz waterbottles instead of my heavy camelbak. The three bottle decision was based on the sweat test I completed last year, which basically told me that I sweat like a horse. I decided that 72 oz was the minimum amount of fluid that I could take in over a 3 1/2 hour race effort in 70 degree weather. Luckily, I nailed it exactly by finishing without any cramping issues. I also made sure to order my custom Infinit Nutrition formula for hydration.

I decided to wear a HR monitor for this race. I don’t normally race with one, but for a race this long and intense, it was vital in helping time my fluid intake and ensure I didn’t push too hard in the first half of the brutal 34 mile course. Finally, thanks to Jonathan Robins at the Cahaba Heights store, we figured out that I was riding about 1.5 inches too low on the saddle. Riding with a low saddle has the same effect as trying to get up from a one foot stool vs a three foot stool. Although the additional height made some of the technical downhills a little scary, I more than made up for it in increased pedaling efficiency. Thanks to the additional preparation, and near perfect riding conditions, I managed to knock over 20 minutes off of my best time and take a podium finish in my first competition of the season.

The 3 series Snake Creek Gap offers a great pre-season training alternative. They also give out great swag to participants. Last year included a Snake Creek Gap top cap for threadless headsets. This year's memorabilia is pictured above.

Omar

www.ozonexterra.com

8th is 1st?

2008-12-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

Since when is finishing in 8th place considered a victory? Well, it's a victory when you accomplish your season long goal of placing inside the top ten. It's a victory when you quit feeling sorry yourself. It's a victory when your hard work finally yields a reward.

Post-race Contemplation

The Bamacross series finale in Cullman this past Sunday is where I battled my personal demons and experienced arguably my favorite day associated with a bicycle. Although, the day started to look like it could be my worst. The weather was cold. The course was wet. I wasn't feeling so hot. Basically, I had relegated myself to the back of the pack well before the call-ups. Soon enough the race official sent us on our 45-minute journey through the woods of Sportsman Lake Park. My start was decent, but I wasn't prepared for the blast of cold air on my lungs. Uh oh, here come those demons. As the first and second laps came and went, I was right where I thought I should be, in the back.

On the third lap, right after the Belgiumesque creek crossing/mud bog, my bike washed out on a loose, off-camber turn. Dramatically I crashed to the ground. Yup, those demons actually had the gall to pull me off my bike! I got up, checked things over, and realized I had been both dropped and passed by four racers. I was pissed off and tired. I was pissed for feeling sorry for myself, and I was tired of letting those demons get the best of me.

So, after five races, and just over two laps of the finale, I decided I should actually race my bike. I buried myself on the subsequent 4 laps. I suffered like I've never suffered before. Ironically, it felt good to suffer. I sprinted up the climb. I galloped through the barriers. I remember coming across the line with two laps to go thinking, "That's all that's left!". I was having a ball.

Passed a rider to move into 8th.

Eventually I picked off three out of the four guys who passed the demonized Chris just over four laps ago. I even managed to climb one more spot to finish 8th. My goal had been realized. I even managed to learn a thing or two along the way. I learned to minimize expectations. I learned to have fun. Better yet, I learned how 8th is 1st.

Cheers,
Chris

Tony Herndon @ KONA!

2008-10-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

On a day when conditions were very tough I learned first hand why racing at Kona is like no other race in the world. Having completed two other Ironman races and placing in the top 150 in both I felt like I might place well at this race. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Below is as much as a detailed racap as I can remember.

The night before I developed a GI bug that came back to haunt me during the race. I was so nervous that I could not sleep more than an hour at a time. I cannot do justice in describing the excitement and atmosphere leading up to the race. I realized that I was about to compete in something that I have dreamed about since 1982 when I watched Dave Scott run in the lava fields.

Swim- The swim went better than I thought. The water was fairly choppy but I was able to swim out wide and avoid most of the fighting that can occur in these races. I feel into a group that was swimming about the pace that I wanted to go. My goal was to come in at 58-60 minutes. In past races I was 53 minutes but wetsuits were allowed and that was in Lake Placid which is like swimming in a pool. Finishing up the swim I got goose bumps hearing the music and seeing everyone on the pier. Place was about 300 out of the water.

Bike- My coach had ridden the course on Monday and warned me about the conditions out on the course. The first 10 miles were an out and back with a gentle climb. My coach wanted me to hold back which is difficult to do early when everyone is screaming the announcer is calling your name out over the PA system etc.
The first hour was gentle climbs and descents and I was able to hold my power where I wanted and drink my food.
The second hour we hit a rough area with significant cross winds for about 10 miles that made it difficult to keep my bike upright let alone maintain the power range that my coach had outlined. My shoulder started to hurt a bit from stabilizing my bike. My power average was 178 for the first two hours. Goal was 175.
Third and fourth hours were the most difficult on the course. The famous climb up Hawi that everyone had warned me about was worse than I had thought. A 18 mile climb that took about an hour and 45 minutes. Crosswinds were from 40-60 mph and I seriously thought that I might not be able to bring it home.(Think Hurricane Gustav type winds) Well finally at the top of the climb, we had a nice downhill portion until the trade winds turned and headwinds which stayed with us the remainder of the race. Unfortunately, my stomach turned sour and I started developing intestinal cramping. I had to ditch my liquid nutrition plan and tried to eat Cliff shots which were more conentrated and the same amout of calories. I was nauseated and could only take about half of them down. My power average was 165 within my range at this point.
Hours 5-6:37 were a real struggle I had to force hydration and nutrition and tried to enjoy the lava fields and ocean views. Power fell to 160 and then 143 over last 30 minutes. HR was within range the entire ride at 135 bpm. My legs actually felt okay afer 112 miles and I was never so happy to be off the bike.
Place off of the bike was about 1300th.

Run- Well on run I knew that I might be in trouble because of my stomach. First mile was 8:00 minute which was a little slow but felt okay. I tried to drink my nutrition but just could not stomach it. Each mile I struggled to drink something. I tried water which would not give me nutrition, gatorade diluted with water which still made me gag and coke which was too sweet and soup which actually felt the best. The first 10 miles were out and back and I was able to see my family twice on the run which was a huge lift but after I left them I had 16 miles to go and it turned into the proverbial "death march" My goal turned from running 7:15 pace to running from one mile to the next mile. The temperature cooled down at this point. At mile 19 out nutrition bags were waiting for us but I could not eat anything at that point and just went throught the water stops trying to drink water.
The last 5 miles were in the dark with no street lights. It was interesting to say the least. Finally as I came back into town and hit mile 25 I realized I would accomplish my goal although much slower than I would have hoped. Seriously, I could care less at this point. My family was waiting at mile 26 and I finished the last 100 yards with pride and feeling a little bad that they had to wait 12 hours for me to finish. Overall finish was about 1200th with a time of 12:31.

I wanted to thank everyone again for all of the support along the way, I told Elena(wife) that I am not sure that I would have finished if I did not have my family there and all of you guys at home that had supported me.

Dirty Spokes Suffer-Fest

2008-10-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

Friday I headed out of work towards GA with completing the Dirty Spokes 12 hours of Conyers on my mind. I was going to do this solo and on my singlespeed. I make it to the big empty field after a long boring drive to find that camp has been set up already by fellow cahaba cycle employee Ryan Dye and his buddy Greg. They were going to be competing in the 4 person 12 hour race as team UNCAGED(you have to say like a wrestler then its funny) and were waiting on the rest of the team to show up. While we were talking they told me that the course was completly different and that we were not going across the road into the famous/infamouse slickrock secton. This was good and bad as I was really looking foward to riding that section as it is so different then anything else around here, but it was going to make riding for 12 hours straight much easier. We chowed down on some grub and kicked back a few brews before the third member of their team, Jeremy, showed up. It was getting late at this point, so I chugged some water and we all hit the bed(not together of course).
Saturday morning arrives and I appear to have gotten good sleep which is weird for me before a race. I cook up some oatmeal, drink some gatoraid, eat a few other things and prepare for the long day in the saddle. Uncaged' other member Nick shows up along with David and their wives Aly and Holly. I explain to them what I am doing and they agree to help me keep my bottles filled up and the food stocked. I thank them and head to the pre-race meeting.
They inform us at the meeting that there is not going to be a LeMans start, but a parade lap around the field instead to break up the group. This is alright with me because I really did not feel like running. So as we are waiting for the start I decide that I am going to hang out towards the back of the the pack to avoid racing the fast guys not riding solo and blowing myself up. This ended being a bad decision because every time the trail tightened up, the riders would bottleneck up and I would have to wait until it cleared to continue. Still at least I hadn't blown up at the start and that was a plus.
The next few laps I rode fairly consistently, keeping my laps all within the 45 to 50 minute range and restrained myself from racing the faster guys doing the 6 hour team stuff. I had run into one guy in my class that was racing with a broken sitbone and was forced to ride the entire time while standing. I was amazed at this and complemented him on still racing. We ended up riding together for awhile before I left him in my quest for consistency. When I got back to my pit on my sixth lap I asked one of the guys to run up and see where I'm at in the standings while I took a 5 minute break. He comes back and says that the guy in the lead has lapped me plus ten minutes and that I was in fifth with fourth through second on the same lap as me. I thought this was cool, so it was a little bit of motivation to keep it up.
I came out of the pits feeling better and proceded to put in a lap that was faster then my first lap of the day. Also during this lap I passed two more guys in my class that seemed to be hurting a bit. Entering into the eighth lap I am thinking that I am sitting in third, I just took a break and those other guys didn't look so hot; I might get a podium here. I should also mention that I've only been on the podium for team events prior to today so this was pretty damn exciting. So as I am about half way through with this lap I catch another singlespeeder who also appears to be hurting. I came around him and gave it some juice just to make sure he couldn't try to speed up and pace with me. I did not ask him if he was in my class but by the way he was riding and the fact the six hour was over I was almost positive that he was. After this I put in a few more fast laps just to try and put some time in between me and the other guys. On lap ten I decided that when I got to the pits I was going to take another 5 minute break and find out my splits to the other riders. While I was sitting down one of the guys comes back and tells me that I am in second with about a half a lap on the third and the rest of the field is falling back. The guy in first was still about a lap and half ahead. I knew that I wasn't going to catch first place but that second was mine to lose. I decided to ride more conservatively and not crash out or get a flat. And if the guy behind me did somehow catch up, I would be more rested then he and able to respond.

