Join Kelly Slater weaving his way through urban chaos and remote jungle in search of perfection on Bali and its neighboring islands.
Kelly Slater signature Cypher Roam boardshort…Enjoy The Adventure. http://quiksilver.com
Artist: Santigold
Song: Fame
Website: http://www.santigold.com/
It is always down to preparation. Rarely will you do well at a race unless you are fully prepared.
For the Strathpuffer my intentions had been good but then some things came up that messed with my plans a bit.
1. I started work on a documentary series on Syria that saw me filming away from home. Istanbul life was hectic enough and although I tried to hit the gym – those horrible gym bikes never feel like real training.
2. I came back to do one last long ride – before my taper – but whether it was the 2 degree weather, my pathetic wet gloves and freezing feet. The bugs i probably breathed in flying in the day before … but I got man flu sick. I spent Tuesday,Wednesday and thursday going to bed at 8pm and trying to sleep it out and get healthy.
3. I had the equipment sorted. Great bike lights, new cleats on my winter boots, toasty Sealskin mtb gloves and spare discs for the bike.
I spent Friday driving up past Inverness to the race location at Strathpeffer. I was swigging calpol and cough medicine and downing cold and flu tablets and treating myself to throat lozenges …. I wasn’t pretty. But then out the front of the window the view was a tad scary.
Got there and saw the accommodation for the night …. we were hardly roughing it.
Race day rolled around and Dr Heart was going first – I had cycled 50m up the road from the camper to realise the whole fire road was iced. So after the bunch went past i started to put on the Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro’s
I didn’t get them both on in time for my turn to lap – the tubeless was not going to work so Heart did a second lap and in the confusion so did I sans dibber …. Dr Heart said a few cross words (naughty C and F words) and headed out on the 3rd lap. The Ice Spikers were amazing I couldn’t stand on the trail but i could cycle it which I find quite mind-blowing.
THE COURSE
The course was great – fireroad climb technical rock section singletrack across the top then a sweet descent back to the start – all just 10km long
… our camper was halfway up the fireroad so the laps on strava always include our off lap.
Robbie and Huw were another team of pairs and they sped off on their laps – after a few laps they were running 4th and we were 15th …. out of 50 pair teams. Huw was bashing out laps of 37min within a few seconds of that (and all night stayed in the 45-47 mark) and Robbie was steady at 42min (which he did for the whole race) Da Automaton
My breathing was sketchy post cold and I had my HRM beep me if it went over 145bpm so my laps were a slow 45min – 52min. After 6 laps i had to ask Tom to do a double as my coughing now had an iron after taste. Huw and Robbie were now tying for 2nd and we were up to 7th although 1.5 laps behind. Dr Heart, Huw and Robbie were also all on 29er’s which got me thinking …. (but for another post)
But after my 8th lap I said I couldn’t do anymore (well I couldn’t afford to get sick all week). My legs felt great and if it wasn’t for my cough I am sure I would have lasted. Dr Heart pulled on some more impressive distance but then got shut eye for 5.5 hours. When we were both up again Huw and Robbie were winning by 10min and we were back in 15th although Thom did a last lap flyer and he clawed us up to a 14th.
The winners won their prizes … then it was a 4hr drive home …. YAWN
There is a Strathpuffer LITE (in SUMMER) …. Mmmmmmm maybe
And YES of course there were FAT BIKES there
Dr heart suitably dirty – race report to come
Very little has been said about this…..On December 2, Basque athlete Iván Fernández Anaya was competing in a cross-country race in Burlada, Navarre. He was running second, some distance behind race leader Abel Mutai – bronze medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the London Olympics. As they entered the finishing straight, he saw the Kenyan runner – the certain winner of the race – mistakenly pull up about 10 meters before the finish, thinking he had already crossed the line.
Fernández Anaya quickly caught up with him, but instead of exploiting Mutai’s mistake to speed past and claim an unlikely victory, he stayed behind and, using gestures, guided the Kenyan to the line and let him cross first.
