Dec 26 - Slowtwitch featured the Columbia Multisport Club in an article/interview. web... Look for the RUNNING ROAD SHOW to make its debut in January of 2008. The Fox Sports Network will carry this regularly aired show that will provide tips, news and features of interest to the entire community, from elite to first-time runners.

Dec 25 - The 2008 schedule for the Brevet Series is locked down. This year, three days will feature multiple distance options. April 12- 200k, April 26- 200k, 300k, May 17- 200k, 300k, 400k, June 7- 300k, 400k, 600k, and Aug 16 200k. All rides begin from and return to the court house parking lot in Edwardsville, Illinois. These rides are a great opportunity to expand your cardio base in April-May... MacKenzie Riford is like other 13-year old girls in most respects, but what sets her apart is when she puts on her running shoes. She completed her first marathon this year in 4:37:50 amidst outcries that she shouldn't be running that distance and wouldn't finish anyway. After disproving skeptics, she set her sights on the JFK 50 Mile Ultramarathon. video

Dec 19 - In a follow-up to yesterday's update about running streaks, we neglected to provide a link to the USRSA. This site maintains member running streak data. They define running as at least one continuous mile within each calendar day under one's own body power (without the utilization of any type of health or mechanical aid other than prosthetic devices, i.e. no treadmills). The St Louis area is represented by William S. Stark. The 60 year old professor of Biology at St Louis University is currently positioned at #17 on the list. His stats include: Running at least one mile every day from Sept 10, 1976 to the present. Running a minimum of 40 miles every week (except for 7 wks) Aug, 1984 - Aug, 1996. Fastest: marathon 3:21:16, 6-miler 38:00, 10-k 40:07, and mile 5:27... Holding onto 115th is 56 year old Larry Albertson from Ballwin who has kept his streak alive for more than 10 years. The Anheuser-Busch production technician began on June 9, 1995... If you have a swimming, biking, or running streak intact, we'd like to know about it even if it's just a couple of months... The Hundred Cols Tour offers a very significant challenge for cyclists as it takes them along 4,000k of French countryside while ascending 106 cols (mountain passes) and 85 cotes (hills). The route hits virtually every Tour de France climb and then some. Total elevation gain for the route is an unfathomable 56k (56,000m or 183,000'). Many have signed up, but just over 260 riders have completed the ride. web... While watching riders descend the steep and very twisty roads of Sa Calobra Mallorca off the eastern coast of Spain, you'll be squeezing phantom brake levers. Check out the near miss as the camera man tries to work his way around the slower moving cars... A well-polished video shows off epic roads on Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

Dec 18 - ESPN posted a piece about runners with decades-long running streaks. web... The USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships felt the brunt of a real Missouri winter over the weekend. It didn't slow faze Tim Johnson and Katie Compton who won the elite divisions. For Johnson it was his second title, the first coming back in 2000. He will head off to cyclocross Worlds in Italy before gearing up for another road season riding for the Health Net Maxxis Pro Cycling Team. Compton made it two national cyclocross titles in four years after taking her first in 2004.

Dec 15 - The proposed Tour of America has been revamped from its impractical 27 stage/ 4000 mile format to a more Grand Tour-like 21 stages/ 2200 miles. While it's a step in the right direction, the Sept 6-28 event will still attempt to muscle its way past the Tours of Missouri, Germany, & Poland, and the USA Cycling Prol Road & Time Trial National Championships by trying to wave $10 million at the peloton... Another Chinese product is being recalled. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is bringing back more than 5,000 Novara Afterburner Trailers. The children's trailer bicycle can detach from the adult bicycle, posing a fall hazard to children. Why is it that a country who built a centuries-old wall can't export simple, reliable consumer products?.. Seven new communities were bestowed with the League of American Bicyclists designation of Bicycle Friendly Community. At the Silver Level: Santa Cruz, CA; Steamboat Springs, CO. At the Bronze Lever: Lexington-Fayette County, KY; Liberty Lake, WA; Santa Clarita, CA; Spartanburg, SC, and New York City, NY... Huh, NYC?... In Salt Lake City, leaders at City Hall were on the verge of proposing a helmet law that would require all adults to wear a helmet while riding a bike. The proposal got a unanimous thumbs-down from the Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Committee (MABC). The Committee Chairman stated that it wasn't so much that he was against the wearing of helmets, he just does not feel that it should be mandated... Finish line schwag at the 2008 GO! St Louis Marathon will include a mesh running cap. The race will also see a few minor course tweeks but remain largely the same... View the theatrical trailer for the documentary, Spirit of the Marathon, which is scheduled to be realeased on DVD in early 2008. video... Bicycling Magazine has a smart five minute bike check-up you can perform while waiting around for your next group ride to start. Plus take the mystery out of wheel truing with the short demonstration video.

Dec 14 - Local tri pro Jill Petersen has begun blogging her adventures... We've all heard of Christmas in July sales. Consider this a bit of July in December with two videos of famous Tour de France mountains, except that they are of riders descending them, not climbing these landmarks. This guy is scary fast on the Alp d'Huez, while this rider is tad more sane on the Col d'Izoard... Perspective - The Mitchell Report was released on Thursday and it comes as no real surprise that it lacks any teeth. What a contrast between the almost heavy-handed manner in which pro cycling is trying to clean up their sport versus the coddling approach taken by Major League baseball. With the latter, they essentially have an ineffectual commissioner doing battle against the stonewalling multi-millionaires who have an unwritten locker room code and a staunch union leader providing interference as their media mouthpiece. The much anticipated tome is less a manifesto as it is a gentle encouragement to forget the past and just move forward. Too bad ex-Senator Mitchell isn't still holding office. His report would have delivered more impact if he could have attached some pork bills to it. These have been very tough times for pro cycling, but a tip of the cycling helmet for finally taking firm action against performance enhancing drugs.

Dec 13 - The Dallas White Rock Marathon welcomed several runners from the St Louis area. Finishers with chip times were: Nancy Hammond 3:25:32, Tommy Doias 3:40:33, Alex Oneil 3:51:52, Kevin Albert 3:54:34, Brock Hall 4:04:26, Donna Botkin 4:10:54, Eugene Belleza 4:21:18, Ray Kalbac 4:22:54, Melissa Peters 4:23:00, Terri Menghini 4:28:25, Deborah Tata 4:40:39, Emily Stolte 5:00:47, Betty O'Dea 5:22:35, Carolyn Parmer 5:32:45, Jane Moore 5:34:33, and Mary Lou Smith 5:34:33. Nice work by all... The 31st Annual Rocket City Marathon took place in Huntsville, Alabama. Five area runners made the trip. Bill Kotaska 3:04:43 , John Brenner 3:43:53, Keith Hulsey 3:55:51, Lindsey Phelps 4:12:38, and Pam Borger 4:27:47... Videos to provide a little inspiration for your winter training: Grand Canyon Trail Run, Mount Everest Marathon, and the Cross the Andes Race

Dec 12 - Bicycling Magazine posted a lengthy but compelling story about Ross Dillon who during a training ride was struck by an inattentive driver. web... Outside Magazine's interactive guide to the human body is an interesting diversion offering simple tests and useful tips on how to live better. web... Velonews did a nice story on St Louis native Dan Schmatz. web

Dec 11 - In the women's division of the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships, the Big River Running Company placed 21st. The team was composed of: 50-Margaret Lyons 22:10,
70-Julie Lossos 22:31, 121-Jessica Flinn 23:21, 122-Maureen Conley 23:23, 131-Jennifer Tesmer 23:40, 139-Kris Pearce 23:56, 179-Allie Baker MO 25:26. Total Time 1:55:07

Dec 10 - Zac Freudeburg made it two in a row at the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail. His 48:21 finish was 2:10 faster than his winning time in 2006 and probably due largely to being pushed by runner up Adam White of Peoria who ran 49:19. Stephen Yates took 3rd place in 54:29. The top three women runners were Judy Dorpinghaus (59:24), Debbie Kerber-Rehr (1:04:51), and Laura Scherff (1:09:20). In all, 255 runners took part in the steep, 7.5 mile off-road run made even more challenging by slippery conditions. results... Big River Running fielded two teams at the 2007 USA Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships this past weekend. They came home with 7th and 34th place finishes in the 50 team event. The breakdown for team #1: 16-Ben Rosario 32:31, 33-Justin Kunz 33:09, 44-Brian Lyons 33:24, 63-Matt Helbig 33:58, 71-Adam MacDowell 34:07, 108-Christopher Haag 34:44, 130-Tim Bradley 34:59, 184-Jeremy Doherty 36:00. Total time: 2:47:11. Team #2: 121-Carter Snow 34:50, 156-Drew Wyant 35:30.7, 216-Brian Whitehead 36:36, 253-Trey Robinson 37:16, 287-David Gutekunst 38:21, 289-Joseph Porter 38:28, 299-Dustin Pearce 39:34, 305-Jeremy Hammer 39:47. Total time: 3:02:34. The top five finishers on each team scored.

Dec 7 - The U.S. Olympic Triathlon Trials will not be held in Honolulu, Hawaii as previously planned, but instead will be staged in that other tropical paradise known as Tuscaloosa. Alabama. As far as the athletes are concerned, they wouldn't care if it were staged on Mars as long as they make the team.

Dec 6 - And you think traveling by plane with your bike is a hassle. Check out the tale of a man who purchased an 1886 Victor Light Roadster, refurbished it, and then flew from San Francisco to Scotland for a century ride. web... USA Track & Field awarded its Masters Athlete of the Year to Lois Ann Gilmore of Janesville, Wisconsin. This 77-year old has completed more than 54 races in 2007 including an American record of 26:01 for 5k. She is a survivor of two life-threatening illnesses and a great exemplar of determination... The Hawaii Marathon is bracing for the 28,000 runners who will descend upon Honolulu streets this weekend amidst tropical heat and humidity. Race directors are hopeful that they've learned from afar after the seeing the debacle that was the Chicago Marathon this year. The weatherman calls for chance of showers and a high of 83.... The Tour of Georgia was in the news with its 2008 course announcement. This year the tour begins April 21 on the Atlantic coast at Tybee Island near Savannah. The tour climaxes on April 27 in Atlanta. In between a few changes were made with new stage routs and host cities. Of course the climb up Brasstown Bald is an annual fixture. web... Katy Trail lovers got their wish when the Taum Sauk disaster settlement included linking the popular bike path to Kansas City. When work will begin on the 46 mile connector from Windsor to Pleasant Hill has not been announced. Having it ready for the summer of 2008 seems a rather unrealistic expectation. The city of Clinton can't be blamed if they are disappointed in the news as the former endpoint of the Katy will be relegated to a spur that most end-to-end trail users will likely bypass.

Dec 5 - Unfortunately the Bike & Rack Shack is having a Going Out of Business Sale. They are offering progressively deeper discounts on everything in the store until closing day on Dec 30. They are located at 8135 Big Bend Blvd in Webster Groves. 963-3339... The 180 Energy Runners (Zac Freudenburg, John Aerni, Tyler Small, and Dusty Lopez) won the men's open division of the SLTC Marathon Relay last weekend with their race-best time of 2:16:28. The mixed open title also went to the 180 Energy Runners (Bill Owens, Mindy Petersen, James Marino, and Lisa Wycoff) in 2:48:17. The female open division was captured by team Southern Sass (Jenna Griffith, Kenya Garner, Olga Aranzubia, and Laura Johnston) with their combined 3:08:46. complete results... It was just another day in the Tour d'Afrique. Captured on video are the riders trying to cope with torrential rain and muddy road conditons. web... Perspective - The 2007 Ironman World Championship aired this past weekend and NBC churned out yet another fine production. Of course even before tuning in, I along with the rest of the triathlon world already knew who had won, having watched the live webcast. But that's besides the point. It didn't deter me from setting aside ninety minutes of my holiday season life to get revved up, inspired, and emotionally affected. Memorable moments for this viewer were many— the mass swim start (as always), Brian Boyle and Cliff Rigsby making the finish, Madonna Buder sadly missing the bike cutoff, Normann Stadler's stomach violently discharging its contents, and a battered but determined Natasha Badmann mounting a borrowed bike after demolishing hers. The drama there was real, not the product of some Hollywood script writer's imagination. For me, the best way to watch this annual emotion-fest isn't with a beer and pizza at some cozy viewing party, although that would be my second choice. Instead, as the broadcast nears its end I purposefully don my running gear and with the closing credits head out the door.