The next few laps brought the darkness and on came the lights. When I finished my thirteenth lap, it was 9:30 and I was praying that the guy behind me was not going to make the cuttoff at 10:00 so I could end this sufferfest. When the scorer informed me that he was about twenty minutes behind and would probably make the cuttoff, I cussed to myself, and proceeded to get back on my bike for one final lap. And god I thought this lap was never going to end. I was so anxious to finish that I couldn't stop thinking about it. Finally at 10:22 PM Eastern time zone I finished. And I finished in second gaining my first ever podium(cheers and applause). I ended up covering 116 miles and climbing over 12,000 feet with each lap being 8.3 miles and 900 feet of climbing. Also worth a mention is that not only did I get second in Singlespeed but I finished second out of all the other solo 12 hour guys and fifthteenth overall. Not bad for my first 12 hour event!
I want thank everyone at the event as they were always cheering when I rode past, helping ease the pain, the organizers for putting this together, and mostly to team UNCAGED. David, Holly, Nick, Aly, Greg, Jeremy, and Ryan, you guys made my life so much easier I wanted to thank you again. Here is a link to the event with results and photos. http://dirtyspokes.com/results_conyors.php

This is Brendan Gibbs signing out.

2008-10-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

Below is Team CCR rider Mike Garner's Bamacross #1 race report:

Now that was awesome!!! Everyone said you know in the first race if cross is for you or not. When I lined up my hands were shaking. The race referee asked if we wanted to go early and the next thing I knew we were off. I rode conservatively through the first section not wanting to crash out, but once we got to the flat speedy section I dropped into my hooks and wound up like it was the last lap. I gapped a ton of people and felt really good. We got to the steps and got bottlenecked and I managed to pick my way through pretty cleanly, got up the steps and into the cobbbles to the next set of steps, up-up and away. We came over the knoll and down a really rough descent, did some tight technical turns, another fast decent, and then back up a hill and more steps. The descent after the last set of steps is tricky because you have no momentum to get back on your bike and once I did I was having trouble getting clipped in. I rounded the last turn and there she was, Laurel with my water, I had not had an ounce of spit in my mouth since the first turn. Without her I would have never finished the race. Took a quick shot, and completed my first lap. It is amazing to me looking back how slow the race seemed to unfold. I must have been behind at least 5 crashes and they all happened in slow motion, and I was running wide open. The next few laps seemed to thin out the herd and I patiently picked my spots and passed several riders. I was so focused on the race I completely missed the 2 laps to go sign and was stunned when I came around and saw the 1 lap to go sign. I was sitting in a nice position with one to go. I had a guy from ICS-Chain Reaction in front of me and I did everything I could not to lose his wheel. I am not a runner so I lost some time on the steps, but I was catching him fast once we were back on the bike. We came up on a junior rider and the ICS guy tried to cut a corner and lost the front end and went down. I learned on my practice laps that you couldn't cut that corner and pretty much had to square the turn off because of the loose gravel. I caught the junior rider and let him know I was not racing him for position so that he did not freak out and wreck the two of us. I got up the hill to the last dismount, and basically fell over to get off the bike. Got up the steps the best I could, caught a quick glimpse and saw no pressure from behind. I tip-toed down the hill and around the last turn. Crossing the finish line sucked, because it was over. I had pushed my body harder and farther than any race this year. I grabbed a beer, which Jake promptly kicked over, and looked back on the day. Cyclocross make's you push yourself mentally and physically to the line, and then asks you to pay the price and go over that line. It just keeps hammering you to see what you got. It is an awesome rush when you are sitting there knowing you just took a ride on the pain train and beat it. When I saw my result I was so stoked that I could not say it for fear that I would jinx it. My race season has been a lesson in humility, but for the first time this year I cracked the top ten and finished 9th. For me it was a victory, and it still makes me grin. I know the pain train is waiting for me at Prattville. It's on like Donkey Kong......

2008 NBL Alabama BMX State Championship

2008-09-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Well, my girlfriend Maggie and I left Cahaba Cycles in Trussville about 5:30 and started the trek down to Dothan. Traffic was a terrible so it got off to a rough start. We ended up staying at a fleabag of a motel called Adams Inn. Great place, friendly folks. ha. Anyway, got a decent nights sleep on the cardboard bed, woke up about 9:30 to start the day. Hit up some Hardees on the way to the track, strawberry biscuits are to die for by the way. When we arrived at the track I did the normal shaking hands and kissing babies routine that I go through when I arrive at every race. Saying hello to all of my fellow racers, the parents and the young kids I've befriended over the last 12 years of racing bicycles. Practice time rolls around and I'm feeling pretty good, a tad tired, but feeling fairly strong and riding pretty smooth. I decide to take a break and watch some of the other riders, the Cahaba Cycles amateur team was looking good. When race time came, all of our riders made their mains. We had three top 3 finishes and one of those was a win. So when my time came, I was pretty nervous but still feeling confident. Went 2nd 1st and 2nd in my qualifying motos. Trying to take it easy, but I could tell the other top contenders in todays race were also. Main time comes, I've got gate 4 dead in the middle, which is alright its a long first straight and anything can happen. The gate drops and myself and the two other top riders of the day (Brantley Wiginton and Matt Lindley) were dead even, I get a little sideways over the table and Matt pulls out front, Brantley goes to pass around the outside in the first turn and I push him up. I get on Matts wheel and try to hang on, he cuts right a little and pushes me towards the white line coming over the crossover and I get a little rattled again, Brantley tries to pass around the outside again in the second turn, I nail him with a hard elbow and put him out of commission for the time being. As I turn focus back on first place and try to catch him I start to realize I'm running out of gas. Battling with the rider behind has tired me out. Coming down the last straight I'm gaining ground on Matt but just ran out of track. I ended up with 2nd place by a tire. I'm not exactly happy with my performance in that main, but Matt is no slouch so I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. Overall it was a fun race and I certainly hope to see some more spectators out for 09 state season.

-Jesse Heath-

US 100K Classic: Atlanta, Georgia

2008-09-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a racing experience - from start to finish. Let me run you through the day. 5:15AM wakeup call to eat breakfast before our early 7:15AM start in Atlanta, Georgia. This race is part of the US 10K Classic - a huge running race/walk with thousands of participants. Our staging time was 6:30AM so I left our hotel in the very dark early morning to ride the 3 or 4 miles from the hotel to the start line. When you crested the top of one of the many rolling hills on US 41, you could see across a small valley to the hill where the race would start. The roads were already blocked off and there were police cars with blue lights flashing at every intersection on both sides of the road all the way up the hill. It was quite a sight in the dark!

The race starts out on a very wide road down a very steep hill. By the bottom of the hill, we had already hit 45mph in only the first 30 seconds of the race. I had a great start at the front of the group and was waiting for somebody to attack on the first roller. Sure enough, there was an attack and I was in good position to go with it. About 6 of us were in the move and we had a small gap of about 5 seconds on the field going into the tricky “flyover” onto South Cobb Drive to begin the lap portion of the race (11 laps on a 5-mile loop). I was at the back when we reached the ramp and I knew we were supposed to go right but the five guys in front of me all want straight. I yelled that we were supposed to go right, but they missed the turn and so I ended up leading the way by myself onto the flyover. This was really, really funny and ironic because Kristine and I had pre-driven the course the night before and gotten confused at the intersection so she told me somewhat adamantly that I shouldn’t be the first person leading the way - and yet I was the only one who got it right!

The field caught up pretty quickly on the rollers and there were several very shortlived moves. I worked hard to fight for position and saw how easy it was to get passed and lose position on the wide roads. Then on one of the hills, a rider next to me lost control (hit something maybe?) and started to fall. It scared me a bit because it was right next to me, but I thought to myself wow he is about 4 feet away no problem I’m safe - well, he swerved a little bit in my direction and was close enough that when he fell his helmet glanced off my left calf kinda hard. That wasn’t enough to knock me over so that was the first crash of the day that I narrowly avoided. On the second lap I made it into a large move (mabye 20 riders) but we never had more than a 5 second gap and we got caught shortly after the feedzone.