Ivan Fernandez Anaya, a Basque runner of 24 years who is considered an athlete with a big future (champion of Spain of 5,000 meters in promise category two years ago) said after the test:
“But even if they had told me that winning would have earned me a place in the Spanish team for the European championships, I wouldn’t have done it either. I also think that I have earned more of a name having done what I did than if I had won. And that is very important, because today, with the way things are in all circles, in soccer, in society, in politics, where it seems anything goes, a gesture of honesty goes down well.”
He said at the beginning: unfortunately, very little has been said of the gesture. And it’s a shame. In my opinion, it would be nice to explain to children, so they do not think that sport is only what they see on TV: violent kicks in abundance, posh statements, fingers in the eyes of the enemy …
Yesterday was told to do a longer ride and then taper for the race …. but surely tapering involves training i thought to myself ……
Went out in the sleet with a 2 degree C temp and my summer cycling gloves and summer shoes on. Now call me stupid but i have proper waterproof mtb boots but still with eggbeater cleats on from 2 years ago …. and gloves are gloves right.
I should have picked up the hint when my Garmin Fenix failed to lock on until I had done over half my ride …
By the time the screen above started recording – I had lost all feeling in my thumb and forefinger … my feet were frozen and where i was stopping to open gates on the west highland way the snow had forced into the SPD pedals and frozen solid so that i was forced to bang the pedals to dislodge ice and i was even contemplating urinating on them to get them working again.
But rohloff great in all weathers as usual – bike fine … old raceface jacket warm, snug face warmer worth every penny but I was in pain on my return and my fingers took 3 minutes to thaw to be able to undo my camelbak clasp – how pathetic.
So today bought:
1 Sealskin Winter gloves
2 SPD cleats for winter shoes
3 Neoprene covers for summer mtb shoes and for road bike …..
Just got to get spare brake pads now and I will be grooving ….
Doing more things in a shorter time than it takes me to struggle out to the back line …
In the final months of 2012, Travelling to 3 continents in as many weeks,
Ben skinner & Adam griffiths, good friends and rivals from Cornwall,
Compete in the ASP World championships held in China, In amongst a crucial European longboard title race.Filmed in Morocco, China & Portugal
Thursday through Sunday January 20, ten Stars will take to the waters of the Royal Victoria Docks, outside the Tullett Prebon London Boat Show, to race in the introductory CNM Estates UK Star Championships. Gotta love the PR! Thanks toonEdition for the shot.
Why should he get a lifetime ban he pleaded instead of short like other dopers…. Err because you ran a systematic doping scheme, bullied, fired and sued to preserve your insatiable lust for fame. Stay away from cycling you one bollock’d twat …. There you go rant over
I reserve judgement but I would wager pulled punches and a tear (and then a crappy book deal)
Lance Armstrong should reveal all if he admits to doping on the Oprah Winfrey show later this week, says British Cycling president Brian Cookson.
The American was stripped of his seven Tour de France wins following a report by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).
Armstrong, 41, who has always denied doping, has remained silent since the report was published in October, but newspaper reports say he may confess.
“Let’s have facts, names, places and times,” Cookson told BBC Sport.
Cookson, speaking to the BBC’s Sportsweek programme, continued: “If the allegations are true in Tyler Hamilton’s book and the Usada report then there are substantial numbers of people involved.
“The real thing that has to come out is who were these other people involved, who were the people supplying and helping him, the doctors that helped him, the companies that supplied him. Let’s have that information.
“The sort of thing Armstrong was doing, according to the Usada report, was not just popping a few pills behind the changing rooms, it was sophisticated conspiracies, cheating over a long period of time on a large scale.”
In his book, Hamilton, who was a team-mate of Armstrong during his Tour de France victories in 1999, 2000 and 2001, alleged that both riders doped.
