Gearing up for the Birkie in one week and I am banking a lot on my “altitude training”. This plan pretty much entails a low volume, crush yourself on the nordic trails at 10,000′ on the weekend, live at altitude and race at sea level. Walking, none the less skiing at 10,000′ is quite the challenge. The Birkie has 4300′ vertical of climbing- a lot more than you would expect being in WI. I have been using my Timex Global trainer to track the distance and vertical of my nordic workouts. This has been a huge advantage to know the stats I am getting to compare them to the actual race course. Another great feature of the Global Trainer is the auto start/stop feature- especially with it being cold/ gloves on, and all the rest stops I need to take after the hills! Here are a few screen shots of the trail profiles that I downloaded to TrainingPeaks.

Got the first day of Nordic skiing in the books at the Frisco Nordic Center. This is a gem of nordic paradise in the heart of the mountains. Flat/ wide trails hiding in the trees with a mountain backdrop (beat that!).  I felt quite a bit out of shape- after only 5 minutes- seeing as though the trails sit at 9100′! I am hoping the extra red blood cells I am gaining here will help me out in Hayward come February. Using my Timex Global Trainer I logged in 25k of skiing in just over 2 hrs. It was a slow go of it with snow continuously falling but a solid start to Nordic training. I was really impressed with the auto start/stop and resume function on my global trainer since I had to stop so often to inhale more oxygen!!

If you are a alpine skier and haven’t booked your tickets to Colorado this season- DO IT NOW! With over 175″+ this season already~ powder days are becoming the expectation, rather than a treat. I truly cannot over-exaggerate  how good the snow has been. We have been mostly hitting up Vail as they have had the most snow.

With ambitions to do some racing on the dirt next year I was lucky enough to get a head start thanks to Orbea; with the all new Alma 29er. I knew I wanted my next mountain bike to be a 29er and when Orbea released the new model in multiple sizes I thought it would be the perfect bike not only for some racing but just ripping the single-track as well. I went with a size large- and found it to work quite nicely for myself; its a bit tight on the stand-over clearance due to the larger wheels but otherwise the geometry was spot on for what I was looking for. I was able to get it out for a ride on some easy trails today to allow for some acclimatization as well as on the trail adjustments.

A work of Art

The front end is highlighted by a Rock Shox Reba Team and Shimano XT disc brake. I was very impressed with the small bump compliance of the Reba. The beefed up lowers really show increased torsional control in rough stuff. Initially I found the brakes to be a bit slippery but they grabbed much better after a bit of break in.

The frame improvements include the 4×4 rear end which has ample mud clearance (though no mud was to be found today). I found the rear end to be a great mix of compliant/ stiff. With the larger wheels you can really float over things more so than a 26″ wheel, even without dual suspension.

Orbea has worked with Gore Ride On cables and created an integrated system on the frame. This should make for miles of riding without getting grit in the cables. A slightly kinked seat-tube allows for increased mud clearance and a tighter handling geometry.

The attention to detail is excellent: with such items as custom lock-on grips, a beautiful seat collar, built in mud fender on the downtube and a beautiful paint job. It’s these small details that really make a quality bike that much better than the competition. A remote shock lock out can be seen here as well.

The Shimano XT is hands down the best performing group for the money. The durability vs. weight absolutely cannot be matched. Shimano wheels are not known for being the sexiest, but they provide unmatched quality and durability. I found them to be plenty stiff, and I really appreciate the lock-on rotors they provide vs. the 6-bolt pattern which have a tendency to strip out.

After one ride I came away very impressed and looking for more singletrack and rocks to run over! The frame is as near to perfection as I have seen, and the component spec is first rate all around. If your looking for a hardtail 29er look no further than www.orbea.com.

The world championships in HI have come and gone in the blink of an eye and unfortunately ended a bit quicker than I hoped. I was just not able to overcome the ITBS injury I had been dealing with in the month prior to the race, and it proved to be too much at the 56 mile mark on the bike. I surprised myself by making it into the front group of the age-group race to this point but my knee then locked up and was extremely painful. I made the decision to pull the plug at this point. I ended up just finishing the ride soft-pedaling/ enjoying the views/ and stopping for some oranges at aid stations along the way. I officially dropped out of the race in T2. Disappointed, but I knew I made the right decision. It was still great to enjoy the atmosphere and participate in the world championships.

Here are some helpful tips I found out if you get to race here:

1) The swim matters; swimming <57 minutes vs. swimming 1hr means you are in front of a big group and don’t have to fight it the first 10 miles on the bike. Thank you AquaSphere for my custom Kona swim skin!!

2) No big efforts the first 50 miles- the 7 mile grind+ wind to Hawi will kill you if you have spent too much energy prior to this

3)salt tablets are a must, I have never salted out more than here.

4) use Tri-Bike Transport – saves $$ and hassle

5) pay no attention to those people doing intervals on the Queen K and Ali’i the week before the race

Atleast it looks fast!

Swim Start

Thanks DJB!!

The K-Swiss K-Ona never got a chance :(

I arrived in Kona on Monday and immediately knew I was in a special place. Landing at the airport you hardly feel like you are at a tropical paradise- more like a desolate moon scape. I will be riding in that for 5 hours on Saturday. It has not been extremely hot or windy, but I have noticed the humidity. The usual hot spots of Dig Me Beach, Ali’i Drive, Lava Java have been hopping with nervous triathletes. When you are here you can really feel the energy of the race and I am so grateful to be able to be a part of it. Yesterday I did a nice swim on course with a stop at the Coffees of Hawaii floating espresso bar :). Then I was able to pick up my bike from Tri Bike Transport- which delivered my bike completely unscathed! A very hassle free way to go and I highly recommend it! With the arrival of my bike it was time for a spin on the famous Queen K.

Kailua Bay/ Dig Me Beach

Ali’i Drive

Out on the Queen K- near energy lab