For the next three laps I was tired and trying to recover and still fight for position. Several large groups of riders separated from the field including a group of 10 at the front and then maybe a group of 25-30 chasers. I was still back in the field and thinking “oh no”, but fortunately the groups in front of us never worked well together and the field stayed pretty strung out to bring them back. Near the end of the fifth lap, the field had just come back together, and I had just gotten pulled to the front by a rider trying to advance his position in the field so I decided to slingshot around him and gun it up the hill to see if I could get a move going. I looked back and only Trent Wilson (Jittery Joe’s) had responded in the field. Right as I looked back he came flying by and I drilled it to catch onto his wheel. We started working together right about the time that Yosvany Falcon (Toshiba-Santo) bridged up to us. The three of us worked well together for the next lap, but then on the lap after that I started to cramp a bit and decided that I needed to just sit on for the hard part of the course (the rollers on S Cobb Drive), but I helped where I could on the windy part of the course and the main downhill stretch on US 41. It was awesome because the 10k run went the opposite way on the course and literally thousands of people were cheering for us as the three of us would fly by going the other way.

2008 US 100K Classic - Leading the breakaway

2008 US 10K Classic Runners

We ended up staying away for the mid-race prime which fortunately was a three-place prime! Our maximum lead was just about a minute, but that was nowhere near enough without several of the major pro teams represented in the break (Kelly Benefits, Healthnet, Jelly Belly, Inferno). When we were finally caught after four laps away on our own (20 miles), there were seven Kelly Benefits riders on the front working together to bring it all back together.

There were still 3 laps to go (15 miles) plus the finishing stretch (1.5 miles) so I was able to sit in the field and recover, but I was too tired to fight for position on the lap after we got caught and so I ended up near the back of the large pack. With 1 lap to go, I was feeling much better and fought my way up to about mid-pack, but still about 75 riders from the front. On the feedzone hill with about 2 miles to go, I saw an opening and attacked hard but I was tired and the pace was fast so I only moved up about 25 riders by the time we made it to the nasty corner. I was sitting in about 50th going into the last mile and moved up nine spots by the crazy downhill sprint finish for 41st place. I hit 51 mph in the sprint and towards the end simply tucked low and coasted across the line passing about 5 people while coasting!

Brian Toone
Tria Market / Ivan Leonard Chevrolet
Sponsored by the best shop in town: Cahaba Cycles!!!

Lake Chaparral Olympic Triathlon: Calgary, Canada

2008-08-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

In what turned out to be more like a day in a Caribbean island than in The Great White North, I ended up 2nd at the Lake Chaparral Triathlon in Calgary, Canada this past Sunday.

I had a below par swim and bike. The 5-lap bike course turned out to be quite crowded and even a little bit dangerous, and my decision to play it safe made me lose at least 2 minutes in the downhills and turns, especially when behind more novice athletes. I wanted to make sure I was not going to meet asphalt, so I was extra careful when around others.

My run was great, though, and in a course that was actually 11km I ended up with one of the fastest splits.

Overall, the race went well. Although the swim and bike were sub par for me, I had a great run and was able to make up the lost ground on the previous 2 legs. It surprised me that Calgary can be so hot and windy, it felt more like a race in the tropics.

I was quite pleased that my body did so well in the 92F ( 33C) heat, and it really let me know my preparation is on track to finish the season as strongly as I started it.

I am now preparing for the Callaway Gardens Triathlon ( where I spend 4 days earlier this summer training), and the the Weiss Lake Triathlon, which I won last year. I am hoping for both another win and to break my own course record.

My flight on the way back was delayed, so I stayed overnight in Chicago. It was not too bad, as it gave me a chance to see downtown Chicago. I ended up making it home after a long 24 hours of traveling, and with no bike ( it has since been delivered, and in one piece!)

Felipe Bastos

http://www.felipebastos.com/

Catastrophic double nipple failure (DNF) in Alabama

2008-08-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Everything was going hunky dory for the Cross clan over here in U.A. (Upper Alabama) until last Sunday when I suffered a severe case of double nipple failure (DNF). It came out of the blue while descending a hill at 39 MPH in the middle of the "A" group of the 1st (that is inaugural, G) Tour de Cahaba in Birmingham. I thought for a moment that I was going down. Somehow I managed to keep it upright with 2 failed nipples. My UA guardian angel was working overtime early Sunday. Here are the intimate nipple details:

The good folks at Cahaba Cycles www.cahabacycles.com decided to celebrate their 25th Anniversary in the bicycle business by hosting a free ride Sunday July 27, 2008. Cahaba Cycles is owned by Kal and Barbara Malki and their son Faris. Kal works at their Cahaba Heights store (est. 1982) located in a newly occupied building (March, 2008) just down the hill from our corporate apartment at the Cameron at the Summit Apartment Homes. He graciously invited me to join them on the ride when I stopped in to look at their kid's bikes with my son, Thomas (7 3/4). The ride started at 7:00 AM (CST) from Homewood Cycle & Fitness located in Homewood about 6 miles north of the Summit. I rode to the ride and arrived about 2 minutes before the "A" group rolled out. Kal told me earlier that he expected about 100 riders total to show up. Apparently the combination of "free" event and "door prizes to be given away" got a lot of cyclists' attention. The crowd for the A and B rides alone was easily 200+. The C family ride/shorter route which started at 10: AM and went 25 miles instead of 66 miles probably attracted another 50 riders. I didn't see anyone I knew but did see a dude sporting a Gran Fondo Fixies jersey astride a fixed gear bike (breed unknown). I said hi to him before we started. His name was Steve Phillips and he obviously was an out of the closet "Gran Fondo Fixies" fan www.granfondocycles.com/fixies . I also met Tom Robertshaw later that week at Cahaba Cycles. Tom is the ride organizer for the Heart of the South ride and he said to say hi to Jeff, Kevin, Greg M., Pete & Wendy, etc. and everyone else back in GA and or TN.

The A group numbering probably 75 rolled out promptly at 7:00 AM from the back parking lot of Homewood Cycle & Fitness. Homewood is a cool in town community centrally located about a mile south of downtown and just west of Mountain Brook, Birmingham's Buckhead/West Paces Ferry residential area. We were heading due south towards Pelham, a bedroom community about 10-12 miles away. The first 2 or 3 miles were flat and then we turned right and started climbing. It didn't take me long to start wondering why I thought I could hang with the A group in a foreign land. I was dangling off the back and hanging on only with the help of a few strategically placed stop lights that happened to stay red long enough to stop the group and allow me to catch back on. Finally, we crested a big hill and began a long fast descent. As we were descending, my front wheel started wobbling. I initially thought I had a front flat tire (clincher) and began to worry since I was moving quickly and more or less in the middle of the A group. I waited for my tire to go flat but it never did. Instead the rim was rubbing my brakes rather dramatically. I managed to stop and discover that the nipples on two spokes had broken at the flange that holds the nipple to the rim. I had not hit any potholes or bumps just prior to this moment. This was a simple case of metallurgical failure likely due to metal fatigue. I was riding on conventional 32 spoke Wheelsmith wheels w/ Mavic SUP rims that came with my Serotta CSI purchased only 13 years ago from the Bicycle Link in Buckhead during the Alan W., Dave H., Dennis H. and beautiful Sara era.

Anyway, I got out my old iPhone, looked up Cahaba Cycles on the web (there was not a phone # listed on the cue sheet) and called Homewood. Barbara Malki answered and dispatched the sag wagon to come rescue me. I told her all I needed was a couple of new spoke nipples. She wasn't sure if the sag wagon carried nipples, but if he didn't he could pick me up and take me to the first rest stop which was at the Pelham store. Meanwhile the B group, all 125 strong passed by in waves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHbAAAMW7yU

Sure enough a few minutes later the official Cahaba cycles sag wagon arrived. Chris Leven, sag driver and Trussville Store Manager, put my bike on the roof rack and off we went headed to Pelham. Once at Pelham I whisked my bike into the store and Grant Thomason, Pelham Service Manager, replaced the affected spokes, trued the wheel and got me back on the road. By this time both the A group and main B group had headed up the road. I was content to ride more or less by myself the rest of the way, occasionally catching other riders or one of the two tandems on the ride. The next rest stop was the Cahaba Heights store located 1/4 mile uphill from our apt. The proximity to our Birmingham home was too overwhelming and I soon found myself filling my bottles with ice from the frig, mixing up a fresh bottle with Cytomax and checking in with Thomas on the final stage of the TdF. I didn't linger however and quickly got back on course. The leg from Cahaba Heights to Trussville was the most scenic and most difficult part of the ride. We weaved our way through Mountain Brook and then got on Old Leeds Road, a straight road which heads northeast away from Birmingham along the top of a long ridge. The overcast sky which we had enjoyed all morning slowly disappeared as the sun broke through and it turned hot. I was glad I was alone and could just ride at my own pace; stopping to watch a hawk perched on a fence just outside of Trussville. I missed the last turn to the store and rode a few blocks through town before turning around. It wasn't too hard to find the shop. By the time I got there, all the other riders had left. Parker Agricola, Service Manager, and his associate Jeremy waited on me while I filled my bottles. We rode back to Homewood together which was much appreciated after a long day off the back. I didn't have to navigate in a strange land and there were wheels to draft. Parker was on a new Trek Madone with Campy Chorus which was a nice combination. Jeremy was on a single speed with a 39/16 gear. It was also Jeremy's first group ride ever. We had a nice tailwind on Hwy 78 which traverses a similar ridge back into B'ham. We passed the Irondale Café, inspiration for the Whistle-Stop Café in the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes. We arrived at the Homewood store, our final stop just as the last door prizes were being handed out.