Dec 4 - The USA Triathlon Halfmax National Championship moves to a new venue in 2008. The race is set for October 18 in Boulder City, Nevada located just 10 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The weekend will also determine the USAT Club Championship following a three-race format just as in 2007. Saturday offers racers the Halfmax Triathlon (Ultramax Events) and Sunday they are greeted with the Pumpkinman Triathlon (BBSC Endurance Sports) at 1500m-40k-10k and 750m-20k-5k... Bicycle dealers who may be reading this should know that the NBDA is offering up to $1,000 each to NBDA dealer members who have not attended a previous National Bike Summit. Application deadline is Jan 16, for the March 4-6 Summit in Washington, D.C. web... The XTERRA American Tour was just released and St Louis area triathletes are again faced with the prospects of driving to Arkansas or Indiana to find the nearest events in that off-road triathlon series. web... After many months and tens of thousands of miles, the 2007 ITU World Cup series has finally reached its conclusion. Congratulations to Sarah Haskins for ending a productive year ranked #7. Following is the final top ten, listed with the number of World Cup races in which they participated. 1-Vanessa Fernandes (8), 2-Emma Moffatt (8), 3-Samantha Warriner (9), 4-Emma Snowsill (4), 5-Debbie Tanner (8), 6-Laura Bennett (5), 7-Sarah Haskins (6), 8-Annabel Luxford (6), 9-Magali Di Marco Messsmer (6), 10- Anja Dittmer (6)... Check out the wicked drops these guys make in their kayaks in this short trailer for the film Burning Time 2. web

Dec 3 - Ironman Western Australia brought triathletes to the town of Busselton for a day of racing in the southern hemisphere's late spring. The weather was conducive to fast times, however the $50,000 world record challenge went unmet. Patrick Vernay (8:06:00) captured his second Ironman title of the year. In the women's division, Charlotte Paul (9:00:55) won her first Ironman race ever with a course record... In the 2007 Eilat BG Triathlon World Cup, Swiss triathlete Nicola Spirig earned his first World Cup win with a 2:02:42 effort. The top U.S. finisher was Julie Ertel (2:04:11), who was followed by Amanda Stevens (2:05:28), Mary Beth Ellis (2:08:33), Jill Petersen (2:09:07), and Heidi Grimm (2:15:45)... 30 year old Belgian runner, Rik Ceulemans, was on holiday with his wife in Negril when he saw a notice for the Reggae Marathon. He decided to jump in the race and ended up winning it with a time of 2:31:43. The first place check of $75,000 may have helped defray his vacation costs.

Dec 2 - The USARA national rankings find two local teams in th top twenty. At #8 is Team Alpine Shop comprised of Jeff Sona, Carrie Sona, David Frei, and Doug Nishimura. Perched at #20 is Team Dynamic Earth with Jason Coleman, John Bradly, and Cynthia Petty. web

Nov 30 - The NBC highlight package of the 2007 Ironman Triathlon World Championship will be aired tomorrow. This year's coverage will be spend customary time at the front of the race and of course document the iron-efforts of some remarkable individuals. The three human interest stories this year may be the best the multiple-Emmy winning show has ever offered. They include the Lazarus-like Brian Boyle, double above-knee amputee Scott Rigsby, and blind triathlete Charlie Plaskon. Tune in at 3:30pm and prepare to be inspired... One of the more interesting age groups at this years USATF National Club Cross Country Championships is the men's 70-74. Typically a bracket fortunate to find a runners, the Snohomish Track Club is bringing four and the GCS Triad Racing Team has entered three. It may be actually be academic for both clubs because the Western Pennsylvania Track Club's Roger Brockenbrough looks to run away from all of them. The three-time Ironman World Champion still looks 20 years younger. web... The Tour d'Afrique is ready to roll on January 12 from Cairo, Egypt and head for the finish line 7,438 miles away in Cape Town, South Africa. The event sold out quickly, dispelling any thought that its $9900 fee was a barrier to entry. The event is a race for some riders, but for most it is simply an expedition as well as experience of a lifetime. Web

Nov 29 - A part of the $179.7 million settlement in the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse includes an agreement for Ameren to lease 46 miles of its Rock Island Railroad to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to connect the Katy Trail from the town of Windsor to Pleasant Hill...The Gateway Off-Road Cyclists group celebrates its 10th year this month... The sudden death of 40-year old pro mountain biker Mike Janelle comes as a shock to the endurance sports community nationwide. He was a 3-time RAAM team winner and a 24 Hours of Moab team winner. Janelle apparently suffered a heart attack last Friday at his home in Colorado. A news item such as this isn't the preferred way we'd like to be reminded to live fully, but for what it's worth, Carpe Diem... Bicycling Magazine posted a recent interview with George Hincappie (Nov 23). It came before the recent sponsorship withdrawal by T-Mobile. web... Karl Bushby is in the middle of a 36,000 mile walk that began from the tip of South America and which will end in the UK. Before you write him off as just another publicity hound with Forest Gump-like ability, check out his website. His diary provides readers with an articulate narration of his remarkable experiences. An excellent excerpt describes the challenge of crossing the danger-filled Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. web... The following is a sad but revealing excerpt from a French cyclist's blog as he sees America for the first time during a transcontinental ride. "Eating is easy. Americans eat all the time. As a result, you can get served regardless of the time. It's not dear. Yesterday lunch time, for example, getting here, I had lunch in an 'all you can eat': salads, hot dishes, fruit salad, water, for $6. And you can help yourself to as much as you want and as much as you can manage. Obesity is a phenomenon that I hadn't imagined. One morning, in a food bar, I couldn't sit at the stool at the bar because it was fixed between two lorry drivers who between them took the space of three. You see whole families who struggle with difficulty out of their cars to go and drink their sugary drinks. The size of clothing these enormous people wear is impressive."

Nov 28 - The St Louis metro got a significant influx of state money for the purpose of enhancing five area trails. The Bicycle Path Grant Program reimburses local agencies up to 50% of trail construction costs with a $200,000 cap per project. Ironically, the funds are generated by fees applied to motor vehicle the title transfers. One million dollars will be evenly divided among the Six Mile Prairie Trail System, Chain of Rocks Canal Levee, Nickel Plate Trail, Watershed Trail, and Chouteau Island... The Mesa Cycles Racing Team received a $2,500 development grant from Slipstream Sports. The money is one facet of their Argyle Jersey Award bestowed upon four teams throughout the country. In addition, a Felt bike will be awarded to the outstanding junior, along with exclusive access to an online forum with select Team Slipstream/Chipotle riders... Ladies are cordially invited to attend a special holiday Trunk Show at Little Shark Athletic Company featuring SkirtSports on Wednesday, Dec 5. For those not familiar with the product line, it was created by pro triathlete Nicole DeBoom. 314-862-1818... Next up on the auction block are a Team CSC Cervello ridden by Carlos Sastre, a two day training trip for two with Team CSC, and a signed team jersey. web... The USAT got into the bidding game with its own auction offering an array of items including a CompuTrainer, frame set, bike box, and much more. web... In cycling news, T-Mobile cut the cord on their $12 million pro cycling team sponsorship. The German telecommunications giant felt it was time to distance itself and shareholders from the sport of pro cycling. The team still plans to move forward with its 2008 season... Ironman Western Australia is set to go this weekend with an added incentive. The race will pay out US$50,000 to any racer who betters the Ironman record. For the men that would be going under 7:50:27, and the women 8:50:53. The course may be flat and fast, but the short list of candidates capable of performing such a feat will not be at the swim start... The "world's most dangerous road" is not Clayton Road as some St Louis area cyclists may be inclined to believe, but rather is the 35-mile long stretch between La Paz and Coroico in Bolivia. Estimates vary on how many vehicles each year plunge into the extreme chasm from its edge, but the Yungas Road offers a harrowing experience for vehicles and mountain bikers alike with its narrow single lane and complete lack of guard rails. In fact it has become an adrenaline junkie tourist destination. Mountain bike riders first enjoy a high speed descent on the paved section before the real fun begins. This is just one of many videos about the road.

Nov 27 - Area runners can dig a little deeper into the menu of annual cold weather running events with the return of the Snowball Series. It kicks off this Saturday with a 15k at Queeny Park. The following day features the popular St Louis Track Club 4-Person Marathon Relay at Forest Park. Then just a week later on December 8, the long sold-out Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run dishes out steep off-road climbs at the aforementioned park. Lastly, the SLTC Frostbite Series begins on Dec 15 with a 12k, the first of its 5 runs on offer... You may recall the recent story of Rosie Swale-Pope's effort to run around the world. (She's actually not the first to complete a fully-documented effort. That distinction belongs to Jesper Olsen.) Now consider those obscure but amazing Monks of Mount Hiei. They are spiritual athletes from the Tendai Sect of Buddhism, based at Mount Hiei overlooking the ancient capital city of Kyoto. Their ultimate achievement is the completion of the 1,000-day challenge, which to date just 46 have successfully accomplished. It requires seven years as the monks also undergo Buddhist training in meditation and calligraphy, and perform general duties within the temple. The first 300 days are basic training during which time the monks run 40km per day for 100 consecutive days. In the 4th and 5th years they run 40km per day for 200 consecutive days. In the 6th year they run 60km for 100 consecutive days and in the 7th year they run 84km for 100 consecutive days. A long trailer to the film entitled the Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei can be previewed here.

Nov 26 - Area runners can dig a little deeper into the menu of annual cold weather running events with the return of the Snowball Series. It kicks off this Saturday with a 15k at Queeny Park. The following day features the popular St Louis Track Club 4-Person Marathon Relay at Forest Park. Then just a week later on December 8, the long sold-out Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run dishes out steep off-road climbs at the aforementioned park. Lastly, the SLTC Frostbite Series begins on Dec 15 with a 12k, the first of its 5 runs on offer... You may recall the recent story of Rosie Swale-Pope's effort to run around the world. (She's actually not the first to complete a fully-documented effort. That distinction belongs to Jesper Olsen.) Now consider those obscure but amazing Monks of Mount Hiei. They are spiritual athletes from the Tendai Sect of Buddhism, based at Mount Hiei overlooking the ancient capital city of Kyoto. Their ultimate achievement is the completion of the 1,000-day challenge, which to date just 46 have successfully done. It requires seven years as the monks also undergo Buddhist training in meditation and calligraphy, and perform general duties within the temple. The first 300 days are basic training during which time the monks run 40km per day for 100 consecutive days. In the 4th and 5th years they run 40km per day for 200 consecutive days. In the 6th year they run 60km for 100 consecutive days and in the 7th year they run 84km for 100 consecutive days. A long trailer to the film entitled the Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei can be previewed here.

Nov 25 - The annual Great River Road Run found its customary massive field gathered at the starting line in Alton, Illinois on Saturday morning. A total of 832 runners braced themselves for both the flattest and perhaps most scenic 10-miler in the metro. After a notable retreat from the local running scene in 2006, Mike Farrell has used this year to gradually reassert his presence by picking races here and there in which to stretch his legs. But the Illinois resident found his old stride by putting in a dominating performance at the GRR to win by more than a mile. The gun times of the top five men: 1-Mike Farrell 50:16, 2-Brian Weiss 56:54, 3-Justin Wieduwilt 57:03, 4-Bruce Nie 57:13, 5-Andy Brendel 57:41... The women's race drew a strong field topped by Stephanie Hood. The Principia College grad and school record holder in both the 5k and 10k felt right at home on the River Road, and it showed. She was the only female to go under the hour mark, coasting home by two minutes over the runner-up. The top five ladies were: 1-Stephanie Hood 59:00, 2-Margaret Nakintu 1:01:02, 3-Candace Caveny 1:02:36, 4-Kristel Adler 1:04:42, 5-Jackie Pirtle-Hall 1:06:23... 15-year old Brett Conway of Troy, Illinois may be a name to watch in the future, finishing 29th overall in a time of 1:04:10... Complete results... A very handy listing of 2008 Ironman races, complete with registration status for each event as of Thanksgiving day, was posted at Ironman.com... Best of luck to Jill Petersen this weekend at the 2007 Eilat BG Triathlon World Cup in Israel. The St Louis area pro will go up against the likes of Julie Ertel, Annabel Luxford, Samantha Warriner, Kathy Trembley, and 61 other top pro women. Live audio webcast begins at 3am on Saturday. web... What are the most visually compelling landscapes you've seen from the seat of your bicycle? We've put together a montage of photos that will blow your mind. All of the images are just as they were shot with no croppings or Photoshop enhancements. Photo credits must go to Jeff Kruys, Peter Gostelow, and Victor Weinreber the three of whom are currently in the midst of adventure cycling tours in various parts of the world. The selected images, culled from their respective blogs, were shot in remote parts of Alaska, Mexico, Tibet, Death Valley, Vietnam, and Colombia. web

Nov 21 - The GO! St. Louis Marathon Weekend announced that it has installed participant caps for its races on April 6. They are: 3,000 for the marathon, 10,000 for the half-marathon and 500 four-person teams for the marathon relay. This was due to increased interest in the events and Nancy Lieberman's commitment to a quality experience for runners... Lawrence, Kansas is aggressively establishing itself as a sports hub. On Saturday, Dec 8, the city will host the 2007 USATF National Jr Olympic Cross Country Championships. Over 3000 kids are expected in five brackets: 10&U, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18. web... The Boston Athletic Association will host the 2008 U.S. Olympic Women's Team Trials on Sunday, April 20, the day before the 112th running of the Boston Marathon. St Louis resident, Colleen Casey, is the sole local runner to have met the qualifying standard with her 2:46:23 performance at the St George Marathon back on October 6... Going fast on a bike is a relative term that can mean different things to different riders. But most rationally thinking cyclists would probably agree that descending a snow-covered mountain at 222kph or flying down the smoothed surface of a volcano at 172kph are not only fast, they are insanely fast. Eric Berone does both. But before you check out the video, on which surface do you think he took a death-defying spill?

