Sunday, April 26, 2009

Cool new video from the South Street Philadelphia boys, Elite Bicycles. You'll want to get one for yourself after watching this:

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Revolution 3 Triathlon

JUNE 7, 2009

The Revolution3 triathlon is a cool, new race in Middlebury, Connecticut – uniquely spread throughout the Quassy Amusement Park. This race staff and venue address’ one of the most overlooked issues in the sport of triathlon and an issue that must rise to the top of the priority list with all the recent acquisitions of the largest event producers and the largest media outlets - snatched up by Vulture, errr I mean Venture Capitalists. The issue I’m speaking about is making the races more spectator and more importantly media friendly. Triathlon is ripe for live television, internet streaming, and consistent on-course personalities that not only tell the viewing audience the insider talk, but also keep the commentary lively. That’s hard to do in triathlon – but it can be done. Revolution3 not only has placed the event within an amusement park for a better spectator experience, but also is investing in video/media technology to be used throughout the course. “Spectators enjoy front row action via stage screens set up in the transition area. Six cameras strategically placed throughout the course will broadcast live directly to you. Combine this with real-time GPS athlete tracking and you, too, will see the revolution unfold!” is a quote taken directly from the website which I felt demonstrated the enthusiasm that appears to be behind this race staff to make their race better. Rev3 Triathlon series is probably the organization’s next move and if they can pull this first race off without too many hiccups, I’m sure it will be a success.

Of course, it can go without saying that Rev3 is demonstrating a much needed and much appreciated prize purse for the professionals. You may not need the pros to make money as an event producer, but the indirect effect of supporting the pro circuit by putting up large prize purses legitimizes the professional side of the sport, and elevates the top performers into role models for young aspiring athletes. It creates a top tier standard for race performance and with that comes all sorts of media stories on specific race performances and the lifestyles of the pro athlete. I wish the BIG corporate races would see this cause/effect relationship, but the prize purses remain relatively small for the professionals. The professional triathletes often drive the new sponsors necessary for the sport to thrive into the sport in the first place. Aussie athlete, Chris Legh alone is responsible for bringing in millions of $ to the Ironman folks in the form of event sponsorship/industry support through his personal sponsorship networking ability. Look at what some other athletes have brought to Triathlon: Deboom (Polo), Stadler (Dresdner Kleinwart), Macca (Under Armor), Matt Reed (Crocs), Faris Al Sultan (Erdinger Beer) etc, etc, etc.

Worthwhile contributors to the development of the sport of triathlon are worth noting. Rev 3 is one of them. You can support and grow innovation within your lifestyle by making the effort to support the companies that fuel your inner soul. If racing triathlon gets you there, then consider making the trip to Middlebury, CT this summer.

Go to the website here

Friday, April 24, 2009

Human Performance Testing w/Dr. Inigo San Millan

Sitting in a corner office at CU-Denver's Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy Center is the Basque-native and US-resident, Dr. Inigo San Millan. Dr. San Millan is one of the leading medical professionals focusing their knowledge towards maximizing endurance performance.

He does this by performing a battery of physiological tests, including VO2 max (which he believes is highly overrated in endurance sports), and lactate blood concentration (which he believes is the best indicator of endurance sports performance), and also leads a revolution to measure blood values and parameters to eliminate the tendency for overtraining and fatigue with athletes.

Not only does he perform any or all of these tests, which range from $150-$350, but he also consults with the athlete as to how to incorporate training, rest, and diet into their athletic program.

We captured a few video clips from our visit to his CU-Denver office earlier in the week and were quite amazed with all the athlete personalities on his wall. They included: Alberto Contador, Joseba Beloki, Saunier-Duval, Astana, and ONCE cycling teams.

The biggest difference between San Millan's tests and standard cardiology-based tests is his protocol of working the athlete at 10 minute watts/kilogram stages. He explained how two athletes can be the same after four or even six minutes at a particular effort however a definite distinction can nearly always be seen at the 10 minute mark. Therefor, his final numbers are not as large as you might hear elsewhere.

For instance, the highest VO2max he has recorded with his protocal was Antonio Colom, a cyclist for Team Katusha who placed 5th at this year's Paris-Nice stage race. Colom recorded a 72 mil/kg value. Most Pro Tour riders, he believed, slotted in between 62-68 mil/kg values. These are a far cry from the "sexy" values we've all heard about Scandinavian nordic skiiers and professional cyclists boasting and he believes it is in part because of the shorter testing protocol administered.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

USAT Trade Team

The Retul 3D Motion Capture Bike Fit System, the official bike fit technology of USA Triathlon, was in full force last week at the Trade Team Training Camp at the US Olympic Training Center

in Colorado Springs. Retul’s master fitter Todd Carver and his apprentice Lars, took center stage as they operated dualing Retul systems for the trade team athletes as they were fitted to their new Blue race machines.

A few short clips from the action:




Thursday, April 2, 2009

Fitting the US Navy SEALs


On Monday, one day following the 31st running of the Superfrog Triathlon, the oldest Half-Ironman race in the world, Retül 3-D bike fitting and Elite Bicycles met together with four US Navy SEALs on the Naval Special Warfare’s Amphibious Base in Coronado, California for a day of bike fitting.

Elite Bicycle’s President David Greenfield was on hand to direct the SEALs through a range of flexibility and functional movement exams before working on their individual bike fits.

Greenfield observed how impressed he was with the overall physical and mental strength of the SEALs but found improvements could be made with their flexibility while on the bike.


After flexibility assessments were made, Greenfield and Retül’s head fitter, Todd Carver, split the SEAL athletes into two groups to perform their bike fits. Each fitter worked with a variety of bikes, including triathlon, road and mountain bikes based on the key events each SEAL was in training for.

At the end of the day, big changes were made on existing bike positions and both fitters were confident the athletes would see performance gains from their new positions.



Key races for the SEALs this upcoming season include California 70.3, Kansas 70.3, Sea Otter Mountain Bike Classic, Ironman Hawaii and the Continental Divide Bicycle Race.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

New England Bike Gods


New England is home to many of the bike industry's greatest engineering minds when it comes to designing killer new frames. One of these companies is Spooky Bikes, operated by a Retul fitter named Carl. Recently a cyclist and Retul fan sent us some of Carl's artwork - very cool. The art piece, which I'm sure will end up in a museum in the distant future, depicts kind of a cross between a bike geek and the Emperor (from Star Wars).

Spooky Bikes Rule