Thanks to Kal, Barbara, Faris, Chris, Grant, Parker, Jeremy and the rest of the Cahaba Cycles gang for a fun and interesting day on the bike in Birmingham. Although I missed your first 25 years in business I was happy to help you celebrate a quarter century serving the cycling community here in Birmingham. I hope we make it over here from Atlanta to ride with you again soon.

Tom Cross

"It's not where or when you arrive---it's taking the journey that counts."

Xterra First Coast by Omar

2008-07-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

Now that the sand & dust has settled, I can recap this years Xterra First Coast triathlon. My wife Kira and I drove down to Jacksonville on Friday before the race. With close to 500 miles separating Jacksonville from Birmingham, I’m glad we made the trip more than a day in advance. Since this was my first time at Xterra Jacksonville, I was lucky to have Xterra veteran Cahaba teamate Casey Fannin for the Saturday preride. This course is the mountain bike equivalent of the Dragons Tail , without the hills. Although it provides more grins than a rollercoaster ride, it is extremely difficult to master all of the lines in one weekend.
As the only Xterra on the US circuit with an ocean swim, and reports of a shark attack the day before, I was a little more tense than normal at the start of the swim. Fortunately, I overcame the tension (and the Jellyfish kiss to my shoulder) to put over a minute gap on the rest of the field coming out of the water.
I mounted my bike and put in a strong 1st of three laps. Still in the lead going into the second lap, I started to catch the tail end of the 200 competitor field. Although I managed to maneuveur through the traffic without much incident, I must have yelled “ON YOUR LEFT” close to a hundred times. Local mountain biker Sean Crichton caught and passed me on the second lap. As I came into the bike to run transition after lap three, I got a look at Sean still in transition. I decided to forgo my socks, threw on my shoes and blazed out of transition like an escaped convict. Although I managed to regain the lead, pro mountain biker Drew Edsall, managed to come from third and pass me in the final mile for the win. Casey dominated his age group, as usual, and finished a couple spots back in 4th overall.
Although one of my goals was to win, you never know who is going to show up on race day. In the end, it was a well run race and I had a great time. One other note: I won a small battle in my seemingly endless fight with cramping! I finally narrowed down the right combination of prerace and race nutrition to get through without serious cramping issues. Stay tuned for more details…

Riverboat Triathlon

2008-07-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I raced the innaugural Riverboat Triathlon. Leland, my fiancée and I decided to drive up race morning and watch Batman on Friday evening. It was a lot of fun!

We got to the race, I got my packet and begun to warm up. I wasn't feeling especially frisky ( I did not taper and was quite sore, to be honest), so I took the swim a bit slower than usual. I had a small lead at the turnaround, and worked a bit harder on the way back to increase it a bit so I'd start the ride alone. I got out first and sprinted through transition as quickly as I could.

Onto the bike, I started out fast, but eventually settled into a more manageable pace, especially toward the end of the 20 mile ride as my sore legs begun to complain. I wanted to save something for the run, especially as the Alabama heat was starting to get to me. I had forgotten how quickly 95F and 90% humidity can slow one down :-)

My plan for the run was to start at a manageable pace, and build into a stronger rhythm. Coming from a short course background I always have a hard time doing this, but I was able to run about 25 seconds faster on the 2-mile stretch back toward the finish. I was pleased by that. It means that if I had to keep pushing a hard pace, I would be able to do so.
I crossed the line in 1:21 and change, and was glad to be done. After the race, held at the Alabama Belle, some of us went to the pool and hang out waiting for awards. It felt nice as the temps were soaring! I then held a quick Q&A, gave away some PowerBar nutrition CDs and got some good bbq chicken sandwiches, before driving back. In the end, I am glad to have been a part of the event - it was a really nice local race, and I definitely hope to be back next year!

Ciao,

Felipe

http://www.felipebastos.com/

Commuting

2008-07-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

First off, commuting is a good way to get in extra riding on top of your current miles. I'm lucky in that the Trussville shop is only a five mile ride from my house. I can quickly ride straight to work or tack on extra miles and get a good ride. The distance should not scare one away from commuting. It is easy enough to drive part way to your destination and then ride from that point.
In our shop we have bikes on display decked out with racks, panniers and lights that we equipped specifically for commuting, but you don't need a special bike or any equipment for commuting, though a rear blinking light is always a good idea and a front light allows me to commute during the winter when it gets dark early. I just use my cyclocross bike and a back pack. I ride my 'cross bike with knobbies for commuting because the trails in the Trussville sports complex are on my commute, allowing me to ride to only a mile and a half of which is on the road. The versatility of a 'cross bike spurs me toward exploration.
Having a place to store your bike also seems to keep people from commuting. At the shop I can just hang my bike on a hook in the back. When riding to school I left my bike in our school's theater. If you have your own office your bike could live in it with you, or if you do not have that luxury there is probally an empty office or room where you would be allowed to leave your bike during the day.
Hygiene and cleanliness after you commute to work can also be problematic. Showers are the most convenient and obvious solution to this problem. When commuting to school, where I did not have access to a shower, I would use paper towels and soap to bathe and no one ever knew the difference.
Most importantly, commuting can save you loads of gas money!
-Riley-

Xterra Lock 4 Race Weekend by Omar

2008-07-07T20:24:00.001-07:00

My wife Kira and I kicked off the fourth of July weekend with Xterra pro Craig Evans and family in Spring Hill TN. After a fun Friday evening watching Dara Torres make swimming history and ducking the neighborhood fireworks shrapnel, the rest of the weekend focused on racing. Craig and I met up with local triathlete Bruce Gennari for a Saturday morning road ride. Since we were all racing the next day, I figured it would be an easy 2 hour stroll through the countryside. Unfortunately Bruce and Craig's idea of a stroll ended up being a 3 hour 60 mile sweat fest. Although it was a stronger training effort than I intended, I got to ride on the beautiful Natchez Trace parkway, and still had enough fuel in the tank for Sunday's Xterra.

Despite being down for a few weeks after crash out of the Buster Britton, I still managed to put together a pretty strong race. Weather and course conditions held up beautifully and I rolled across the the finish line second overall behind Craig and over 5 minutes faster than last year. Although I felt strong for most of the race, the lack of running over the last few weeks really made the 4.5 mile run hurt. I managed to make it through the run with slight abdominal muscle cramping and achilles pain that would have been debilitating if I pushed it any harder. It turns out that the achilles pain, which I thought was plantar fasciitis, is actually achilles tendonosis. With three weeks until my next Xterra, the JCC will consume more of my training time than usual. Core work and physical therapy on my bum foot will suplement running and most of my cycling time in the immediate future. I also have a Strassburg sock on order to try and speed the healing...

Xterra West & Southeast Championships

2008-06-10T04:11:00.000-07:00

It is a blogging moment I feel, OK, so I'm not the best at this newest form of self-promotion, but it is kind of cool to have it at my disposal.......first off, my prayers go out in multitudes to Chris Storie, our own Cahaba Cyclist who is currently at UAB with some serious injuries after crashing hard at the Oak! I know I speak for all of us on the C C Team, WE SEND OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS.....Well better late than never I always say.....The Xterra West Championships were held out in Temecula California on May 18th........very hot, and very hilly are the best words to describe the West course, here's a link to the profile of the bike course : http://i25.tinypic.com/o9pzfa.jpg Hope it works! I was quite nervous as race day approached. I felt completely unready, and not fit enough to take on this first major race of the season. I knew the competition would be tough. Race morning brought high temps, and lots of nervousness. I had no way of training for this type of climbing, and I knew it would be steep, and the pre-ride confirmed my steep fears, as well as my heat fears.
Race morning arrived with the temps expected to be in the upper ninety's, it actually made it to 104 heat index, but it was a very dry heat. : ) Swim start was a wave start, so the Pros went off first followed by the 39 and under guys, and all us older gents and ladies went off last. It was a non-wetsuit swim and it felt very slow...I had to pick my way through most of the 39 and under folks as well as a few Pros. I was out of the water in good time and proceeded to get out of transition on my bike and ride the few miles out to where the loop started. I felt pretty good on the bike, but I was afraid to push too much going up the climbs, so I took it pretty easy when the steep parts came, and when I had a chance to punch it, I did! I was having a good ride and no one caught me on the bike........weird, I kept looking over my shoulder for Tom Lyons who is the 6X World Champ as well as the 6X National Champ, and I have never been able to get around this guy....he is a fierce competitor, as well as a great guy, but Tom never past me? I kept pushing and finally I was heading out of the bike course with a 1:42 bike Split, not too bad for a Southern boy in the Western dessert. Now, it was time for the 5.5 mile run straight up out of the transition area, and I mean straight up! Most Pros walked the first hill out of transition, and did I ever say there were no trees out in the dessert, I mean not a lick of shade..it was an Xterra Bake sale, and the bodies were getting well done! : ) It was HOT man! The run was a lap out and then 2 laps on this crazy fricking hilly spine of a course that was just nuts..you could look down from the top of the spines and see little ants of people running down on the bottom of the course.......way down there! Anyway, I felt pretty good on the run, and Tom had still not caught me. I kept thinking he would show up any minute, and I was not looking back. On my second loop I started feeling pretty confident that no one was going to catch me, so I really picked up the pace as fast as I could, and no one ever passed me......I came in across the line as the 4th amateur and had won the West Championship in the 45-49 AG....pretty fricking sweet. I qualified for the World Championship in Maui, and that was a huge relief for me also. In 9 years of Xterra racing I have never been able to get around Tom Lyons, but I was a little faster on this day, and when Tom came across the line I gave him a huge hug, and we just laughed about it! I know he was stoked that I had a great day, and I was too....it's good to be a competitor, but it's better to enjoy the process of becoming one, and I felt blessed to be a part of it all..........http://www.xterraplanet.com/races/view_results.cfm?race_id=626 here's the results from the West Championship

