The Carbon Bike
I think I have found my new bike for cross season… But, price will tell. I have rolled around on the BH G4 Road bike, which this frame was obviously designed around, and it rides awesome. It was responsive and a comfortable fit, something I hardly say. If the carbon version is too much they also have their aluminum version.

BH released this about the new bike:
Next month, BH will present its new frame: the Cross Carbon, designed specifically for cyclo-cross.
This cutting-edge monocoque carbon frame weighs as little as 1.250 kg, and together with its Full Carbon fork, will revolutionize the field of cyclo-cross.

Following the positive results obtained last season with the BH Titan frame, and after almost a full year of testing different prototypes, improvements have been made to the frame’s geometry, strength and weight. Proof of this is professional cyclist and Ag2r team member John Gadret’s 8th place position in the last World Championship in Livigno.

Laboratory tests have also shown that these improvements are a big step forward, by optimizing performance without sacrificing reliability, which is essential for competition.

The frame will be available in four sizes (51, 54, 57, and 59) and in the Ag2r colors, as well as in aluminum.

The frame will be used by some of the best cyclo-cross racers such as Unai Yus, Isaac Suárez, John Gadret, Jerome Chevalier and the women cyclists Rocío Gamonal and Ruth Moll, among others.

The Aluminum frame with Carbon Fork

For more information go to:
www.bhbikes-us.com

-DSheek
Mountain Bikes are beating me up… I need cross season!

I received a phone call Tuesday night from my cycling coach/Pro Mountain Biker Cameron Brenneman of the Sho-Air Team as he was explaining his recent trip to Italy for a 24 Hour mountain bike courtesy of Niner Bikes.

The conversation went something like this:
“24 Hours later and I am back in New Mexico. I am tired. The trip was good but for being in Italy almost a week I think I learned two things to say, I’m on your left and I’m on your right. Obviously, I was saying it wrong though because I took out a team on a tandem bike early because they didn’t understand.”

But Cameron sent over a little email too with information and pictures from the race:
The race went well in Italy. We won the 4 man team classification & took 3rd overall. We raced on single-speed Niner bikes and only one other team used single-speeds. We completed 59 laps of the 4 mi course. It was a lot of fun and there were some amazing views of the sea from the course. One of my teammates girlfriend decided last minute to compete in the solo category on a single-speed (crazy!!!). She finished 2nd with 33 laps. For more info go to www.24hfinale.com.

Hope everyone is doing well,

Cameron

Thanks for sharing!
-dsheek
I would have been so amazed by the views I would have forgotten about racing…

In my call on Friday with coach Felipe of Breakaway-Training he asked about upcoming goals. The largest identified goal is weight loss and weight management. Weight is an eternal struggle for me and since the half Ironman/foot injury it’s been up and down more than I would like. Right now I’m at 184 pounds.

From May 19 – May 25 I’m keeping a food journal of everything I eat. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, excess coffee consumption, everything. At the end of this week I’ll return the journal to Felipe for analysis. I’m hoping he can identify my bad habits and eating quirks quickly and then can hold me accountable along with my training plan. By doing this it should be fairly simple to see for myself. This might be a trick I continue to use longterm.

I’m optimistic!

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Happy Monday! Laugh a little…

HT MoreThanDodgeBall.com

Andy B
outsideallday.com

This was a busy shopping weekend. I needed to purchase 2 things for my jacked up foot and some new Patagonia swim trunks for vacation. I shopped like a chick!

For my feet:


Strassburg Sock

For my buns:

Patagonia Wavefarer II Board Shorts (Spring 2008)

I went with Wizard:Jute for my pattern/color.

No more buying stuff for a while.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

If you’re like me you will appreciate this post. If you’re like Dave you can came back and look at it in a few months. Below is a little summary of a few mountain bike races and triathlons.

Toad Festival (MTB) – June 7th, 2008

XTERRA Snow Valley (Tri) – August 3, 2008

American Mountain Bike Classic (MTB) – August 21-24, 2008

Summer Team Big Bear races (MTB)

Summer RIM Nordic races (MTB)

Scott Tinley’s Adventures Off Road Triathlon (Tri) – October 5, 2008

50 Mile Ride (MTB) – April 4, 2009

Don’t procrastinate!

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Because plantar fasciitis is still the bain of my existence I’ve had to kick it into high gear to figure out how to recover quicker than I am currently am, which is not recovering. Felipe and I just wrapped our touch base call and he recommended checking out the Strassburg Sock. He’s just a bunch of his athletes in it. The sock is deigned to kick plantar in the butt and to make me look like a moron while I wear it.