Armstrong ended his fight against the charges against him in August 2012. In October, Usada released a 1,000-page report saying the American had been at the heart of “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme” ever seen in sport.
As a result he was banned from competing in cycling and all sport sanctioned by the World Anti-Doping Authority or Usada, but the New York Times reported that if he admits to doping he could then try to return to racing in marathons and triathlons.
“I think this is the only way out for him,” added Cookson.
“I think there will be all these layers of emotion and obfuscation of the real issue, which is that he cheated, along with a lot of other people in and around his team.
Analysis
Tim Franks – BBC NewsTyler Hamilton, Armstrong’s former team and room-mate, himself an ex-doper, told me last year he hoped Armstrong would confess all, for his own sake. “He’ll feel so much better the morning after,” he said.For Armstrong, though, the path from confession to catharsis to closure would have particular problems.
“If [being allowed to compete in triathlons is] part of his motivation I kind of understand that but frankly we don’t want him back in cycling.
“[He has] undermined the credibility of our sport to such an extent that people, who I am now confident are competing clean, are still getting smeared and slurred.
“We have had massive investment in anti-doping procedures and a real change in culture over the last five years and I’m pretty confident that the sport is much cleaner than it was but we’ve still got the reputational damage that was done by Armstrong, so I don’t want him back in our sport.
“I hope he doesn’t get a reduction in his sentence from Usada that would allow him to take part in any other sport.”
The Sunday Times, which in December announced plans to sue Armstrong as a result of losing a libel action to him over doping allegations made in 2006, has taken out an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune with a list of 10 questions it wants Winfrey to ask the disgraced cyclist.
The questions include whether Armstrong, who recovered from testicular cancer, accepts “lying to the cancer community was the greatest deception of all” and if he intends to return the prize money he has won.
Armstrong was stripped of his titles by the International Cycling Union (UCI) shortly after the Usada report was released and he was given a lifetime ban from the sport.
He also resigned as chairman of the Livestrong foundation – the cancer charity he created – after the cycling body’s decision.
Garmin have launched two brand new GPS computers today, the Edge 810 and 510 GPS computers, which feature smartphone connectivity, live tracking and weather updates and easy social media sharing.
Externally, the 810 is virtually identical to the previous 800. The same dimensions and colour touchscreen, with no improvement in the resolution. The 510 meanwhile has a larger form factor, and gets a full colour screen and improved interface over the current 500.
The Edge 810 has a 2.6in colour screen with a 17 hour battery life and is compatible with optional detailed street or TOPO maps including BirdsEye Satellite Imagery. The Edge 510 has a new larger 2.2in colour touchscreen display and is compatible with both GPS and GLONASS satellites for faster satellite acquisition and improved signal lock. The 510 offers the promise of a 20 hour battery life.
We expected there might be a big update for the popular Edge series in our 2013 predictions and trends article, but it’s clear from the name this is a smaller update than we might have expected. There’s a lot more functionality packed inside both new computers however, and both now boast the ability to connect to your smartphone so you can do cool things like live tracking and easier sharing of your ride data through various social media networks. Perhaps most useful of all to us UK cyclists is the live weather mode. The Edge 510 does everything the 810 does bar the navigational stuff.
The new Garmin Connect Mobile app (runs on iOS and Android) hooks up to the new Edge via Bluetooth so you can post details of your ride straight to Facebook or Twitter the moment you step of the bike at the end of a ride. No waiting to plug the Edge into a computer before you can share. In a world where more and more people are using smartphones and tablets, this is a smart move by Garmin.
Live tracking means family and friends can follow your ride from the comfort of the sofa. This will be of limited interest to many people, but for big races and challenge rides it is a good way of letting anyone interested track your progress live.
Perhaps more useful is the real-time weather forecasts and alerts the Edge 810 can serve up when paired with your smartphone. Now you could adjust your ride accordingly if there is a storm approaching. I wonder if it would be possible to ensure you always finish a ride with a tailwind?