Nov 20 - St Louis area runners at the Philadelphia Marathon were led to the finish by Aron Rauls in 3:05:06. Great job by he and the other local folks completing the 26.2 miler: Rebecca Brooks 3:27:43, Jennifer Behm 3:43:17, Jeff Vomund 3:48:41, Johnetta Delli-Zotti 4:07:42, Rae Mohrman 4:12:24, Caitlin Boehne 4:26:22, Rachel Hartman 4:28:56, Erin Newmann 4:49:32, and Ravi Sundara 4:56:18... Team Every Man's Dream (Ken DeBeer, Laura Scherff and Vicki Vojak) won the Masters Division of the Lewis and Clark Ozark Adventure Race in Fayetteville, AR last week. They overcame a few early race miscalculations but recovered in time to finish on top of the Masters podium with a time of 19 hrs 4 mins... OK, so you've run an ultra-marathon. Maybe you've even run 50-marathons in 50-days in 50-states. What's next Forest? How about running 24,000 miles? Rosie Swale-Pope has more than halfway completed her run around the world. She began the odyssey in Oct, 2003 and hasn't stopped, despite losing part of a toe and breaking a rib. Rosie is still in the U.S., now approaching Portland, Maine. web... From the millions of personal blogs spread out across the world wide web, we've singled out a few favorites that we felt are worth a look. The first is Life Cycle. It is written by an Australian fellow who claims to have never owned an automobile. Along with its occasionally insightful text, you'll find some eye-popping photographs of his personal training ground Down Under... Imagine living in Alaska and training for the upcoming 350 Invitational Iditarod Race (in the bicycle category). Up In Alaska is both well-written and peppered with astonishing images of that last American wilderness... The third blog takes us to the jungle, the concrete one that is. Start with a passion for bikes, mix in equal measures of New York attitude and a great sense of humor, and you get Bike Snob NYC

Nov 19 - A pair of teenagers pulled off wins at the St Charles Runners Club McNair Cross Country Run. It was 16-year old Nick Happe who ran a race best 16:25 for the overall and 19-year old Courtney Ayers from Maryland Heights as the first woman to the line with her 19:56 effort. The event drew 87 runners to McNair Park, a longtime venue for high school cross country meets... Earth City was the site of the annual Jingle Bell Run yesterday. The very popular event saw Keith Robertson (18:00) and Kate Schwetye (19:57) respectively win the men's and women's divisions. 14-year old Jake Bast finished just eight seconds back in second place overall in the field of 669... A episode of the CNN show, Revealed, featured one of the greatest runners of all time, Haile Gebrselassie. A three-part video looks at the man, his life, and his world record attempt at the Berlin Marathon. web

Nov 16 - A Wisconsin woman recently gave birth to her new son on a Madison bike trail. She and her husband were driving near the trail as she went into labor, all five minutes of it. Realizing that they weren't going to make it to the hopital, the husband immediately stopped the car, and quickly escorted her to the trail. While no passing runners or cyclists witnessed the blessed event, it does give new meaning to the term multi-use trail... The story of Robert Stewart has gone viral in chat rooms across the world wide web after the 51-year from Scotland was caught half-naked and in a compromising position with his bicycle. It all began when a cleaning crew surprised him and themselves as they unwittingly caught him in the act when they entered his room at the hostel where he was staying. Stewart eventually copped a plea of sexual breach of the peace which resulted in three years probation. The whole sordid scenario opens up a world of double entendre possibility with such evocative cycling terms as: chain lube, head set, bottom bracket, cadence, and crank arm— but we're not going there... The Utah Department of Health has lifted its ban on diapered children in pools now that an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis is under control. Since August, the state had logged 1,912 cases of the potentially fatal, parasite-induced disease that results in severe, chronic diarrhea. The re-opening is good news for pool owners who had seen revenues decline sharply. Owners hyperchlorinated their water and put the "L" back in P-O-O-L... When NBC airs the 2007 Ironman World Championship show on Dec 1, one of the featured athletes will be Brian Boyle. USA Swimming posted an article that details Brian's remarkable recovery from the verge of death. web... Tri-Cal TV posted a highlight video of the SF Tri (Du) elite women's race. Get a good look at Sarah and Jill as they race near the front. web... The 2007 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships will be staged in Kansas City on Dec. 13-16. You can preview the course with this video. It looks to be a very fast track if conditions are dry on race day.... Bicycle Boulevards is concept that changes the hierarchy of the road. It's probable that most motorists naively believe automobiles have the total right of way. Actually nearly every state in the U.S. has legislation endowing bicycles, under most circumstances, with equal right to the road. Bicycle Boulevards on the other hand, while allowing simultaneous use by both bicycles and motorized traffic, grants the right of way expressly to bicycles. Have they lived up to the hype? Will they appear in St Louis? video

Nov 15 - Potosi, Missouri welcomed the 2007 USARA National Championship and 70 coed teams who traveled from all over the country to the Show Me state. Team M.O.A.T. proved for a day at least that they were indeed the mother of all teams when they crossed the finish line first in 17 hours and 3 minutes. Also making a great showing was the St Louis trio of Jeff Sona, Carrie Sona, and David Frei (Team Alpine Shop) who finished 4th overall with a time of 19 hours and 14 minutes. Congrats!... Great work by Bryan Calloway of St Louis who ran 2:38:52 at the Outer Banks Marathon in North Carolina, finishing 7th overall. The top performance was delivered by Mike Wardian who churned out a 2:24:16. That came just a week after his 2:30:54 in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. The chip times of other St Louis area runners were: Desmond Kirchhofer 3:44:20, Faith Tyler 4:17:00, Terri Menghini 4:36:41, and Jaye Shyken 5:46:53... Great job by Terri Menchini of Fenton for running back to back marathons. The day before her 26.2 miler at Outer Banks, she completed the Richmond Marathon in 4:17:49.... The Center of Clayton was a convergence point for St Louis area runners on Sunday with 1,004 showing up for the SLTC Half Marathon and another 223 taking part in the 5k. Ideal weather conditions no doubt encouraged the strong turnout. In the half, Dusty Lopez went out strong and never looked back while holding 5:21 pace. His 1:10:00 finish provided a comfortable 3-minute and 47-second cushion over runner-up Tyler Small and whopping 8-minutes and 41 seconds over third place finisher Jonathon Lanterman. The women's division was led to the finish by Amy Fruland (1:22:37). On her heels were Judy Dorpinghaus (1:23:44) in second and Mindy Hochgesang (1:26:52) in third. results... Lawrence, Kansas will host an Ironman Triathlon 70.3 race on June 15, 2008. Registration opened yesterday for what may be a surprisingly challenging course for racers anticipating stereotypical, flat, Kansas terrain. web... A long-standing argument has hung over endurance sports for decades, namely, which event is the toughest. However, when discussing endurance mountain biking, few would argue that they don't come any more challenging than La Ruta de los Conquistadores. The 2008 version of this Costa Rican pain-fest is currently underway with its largest field to date— nearly 600 entrants. Of last year's 483 starters, 239 failed to finish the brutal 59-mile opening stage with its 15,000' of climbing. VeloNews filed an absorbing stage-1 report. Web

Nov 14 - SBR wishes to thank four website sponsors who recently agreed to extend their banner ads thru 2008. They are Sports Enhancement Group, Momentum Cycles, Big River Running Company, and TriSmart. We urge you to support these and all of our fine sponsors without whom this site would not be possible... The XTERRA Trail Running World Championships will makes their debut next year. The event takes place Dec 7, 2008 at Kualoa Ranch on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. It will draw participants from runners who qualify thru a series of half-marathon (21km) trail runs. These "Xduro" runs, as they've been dubbed, are tentatively scheduled to take place in venues around the world: New Zealand, Japan, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and of course the U.S. To earn for a slot, runners need to place in one of the top spots in their age group (10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+) at any of the qualifying races or they may enter an open lottery. web... Some product manufacturers sponsor triathlon teams as a means of giving back to the sport as well as marketing themselves on a grassroots level. They can vary greatly in philosophy. Some are highly selective seeking only the most qualified athletes as members while others open themselves to all who apply. For interested athletes, a few affiliations to consider are: Team Timex, Zoot Sports, Team Javelin, Team TriChic, Team Sport Beans... Are you a streak rider or runner? Conventional wisdom suggests that we take time off from training to let our bodies recover and grow stronger. Running contrary to that advice, some athletes run up remarkable consecutive day streaks of training. Scott Dickson is one such athlete. In 2006 he wrote "I have ridden every day (outside) for 8,645 consecutive days. My minimum mileage is 3, but for almost 10 years from 1988 to 1998, the minimum was 20. I still remember doing 20 miles on the mountain bike in Iowa City when the high temperature was -15. There was a 15mph NW wind, but at least it was sunny. Since my last day off the bike, I have logged 549,000 miles, 1,472 centuries, and 381 race wins. Over the past 25 years (1982-2006) my shortest year was 2001 at 21,397 miles. My biggest year was 1987 with 27,513 miles, 171 century days, and 42 race victories (including PBP). My 25-year average is 23,200.” ... Bicycling Magazine originally published an interview back in 1990 with the then 99-year old Alf Goullet, a bicycle racer from the 1920's. The resulting article transports readers back to a fascinating era when cycling was by far the number one spectator sport in America and Goullet was its top dog. Web

Nov 13 - Good luck to the group of St Louis area cyclists participating in the El Tour de Tucson this weekend down in Arizona. The event draws 5,000 cyclists annually for the nearest thing to a gran fondo found this side of the Atlantic.... When it comes to high-end winter triathlon camps, there's a lot more choice than you might think. Here are some great choices: Counterpart Coaching (web) features Chris McCormack as guest professional triathlete and coach Feb 1-10 in Palm Springs, CA... P.R. Peak Performance Coaching (web) holds a training camp each winter in Tucson. Participants can swim, bike, and run with Peter Reid. Dates as yet unannounced... Multisports.com (web) offers a five-day getaway to Encinitas, CA where you train with triathlon greats Paula Newby Fraser and Heather Fuhr. Feb 6-10... Epic Camp (web) is an exclusive and demanding week spent with Scott Molina and Gordo Bryn. If accepted, you'll spend Jan 27-Feb 4 in New Zealand... If you don't require the presence of a tri legend, then Playtri (web) may be for you. Spend Jan 27–Feb 1 in the warmth of Kona, Hawaii... For something completely out of the ordinary, the Hypoxico Altitude 10-Day Triathlon Training Camp (web) in Clermont, Florida offers amateur triathletes the first simulated altitude training camp. Mar 13-23 (Sleep High/Train Low)... Solvang Triathlon Camp (web) brings you to the amazing training grounds surrounding Solvang, CA. Feb 19-24... EuroCycler (web) stages their triathlon camp across the big pond in Gerona, Spain. Different weeks offered for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Learn from German pro Olaf Sabatschus... Long Distance Triathlon Camp (web) takes place at the world famous Club La Santa located on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Feb 29-Mar 14. Two-time IM Lanzarote winner Ain-Alar Juhanson joins you in the 2nd week of your 14-days of training Nirvana... L'École des Facteurs (School for Postmen) is an amusing 1947 film in which French actor/director Jacques Tat plays a postman out to prove that he is as efficient as American postmen. This Chaplin-esque film centers on his bicycle, with which the nimble Tat performs several clever stunts... Part-1... Part-2... Follow Ryan Hall on a 15-mile training run (1:16:17) around Mammoth Lake. The effort was part of his build-up for Olympic trials. As most running fans may know, Hall is a devout Christian athlete. But religious aspects of the 8-minute video aside, it's a joy just watching him click off the sub-fives in apparently effortless fashion. web

Nov 12 - The San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island favored the landlubbers when an ecological disaster precluded swimming in the SF Bay. Staged as a duathlon instead, an opening 4-mile run was added to the 40k bike and finishing 10k run. Julie Ertel made the adjustment best as she captured the title in 2:08:47. The St Louis connection fared well when Sarah Haskins (2:09:44) placed 2nd, and first year pro Jill Petersen (2:09:52) finished 3rd. For Petersen, it represented her biggest payday thus far as she pocketed $3,250 for her morning of work. Congratulations to both ladies. results... The Ironman Triathlon World Championship 70.3 in Clearwater, FL crowned a new king and queen on Saturday. ITU professional Andy Potts (3:42:33) bookended his early season 70.3 win in California when he edged out Oscar Galindez by 4-seconds for the title. By contrast Mirinda Carfrae (4:07:25) put over 4-minutes on runner-up Samantha McGlone for the women's title... The St Louis area produced three finishers. They were Kristin Moore (4:42:31), Chris Arnold (4:46:00), and Jennifer Cunnane (5:13:39). The top Show Me state performance was turned in by Rodney Adkison of Lohman, Mo in 4:22:03. In all, 1,422 competitors made the finish line. results... You're Not a Real Cyclist Until You've Puked in a French Ditch. That is the evocative title of an entertaining essay by Eric Fergusson which recounts his enlightening experience at the 1999 Paris-Brest-Paris. web... Virgin Vacations posted a article listing the eleven most bike-friendly cities in the world. They cited the five E's as their criteria: engineering, encouragement, evaluation & planning, education, and enforcement. Equally as interesting though were the reader responses following a Wired article that cited the list.