Now, as most of you know Sunday was the Xterra Southeast Championship here at Oak Mountain.........it was a great event, but a very unforgiving day in the woods out at the park. It was a very Hot day, with very humid conditions. Most people think that having home court advantage would give you confidence, but for me it puts more pressure on the situation, because you really don't want to disappoint the locals cheering for you. Every one is watching, and you don't want to let them down...so I was nervous before the start, and leading up to the race I just wish it was over. I had been working on my swim with a little more fervor after a crappy swim at the West Championships, and I felt a little bit of an advantage with the swim feeling a little better, but I still have plenty of work to do.....when the cannon went off I was right in with most of the women pros and I knew that was a safe place for me to be. I got out of the water with the 3X Women's World Champion Melanie McQuaid, so I knew I was in good position for entry in the woods.....I was out onto the bike with a couple of Pro guys and Pro women, and I was rolling pretty good for feeling flat most of the week on the bike. I have not been riding this trail with great results lately, and it had me a bit worried. I made some technical mistakes, but was able to roll OK for the most part......only several Pro men passed me, and that gave me some confidence that my bike split was going to be OK....I rolled out of the woods in about 1:12 and some change, so I was pretty stoked that I was able to hold that pace.....Now, it was time for a run that was only about 5.6 miles long.........OH, with about 1400 feet of climbing, OH, and 100% humidity I think! At least that's what it felt like! It was HOT man! My legs were not too happy! Faris rode down the road with me a little bit before I got into the woods, and it helped to take my mind off the heat, and the pain for a few moments...the pain soon returned as I worked my way through the woods, and up the steep sections on the Yellow trail. I kept thinking that anyone could run me down, but really only one Pro ran pass me that I can remember..so it was slow run, but I did get through it to come across the line in the 3rd amateur spot, and for the Southeast Championship 45-49 AG win.....a good day at the office, as well as a good win in my backyard! http://www.jtltiming.com/results/x-pel.html Heres the results page.....
It really was a Great Weekend for the Cahaba Cycle Team as we dominated the podium across the board......Tony Hearndon won the 21k on Saturday, Faris won the Duathlon on Sunday morning, Omar was second amateur as well as the 25-29 Southeast Champion, and Jonathan, Jason, and Dewayne won the Team Relay, I might be missing some other Team members, so if I am I apologize Great Job!.........Overall I think we kicked some serious butt.....but that's what happens when you've got the best Bike Shop in Town behind your efforts.
A great BIG THANKS to Cahaba for the great service, as well as the great bikes to ride, and just the feeling of home when ever I walk into the shop...I really feel like family, and that goes a long way to making great Race Results.
Next up: I have the Beaches Fine Art Series #2 this weekend, and after that 2 more Xterra Point series races in July...and the Alabama State Championship at Mt. Lakes, then it's time for some serious training for the National Championship and the World Championship in October..........That's all from Team Cahaba right now, but stay tuned for more exciting news from the race circuit as we continue to chase our dreams and try to stay fit in this wonderful lifestyle we all love........ that's all for now.

Casey

Xterra Southeast Race Report by Omar

2008-06-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

It’s always satisfying to put together a solid race after months of training. With an age group win, 2nd place overall amateur finish, and a hand-full of pro’s in the wake, yesterday was no exception. Although I placed well, I was most thrilled about my huge improvement over last years’ performance. Even with a slightly longer course and hellish water and air temperature conditions, I managed to knock 8 minutes off of my time from last year.

Unfortunately, my overall improvement was not reflected in the swim. Although the 81 degree water temperature didn’t help matters, I still ended up over a minute slower than last year. I have three theories about this:
· I have no way of verifying, but the first swim buoy looked a whole lot further out than last year.
· After averaging less than 10,000 yards a week for the majority of the year, including a few weeks completely out of the water, my total time devoted to swimming was less than adequate.
· Increased muscle mass from additional cycling and running is turning my legs into anchors in the water
Since most of the elites were slower than last year, I’m leaning towards my first theory. Regardless, more time in the pool to increase core and upper body strength should help to offset any added leg mass, and restore that torpedo like body position from my college swimming days.
I felt very strong on the bike this time around. Although having home course advantage definitely helped, I had a much stronger engine this year. I was able to maintain a much quicker and smoother pedal cadence. This was a result of more than doubling my saddle time since getting on a road bike last year. I also have to give credit to having one of the fastest mountain bikes for the course.

While the majority of my improvement came from a much stronger bike leg, I also had a better overall run. After leaving transition, I got an immediate side cramp. This slowed my pace considerably for the first 3 miles. After mile 3, it finally went away in time to tackle the infamously technical and steep yellow trail. Additional attention to hill repeats in training this year gave me the capacity to actually run the entire course without stopping or walking.

Although cramping while on the run continues to be an issue, I feel like I have gotten much more control over it. Through better conditioning, a more dialed in prerace diet, and better race nutrition, I am finally getting a handle on it. Next up: Buster Britton…

Check out the race photos at http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/press_article.cfm?id=2215 (I’m in #19)

Bump and Grind

2008-06-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a race just doesn’t go your way. That was the case for me this past weekend at the Bump & Grind MTB race at Oak Mountain State Park. 45 minutes into the race, I was drafting two other riders on a smooth fast section of fire road. While traveling at over 30mph, a brick sized rock was kicked up by the wheel of the rider in front of me and slammed into my rear tire. Even the tubeless tire was no match for the impact. The result was an immediate flat, a bent rim, a long walk, and a big DNF next to my name on the results.
Although I was disappointed, I wasn’t angry (like when I was once directed the wrong way on a course). This was just a freak accident that can’t be blamed on anyone. Bad draw. In hindsight, it’s probably a blessing. Since my focus is Xterra triathlons, and the Southeast Championship is this coming weekend, the 45 minute effort last weekend was probably the perfect event from a training standpoint. I even made a point to go ahead and get a 5 mile trail run in afterwards. I am soo ready!

Omar Fraser

Rock&RollMan Southeast Long Course Championship

2008-05-31T19:58:00.001-07:00

Exactly six days after winning the TriAmerica New Orleans event, I found myself lining aup against the Deep South's very best at today's Rock&RollMan.

This is my 4th time at the event, and I really wanted to finish better than 3rd, which is what I have gotten in year's past. I was feeling "on" this morning, and after leading the swim, I started the bike strong to hold off Dan Moss, a friend and fellow pro who has won this race the past 3 years, all of them with a killer bike ride. I led the race to mile 11, when he passed me. I followed him for a couple of minutes and decided to repass him. He is clearly a stronger cyclist than I am, and my only goal in doing this was to break his spirit. He followed me for about a minute and then really passed me. Within 3 miles, he was 45 seconds up the road.

I ended the hilly and windy bike ride in 4th place, 2:35 down from 2nd and 3rd. I started the run on a mission and found myself in 3rd place by mile 5. Before mile 8, I was in 2nd.

From then onward, my main focus became to maintain my gap and to survive the remainder of the blazin' hot run, the remainder of the scalding hot 13.1 mile run. Right before the line I reached for my brazilian flag, but had too little energy to wave it, and only carried it over the line. I was in a deep hole. 2 IV's layter and I was functional again.

I ended up 4:50 down from first which is the closest I have ever been to the winner. I was only 54 seconds ahead of Chris Olson's 3rd place finish, a tight finsih. He had a terrific race this year and really made me fight hard for 2nd. I am looking forward t a little break this coming week, as my body is pretty nuked from the past week's efforts.