The new Garmin Connect Mobile app will also make it easier to download routes and activities to your Garmin. Simply choose a route you want to follow and send it from your smartphone to the Edge computer.
The Edge 810 now does mutliple bikes and activities more easily, which those people who use their current Garmin on different bikes will appreciate. So you can easily swap it from your mountain bike to your road bike and back to your cyclocross bike. You can adjust the displayed data for each activity, so you could display a power based output on the road bike and switch to heart rate data on the cyclocross bike.
“With these new connected Edge devices, riders can continue to expect robust data, industry leading accuracy and durability that cyclists have come to know from Garmin,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “Using the connectivity through smartphones, we will enable cyclists to take advantage of features such as real-time tracking and instant uploads, while keeping their phones safe in their saddle bags and relying on the power of the Edge on their handlebars, to provide accurate data in all conditions.”
The aftermarket silicone protective cases are now available in some bright colours to complement the colour of your bike.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 180,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 3 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!
Mike Hall won the perilous Strathpuffer 24-hour race solo in 2011, cementing his name in the great hall of UK enduro racers with a performance bordering on insane.
Unfortunately he won’t be defending his title when the event goes ahead this weekend, with bigger goals on the horizon, but took the time out to share his top tips with riding the event solo. And even if you’re not riding solo, or the Strathpuffer, there’s some good tips in there.
The abrasive mica at Strathpuffer is famous for eating brake pads quicker than anywhere else but there are ways to make them last. Fit box-fresh pads in the middle of the race without burning them in and you can expect to be repeating the procedure every lap.
Most brake pads rely on the heat and pressure of braking to complete the cure cycle and harden the friction material to withstand the rigours of use. This is fine for most people and most types of riding but start them off in cold, wet abrasive conditions and the relatively softer material will be wiped out before its had chance to harden up. They could do this at the factory for you but then your pads would cost twice, if not three times, as much. Generally speaking more expensive pads get a longer cycle but its still not enough to ready them for the kind of conditions you can see in a UK winter but there are a few ways you can do this yourself.
To start off with you’ll need some sintered metal pads (I used Clarks with Avid Elixir brakes for last years event and had exceptional results). Make sure you have ones with the friction material keyed into the backing plate, rather than just stuck on. You can tell they are keyed together if you look at the back of the pad and there’s holes in it and the friction material pokes through. This gives a mechanical joint between the two and reduces the chances of them separating.
No.1: The Blowtorch
The first way you can prepare the pads is to expose the braking surface to some heat. A minute or two under a blow torch will do the trick and your looking to see a change in colour of the pad material (a sort of rainbow pattern will appear like oil in water). This is good for ‘in the field’ prep with limited tools but it’ll only prepare the surface rather than all the way through the material so the results may be less effective. However a hard outer surface should give you time to get some heat into the brakes before they disappear and they can harden as you go.
No.2: The Turbo
Fitting the pads to the rear calliper and pedalling against the brake on a turbo-trainer (you won’t need the resistance roller applied) is a great way to achieve this too and it’ll give you a little last minute resistance training! Like the blowtorch you’ll only be preparing the surface here but the advantage is you’ll be applying heat and pressure so you should get slightly better results. You’ll know when they’re up to temperature by the lovely warm brake smell. Around 3 minutes or more per set should do the trick.
No.3: The Oven
This is potentially the best way to achieve the longest possible life for your pads by heating them all the way through. Before I tried this method (in combination with the turbo method actually) for the ‘puffer last year a few people told me it wouldn’t work and friction material would fall off the pad, however in 24 laps I only replaced pads 3 times and that was because I thought I should. Only one set of those actually needed replacing, the others were about half worn, so I don’t need any more convincing.
I also took a few extra precautions in my method though, borrowed from my one time day-job ‘shaking and baking’ high integrity aerospace electronics, to minimise the chances of disrupting the bond between friction material and backing plate.