Nov 11 - The San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island was forced to drop the swim leg of their event due to the recent 58,000-gallon oil spill into the San Francisco Bay. The event will be staged this morning as a duathlon. web... The Ultraman World Championship takes place on the island of Hawaii on Nov 23-25. The event employs a stage race format that pushes racers to their limit with three days of racing. Stage one: 10k swim/ 90 mile bike (7600'), Stage two: 171 mile bike (8600'), Stage three: 52.4 mile run. The event is limited to 35 invitees. web... Lance Armstrong racked up another win last Tuesday but this time with Texas voters who passed Proposition 15, a $3 billion bond issue. It establishes the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas which will distribute up to $300 million a year in grants for 10 years to public and private educational institutions... 2007 Ironman World Champion, Chris McCormack, is auctioning his bike on e-Bay. Winning bidder will be personally fitted by Macca and spend a day training with him in Boulder. Proceeds from the sale benefit a Junior Triathlon Development Team. At last look, the bid was up to $6100. Auction expires Nov 16. web

Nov 8 - The Silverman Triathlon enters its third year continuing to bear the reputation as one of the toughest full-distance tris in the world. Sure, there was Ironman Malaysia (heat and humidity), and there is Ironman Lanzarote (heat, wind, and hills), both of which could shred your legs and sap your soul. But residing outside the realm of M-dot racing is the independently produced Silverman and its brutal bike course with nearly 10,000' of climbing. Gone is the $100,000 relay challenge for any team breaking eight hours, but this year's half distance event will see the presence of current Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack and triathlon living legend Dave Scott. Listen to an interview with Dave... GL to SBR reader James Glickert of Osage Beach racing in the full distance event. web... The Bass Pro Shops Marathon drew 256 participants to Springfield, Missouri. The race was part of a 3-day Outdoor Fitness Festival. Spectators cheered hometown boy, Matt Wegenka, across the finish line comfortably ahead of all chasers with a time of 2:34:40. Becky Lowrance, 50-year old masters runner from Branson, captured the women's division in 3:15:57. Former world class marathoner Dick Beardsley, now 51, cruised to 4th place overall in a very respectable 2:54:16. web... While pro cycling continues to shake itself out of a nearly two-decades-old drug stupor, the state of the sport in the U.S. continues to climb to dizzying heights. American cycling fans can already recite the names of three domestic Tours, and they can look forward to a 2008 Tour of Utah revival. New for '08 will be the Colorado Stage Race and the Tour of Pennsylvania ($250,000 prize purse for 25&U riders). 2009 will debut the Tour of Colorado along with whatever else that develops between now and then... The Tour of Georgia will announce host cities and routes on November 14... We failed to mention yesterday in our report on the New York City Marathon that celebrity runner Lance Armstrong completed his sophomore effort in 2:46:43. It wasn't clear however if his 10 minute improvement over 2006 was a result of better training or if he was simply running fast to remove the stale traces of Ashley Olsen's perfume. In either case, nice time and good job raising $.5 million in the fight against cancer... Good Luck to Sarah Haskins & Jill Petersen tomorrow in the San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island. The top ten pro women will split $20,000. web... As a senior member of the cycling community, SBR most often rides with younger guys. So when we came across the very entertaining article, Punish Me, Young Man, we readily identified with its author, Dana Albert. web... OK, so you feel you have good skillz on the bike. You may want to rethink that after viewing this video of a game of Radball. The sport has been around since 1893 and is popular in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland. The game is played by teams of two, riding fixies with no brakes. Its first World Championship was held back in 1929. And if you think P-A-T-R-I-O-T-S spells dyanasty, consider that the Pospíšil brothers of Czechoslovakia won the Radball World Championship twenty times between 1965 and 1988.

Nov 7 - Adventure racing legend, Ian Adamson, is drawing upon his vast experience to create a new event for September of 2008, the Terra Traverse. 75 four-person teams will cover 600km and a wide range of challenges through the Canadian province of Quebec. Disciplines included may be orienteering/navigation, mountain and road biking, running, trekking, hiking, mountaineering, canoeing, kayaking and/or white water rafting, technical climbing, big wall rappelling, split course, horseback riding, river swimming, canyoneering, coastaleering, as well as other technical disciplines to fit the terrain, course and incorporate the local culture. All this can be yours for the low, low price of $10,000 per team. No website is available yet... Construction on the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee Trail is zipping along with the first 3.5 mile segment now complete. Last month the Chesterfield City Council voted to approve a contract with Kuhlmann Design Group re: Phase 2 of the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee Trail Project... What happens when a couple of young American cyclists head for Belgium to compete in the U-25 Six Day Track Racing Series? David Wiswell and Jackie Simes have begun blogging their way through Europe as they live their dream. web... Suspended pro cyclist, Patrik Sinkewitz, testified for over five hours to the German cycling federation as he provided details of his doping practices during the 2003-06 seasons. German magazine Der Spiegel published their interview with a very frank Sinkewitz... Looking for an off-season fitness alternative? STLToday posted a story on Circus Fitness classes offered by the City Museum. web

Nov 6 - That was none other than Duschene High School graduate, Jason Lehmkuhle, who finished 5th at the recent U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Lehmkuhle smashed his previous best (2:16:27 set in 2004) by running the trials marathon in 2:12:54. Runners World profiled this world class athlete in late September.

USAT announced its 2008 National Championship Race schedule.

• Winter Triathlon - February 9, Bend, Oregon (qualifier for 2008 Worlds)

• Collegiate - April 19, Tuscaloosa, AL

• Short Course Duathlon - April 27, Richmond, VA (qualifier for 2008 Worlds)

• Long Course Duathlon - May 18, Auburn, CA

• Physically Challenged - July 20, New York, NY

• Sprint Triathlon - August 3, Trumansburg, NY

• Youth Triathlon - August 9, Colorado Springs, CO

• Age Group Triathlon - September 20, Portland, OR (qualifier for 2009 Worlds)

Nov 5 - Bicycling Magazine recently posted a how to article entitled, Never Get Dropped. Among the riding tips offered, we liked the final one best— take a shortcut. web... VeloNews European correspondent, Andrew Hood, conducted an interview with newly signed Astana rider Levi Leipheimer. Web... Yesterday the 2007 Cancun BG Triathlon brought ITU triathletes to Mexico to close out this year's World Cup series. The wind created a chop in the warm Gulf waters and added challenge to the bike. Simon Whitfield (Canada) narrowly won the men's elite race with a time of 1:52:05 over fellow countryman Paul Tichelaar (Canada) in 1:52:06. Third place finisher Volodymyr Polikarpenko (Ukraine) finished just another two seconds back, 1:52:08. In fact, the men's top five were separated by only seven seconds. Julie Ertel (USA) topped the women's elite field in 2:03:22, as Carole Peon (France) took silver in 2:03:34 and Sarah Haskins (USA) won bronze in 2:03:37... Ironman Florida witnessed the resurrection of Nina Kraft's iron-distance career when she won the women's race in 9:05:35. Stephan Vuckovic carried on the great German tradition of Ironman racing with an 8:21:29 performance to grab the men's title... St Louis area finishers were led by the strong effort of Todd Glass (10:16:55). Behind him were Kent Smith (11:07:52), Greg Frankenfeld (11:32:56), Dennis Disch (11:44:25), Ryan Coleman (12:43:06), Regina Raineri (13:19:42), John Mazurk (13:34:17), and Michelle Patrick (15:33:11). Nice work all... After participants and spectators at the 2007 Ironman Florida took advantage of their advanced registration privilege for the 2008 race, online registration opened for most of the remaining slots. It closed in just minutes. As frustrating as the process may have been for many prospective entrants, there is an expensive ray of hope thru Community Fund slots. Also, one could race their way to a slot at the Ironman California 70.3 and Ironman Florida 70.3... The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials found 104 qualified runners at the starting line. Spectators along the New York City course or watching the live webcast saw Ryan Hall of Mammoth Lakes, California stamp his authority over American distance running. His 2:09:02 may not be good enough for gold in Beijing, but it was 2:05 faster than the next best finisher, Dathan Ritzenhein of Eugene, Oregon (2:11:07). Brian Sell from Rochester Hill, MI secured the third and final Olympic team slot with a 2:11:40 finish. results. The event was marred by tragedy when Ryan Shay collapsed and died at the five-mile mark.

Nov 4 - North Carolina Blog - For security purposes no public wireless networks are available on the Camp Lejeune military base (Jacksonville, NC), so my two and a half days at the Naval hospital there resulted in no website updates. However, my stay did bring the birth of my first grandchild (boy). Look out IronKids in the summer of 2014... Tuesday - The morning delivered a bright, sunny day with a high of 70, perfect for a 50-mile ride along the flat, rural roads east of Jacksonville. On this day, my trusty Blackberry with its GPS capacity stayed behind plugged into the charger. No worries, my jersey pocket held a cue sheet with mileage markers. One could reasonably expect that to be enough to prevent me from getting lost, but I didn't anticipate the apparent disdain for street signs displayed by rural North Carolinans. The number of intersections I encountered with no signage was both astounding and disconcerting. A few errant turns transformed my planned half-century into a metric. Still, it was all good, just turning the crank arms on this 30th day of October... Wednesday - Before I head for the mountains, I felt that a taste of the cool, clean ocean breeze was a must. After yesterday's navigation lesson, I made it a point to stow cue sheet and GPS device in my jersey pocket, and wouldn't you know it, the century I set out upon was already street-marked with huge turn arrows! A portion of this particular route took me along nearly twenty miles of oceanfront roadway up the North Carolina outer banks. At one point, my altimeter indicated that I was a hundred feet below sea level and it made me wonder if this asphalt might be completely submerged in fifty years. It would be just one tragic consequence of global warming. Sadly I didn't have adequate time for the combination of pedal strokes and ferry rides necessary to reach Virginia Beach or points beyond, but perhaps I can do so on a return visit. After two days and 160 miles of flatland riding, the legs are ready for the road to turn sharply upward. I can hardly wait... Thursday - Today is a travel day and what a special one at that. The trees have found their peak fall colors making the mountain sides a spectacular sight... Friday - The mountains in western North Carolina were more amazing than I had anticipated, and winding its way through them is the Blue Ridge Parkway. This two-laned, 469-mile long strip of asphalt prohibits trucks and enforces a 45mph speed limit. Furthermore, the 50-mile section I rode/drove nearly always curved left, bent right, steeply nose-dived, or reached skyward. I was instantly enamored and quickly found myself contemplating the logistics of an extraordinarily challenging, epic, end-to-end ride (Tennessee to Virginia) next summer. I snapped out of that reverie upon my arrival at the entrance gate to Mt. Mitchell State Park, situated at 5100 feet above sea level. All that remained was to grind my way up the final 4-miles and 1500' to its summit. For a few moments I owned the highest grounded bike east of the Mississippi. The sweat-fest slog to the top gave way to a fast and freezing-cold coast back down to my waiting car, but wisely (luckily), I was properly dressed. Afterwards, the drive to Asheville climaxed with at least five miles of descending switchbacks. I enviously passed a dozen or so oncoming cyclists making the slow, arduous climb. Soon thereafter I reluctantly put the Appalachians in my rearview mirror and drove west.