RESULTS:http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=938

Ciao,

Felipe (www.FelipeBastos.com)

TriAmerica New Orleans - Race "Report"

2008-05-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post this earlier, but Law School is taking nearly all my time these days. The little bit I have left, I use to swim/bike/run. But below, without further adieu, is the press release from the event.
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Mandeville, LA (May 25, 2008) Brazilian professional triathlete Felipe Bastos scorched the New Orleans’s north shore to celebrate his 28th career overall win in the second stop of the 2k/60k/15k National Triathlon Serious Tour.

The race, held during Memorial Day weekend, was Bastos’ last hit out before the Southeast Long Course Championships at the Colliseum Rock & RollMan. His 3:00:42 win was good enough for the best time in all 3 disciplines on the day and a new course record. “Even though I was on the lead all day, I wanted to keep pushing it to the end to test my body in the 90F heat and the humidity”.

Powering the bike after exiting the water with a 4-minute lead on the swim, Bastos’ 1:29 bike ride split, combined with the day's only sub 1 hour run (58:31), and was good enough for a 28-minute win. “I felt great all day, and tried hard to break the 3-hour mark, which has never been done on the TriAmerica Series. In the end, I came up a few seconds short, but I will be back to try again."

Bastos, an entering Law student at the University of Alabama, will also be attending Macon, Ga’s Southeast Long Course Championships on May 31, as well as the Lawrence, Kansas Ironman 70.3, a qualifying event for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships.

Results link: http://www.championchiptiming.com/images/files/static/238Male.htm

Anniston Crit

2008-05-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

Team-

Just wanted to give you a race report from my point of view from the Sunny King Crit in Anniston this past weekend:

We left Bham around 9:00 and had to drive in the rain most of the way up there. After getting registered, we could see that the clouds were starting to break and it quit raining about an hour before our race (they delayed our race by 30 mins to let the course dry out some). The race started out at a quick pace, but nothing that I felt uncomfortable with. Our strategy going in was to let Jim and Doug go off the front and try to make other people hurt. That strategy did not work as there were some pretty strong riders in the pack. Our field was only 30+ or so racers as the rain kept a lot of people at home.

Within the first few laps a breakaway started forming with about 4 riders in it. Talty was leading the chase group, but I could see he was getting tired. I was sitting a few riders behind him and felt pretty strong so I decided to go around and try to bridge up to the leaders. As I was passing Talty, I told him to jump on that we were going to catch them. He was able to grab my wheel and I started ramping up the speed to catch the leaders (my heart rate was sitting in the mid 190s at this point). After I bridged up to them, one of the leaders (who had been sucking wheel) took off. The other riders from the lead group were happy to sit up and join our group. I stayed on the front for a little longer and then asked Talty to pull through. After he and I traded pulls for a little while, I started wondering why we were doing all of the work and started yelling at people to pull through. Matt Tynan (one of the Steel City Cycling guys) took several hard pulls and was able to spit some of the racers off of our group. After a few laps, another rider (Chad something) jumped off the front and bridged up to the leader on the downhill section of the course. We were patient though and were able to slowly pull them back in. With 3 laps to go, there was some "jockeying" going on and no one wanted to work. We had about a 1/2 lap lead on the rest of the field. Talty and I were sitting about 4th and 5th wheel out of 9 riders in the lead group. I rode up next to him and asked how his legs were feeling and told him to stay on my wheel and I would work for him. With 2 laps to go, Matt Tynan tryed to jump off the front but we all reacted and caught up to him very quickly. After we were all together again, the pace stayed pretty high. Coming out of turn 4 on the last lap, Talty and I were still sitting about 4th and 5th wheel...I punched it out of the corner and was trying to give it everything I had to set Talty up for the sprint. As soon as I started slowing down, he gassed it and was able to get around me and take home 2nd. The guy who won (Jamie from Boo Koo) did not do any work during the race and out sprinted us at the end...I guess he played it smart.

Overall, I feel like RMW had a very good showing. Talty and I were in the lead group the entire time and were able to actually effect the race. I did not feel like I was just trying to hold on...I feel like I actually made a difference in the race. Just an FYI - We were all talking after the race and turns 3 and 4 were very slick during our race and our rear tires were sliding around...made it a little interesting. It was a very well organized event and I look forward to it again next year

Joseph Greenway
Red Mountain Wheelmen

Athens Twilight

2008-05-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, here are my thoughts from Athens. WARNING -- This is ridiculously long. Sorry, I can't help it: Athens is amazing. Read on - especially if you didn't go! You need to understand what you missed!

The Qualifier.

I've missed qualifying both previous times I went to Athens, and this year I was hell-bent on making it. My legs felt a little stuffed during warmup, and I was nervous as a cat at the start (only 46 pre-registered, but it looked like closer to 70 at the start. Lots of day-of registrations, I'd guess.). I got away clean and sprinted hard to take up position in about 5th spot. I hung out there, between 1st and 15th, for almost the entire race, which was fairly uneventful. A couple early attacks went and amounted to nothing. Ben Gabardi made a good move that gained a bit of ground, but he overshot turn 2 (the very tight offcamber right-hander) and blasted straight off the course into the curb. Too bad for him and I hope he's ok.

Other than that, it was steady and controlled. I followed wheels a couple times when guys attacked, but only to keep myself on or near the front. The pace was quick but very manageable -- I was never in difficulty, just working hard and steady. On the last lap, the pace went ballistic and I got a little tangled with a ProBike rider going (again) into Turn 2. I lost a few spots and panicked a little, but just dug in and started clawing back up. I didn't have much pop in the sprint, but got across the line for 14th. Darryl was with me the whole race and rocketed out of turn 4 to claim 2nd (I thought he had it won, but that hill sprint is tough and longer than it looks).

USCF Finals

Wow. That's about all you can really say. It's the greatest amateur bike race in the world. There is absolutely nothing I have ever done like toeing that start-finish line, staring down Clayton St. (lined 10 people deep on both sides as far as you can see), the race announcer howling like a lunatic in your ear, house music blasting at rock-concert volume over the crowd, the smell of hot dogs, charcoal, beer, and french fries in the air as what seems like every college kid in the state is whooping it up, hollering for you, your heart hammering in your chest, waiting for the gun... My hands were literally shaking, and there were so many people on the street that Clayton looked about the width of a sidewalk (instead of 4 huge lanes).

The first lap run down to Turn 1 from Clayton onto Lumpkin is probably one of the greatest, scariest, most exhilarating experiences of my life. By the time the official finishes saying "Riders Ready!" half of the 125 person pack has launched. I took off, jammed my foot in the pedal, and sprinted like an absolute maniac for the setup for Turn 1 -- seriously, 100% flat-out effort from the gun. Down the street, 300 meters in what feels like a second, and you're barreling down on the turn. You swing ALL the way to the left and then bank hard to the right, 30-something miles an hour (feels like 90), into the corner in front of the Georgia Theater, with hundreds of people inches from your face, brake levers clipping the metal barriers on your left. It feels like jumping off a hundred foot cliff into a tunnel 6 inches wide. Guys were yelling, screaming, cursing everywhere, brakes squealing, bike parts popping and cracking, and you hear the crowd roaring above it all. You smell smoke from all the grills in the beer garden, and then the smell instantly is replaced by the stench of burning rubber and atomized brake pads. Everybody out of the top 50 at this point is instantly gapped, and their day is already over (even if they don't realize it yet).

You whip out of Turn 2 so fast that you go straight across the road into the gutter on the left (even though you're going uphill), then jump straight out of the saddle up the hill as hard as you can go. Anything less than 100% effort here and you'll be watching the back of the field ride away. Top the hill and into the 12 cog, flat-out at 35+ mph down to smooth, wide turn 3, and immediately set up for the "Widowmaker" -- Turn 4 -- a wicked, rough, tightening, off-camber right-hander that tries to throw you straight into the barriers on the exit of the turn. Out of Turn 4, you crush it up the slight rise on the front straight before you plunge down over the crown to the start-finish, barely a minute gone, thundering over the start-finish line (which on lap 1 was literally rippling in the air from the force of the field roaring over it). All you see is the wheel in front of you -- you're aware of the crowd because you hear them and feel them, but you have no time to see or hear or think anything but hanging on to that wheel in front.

3 laps in, I'm feeling good, sitting in about 20th, dropping into Turn 1, and I hear somebody yell "TIRE!". I look through the corner and see Darryl on his back, bike flying in the air, and guys going down everywhere. I get a glimpse of Toone nearby and also down. I grab 2 handfuls of brakes and juke as hard as I can to the right, heading straight at the curb, and barely squeeze by. By the time I'm by the pileup, I realize my mistake -- I should've just slid into the pile and taken my free lap. Now, I have to chase, but the front of the field never slowed down, and we were going almost 30 at the time of the wreck. The 10 riders ahead of me are already out of the corner, going up the hill, a 10 meter gap between me and them. I go as hard as I can, 100+ guys on my wheel, and barely make contact as we crest the hill, my HRM screaming at me (198BPM!). No sooner do we get settled down than the pace is ballistic again, and I'm out of the saddle, hanging on.

