Universal Sole Mizuno XC race #4

Last XC race of the year, nice weather. I figured I would try to break the PR I set on this course 2 weeks ago of 19:16. Started fast, faded in the middle and finished strong. 4 seconds off the PR.

Ted 19:20
Ken 23:38

Photo by Jason Knauff

Ted's Cross Practices

They are classic. From going to the park and just trying to knock each other off of the bike, to this new gem:


JapanProbe.com: Sand Biking - The funniest bloopers are right here

Saris PowerTap 2.4 MTB Disc Hub

Saj asked us to do some reviews, so why not review the most expensive single item I have outside of frames?

I'd been looking at getting a PowerTap for a while, but just wasn't pulling the trigger. It's a lot of money, and I wasn't sure I would use it enough to justify it.

Then again, I'd need to build a rear wheel anyway for my new Salsa Mamasita, so why not? Well, about 7 weeks ago or so I pulled the trigger. Built into a Stans ZTR 355 29er rim with DT Swiss Revolution spokes and green nipples, I now I have a rear wheel.



In case you are wondering, that's a Stans "The Crow" tire. I've been running them front and rear ever since Ted let me borrow his wheels for Torn Shirt. The tires are surprisingly grippy (I run them between 19psi and 26 psi depending on the course) even with such a small tread. Add to that their VERY light weight, and they have worked very well for me this year.

There was something I was very nervous about: reliability. I had heard a number of issues with signal dropout and water getting into the hub of road wheels, how would this do off-road?

The answer seems very clear to me: it works great! I haven't had a single drop or problem with the hub in the whole time I've had it. Now, I do have one complaint with it: weight. This thing is heavy. It easily adds a half-pound to my bike. But, I have decided the training value more than off-sets this minor weight gain (and let's be honest, I've got a lot more than a half-pound to lose on my body to make up for the hub weight!).

So far I've logged about 300 miles off-road on the hub in the 6 weeks I've had it built and on my bike. I am very impressed with the data tracking and I love playing with the files and analyzing rides. I've also been able to really set solid goals for training, especially in interval sessions, which has been interesting and made me work much harder.

I've noticed an increase in power, but haven't done direct comparisons yet to see exactly how much....that data will follow. I have been logging data from the PT head unit as well as my Garmin, and distance seems to be right on between the two, usually within 1-2%.



I'll follow-up with what I find, but for now this seems like a great training tool! It's utility WHILE riding is limited when on the trail. But it works well for training on fire roads and really anywhere other than single track. The data is most useful from this hub after the ride. Next up may be one for a road/TT/cross application....

Derrick Fluegge, Athlete of the Month

Congratulations to Derrick.

Derrick "Gunz" Fluegge, the elder statesman of Team Get a Grip Off Road Racing has been nominated Windy City Sports September Athlete of the Month.

Derrick attracted the attention of the publication with his dominating performance as the anchor leg at the Muddy Buddy Chicago, pacing his team to the top time overall. His win there marked his second Muddy Buddy victory in the last 3 years.

"I have recognized my own awesomeness for years now. It's about time someone else actually noticed," remarked Fluegge.*

"The guys a natural runner," remarked his teammate Ted Ramos. "I think it's about time he applied for his Muddy Buddy pro card and stopped sandbagging the age group ranks."

With a desire to go out on top, Fluegge announced his retirement from Muddy Buddy racing immediately after the awards ceremony.

Next up for Derrick is the final race of his multisport schedule the Accenture triathlon and then after that he plans to try out cyclocross racing in the Chicago Cyclocross Cup.

What's next for Derrick in 2009? "Next year I think I am going to do really well in Xterra racing."

As Wiindy City Sports Athlete of the Month, Derrick will receive a Subaru prize pack and will be entered in the sweepstakes for Windy City Athlete of the Year.




*not an actual quote, but it sounds like something he'd say.

Xterra Mountain Championship

Ogden, Utah. I felt like I did pretty well, just like at Tahoe last year. But when I looked at my result I didn't do too well overall. I guess altitude also affects your perception of reality.

I think my swim went really well, I saw some pro swim caps around me. On the bike I deviated from my stragtegy and went too hard too early on the climb when one of the top female pros (Shonny Vanlandinham) came by me. I stayed on her wheel for a while before I blew up so that was encouraging. Last year she passed me like I was standing still.

Despite that irrational exhuberance at the beginning of the bike, I never felt like I was in over my head. Every time I hit a wall I was able to recover and keep pushing. The bike was nearly all climbing, but on the downhills I could have descended more aggresively. However I felt I was in contention so I wanted to be conservative and not crash or flat on the rocks hidden under the dust.

The run could have been better if I had fueled more intelligently durring the bike, but I had my moments like running up the steepest part of the ski hill where everyone else I saw was reduced to walking.

I think the last 1/3 (last hour) of my race (at the highest altitude) is where my performance started to fall off. Probably both dehydration and altitude were the cause. I had a few problems on the run like falling and scraping up my knee and a really bad side stitch for the last 2 miles, but I kept going and missed my time goal by only 1:45. I was making up ground quickly on 6th and 5th in my AG before the cramping became debilitating. Oh well, my overall time was about 15 minutes better than last year.

Overall I finished 7th AG. I finished 7th at Richmond and sixth at Alabama. A pretty consistent season overall. I know where I need to improve to do better next year. I'm am encouarged because in the past any race at altitude and I would perform far below my capability, but now I think I am learning how to train and prepare for it.

Overall it was a good race and a good season. The regional point series title is now a sure thing. That's 5 time champ if you're counting.

I'm skipping Nationals this year so I can get some rest and start building a base for cyclocross.

I can't wait for the Temecula West Championship next year.

Muddy Buddy

Derrick and I headed out to a horse farm in Gilbert IL for the Muddy Buddy. For those who don't know what a Muddy Buddy is, it is kind of like a team duathlon where one person runs and the other person bikes to various checkpoints where they do an obstacle then switch sports. They leap frog each other like this for about a total of 10K.

Derrick won this event back in 06 so I knew we had a good chance. When we got to the event and I saw my Titus Fireline 29 was about 10 times more expensive than any other bike there, I knew we had a really good chance. Most of the people were wearing costumes and had reflectors and bike racks on their hybrids, so perhaps we came into this event a little too seriously. Still there were 2798 other competitors there and the key to this race is running, not biking, so you never know who the competition would be.

Waiting in really long lines for smelly outhouses with no toilet paper, I lost track of time. When I got out, we walked toward the starting line. When we got near then front we noticed a wave of riders had just left the start corral. "What wave is this?", I ask. A couple guys shout back, "your wave."

I run back to Derrick who's talking to the ladies, I grab my bike and make a bee line to the starting area. I stomp on the pedals with anger and chase down as many people as I can in the first mile.

The course had some hills and swampy grass to ride through but overall was nontechnical.
Our bike exchanges went off without a hitch and we kept making up time on the field throughout the course. All of our practice and planning paid off.

When it was all said and done we had come from behind to put down the best overall time (39:03) and win the title 2008 Muddy Buddy Chicago champions.