Oct 27 - Betty Jo Ullrich of Davenport, Iowa was awarded a $350,000 settlement for the death of her husband Kirk who died during the 2004 RAGBRAI. He was thrown from his bicycle when his wheel became stuck in the center-line joint of a roadway. Crawford County, where the unfortunate incident took place, quickly passed a resolution prohibiting RAGBRAI (or any such event) from using secondary roadways in that county. Most Iowa counties are expected to follow suit which could jeopardize the the future of that long-standing event. web... The Ironman World Championship Award Banquet video. web... Post-Dispatch reporter, Kathleen Nelson, published an article about local elite runners, Ben Rosario and Zac Freudenburg, as they head for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. web

Oct 26 - Tempe, Arizona has their own weekly radio show devoted to bikes. It's called, appropriately enough, Bicycle Radio. The shows are high-cadence, welcome have a variety of guests, and address issues well beyond their local riding scene... The news out of Paris yesterday was the announcement of the 2008 Tour de France route, a tour that can be summed up as one favoring the climbers. Can you say Alberto Contador? We knew you could. web... Before the Tour of California and the Tour of Missouri, there was the Tour of Utah. The 2007 event was canceled for financial reasons, but race officials have announced that a downsized version is definitely on for Aug 13-17, 2008. Condensed from 7 to 5 stages, the ToU promises to test riders legs with 342 miles of road and 30,000' of climbing. web... Speaking of Utah... If you assumed that the southern portion of that state was suited strictly for mountain bikes, then check out this short promo video for the Red Rock Canyon Resort and Lew wheels. web

Oct 25 - The ITU announced its 2008 World Cup triathlon calendar. The sole U.S. stop remains the cash-rich Hyvee race in Des Moines, Iowa on June 22. Also included, of course, is the World Championship, to be staged in Vancouver, British Columbia the weekend of June 7-8. The $2.5 million World Cup series begins on March 30 and extends to Nov 2. And you thought the baseball season was long! web... China is no longer the 21st century's sleeping giant for a number of reasons, and among them may be the opening of its borders to the international sport of triathlon. After persistent efforts, the WTC finally managed to expand its Ironman series into that country. China has also welcomed the ITU World Cup series to Beijing, and will host the 2008 Olympics. In addition, it was announced last month that Beijing will welcome the 2011 ITU Triathlon World Championships.... Professional cycling appears to be on the cutting edge of the anti-doping effort with a new protocol being agreed upon by the once-squabbling trio of the UCI, WADA, and ASO. The organizations will embark upon a CSI-esque program that will compile an electronic record of each riders' various blood and urine tests, along with parameters collected in the past to create what they've termed a "biological passport." The essence of this method is that it establishes a personal profile for each rider for comparison purposes rather than relying upon the range of norms found in the general population. If proven successful, this method could well be emulated by other sports. Web... Okay, so you've run in the big city, atop mountains, across deserts, thru jungles, and maybe even at the North Pole. So, what's next you ask?. How about running across the ocean floor? On TrailRunnerMag.com, one participant provides his personal account of a very unique race staged in Canada, the Not Since Moses- Run on the Ocean Floor. web... Good luck to St Louis area runners taking part in the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday. The weather looks to be very un-Chicago-Marathon-ish, with the forecast calling for sunny skies and a high of 64 degrees.

Oct 24 - St Louis area CrossFit training coach, Laurie Miller, demonstrates three unique movements in an exercise video posted by STLtoday.com... Local runner/multisport athlete, Robert Klenk, was featured recently in a nice article in the St Louis Post Dispatch. At 72, the "Colonel" is still going strong. web... Read a pre-Ironman Triathlon World Championship interview with with local triathlete, Nicole Burdge by Post-Dispatch Health & Fitness Editor, Amy Bertrand. Web... Many Ironman observers know that current IM World Champion, Chrissie Wellington, also won IM Korea a mere four weeks before her victory in Kona. But most triathlon fans have probably forgotten that she also was the overall ITU Age-Group World Champion in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2006. We came across an interview with her on YouTube... Also make time to read a bit of Chrissie's blog. She has a splendid sense of humor.

Oct 23 - The Berryman Adventure Race drew 27 four-person teams and 16 two-person teams for the 36-hour bracket. Team Eastern Mountain Sports showed why they were the 2006 U.S. Adventure Racing National Champions. The New Hampshire/Massachusetts residents needed just over a day (24hr 59min) to complete the course and make all checkpoints in 1st position, an hour up on 2nd place finishers Team Wedali (Minnesota/Iowa). St Louis area's Team Alpine Shop (Jeff & Carrie Sona, David Frei, Doug Nishimura) finished a very respectable 4th in 27hr 48min. The two-man team division was won by Phoenix-based Monster Energy in 29hr 38min. A total of 62 teams started the 12-hour race. St Louis area team Two Bad (Ken Debeer, Vicki Vojak) made it to the line first in 8hr 54min. web... The Race Across America will stage a separate 1000-mile race within its coast to coast, 3000 mile epic event. The 1000-miler will start in Oceanside, CA alongside the full RAAM riders and finish in Taos, NM. RAAM organizers recognize that there are aspiring RAAM rookies who find the necessary commitment for a 1,000-mile race to be less overwhelming than a full RAAM. There are only a few races in the world of that distance. This will be the first in the US... The 2008 Race Across America will showcase a new finish city. It was recently announced that Annapolis, MD will replace Atlantic City, NJ as the eastern terminus... The 10k Open Water World Championship Trials took place over the weekend. Mark Warkentin and Chip Peterson succeeded in advancing to 2008 FINA Open Water World Championships next April in Seville, Spain. Warkentin completed the 10k swim in 1:57:01, just two seconds ahead of Peterson's 1:57:03. The top ten finishers at the World Championship will earn automatic berths at the 2008 Olympic Games... Outside Online posted a very entertaining piece written by Hampton Sides in which he tells the story of his swim across the Mississippi River. web

Oct 22 - Looking for a good deal on sportswear? Pearl Izumi is having a sale, as in the company itself is up for sale. Parent corporation, Nautilus, who purchased the company in 2005 for $75m is shopping the profitable apparel maker... In other corporate news, Honda announced the discontinuation of their sponsorship of Team G Cross Honda. Honda Racing Corporation's surprise entry into the world of mountain bike downhill racing back in 2004 made quite a splash. They relied on their motorcycle technology to create the RN-01, a bike that utilized a sealed, 20lb, transmission instead of derailleurs. The internal workings of the gearbox have remained a closely-guarded secret while the riders have gone on to win the UCI World Cup team ranking the last two years... Last month, 13-year-old Hunter Lussi completed the ChesapeakeMan Ultra Distance Triathlon in Cambridge, Maryland, in 15:27:26, to make him the youngest person to finish a full, iron-distance race. The 8th grader already has 7-years of triathlon racing under his belt. This year he won the the under-17 age group at the Ironman 70.3 Eagleman but was not granted a slot at the 70.3 World Championships because of his age. The previous Ironman record was held since 1979 by Michael Collins, who at 14-years of age completed Ironman Hawaii... Race Across America veteran, Danny Chew, has chewed up one-million kilometers (621,371 miles) on his bike. His goal is to surpass one-million miles of lifetime riding. Danny is currently 45 years old and predicts he will reach the milestone by age 70, in the year 2032. All of this leads us to wonder if anyone has actually already pedaled 1,000,000 miles? Check out the surprising answer. web... Joerie Van Steelent of Belgium (3:06:42) and Catriona Morrison from Great Britain (3:34:56) won the the ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships over the weekend in Richmond, Virginia. They did so in convincing fashion, each putting more than six-minutes on their respective second place finishers. The top U.S racers were David Thompson for the men who came across the line in 3:24:02 (16th), and Amy Kloner, an age-grouper who clocked the fastest time for the ladies in 3:48:32 (8th), just ahead of the elite U.S. women. Team USA dominated the overall awards by winning 51 of the 70 medals up for grabs... The 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race was won by Chris Eatough and Jeri Kirkland. Each completed 14-laps, or the equivalent of 210 miles with 19,030' of elevation gain. It was Eatough's first go at this race. For Kirkland it was her third win in a row. web

Oct 19 - Inside Triathlon posted a highlight video of Sarah Haskin's win at the U.S. Open Triathlon last weekend along with a very nice post-race interview. web... The Furnace Creek 508 is an ultramarathon bicycle race that sends riders through Death Valley and up a total of 35,000' of elevation gain. As difficult as the race is, it's almost equally challenging getting one of the 100 solo slots. The application process is akin to college matriculation. Prospective participants must submit a respectable race resume and biographical application. Michael Emde had no difficulty registering for the race with his status as defending champion. He made it two years in a row by winning with a time of 27:32:30, taking nearly an hour from his 2006 finish (28:23:21). Karen Armstrong won the women's division in 36:58:24. Last year's women's winner was female endurance sports legend Shanna Armstrong who also happens to be Karen's daughter. web... The eyes of the triathlon world will shift from last weekend's Ironman World Championship on the Big Island of Hawaii over to Maui for the XTERRA World Championship on Sunday, October 28. Now in its 12th year, the off-road triathlon assembles a select field of pro and age-group athletes thru more than 100 qualifying races all over the world. The race also draws the cameras of CBS television who traditionally air the event on Super Bowl Sunday. The XTERRA web offers a comprehensive race preview.... Ironman Florida is readying for a November 3 start from the white sands of Panama City Beach, Florida. Good luck to the dozen St Louis area triathletes who are putting the final touches on their preparations. web

Oct 18 - SBR wishes to welcome and thank its newest site sponsor, Edward Jones. As is the case with all of our generous sponsors, we only align this site with companies that provide outstanding products and/or services. Please click thru the banner at right to contact Ken Dorn for answers to all of your financial planning questions. In his spare time, Ken has participated in a number of endurance events at Marathon, Half-Ironman, and Quartermax distances, several century bike rides, and numerous team adventure runs in Southern California... The Berryman 6/12 Hour Duathlon drew 23-solo racers and 4-teams for a day spent either running a 4.5-mile out and back or mountain biking a 12.5-mile loop, each on the Berryman Trail. Racers had their patience and their endurance tested with two days of rain making the trail sloggy in places. Lullel Hickman took home the 12/solo title with 4 laps (9hrs 27min) and Beau Mooneyham won the 6/solo by going 2 laps (4hrs 47min). The 12/team honors went to Team Skeezix with 3 laps (7hr 50min) and the 6/team was taken by team Liability Llamas who completed 2 laps (5hrs 33min). Erica Crowell-Hoffman was the only female in the 6/solo division she and finished 1 lap (3hrs 17min)... There seems no shortage of once-in-a-lifetime events in exotic locations worldwide. Yet another such epic trip to consider could well be the Inca Trail Run. This 27.5 miler is equal parts grueling effort at altitudes of 8,000’ to 13,779’ and fascinating immersion into the Inca culture. Check out their very interesting web

Oct 17 - The O'Fallon Fall Fest 5k was run last weekend. Congratulations to Jeremy Collins and Beth Schueler for capturing the overall titles. The men's top three were Collins (16:47), Neehall Philogene (17:09), and Brian Schoenholz (17:45). The ladies top three were Schueler (20:08), Angie Haddock (20:22), and Kristen Van Horn (20:53). Finishing 26th among the 274 runners was 9-year old William Zoughaib with a time of 21:39... Does sponsoring a pro triathlete pay dividends for a bike company? If he/she has success on a big stage, then the answer is probably yes. A good case in point would be Normann Stadler riding a Kuota. That once obscure brand saw 128 athletes atop their frames in Kona last weekend, an increase of 66% from 2006. The 2007 scorecard is as follows: Cervelo 344, Kuota 128, Trek 128, Scott 89, Cannondale 75, Orbea 71, Felt 66, Kestrel 66, Litespeed 61, Specialized 61, Quintana Roo 60, Giant 59... Belgian cyclocross rider, Ben Berden, tested positive in 2004 for EPO. He was subsequently suspended for 15 months and ordered to pay 60,000 euros to cover the cost of his doping control. Whether the fine is unduly harsh or not is a matter of opinion, but one has to love the quote it elicited from the rider. "I don't know what to do anymore, this is almost unachievable... I am being punished for my honesty..." Um, correction Ben, you are being punished for your dishonesty... The Long-Course Duathlon World Championships take place this weekend in Richmond, VA. More than 500 age group and elite athletes from around the world will tackle a tough course. The race will be absent the late and great defending champ Benny Van Steelent who tragically passed away just a month ago as a result of a training accident. Joerie Van Steelent will look to improve upon his bronze medal in 2006 when the Belgian contingent dominated Worlds with a 1-2-3-4 finish. web... Looking for a new adventure? The inaugural GORE-TEX Trans Rockies Run took place on Sept 16-20. The event gathered 55 teams of two-runners who began a 125-mile multi-day stage race from Beaver Creek to Aspen. In between they crossed the Continental Divide twice, climbed more than 18,000', made their way through driving snow, endured torrential rain, ran at 12,000', and had a hell of a good time. Web

Oct 16 - Read the Inside Triathlon recap of the U.S. Open Triathlon and/or Sarah's race report on her blog. Triathlete Magazine's online report on the race focused completely on the men's side. In reporter Brad Culp's very brief mention of the women's race, he chose to quote 4th place finisher Emma Snowsill's post-race excuses rather than give the winner her props. Unreal... The 19th Annual Denver Veloswap is scheduled for Saturday, October 27 from 9am until 4pm at the National Western Complex in Denver, Colorado. This event is essentially for consumers what Interbike is for dealers. Booths are occupied by individuals, clubs, shops, manufacturers, and sales representatives. web