3 laps later, swinging out of turn 3, lining up turn 4, I've slipped back to about 20th, and I hear it again -- BANG! You know what's coming -- tires sliding, guys yelling and screaming, and that slamming sound of metal and bodies hitting everywhere. Again I locked the brakes (almost did an endo!), juked to the right, got by the wreck, and instantly kicked myself for chasing and not taking the free lap. What a rookie! Again my HR goes through the roof, I barely make contact, and I realize now it's just a matter of minutes before my day is over.

But you can't quit -- you have to go down swinging (or in my case, pedaling til my legs felt like they'd fall off, almost puking, and gritting my teeth so hard that my jaw still hurts). I held on for a few more laps and finally slipped off and got pulled, totally done, about 18 minutes into the 35-minute race.

So, in the end, I made it halfway on my first try, even despite making a couple huge, ill-advised bridge efforts -- not too bad! I waved to the crowd, limped to the sidelines and cheered on Darryl and Brian, who were ripping it up at the front with the best of what was left. They made us all very, very proud, racing their guts out to the end, and both finishing in the top 20 (after doing the lions' share of the work, without help, to try and control the break of the day).

So that was that -- Athens, Round 1. I'm still savoring it, to be honest. I'll be back next year, and I'll finish. The year after that, I'll be in contention. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it!

A few more things and I'll end this encyclopedia:

1. Training plans work. 4 weeks ago I got dropped out of my first cat 3 race, less than 10 laps in. This week I held my own in the 3s, made the finals, and rode almost respectably in the hardest amateur crit in the country. Travis's training plan isn't complicated, but it keeps me accountable and focused. I'm faster because of it.

2. Team, if you're not doing Athens, you're missing out on the greatest thing you can do as a bike racer. Period. End of story. If you even like bikes, you owe it to yourself to at least come watch this race. There is nothing like it on the planet. Athens had bigger crowds and more energy than the finale of the (Pro Tour) Tour de Georgia (trust me, I was there). For one day, you get to be the star of the show. It is absolutely spectacular and will inspire you to race and train harder than ever. No other race even remotely compares, and no amount of training holds a candle to the real thing. If you don't see it yourself, you simply cannot understand.

Ok. End of sermon. See yall soon.

Jacob Tubbs

Another New Bike

2008-05-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this is Omar Fraser. Although my preference is for off road riding, I’ve finally come to grips with the fact that it takes road miles to be a great mountain biker. Thanks to fellow cycling enthusiast Bob Schlemmer, who let me borrow his old Campagnola equipped steel framed Univega road bike for several months, I was able to make some significant cycling fitness strides in the off-season. More recently, I figured what better way to “stimulate” a struggling economy and celebrate a birthday than with a new bike. With my wife convinced I decided on a new Trek Madone 4.7.

With about 80 mixed miles on my new Madone, I could not be more pleased with the bike. The fit was the first noticeable difference between the old Univega and the new Madone. Although the seat was adjusted to my height, the 58cm Univega was just too small for my 6-3 frame. With a proper 62” frame, I am now able to achieve a much more natural riding position.

The second, and most surprising, difference between the two bikes was the increase in lateral stiffness around the bottom bracket, fork, and rear triangle. I have always been a skeptic of bike reviews that make claims with no actual evidence. However, in a sprint on the Univega, I could easily make the tires rub on the brake pads, and the chain rub on the front derailleur. From a lateral stiffness standpoint, this bike was as solid as a bank vault under any forces I was able to exert. I was also unable to notice any decrease in comfort (comfort is far more affected by the tires and the points where your body touches the bike than anything else).

Finally, while the steel Univega was a solid bike, it was no lightweight. Although I never bothered to weigh either bike on a bike scale, I weighed approximately 3 pounds less on my home scale while holding the Madone. Now I just have to get used to the Shimano shifters. Thanks again to all the folks at Cahaba Cycles!

Check out my website

POWERMAN ALABAMA--TOO MUCH DRAMA

2008-04-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!
This is Deanna Frank. Finally getting around to the race update. I think most people have heard about all the drama that happened during the race. First off, I want to say even with all that, I'm very happy with my performance over all. I'm happy I placed second, although I feel like I could have taken the win if not for a couple of misfortunate happenings. I guess it just was not meant to be. Drats!! Now for the race recap:
I knew my main competition was Amy Kloner and Bianca Simpson. Both of them being very strong on the bike, it was most important that I get as much a cushion on the run as possible. Things were progressing nicely and I had about a 30 second lead running 5:50 pace. Now, I know and everyone else knows that I know the course, especially living here. But when I'm in race mode and I see a barricade and a person standing there saying "Great job!", I turn left at that barricade and suddenly realize I'm living one of my recurring nightmares. You know the ones where you forget race gear and find out during the race, or you're off course and don't know where you're going. I had gone off course due to a barricade being left up from the day before, and as my husband says, because I'm a "mullet head". I was in a panic running in circles, and then here come Amy and Bianca who did the same thing. I was so mad because I lost my cushion and I was also afraid we would be disqualified because it is the athlete's responsibility to know the course. We got back on course as best we knew how in all the confusion, and I managed to get about 15 seconds ahead of them again. Going out of transition I saw Don, my husband, and yelled to him what happened and he told me to forget about it and get on the bike. So going into the bike I had a mixture of emotions, but I figured I would at least get a good workout and try not to let Amy and Bianca pass me up. Amy ended up passing me on the second loop and came in about 40 seconds ahead of me (hence needing that cushion I lost), so I knew I had to run her down. I felt great and had gained 20 seconds back and was ready to make my move on the hill and catch her and I felt the bottom of my foot pop. It was instant extreme pain and I knew something bad had just happened. I've had a chronic problem with some plantar fasciitis as well as a heel spur there. I normally never ever ever run without my powersteps, but I did that day and now regret it. I also had on a pair of racing flats that I love, but normally never ever ever run over a 5K in them. At first I didn't know what to do. I had to run with a limp and it was excruciating, but I did not want to quit. I was already hurt, so I decided I would be twice as mad if I dropped out too. So I hobbled in for roughly a mile and 1/2 and held on to second. We all three ended up with a 4 minute penalty too. That was plenty of time penalized as we only ran about 2/10 of a mile short. I was just glad not to be DQ'd, but it wasn't all our fault.
I'd also like to give praise to Faris Malki with Cahaba/Homewood Cycles. I've had a couple of injuries over the last 2-3 years that caused my bike fit to be altered. I havn't felt quite like myself or had the results on the bike I know I'm capable of in that time. This year, Faris tweaked my fit a couple of times and I feel like my old self again! I am so excited about it. I had the fastest bike split I've ever had at Powerman. I'm also SO comfortable. It makes me more excited to race again and gives me the confidence back I once had about the bike leg in triathlon. Tyree and the guys in the shop always do such a great job making sure my bike is mechanically sound, so that is never a worry come race day.
Now my foot just needs to heal. It has gotten better really fast and I think maybe I can run by next weekend. I'm just now starting to walk normally. By the way, MRI showed a partial tear of the plantar fascia. I was on a crutch for the first couple of days, but every day it's a little better. Eskridge and White Physiotherapy has gotten me through many injuries and I'll get through this one too with their help. I've just been hammering the bike and the swim. That's the good thing about multi-sport!
See you all out there! And hopefully really soon on a run!

There's nothing like a new bike!

2008-04-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

A little over one week ago I took ownership of a brand new road bike. The moment was extra special since, like some of you have experienced, I waited a solid four and a half moments for the '08 Cervelo R3 frameset to arrive at the door step of Cahaba Cycles. The wait was painful since I had all of the parts neatly organized and in plain sight at my house. I'll have to admit there were a few moments at home where I would grab the shifters out of the box, close my eyes and visualize just what I would feel should I ever get my bike completed. Never the less, when it was time to finally embark on the maiden voyage, smiles were a plenty.

This bike marks a couple of firsts for me. Numero uno, I was trying a new wheelset from a recently launched company, ROL Wheels. ROL is a very small operation out of Denver, CO, specializing in both high zoot carbon wheels, and very affordable, hand-built aluminum wheels for road and cyclocross applications. I decided on the more versatile, more durable Race SL, which boasts an impressive - and 100%-accurately advertised - weight of 1550 grams for an "aero" aluminum wheel with standard DT Aerolite spokes. Numero dos: This is my very first Campy equipped bike. I have always been a Shimano guy, but ever since Campagnolo brought their Ultra Torque crankset to market a couple of years ago, my mouth watered. Like so many before told me, I was not to be disappointed. I had to finally give Campy a go in the form of '08 Chorus.

The first ride was last Saturday's group ride from the Trussville location. I was desperate to complete a route that previously ended in confusion the first time around. The 30-m ile jaunt took in some climbing, unimproved road surfaces and the most amazing scenery in north Jefferson county. This would be the perfect testing grounds for the new steed. As expected (my last bike was a '07 R3), the R3 was perfection. The fit was just like the last bike - PERFECT. The frame is super responsive, plenty stiff and those pencil thin stays do a remarkable job of keeping the rear planted on the asphalt. Cervelo definitely has their ducks in a row with this one.