Snails Pace has them in stock so the family will head over there after work to grab a pair.

Here’s to lame looking socks that you sleep in!

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Short version.

Long version.

Escalade’s as support vehicles, what!?

Andy B
outsideallday.com

I spent the week prior to the road races at fifth grade camp with students hiking, dancing, and singing camp songs. I had the opportunity to ride my bike for about an hour each morning so my training fizzled drastically. By Friday I was exhausted but I returned home from camp only to load my car again and eat before heading to Bakersfield.

Friday:
We arrived in Bakersfield and were lost due to google maps, thank you, so we finally got checked in and to bed around 11:30pm.

Saturday:
Wake up 5:00am but it felt like I slept for three hours. Got to the race registered and then fell asleep in my car only to wake up ten minutes before my race start so I threw on my shoes and helmet darting to the starting line. This was the Mens 30+ Cat 1-4 race. It was off, it was fast and I was off the back as soon as it started.

Basically the guys I was racing against were so fast that I was spinning out in the flats with my compact crank set. I wish I would have had a computer so that I could have seen the speeds. After one lap and getting dropped I pulled the plug so that I could just rest for day two.

Saturday night Hanhster and I prepped for day two with what we are determined is the magic combination of foods, stretching, etc… (I can’t share all of the strategies otherwise the other Cat 5 roadies will know my secrets and tell the rest of our horrible wack pack).
Coca-Cola Classic href='http://www.outsideallday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/img_1056.jpg'>
Diaphragm Stretches

Sunday:
The race was on! I woke up early again and was at the races but alert and feeling surprisingly well. I raced the 30+ Cat 3-5 only to find myself up against team Triathletix. They were a bunch of fun even though they tried to burn me out, block, and attack me towards the end of the race.

The end result was me VS. Triathletix, two sprinters took off in the final 400 yards but I found a gap in their block attempt and I chased the sprinters down for the win.

So in true champion fashion I showed my stretched diaphragm off on the podium so everyone could see just how big my lungs are… Why the rest of their team didn’t show up I don’t know but word around the race was that it was due to my ominous podium belly display.

I walked away from this race having a blast and with an extra $55 in cash for winning… We kept saying we were going to Sizzler but instead we got coffee and Taco Mesa.

-DSheek
Big Belly Road Racing

Fun post on The Cleanest Line about a bike to work challenge that Patagonia is hosting for their employees. If I had a shower at my office I would ride to work everyday, no problem. Without the shower, well, then I would smell like Dave and we all know the ending to that story.

Click here for the complete blog entry.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Aliso Viejo Grand Prix
Saturday, July 12 2008
Hosted by www.velosportelite.com

The Elite team got some great news from the Aliso Viejo City council. Encase you hadn’t heard we have secured a fantastic course in Aliso Viejo for our circuit race on Saturday July 12. It will be a fabulous day of. Please email the road team captain, Alex Isaly (aisaly@adelphia.net) as soon as you can and let us know if you can volunteer. We also need sponsors for this event so we can increase the prize purse of each race.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

So last night I called into the jury duty hotline and my number was up. Well, you know what I mean – I needed to go in. So I went to bed and set my clock early thinking I would take the Metro into Downtown LA. I got up at 5:10 and spent an hour online – trying to figure out the rules of the Green Line and Blue Line to get from El Segundo to Union Station. Just so you know – you can’t take a bike during peak hours. Classic. So we are being discriminated against. And just as I was thinking about driving I found an LA Metro bike map – truly amazing. This PDF and the info on the Bike Page is huge and has dozens of bike ways across LA. So I used the gMap Pedometer and figured out the one-way distance: 20.55 miles. With time running out to make this work, I packed super fast and skipped the shower. Why shower when you are about to ride 20 miles? Sorry everybody around me in the jury room right now. I took Pershing, to the Ballona Creek Bike Path, to Jefferson, to Redondo Ave, to Venice, to Figueroa to 1st Street. Awesome. I barely made it averaging 16.3 mph. The ride home will be awesome.

Matt Smart
outsideallday.com Contributor

This email just came in from Coach Felipe.

————————–
Hey Andy, how are you? Let’s chat this week about your foot and your next goals. Give me a call or send me a email. Hope you and your family are doing great!

Felipe Loureiro
Head Coach/ Founder
www.Breakaway-Training.com
————————–

I needed this email and I’m thankful for the time and effort that Felipe has put into helping me accomplish my goals. I’ve learned that I need support from people that care about me if I’m going to be disciplined.

Andy B
outsideallday.com