Oct 15 - The 2007 Ironman World Championship became a process of attrition that began before the cannon sounded and continued well afterwards. Faris Al-Sultan was the first to drop when a persistent stomach virus reduced him to DNS status. He was followed to the sidelines by defending champion Normann Stadler, Cameron Brown, Mathias Hecht, Thomas Hellriegel, and Luke Bell who all became DNF's. The strongest man on the day proved to be Chris McCormack (8:15:34) who made good on his promise to win the event. Fellow countryman and Ironman newbie, Craig Alexander (8:19:04) brought his dominating 70.3 speed to the full-Iron distance and pulled off a remarkable coup placing second. Torbjorn Sindballe (8:21:30) parlayed his 4:25 bike split with a sub-three hour marathon to secure third place. The expected battle royale between Natascha Badmann and Michellie Jones never materialized when they, as well as Katja Schumacher, could not finish. The race for the women's podium looked to become a wide-open affair among several supremely talented athletes— Samantha McGlone, Kate Major, Joana Lawn, Leanda Cave, and others. However, in a "made for the movies" bit of drama, first-year pro Chrissie Wellington (9:08:45) took control of the race near the end of the bike and never relented. Coming just four weeks after her surprise win at Ironman Korea, the 30-year old from Great Britain did her best Badmann impression by flashing an infectious smile while shredding the legs of those behind her. Samantha McGlone (9:14:04) could never quite bridge the gap on the marathon and finished runner-up... Congratulations to St Louis area participants who made a great showing. Tom Jackson had a simply superb day with his 9:35:44. Great job by Rick Mann (9:51:17) and Beat Bartlome (9:51:56) who went sub-10 hours. Tina Stiles (10:34:44) and Nicole Burdge (11:51:04) got their first taste of the big dance and performed well. Very nice work by Columbia resident Andy Pele (10:02:43), and to Chicago friends Christian Waterstraat (10:24:13) and Elizabeth Waterstraat (10:32:10). Liz managed an AG top ten... Interestingly among the finishers was former professional bike racer Laurent Jalabert (ONCE 1992-2000, CSC 2001-2002). Jaja ripped a 4:45 bike split, passing 1,030 racers on his way to a 9:19:58 finish and 76th place. Perhaps the best finish of all belonged to Scott Rigsbee who will no doubt be one of the featured athletes in the NBC highlight package airing in November. The double-leg amputee beat the clock and the odds when he crossed the line just ahead of the cut-off in 16:42:46... When racing outside of the ITU umbrella, Sarah Haskins is forced to rely strictly on her own multisport talents rather than work in tandem with her USAT teammates. But that seems to suit her just fine. Yesterday the American Olympic team hopeful posted a 1:55:45 in a winning effort at the U.S. Open Triathlon. Her strong time in the international distance race provided a two-minute winning margin over second place finisher Julie Dibens. The win was huge for Sarah's career in many respects, but perhaps none bigger than the $60,000 winner's check she took home. St Louis native Jill Petersen cashed in as well with a 9th place finish (2:04:55) earning her a $1,500 payday. Congratulations to both athletes!... A quick peek at the registration fees for the U.S. Open Triathlon was a bit of an eye-opener. Age groupers paid the same for either the Olympic (1500m-40k-10k) or sprint (800m-40k-5k) races. Individuals were charged $115 thru July 1, $140 thru Sept 15, and $175 after Sept 15 (plus $10 for one-day USAT license). Note: If you anted up $185 for a sprint race, we've got some slightly used bike wheels we'd love to sell you.

Oct 12 - The Denver Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, Oct 14, will waive its entry fee for Chicago Marathon participants who were unable to complete their race. They will need to present proof of registration for the Chicago Marathon and a photo ID at packet pick-up. web... Chinese triathlete, Hongni Wang, tested positive in both her A and B samples for exogenous metabolites of testosterone. She has been suspended until Oct 5, 2009. Wang was 29th in 2007 World Cup rankings... Many runners and triathletes pursue trail running in the off-season as a means to maintain fitness and/or add some diversity to their training regimen. We stumbled upon a few short videos that may provide you with some useful tips the next time you hit the trail. getting started, running uphill, running downhill... Solo winners in last weekend's Burnin' At the Bluff 12-Hour Mountain Bike Challenge were: Dwayne Goscinski (9 laps) and Jenny Goldstein (7 laps). The top performing team was: Up 2 Norfolk N Good (11 laps). web

Oct 11 - Hundreds of runners sound off about the problem-plagued 2007 Chicago Marathon. web... Each year the UC Santa Cruz swim team bonds together by swimming a 26-mile relay from Santa Cruz to Monterey. Two groups of six swimmers each forego wetsuits as they take 20-minute shifts in the 50°F water of the Pacific Ocean. Read a shivering first-person account of the experience. web... In another watery tale, but from a surprising source, Dean Karnazes recounts a death defying windsurfing experience. Read it on his blog. Scroll to the Sept 5 entry, "Riders on the Storm."...When you begin to feel that Ironman registration might be getting, shall we say, a tad expensive, check out the entry fee for Race Across America. Solo Entry $1995 (after 12/15/07 $2295), 2-Person $2995 (after 12/15/07 $3395), 4-Person $4795 (after 12/15/07 $5695), 8-Person $7995 (after 12/15/07 $8995).

Oct 9 - Perspective - Autumn ushers in several century bike rides intended to let distance riders go long in cooler weather and of course enjoy the seasonal change of Missouri foilage. Well at least that's the plan. This past weekend offered a double-header with the Sandy Creek Century on Saturday and the Ride the Rivers Century on Sunday. The weather however was summerlike and the trees weren't quite ready to display their fiery fall colors, but that didn't prevent healthy turnouts at both rides. The Sandy Creek ride drew me and the others to Hillsboro for a two-loop journey though some of the most magnificent Missouri terrain I've ridden in recent memory. Cresting the occasional high hilltop yielded spectacular vistas of the huge, rolling, tree-covered hills, often spread wide across the horizon. The ride took us through the heart of Jefferson County. It was challenging, but in my opinion, the degree of difficulty fell short of the pre-ride hype. I thought it was eminently doable for riders in proper physical condition to pedal a hundred miles. The road quality was generally very good, and for the most part, vehicular traffic along the well-marked route was modest. The rest stops were amply stocked, the lunch fare about average. The ride gets very high marks for mechanical support. James from Maplewood Bicycle went above and beyond the call of duty to assist riders. This Hosteling International-USA Gateway Council event easily receives my vote as top St Louis area century... The following morning found me pedaling to Locust & 22nd St where an immense group of cyclists were amassing for the start of Trailnet's popular Ride the Rivers Century. The character of this 100-miler differed greatly from the previous day's ride which was completely rural. The RRC route meandered west through the city and St Louis County, eventually depositing us at the Veteran's Memorial Bridge bike/ped lane where we crossed into St Charles. From there it headed north until we arrived at the Golden Eagle Ferry, for what would be the first of two river crossings. It must have been surreal indeed for the motorists sitting in their cars on the ferry boat as they were surrounded by hundreds of cyclists who packed the boat. Once we hit the opposite shore, the scene resembled Normandy Beach on D-Day as cyclists poured from the ferry boat. A rather steep incline immediately out from the landing area caught more than a few riders in the wrong gear, and with the expected consequences. After a beautiful, hilly ride through the penninsula-like land mass between the rivers, the second ferry landed us at the feet of Pere Marquette Park. The next forty-something miles would be southward along the mighty Mississippi into a light headwind, but not before stopping for lunch in Grafton. The lunch process sufficiently baffled everyone as a sole waiter took orders, then fetched four lunch plates at a time— this as hundreds of ravenous riders descended upon the outdoor cafe. Fortunately we got out of there relatively quickly and back on the road. We bore through the southerly breeze all the way to a well-provisioned rest stop on the Missouri side of the Chain of Rocks bridge. We easily completed the remaining miles and gravitated with the other early finishers toward the St Louis Brewery to talk cycling and knock back a well-earned Schlafly's or two. Aside from lunch and debris-induced flats along the river road, the ride earns high marks for route variety and great aid stations.

Oct 8 - With the unseasonably warm weather, yesterday's Rec Plex Fall Triathlon could have mistaken for the June edition of the race. In fact, the same could be said for the result of the men's division which was won once again by Shawn Oneal in 1:27:53— exactly the same as his 2006 Fall race winning time. Second place finisher, Dana Riderer (1:28:34), posted better swim and run splits but it wasn't enough to offset Oneal's near, sub 50-minute bike split. Brian Schoenholz (1:31:39) took third place. Over in the women's division, a newcomer made her presence felt. 25-year old Kate Laverdiere (1:40:52) won in convincing fashion. Lisa Lewis (1:45:14) and Andrea Roberson (1:45:59) rounded out the the top three. Up and coming 15-year old, Matt Owens, finished 10th overall with a time of 1:37:53. In all, nearly 400 individuals and 37 teams made for a full slate of racing... Missouri native Brad Huff recovered sufficiently from his Tour of Missouri crash to compete in the 2007 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships. As the top seed in the individual pursuit title, Huff was surprisingly bested by the rapidly rising star of Taylor Phinney. In one of the more remarkable stories of 2007, the 17-year old Phinney has re-stamped his famous last name on a sport in which the high schooler has been competing for a very short time. This cycling prodigy is the son of cycling greats Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter... The Chicago Marathon experienced a tragedy yesterday when one runner died from the effects of record heat and stifling humidity. Reports indicate that over 49 runners were taken to area hospitals, while another 250 were treated onsite. Three people remained in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital late Sunday evening. About 10,000 of the 45,000 registered runners didn't start the race, while 10,934 started but didn't finish. The high heat index essentially forced race organizers to halt the event at 11:30am. Runners who hadn't reached the halfway point were diverted to the start and finish area, and those on the second half of the course were advised to drop out, walk or board cooling buses.

Oct 5 - Inside Ride Cycling Performance Systems is the company that brought us the Super Trainer, an actual bicycle treadmill. Now on a more practical level they offer E-Motion Rollers. At $800 a set, they are on the expensive side but will provide a superior indoor riding experience. Their web has a nice video gallery which enables viewers to see just how this product works.

Oct 4 - The XTERRA St Louis Trail Series advanced a pair of runners to the XTERRA Trail Running National Championship who found success on the national level. Congratulations to Robin Linfield of O'Fallon (F 30-39) and Deb Schopp of Ballwin (F 50-59) for winning their age groups. Way to go!... The Texas Time Trials bike races took place in Cleburne, Texas last week. Among the events staged was the Tejas-500. Last year St Louis area riders finished 3-4 in the 500-miler. This year's race saw Midwest riders capture the top three spots: 1-Paul Carpenter (IL) 30:57, 2-Larry Idle (IL) 32:58, 3-Dru Dixon (MO) 33:21... Making note of the team changes in the professional cycling scene these days is like trying to keep a scorecard through a 21-inning baseball game— there are plenty of player changes. The latest news came as no surprise when Johan Bruyneel, Alberto Contador, Benjamin Noval, and Sergio Paulinho moved en masse from the late Discovery Channel team to Astana. The word on the street is that former Disco teammates Janez Bragkovic, Levi Leipheimer, and Tomas Vaitkus are not far behind as well... Each October the Ironman Triathlon World Championship pits some of the best athletes in the world in a struggle against one another and the elements. In recent years the process of analyzing the increasingly deep men's field has proven to be complex. This year is no exception. In the old days, one could pick Dave Scott or Mark Allen as the front runner, and even more recently Peter Reid, and be reasonably certain your prognostication was accurate. Each have been multiple winners of the most coveted title in the mulitsport world. But a look at the 2007 men's field may yield more questions than answers. For example, how much leash will the men give defending champion Normann Stadler on the bike this year? And is Chris McCormack ready to finally take charge of the race? Can Simon Lessing effectively display his prodigious talent in an Iron-distance race? Is Faris Al-Sultan to be more than just a one-hit Kona wonder? Can Cameron Brown win an Ironman race not staged in New Zealand? Is half-Iron master Craig Alexander ready to double his distance and compete? Whatever happened to two-time champion Tim DeBoom? Can XTERRA star Eneko LLanos improve upon his surprising fifth place finish last year? Will Torbjorn Sindballe show he can run with the big boys? Will someone have an unexpected career-day on the big stage, such as Rutger Beke, Timo Bracht, Chris Lieto, Viktor Zyemtsev, or Luke Bell? And what is the once-proud, course record-holder Luc Van Lierde (8:04:08 in 1996) doing still racing with the pros? While the questions are nearly endless, the wait for October 13 is not. In little more than a week's time, it will be game-on in Kona and many of the answers will be learned.