Immediately I was blown away at the performance of the wheels. With a weight rivaling other wheelsets costing twice as much, I wasn't expecting any miracles. Well, miracles I got. They were stiff enough for a standard spoked wheel, and there ability to withstand the abuse Cedar Mountain Road threw at them was admirable. Better yet, the hubs and "aero" rim doubled up to provide buttery smooth, effortless pedaling when just rolling along at speeds. So far, so good.

After adapting to the different style (from Shimano) shift levers the Campy Chorus Ergo Levers use, I was in love. The most impressive part for me was the shifter ergonomics. No matter how I wanted to grab the bars, the shift mechanisms were right at my finger tips. The infinite trim adjustments up front, and the capability to dump several gears both up and down in the back made life much easier. Of course, the new Ultra Torque crank design coupled with the extra-meaty bottom bracket of the R3 made for an unbelievably stiff combination. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention how amazing everything looks too. Especially with the sleek white and black backdrop of the R3!

There have since been two more rides all confirming what the maiden voyage discovered. This bike is dreamy. I couldn't be any happier with the way the bike turned out. Without a doubt, everything exceeded expectations. Furthermore, I mustn't forget to mention the weight: 16.05 lbs for a 61cm with pedals and cages! Having always been a huge fan of Cervelo and white bikes, the 2008 R3 was meant to be.

Thanks for reading,
Chris L.

1st Blog Race Reports, A quickie Review!

2008-04-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'm Blogging...this is so wierd,

Anyway, Cahaba Cycles Team Rider Casey Fannin here just giving a Quick Run Down on Several races already in the books for the start of the 2008 Race Season. It's been a fun month of racing so far with 4 races completed, and many more to do......1st Race was Xterra Miami way down in the Tropical Jungles of Oleta State Park in Beautiful Sunny Isles Florida. It was a great day, and my first win of the season. This was my 2nd win in Miami, cause last year produced the same results..what a way to start the season. Check out this race report from Schafer http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/dsp_content.cfm?id=2121
Now back on home turf a week later was the Wild Boar Off-Road Duathlon. It was muddy, and wet, and a little chilly, but a lot of fun. A small turn out due to weather, but worth the ride out to Brookside. This race was won by Team Mate Omar Frasier. He really smoked this course, no one was close to him....I limped in for a 3rd place finish, and kept my tail between my legs after getting my butt haned to me by the young guns..Still, 2 top finishes by two Cahaba Cycle Riders was not a bad way to end the day! SCORE!
Now, back in town a week affter the Wild Boar was the Whistle Stop Duathlon out in good old Irondale Alabama. Not a bad day at the races as I secured 2nd Masters Overall, but I still felt weak on the Bike....not enough doughnuts I guess? I'll have to hit the Krispy Kreme A few more times per week. Overall some good results from Cahaba Cycles Team members Deanna Frank in Powerman, and a bunch of other great athletes involved......no other local bike shop can lay claim to the results posted that day...CryBabys! ha ha
Now, just this last weekend was going to be the 1st Triathlon of the season down in Panama City Florida. The Emerald Coast Triathlon #1 was changed to a Duathlon due to weather conditions.......yuk! I was 4th overall, and 1st masters.....so I was OK with my performance, but still not as fast as I wanted to be...but without a swim I was a fish out of water...ha ha Anyway, a good start to the season...I feel like I'm slowly getting fit, so maybe after a few more weeks I'll feel more fit and ready to race at a higher level........

Many thanks to all my Cahaba Cycles Team Members....without these guys I could not race at this level. Many thanks to you all........Kenny, Chris, KiKi, Faris, Barbara, Cal, and all you other guys at the shop..YOU ALL ROCK!

3 2 1 and were off.

2008-04-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

nothing beats a camp out with friend the night before a mountain bike race. sitting around telling story, trying to stay out of mischief, and telling more stories until you cant stay awake anymore. then trying to get some rest on the hard ground that you will be racing on in the morning.

morning is there before you know it and the parking lot starts filling up with bike racer of all kinds. some people you know, some you don't and some you make friends with and some you will be racing with. it is such an exciting environment to be in. as the starting time approaches, the nerve start building and the Adrenalin starts to rise. then your off and just like that the nerves are gone, until your chain derails within the first 2 mile of the bike race. that's how it all started. i was sitting comfortably in second place behind a well respected chad hungerfurd and behind me was eric white who we battled back and forth last year in a few single speed races. but, as soon as my chain had derailed, i was off the trail trying to get my chain back on. in my mind i was thinking how was i going to salvage a descent position in my race. that set back caused me five place so now i was sitting in seventh place. the trail was in great condition and never ridden it before, i would say it is one of my favorite trails. super fast, very tight, and full of short up hills and descents. perfect for the single speed, even though i was a little over geared. as the first lap progressed, i was able to work my way back towards the front. around six or seven miles into the first lap i noticed that i was back on chad's wheel, so i must be close to the front. after a short distance i had a chance to pass and i did. i asked chad, how many up front and he said, just one. so i gassed it hard and didn't let up until the start of the second lap. i grabbed a bottle and got a time gap from evan. i was a minute behind, so i gassed it again. i had one goal in mind and that was to catch first place. so i didn't slow down. i was starting to gel with the trail, like i have ridden it all my life. it was definitely my faster lap. about six miles into the second lap i started to play the cramp game. i had to hold them off, but keep the pace high if i wanted to ketch up with eric, who was blazing the trail ahead. after i survived the only long climb on the trail i new i was close to the end. and once i made it to final double track. i knew it was almost over, so i dug down deep. if i am not going to catch eric, then i am going to make up some time on him. and then it was over. the cheer of the crowd welcomed me at the finish and i was glad to be finished. anyway i was pleased with second, i did make up a little time on first, but eric was still the man of the day in the single speed class. and i was happy being the first loser.

all in all it was a great race, the guys and gals down in wetumpka did a great job organizing and running the race. another well done event.

jonathan

Irving, TX: PlayTri Half Ironman Race Report

2008-04-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

It had been quite a good while since I did a Half Ironman(1.2mi/56mi/13.1mi), so I was very much looking forward to this race. This is the earliest in the year I have done a long distance event, and I must say it is a great way to ensure the motivation remains high through the cold and gray winter.

In a way, felt like I had forgotten the intensity at which to race a Half IM, so I was very fearful of blowing up early, leaving me to decide to just race my race instead of counter the attacks I knew would come throughout the 4+ hours of racing.

The weather forecast was calling for 25 mph winds and 38F at the start. Awesome! Fortunately, though, the temp was in the low 50's by the time the gun went off, which was much more manageable. I had a vest and gloves next to my bike, but in the rush of transition, I simply went without them.

I exited the water in 4th place after what felt like an easy swim, most of it done with a small group of 3 others. At the turnaround they put on a surge and I was dropped. I definitely need to work on my "snappiness" in the water! I exited 2 min down on the leaders and 40 seconds down on the group I did most of the swim with. It is unusual for me to be so far behind after the swim, but I was more focused on doing my race than on being in the mix, so 4th was ok by me.
I rode alone for 30 minutes, when Justin Daerr passed me. I tried going with him, but within a couple of minutes I realized I was pushing 15% higher watts to keep up with him, so I backed off. He went on to have the day's best ride - he was on fire! I stayed in 5th place for the remainder of the bike, riding alone.

The winds REALLY picked up on the second loop of this truly urban race course. It was difficult at times to be on the aerobars.

On the run, I lost my gels when leaving transition ( flask fell and broke) so I had to count on the on-course nutrition - unfortunately, not allaid stations had gels, and my 38-something first lap was all in vain, as the pace crumbled for the second lap. With 4 miles to go I saw that was securely in 5th pace, and just jogged home to save myself for the week of training ahead.

I think the quick pace of the first lap was too much on my body as have been having a foot problem all week. I can barely walk on it, and am hoping it will go away quickly.

My many thanks go out to my super supportive sponsors, without whom I would not be able to race for a living. Ian at Cahaba Cycles did a tremendous job getting my steed race ready and tuned to perfection. Jonathan must also be mentioned for putting up with my attention to detail in getting the bike ready. And also thanks to the Clines family who so graciously made me very very much at home for the short time I spent in the Dallas Metroplex.

It was a good start of the year for me, and I am looking forward to the next races: The Alabama Coastal Triathlon (May3) and the Tri-America New Orleans race (May 24).

Ciao,

Felipe Bastos
www.FelipeBastos.com

Welcome to the Cahaba Cycles Blog!

2008-04-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

This little idea of ours was born from the desire to have our sponsored athletes share their race experiences with the rest of the world. Then we got to thinking, "Why couldn't the rest of the Cahaba Cycles crew share there experiences as well?" Whether it's our own race experiences, a life-changing road route or even the fancy new bike we want to brag about, this blog will serve as the window into the cycling life of the folks you see when you visit any one of the Cahaba Cycles' locations. Plus, as originally intended, Casey, Deanna, Omar, Felipe and the rest of the Cahaba Cycles athletes will provide incite into their own racing experiences. So, welcome aboard, check back often, or better yet, add this to your list of bookmarked sites. Thanks for the opportunity, and we hope this can be one more way to give the great folks of Alabama the service they deserve!