First up household ovens aren’t great at accurate temperature regulation but you can give yourself a fighting chance of repeatability by removing any ‘thermal mass’ from the oven as this will all require heating up and can cause a significant difference between the temperature setting of the oven and the actual air temperature around the pads.
That means get rid of all the baking trays and grill pans you keep in there. Next you want to try and hang the pads in a cold oven. Avoid laying them on a baking tray as it may act as a heat sink on the backing plate side. You are trying to bring the pads up to temperature in a steady, uniform, manner so there’s less differential expansion in the two types of material.
Bring the temperature up to 200oC (the bond on sintered pads is typically made using copper, which has a melting point of around 1000oC so you should be comfortably inside temperatures that would weaken it) over a period of around 15 minutes and keep it there for a further 15-20 minutes before switching the oven off and opening the door, allowing them to cool slowly. If you want some extra confidence you can give them a spin on the turbo too before/after as this has the benefit of adding pressure to the bond.
I should make a disclaimer though about hardening your pads in this way. Using them over long periods and especially in the warmer weather could lead to you overheating the brakes more often and damaging them (depending on the type of brake you have). Having said that the pads I had in my rear brake at the end of last year’s ‘puffer went on to complete a ride across the continental divide, ending in New Mexico in 100oF heat before the seals on the brake finally died a few weeks later and I’m not really sure the pads were to blame.
So, you’ve prepared your pads well but you can still help them last (or not) with your braking habits? In a cold mucky race like the ‘Puffer dragging the brakes, or better just one brake, down a descent can be better than repeatedly applying both brakes or feathering them. This can seem counter-intuitive but hear me out:
By doing the majority of breaking on one wheel, one brake takes all the energy and converts it to heat, rather than sharing the load and having two brakes heat up half as much. Also when you first apply the brake the pad/disc interface will be gritty and dirty. With a few revolutions the interface between pad and disc will be cleaned and if contact is maintained, it becomes very difficult for mud and water to get between the two again.
Pad and disc also get warmer and evaporate moisture. You can also gauge the feel of the one brake you are using and still have the other to fall back on. For the first 4 laps of last years race I used the rear brake exclusively knowing that I could switch to the front and get roughly the same number of laps in before I needed a pit-stop.
As well as wearing brake pads at an alarming rate the Strathpuffer’s soil is equally ruthless in trashing transmissions. Use a fraction of that time you saved by not replacing your brake pads as often to rinse down the gears and re-lube. Thankfully while the puffer’s mud is abrasive, it also washes off quickly under a hose. If you have pit help (and if there’s anywhere you need it, its here) then this is where they are most valuable.
You can stuff your face with hot pasta and sugary tea while they give your machine a mini-service. Avoid extremes of chainline as this will wear your teeth from the side. I used XX last year which was an expensive mistake as it chain sucked in the smaller ring meaning I was in big-big a lot and wore the large chainring out. I’d consider using fitting a cheap cassette, chainrings and jockey wheels and a 1×10 or 1×9 set up with a steel chainring would work pretty well on that course too.
Hands and feet are going to take some serious abuse at this race and this year’s edition looks like its going to be a decidedly wet one. Despite the claims of waterproof shoes and gloves it’s inevitable that the water will eventually get in. At last years event my feet were in water soaked winter boots for over 20 hours and the skin on my toes was like tissue paper. Think about pre-treating your skin with Vaseline or similar and have a few pairs of dry gloves on hand. Avoid gloves with a liner that comes out with your hand when you take them off, they’re hell to get back on with cold wet hands.
Remember to eat well. The Strathpuffer lap starts with a long steady climb which is perfect for eating on. Fill your feed-bag, pockets or hands with plenty of energy goodness and munch your way to the top. If you’re cold you need the calories for central heating as well as pedal turning. Hot food is great; being cold and tired is not.
Ice tyres are a big help for staying upright but they needn’t be the difference between winning and losing if you take it easy and keep your wits about you. It looks like these aren’t going to be deployed en mass this year anyway but if you wake to sheet ice covering the fire-road and your not packing spikes; fear not.