Some athletes looking to jumpstart their 2008 seasons will take part in training camps. These are generally well-organized and structured getaways. While they can vary greatly, most lean toward the all-inclusive end of things which allows the athletes to focus primarily on training rather than logistics. Below is a very short list of camps from among the great many to choose.
Training Camps
Carmichael Training Systems	various	various	various	web
Multisports.com	triathlon	Encinitas, CA	February	web
La Loma Altitude Training Center	swim	San Luis Potosi, Mex.	year-round	web
Chris McCormack Triathlon Performance Camp	triathlon	San Diego, CA	July	web
Floyd Landis Power Training Camp	cycling	Temecula, CA	January	web
Epic Camp	triathlon	New Zealand	January	web

Oct 3 - There are signature races in most sports. For example, triathlon has Ironman Hawaii and running has the Boston Marathon. For mountain biking it may well be the 24 Hours of Moab, an event has grown to world-class proportions. On October 13-14, more than 5,000 racers, support crews, and spectators assemble in the MTB mecca that is southern Utah. web... The 2007 XTERRA National Trail Running Championship was held over the weekend at Incline Village (Lake Tahoe). Those who participated found conditons to be quite different from the heat and humidity they had often experienced in the summer-long, national qualifying series. The northern Nevada venue saw the thermometer dip to 40° and early snow laid along the trail. Drew Casselberry (34:38) and Giovanna Mandy (38:31) captured the titles and earned roundtrip airfare to Hawaii... Participants in the 2007 XTERRA USA Championship had to be shaking their heads about the freezing weather and snow just the day before their triathlon. What diference a day makes! On Sunday they were blessed with, albeit 58° water, a beautiful, sunny, 70° day. After missing last year's race due to a training ride crash, Conrad Stolz raced with a mission and won for his 4th time. In the women's division, Jamie Whitmore also returned with a 2006 frustration driving her. A series of flats in last year's race derailed her effort to win her 5th straight championship. The 2007 race was a different story as she continued her dominance in the event by making it 5 in 6 years. Former St Louis resident Kelly Hovland won the W 30-34 national title... If you are a fan of professional cycling and gaming, then VeloGames offers an appealing combination. This internet fantasy cycling page has been around for eleven years, gaining both in popularity and game-play sophistication. The next session begins in 2008. web... Pro cycling team Slipstream/Chipotle announced the winner of its team kit design contest. Joe Yule, a graphic designer and avid cyclist from Redondo Beach, CA will not only enjoy the unique satisfaction of seeing his design concept worn by the top U.S. cycling team, but also earned himself a Felt team issue bike, full team kit, and team autographed jersey... As the daylight dwindles, those after-work rides are becoming shorter unless you have a lights on your bike. The cost of a reliable and well-performing light system can set you back between two and four-hundred dollars, unless of course you buy the Betty. Gizmodo bills it as the world's brightest bicycle lamp. Check out the specs (and price). The comments are fun too, especially the guy who taped a mag light to his handle bars. web

Oct 1 - The Berryman Adventure Race, promoted as a real "ass kicker" on the event website, lived up to its name with just 5 of the 44 teams earning an official finish time. Team Eastern Mountain Sports won the 4-person co-ed divison. The St Louis area's Team Alpine Sports (Jeff Sona, Carrie Sona, David Frei, Doug Nishimura) finished 4th in that division. The 2-person open division was won by Team Monster Energy. web... Even though the UCI World Road Championships were staged in Stuttgart, Germany, they concluded with a distinctively Italian flavor. Paolo Bettini and Marta Bastianelli captured the men's and women's titles respectively. For the embattled Bettini, the win was a repeat of last year's title, but just making it to the starting line proved to be a challenge. He managed to overcome a political effort to prevent him from racing as well as a recent drug allegation. By contrast, Bastianelli's effort was strictly on the road. The 20-year old benefitted from a strong team, and stronger legs than the pre-race favorites, as she took the line by a very comfortable 6 second margin over field... Scott USA launched a new website with an interesting interface. The photo of each bike can be gripped with the curser and rotated 360° to provide full side and head-on views. web... Mountain bike racers from all over the country flock to Minnesota for the first Saturday of each November to take part in an event that among them has earned "must do" status. The Iceman Cometh Challenge draws more than 2,000 participants annually for its challenging 27-mile point-to-point course along dirt roads, double-track trail, abandoned railroad beds, and the Vasa Nordic ski trail. Of course the more than $33,000 cash and merchandise prize pool is attractive too. web

Sept 29 - Nancy Lieberman, president of the Spirit of St Louis Marathon, has taken a greater stake in the health and wellness of St Louis area residents with the creation of GO! St. Louis. This organization was created with the express mission of transforming the health of individuals and families through a variety of year-round events and programs for all fitness levels. Check out their new website.

Sept 28 - At Interbike on Thursday, it became clear that the Tour of America was not some sort of publicity stunt sprung upon the U.S. cycling community. Brainchild behind the race is businessman and cycling fan Frank Arokiasamy, who in a press conference on Thursday, elaborated on details for the event. Whether the race becomes a reality is anyone's guess, but it may be one of the more interesting stories to follow into 2008... The Cycling World Championships saw Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara repeat in convincing fashion as time trial champion. He completed the 45km course 52 seconds ahead of his nearest compeititor. The women's race was won by Hanka Kupfernagel of Germany. She averaged 43.4km/hr over a tough 25km course to finish ahead of 2006 champion and pre-race favorite Kristin Armstrong of the U.S. Next up for the riders are the Men's and Women's road race championships... Triathlete Magazine posted some great photos from Interbike. Among them are pics of Normann Stadlers new ride, a Look mountain bike, and a $15,000 BMC time trial machine. web

Sept 27 - From the department of "Conceptually Overwhelming Events," comes the 2008 Tour of America. Trumping the three European Grand Tours (Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana, and Giro d'Italia), this grandest of tours is planned by a Aqu, Inc., a North Carolina sports management firm, for September of 2008. Organizers hope to draw 25 of the most elite cycling teams in the world by waving an incredible $11M prize purse at them. Would a team like CSC or Slipstream participate in the 4,000-mile, 30-day stage race? It seems doubtful, but one thing we've all learned by following the professional cycling scene these last few chaotic years, is that nearly anything is possible. Further details are scheduled for release today at Interbike. On a sidenote, this proposed event is so grandiose in nature that its announcement has been very cautiously reported by the cycling press for fear that it may actually turn out to be a hoax... Speaking of Interbike, here are a few early reports and previews filed by various roving reporters saddled with the enviable task of covering the expo in Sin City otherwise known as the Killer B's— bikes, booze, and babes. Bicycling Magazine, Daily Peloton, SlowTwitch, Triathlete, VeloNews, SteepHillTV... The Race Across America is gearing up for 2008. The west coast to east coast route for this transcontinental bicycle race will change after having remained constant for three years. RAAM officials are spending September scouting possible roads and indicate that as much as 1000 miles of the course could be altered. Despite several proposed changes, the race thought enough of the support it received in the Midwest to still pass through Missouri and brush by the St Louis region. web

Sept 26 - Interbike takes place in Las Vegas this week and is a great place for companies to showcase their products. Skins Compression Garments, based in Australia, are opening distribution in the U.S. (SkinsUSA) for a line of sports wear with proven therapetutic and performance enhancing properties. web... It will be months before the 2008 Tour de Donut, but you can catch a trailer of the movie about the race on You Tube - Tour de Donut: Gluttons For Punishment. Was that a glazed look in Gateway Cup race director Tim Ranek's eyes? You be the judge... Not only are Ironman triathletes lining up to race in the People's Republic of China next year, but adventure racers are too, at least those of the urban variety. The 2008 Urban Adventure Racing World Championships are scheduled for April 19, 2008 in Chengdu, China. Unsupported co-ed teams of three athletes will race along a course of at least 120-miles long as they paddle, cycle, run, stair climb, in-line skate, scooter, and orienteer. A cash prize purse of $50,000 cash will supply plenty of incentive. web... The 2007 Road World Championships have begun today in Stuttgart, Germany. The men's U23 time trial was won by Lars Boom of the Netherlands who covered the 38.1km time trial circuit in 48:57. He currently rides on Rabobank's continental team but may soon find himself with the big boys... The Chicago Marathon is just 11 days away on Sunday, October 7. As ususal a large compliment of St Louis area runners will be among the 45,000 who will participate... The DEA recently announced the arrests of 124 people involved in a performance-enhancing drug trafficking ring of global proportions. More than a million doses of steroids were confiscated in the raids. A spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Agency confirmed that thousand of end-users will be identified through e-mail addresses used to make purchases. web

Sept 25 -The 2nd Annual 24-Hours of Landahl took place just outside of Kansas City. The Granny Gear Productions race challenged off-road riders with sleep deprivation and 11-miles of sweet single-track. Heading the Men's Solo Divison was Josh Tostado who completed 17-laps (193 miles, 13,634 feet of elevation gain). The top team, consisting of Rich Anderson, Shawn Jones, Ashley Blum, and John Wagner, managed 22 full laps... The Tour of Ste Genevieve Road Race was staged last weekend. The course led riders along nicely paved roads and over sections of steep terrain. The winners were: Pro/1/2 - Josh Carter, Cat 3 - Shawn O'Neal, Cat 4 - Dave Burdick, Cat 5 - Cody Nees, Men Masters 40+ - Gary Dyer, Women Open - Christine Roettger, Women Masters 40+ - Cheryl Rathert, Juniors - Johathon Schilling... One couldn't help but be impressed after watching the Toyota-United squad win two stages of the Tour of Missouri behind the high-octane sprinting of Ivan Dominguez. The team is busy upping the ante for 2008 with the signing of Ben Day, Hilton Clarke and Jonny Clarke. When added to the already formidable group of Dominguez, Chris Wherry, Chris Baldwin, Ivan Stevic and Henk Vogels, the squad will test Slipstream-Chipotle for U.S. team dominance.

Perspective - Determination. Stage-1: I had committed to a Sunday ride with a couple of buddies, one of whom was bringing along his 13-year old son. On Friday night, I had reservations about the practicality of this plan particularly when the route was out Hwy. T to Labadie. Those rollers are a challenge for even the most seasoned of cyclists let alone an early teen. But 24-hours later, I was singing a much different tune after having churned out 180-miles on Saturday. My legs embraced the notion of a slow-paced ride, though it would be hilly, and for me, on the long-end of things at 80-miles. We rendezvoused at the appointed hour and immediately I made note of his son's running shoes and flat pedals. Hmmm. I wondered if this might turn into an even longer day than I had anticipated. Needless to say the lad ground his way up those hills just like the rest of us, not once complaining, and then led us down the descents. Coasting up beside him, I offered a, "nice work," to which he excitedly replied, "I hit 40 coming down." I inwardly chastised myself for underestimating his grit... Stage-2: The 20-mile ride home would be a nice cool down. Nothing serious mind you, just spin my way east on Clayton Road. That would have been the case if not for the the yellow-jerseyed cyclist on aerobars who flew by me. The competitive inner-me sprung to life in knee-jerk fashion. I jumped and repassed him with authority. I was full gas for a few hundred yards, but a quick peek back surprisingly revealed him locked on my wheel. We sprinted for and made a green light, then he pulled through, determined to drop me. I caught his wheel and we flew down a gentle grade at breakneck speed. Upon reaching the bottom, a red light brought us to a halt at which point I looked forward to learning this fellow's name. But before I could, he nervously performed a couple of quick, tight circles then promptly rolled through the red light, and the next one just beyond it. My first reaction was, "OK, fine, be that way." But when the light eventually turned green, I was on a mission and my system was coursing with adrenaline. If I could just close the gap a bit by the next hill, we'll see what happens. With the hammer down, I reached the base of that roller with him only pedaling perhaps 50 yards ahead. Having ridden this particular stretch of road a hundred times, I knew that with a little momentum I could sail up it in my 54x12. Not more than a quarter of the way up the grade he shifted to his small ring. To me that was the equivalent of surrender. I blew past in unforgiving fashion and hammered until he was out of sight. I had to laugh. The day begun with me underestimating that young man's heart and now had reached full circle with my own tenacity being called out.

Sept 22 - The past weekend provided local runners with a host of 5k opportunities. On Saturday, Adam McDowell (15:41) and Margaret Lyons (18:47) won the Des Peres Dash. Later that afternoon, across the river in St Charles, Stephen Yates (16:12) and Lauren Nystrom (21:32) captured the Twilight Run at New Town. Sunday found 5k speedsters at Forest Park for the Run Out of the Darkness. Alex Noel (18:45) and Claudia Kasen (19:36) took top honors... Denis Menchov (Rabobank) won the Vuelta a España and in the process exorcised a couple of drug induced demons. The Russian rider earned a shallow victory in the 2005 race after Roberto Heras was stripped of the title for EPO use. In this year's Tour de France, Menchov was initially intended to Rabobank's GC contender, but shifted to a support role for Michael Rasmussen who was ingloriously sacked by his own team during the Tour. Menchov was never really challenged once latching onto the leader's jersey. The Discovery Channel, which had split its team between the Tour of Missouri and the Vuelta, saw just three riders reach the finish line in its final Grand Tour as the Discovery Channel Team— Jason McCartney, José Luis Rubiera and Jurgen Van Goolen.