Rideable lines eventually appear and as a soloist you’ll know every inch of the course before long and how it changes subtly as the race goes on. Even in the iciest conditions ice tyres were only a significant advantage for a few laps. After that lugging around an extra kilo of tyre starts to become tedious.
Things happen at races and that’s never more true at the ‘Puffer, but they can and do happen to everyone. So if mechanicals and other bad things happen to you, just keep at it as you never know what might happen.
In all endurance races keeping the mind stress free, going with the flow and staying relaxed helps you delay the effects of fatigue whereas getting tense when thing aren’t going to plan is a short cut to feeling worn out early on. I ran for half a lap after my tyre shredded but it still didn’t cost the race. Try not to think about how much your bike is disintegrating beneath you and enjoy the madness for what it is. Sunrise and the scenery at the ‘puffer is a feast for the eyes after so much darkness and absolutely worth waiting for. It also means that the end is only an hour or two away!
In the last chapter of Hidden Lines Youri, Nick and Kevin find themselves in the ultimate kiteboard playground. They discover Nitro City, which proves to be the perfect ending to their trip. Crazy stunts, perfect freestyle conditions and poolside parties conclude their journey.
Love the colours – love the design
Heard this on BBC radio this morning a very sad state of affairs – and like all RTA the driver will probably walk
“No parent should ever have to see his child lying on a tarred road after an accident, knowing that there is absolutely nothing he can do to save his life.’
Charles Stander said: “It is definitely the worst moment of my life. Words cannot even begin to describe how one feels when it happens. It was terrible.”
His son, Burry, one of the world’s foremost mountain bikers, was killed in an accident, while training on Thursday, January 3. He was out on a training ride in Shelly Beach, on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, when he was hit by a taxi. Apparently the driver did not see Stander when he made a turn. Stander died on the scene.
Colonel Jay Naicker, a spokesperson for the Police, confirmed that a docket for culpable homicide was opened. According to Charles Stander, he and his family will not remember his son only for his successes as a mountain biker. “For us Burry will always be more than just a mountain-bike champion. In fact, he was a champion on and off his bike. For him his family always came first. He never hesitated to help when, and where ever, he could.”
When asked what he considered to be the highlights of his son’s cycling career, Charles Stander said that it was almost impossible to make a selection. “Where does one start? There were some special moments. Burry really made us all very proud.”
Charles Stander asked the cyclists who are planning to participate in Memorial Rides in memory of his son, not to let their emotions get the best of them. “This is the last thing that Burry would have wanted.”
The funeral arrangements will only be finalized by next week.
Zoon Cronje, ZCMC, said that a Burry Stander Foundation will be established to fund and drive the process to change legislation concerning cycling safety as well as assist various projects to promote safe cycling.
“Our initial plan with the Burry Stander Foundation is to raise funds to help to pay for any legal costs that may be incurred to drive the process. Later on we hope to not only assist various safe cycling initiatives but also to assist talented young riders to fulfil their dreams.” Stander was already associated with projects like Songo.info with his Epic partner Christoph Sauser.
The official memorial rides will be used to not only drive awareness but also hand over petitions to the MEC. Cronje added “We are fortunate to have the organisers of the Pick n Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour helping us with the Cape Town leg, the organizers of the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge assisting with the Gauteng leg and also support from Andrew Maclean via CycleLab and Fritz Pienaar via Advendurance. There will also be a ride on the South Coast where Burry is from”
Anaerobic Exercise
Anaerobic exercise is exercise intense enough to trigger anaerobic metabolism. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports to promote strength, speed and power and by body builders to build muscle mass. Muscle energy systems trained using anaerobic exercise develop differently compared to aerobic exercise, leading to greater performance in short duration, high intensity activities, which last from mere seconds up to about 2 minutes.
Then i guess this counts
Kite*Surf*Bike*Rambling 