Sept 21 - Floyd Landis made history yesterday but not in the manner in which he would have hoped. He became the first winner of the Tour de France to be stripped of his title after the arbitration panel ruling his fate in the positive doping test at the Tour de France ruled against him. It seemed an inevitable verdict given that at least one rider was expelled from this year's Tour de France for a similar testosterone to epitestosterone imbalance... If the film, The Flying Scotsman, was screened at any St Louis area theater since its 2007 release, it certainly did so with little or no fanfare. Now that it is finally available on DVD, metro area cycling fans can at last view this well-crafted and inspirational biopic of Graeme Obree. trailer... It was announced yesterday that the 2011 ITU Triathlon World Championships will be held in Beijing, China. This follows the successful staging of a 2007 ITU World Cup race as well as the upcoming 2008 Olympic Triathlon on the same course. A chronology of future World Championships is as follows: 2007- Hamburg, Germany; 2008 - Vancouver, British Columbia; 2009 - Gold Coast, Australia; 2010 - Budapest, Hungary... USA Triathlon annual members have been issued preferred registration status for both the 2008 Chicago Triathlon and the 2008 New York City Triathlon. General registration for Chicago opens on Oct. 1, but USAT members will be able to access the site at 12:01 a.m. EST on Sept. 29. Similarly, general registration for New York City opens on Nov, 1, but USAT members will gain access at 12:01 a.m. EST on Oct 30. In both cases, the first 2000 USAT members to register early will be accepted. USAT annual membership now exceeds 100,000 individual athletes... Key Dates: Saturday, October 13 - Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; Sunday, October 28 0 XTERRA World Championship - Maui, Hawaii; Saturday, November 10 - Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Clearwater, Florida; Friday-Sunday, November 23-25 - Ultraman World Championships - Hawaii

Sept 20 - The Missouri Bicycle Federation is moving forward with an initiative that will create a specialty license plate to promote cycling. A handful of other states already have them. The Missouri Department of Motor Vehicles requires a $5000 set up fee before the plate can be manufactured. Please show your support for this cycling advocacy program by taking part in the e-mail campaign. web... Triathletes and time trialists looking for the ultimate edge now have access to wind tunnel testing. Among the services offered by Colorado Premier Training, located in Fort Collins, Colorado, is Position Optimization. The program measure wind drag, power output, and heart rate simultaneously in real time. The session includes full analysis of the resultant data along with recommendations. Cost is $1075. Web... Slipstream/Chipotle has distinguished itself in many ways, but probably none so obvious as the argyle design they sport on their jersey. In an enduring gesture, fans were given the opportunity to submit their designs for the 2008 Pro Team kit. After wading through more than 600 entries, team officials selected the final five. Now fans will determine by vote which design the riders will wear next season. Web

Perspective - With a few days now passed and fond memories of the Tour of Missouri still reverberating so wonderfully in my head, I thought it time to let loose with a few inner reflections and, forgive me, some overt emotion. First and foremost, I am extremely proud of the state of Missouri for coming through in the over-the-top manner in which they did. The peloton itself was blown away by the level of support it received. I can accept the reality that at the governmental level it's mostly about the tourism dollars rather than for love of the sport, but when Governor Blunt and all of those mayors are in your corner, oh baby how it all comes together! It was just last Sunday when Ivan Dominguez launched himself down Market Street toward the finish line at Union Station to close out six days of racing and already it seems but a dream. Did we really host a world class bicycle race on nearly 600 miles of rolling enclosure and closed roads throughout the state? If I may borrow a now trite expression— I'm still wrapping my mind around that one. Being completely honest about it, I would have guessed Missouri to be one of the least likely states to host an event of this nature. But that is precisely why I am so amped— because they did. Now come the questions. Can we grow the Tour of Missouri sans the Discovery Team swan song that played such a prominent role in the inaugural event? Will the casual spectators and curiosity seekers return as cycling fans? Will CSC, T-Mobile, Predictor-Lotto, and other heavy hitting teams make the trip to Missouri in 2008? The reality is that athletes, sponsors, and even races come and go. My advice is to simply enjoy it now all that you can, get involved in some capacity, and hope for the best.

Sept 19 - Local triathlon pro, Sarah Haskins, is returning to St Louis to visit family and friends after a long return flight from China. She finished 11th overall (2nd American) in the Beijing BG ITU Triathlon World Cup. Despite missing the U.S. Olympic team berth offered to the top American in that race, she remains upbeat about her prospects at qualifying races in Hawaii or Iowa in 2008. Congrats to Laura Bennett for who finished third overall and made the team... Farmington native Brian Dwieza (Jelly Belly) is sticking around the home state after last week's six-day cycling tour of it. The pro rider is entered in Le Tour de Sainte Genevieve Road Race on Saturday. web... Pro rider and Velonews blogger, Will Frishkorn (Team Slipstream-Chipotle), posted a few of his thoughts about the recently concluded Tour of Missouri. web... Tour of MO winner George Hincapie will keep busy in the off-season with an ambitious real estate development located near his home in Greenville, South Carolina. The project is directed exclusively toward cyclists and endurance athletes. web... Interbike 2007 is gearing up for next week at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas. This monster of a trade show for industry people is all about the bike. web

Sept 18 - The Lewis and Clark Marathon took place on Sunday and picked up where the Tour of Missouri had left off on Saturday, namely, by drawing a huge crowd to the St Charles riverfront. Standing out from the 388 male and 295 female marathoners were first place finishers Tom Whalen (2:45:38) and Stephanie Hood (3:00:26). For Whalen, the win was his second, coming five years after his 2002 title at the inaugural race. The half marathon saw a fresh face in that of Margaret Nakintu (1:15:20). The 24-year old set too strong a tempo for the other 2325 women in the 13.1 miler and finished with more than six minutes in hand. The men's field witnessed the much welcomed return of Mike Farrell to the local elite running scene. His presence significantly ratchets up the competitive level and he showed why with his 1:10:38 half for the win. marathon results half results... The Halfmax National Championship brought triathletes from around the country to do battle at the beautiful and challenging Innsbrook resort venue. A pair of out-of-towners conquered the course and their competitors. Daniel Bretscher from Greencastle, Indiana delivered strong swim, bike, and run splits, and crossed the finish line by over a five-minute margin of victory (4:01:54). The women's race took on a familiar refrain. Elizabeth Fedofsky-Waterstraat won her third consecutive Halfmax title finishing in 4:41:24. The event worked well into her build-up for the Ironman World Championship next month. results... Very nice work by the St Louis Triathlon Club for their win in the Division II category of the USAT Club National Championships, and placed 2nd overall behind the juggernaut that is the Columbia Multisport Club. results... The Trail of Tears Triathlon took place Sunday down in Cape Girardeau. Barry Knight of Paducah, Kentucky won the event for the 12th time in its 17 years of its existence. He completed the 1/2-mile swim, 15-mile bike ride and 4-mile run in 1:13:47, ahead of both Matt Bonastia (1:15:14) and Peter Boumgarden (1:15:35). Bev Ofsthun topped the women with her 1:29:42 performance. Maggie Conley (1:31:49) and Donna Hickey (1:33:20) rounded out the top three ladies.... Velonews senior writer, Neal Rogers, offers his thoughts in a Tour of Missouri wrap-up podcast.... On a sad note, perhaps the best duathlete in the history of the sport, Benny Vansteelant, died from medical complications after being struck by an automobile during a training ride.

Tour of Missouri Blog - Sunday - The wake up call sounded early yet again, but this it time had a much different ring. I was back in St Louis for the sixth and final stage of the Tour of Missouri. While the road trip had been been a blast, it definitely took a cumulative toll. It made me wonder how the pro cyclists are able to endure the grind of daily training and tons of international travel. For me, spending a week off both my bike and diet had consequences, but I can deal. As for the job at hand, this was the sixth successive day we built out the start/finish area and the process came together very well. Once the crowds arrived, I shifted to an overseer role, looking for situations in the hospitality area that required addressing. It afforded me time to chat with friends and watch the race while keeping tabs on my area. The race was totally exhilarating. The finishing straight was a gentle downward stretch of Market street that had the pros rocketing through the finish chute with each lap. For me, the 70-mile race seemed to fly by and soon was over far too soon. Those fans who stuck around for the awards were glad that they did. Later, a few fans continued to linger at the venue, perhaps still processing what actually had taken place in downtown St Louis on this September afternoon. The process of breaking down our section of the race site was accompanied by the familiar clanging of iron fencing the and beeping of box trucks backing up to be loaded. It would take all night for the site to finally be transformed back to its pre-race state. The only remaining signs of what had transpired there were the meters to go indicators left painted on the street. The big tent breakdowns would continue by workers long into the early morning hours. As for me and the rest of the crew, we headed to Jim Edmonds new nightclub for the after party where we mingled with the riders, media, workmates, some of the Cardinals, and of course beautiful girls. Hey, I know it's a tough gig but someone has to do it... Saturday - Stage-5 began in Jefferson City. After a couple of ceremonial laps around the capitol building, the racers would head out for the long ride to St Charles. But before they did, we had to prepare the tent for a serious VIP invasion. We would host numerous dignitaries and political types, including the Governor. As a result, the urgency to have our area looking extra sharp spawned a few new bosses to direct our setup. After appeasing them, we were primed for the reception and racing. I began to notice an increasing number of familiar faces with yesterday's stage finish in Columbia and now with today's start in the capital city. It was nice to exchange pleasantries with friends who were equally jazzed about the Tour. I was very excited to reach the finish in the historic St Charles district, not only because it was familiar surroundings and would be packed with cycling fans, but for the area's cycling aficionados who I knew would turn out for the race. They would be able to experience what I had been privileged to witness since Tuesday. The crowd didn't disappoint, it was large and loud, a preamble for what is hoped to be a massive throng of spectators lining the course on Sunday. Danny Pate (Slipstream-Chipotle) did the argyle jersey proud as he motored away from the break to capture the stage win... Friday - The Tour of Missouri provides so many anecdotes, it's a wonder I can restrain myself to ten or so lines of text. This installment may run on, so bear with me. Today's stage began in the small community of Lebanon. The Chamber of Commerce there had a 5:30am breakfast waiting for us (the work crew) at the Civic Center, so I felt compelled to make an appearance and indulge in biscuits, gravy, and sausage, food not typically a part of my diet. An hour later, we found our stations in the hospitality tent and there before us was the always tempting continental breakfast set out for the VIP's— just what my burgeoning waistline needed. It seemed there were always leftovers and the caterers gratefully encouraged us to consume them. Much like Clinton, the crowd at this start venue was expectedly smaller, that is until a local grade school unleashed hundreds of kids on the site. They were organized, orderly, and enthusiastic as they paraded single-file bearing the flags of each country represented in the Tour. It was quite a spectacle. After a while I strategically positioned myself along the fencing to the racer sign-in stage in the hope of catching a few autographs for a co-worker. One by one or in small groups, the riders made their way through. Eventually Levi, Alberto, Dominguez, and Oneil would ink the race T-shirt into which I had, ingeniously I might add, inserted a box flap to provide a firm writing surface. I scrutinized each of the 100 plus riders as they filed past. Most were long and lean carbo burning machines. Some had quads that weight lifters would envy. A few were so baby-faced it was hard to imagine that they were world-class cyclists. The riders hailed from the U.S, Europe, Asia, South Africa, and Down Under. I couldn't help but wonder how each had found the enviable profession of bicycle racing. After the roll out, we quickly made the transfer to Columbia in hopes of catching the finish. As we passed volunteers and spectators who lined the roads and stood atop overpasses, it was fun honking and waving from our official van, emblazoned with Tour of Missouri signage. Upon reaching the finish venue in Columbia, we found it packed and buzzing. And as if I needed to see it, the VIP tent contained the best food spread of the week thus far. Yikes! I viewed the finish of the race with my nephew, a senior at MU, and then all too soon it was time to break down the site. A little later, I handed the autographed T-shirt to Jen, but not before presenting her the fake one I had doctored up, with my own signature obnoxiously emblazoned right across the front. Her quizzical look was priceless. We had a good laugh and called it a day... Thursday - We made the easy drive to Branson yesterday and arrived just before sundown. It was my first visit to this Missouri tourist town located just north of the Arkansas border and I found the topography to be eye-popping. We exited the highway onto the Ozark Mountain Highroad and immediately I ached for my bike. This utterly spectacular stretch of smooth, new roadway offered several incredibly long, fast two-wheeled descents and accompanying, brutish climbs, the likes of which I haven't seen since our Utah trip. As for the Tour, today's stage would be a cleverly configured 18-mile, point to point individual time trial. The venue projected a modern smartness while snuggled in the beautiful Ozark landscape. The starting ramp shot riders out onto the smooth, wide, brick walkway of a shopping district that bordered Lake Taneycomo. The one minute interval between rider departures enabled spectators the opportunity to savor the start for over two hours, rather than watch them roar away en masse. The tough, mostly uphill course ended at Shepherd of the Hills. Including this well-crafted stage in the 2008 Tour of Missouri is clearly a no-brainer. It was nothing short of magnificent... Wednesday - A morning in the town of Clinton transported me back several decades in time. The town square, bordered by century-old buildings, is purported to be one of the largest in the in the country. The smallish nature of the town provided spectators with an easy and intimate access to the athletes. I took the opportunity to wish a few of them well before the roll out. Once the the peloton finally sped off, we packed our gear, enjoyed a quick outdoor luncheon prepared by the Chamber of Commerce, then headed for the finish line in Springfield. Early in our roadtrip we spotted the now unfortunate armadillo that was the likely culprit in Dan Schmatz's bizarre crashout. No thanks, I can think of better souvenirs than that. Later, while gassing the van, we encountered two cyclists intent on meeting the peloton. We surprised these superfans with hydration needs and some race schwag before we drove off. The finish line setup in Springfield was very fast and thrillling. Among the riders in the break, Hincappie seemed to be the crowd favorite and brought a huge roar from the packed grandstands when he sprinted for the stage win. Also, kudos to the race announcers who did an excellent job explaining the race as well as generating excitement... Tuesday - Well despite my best intentions, I missed updating the website yesterday. Hitting the sack at midnight on Monday followed by a 5am crew call on Tuesday will do that. Stage-1 of the inaugural Tour of Missouri is in the history books and Ivan Dominguez (Toyota United) captured the race with his typical strong finishing sprint. The bulk of my day was spent in the hospitality tent near the start/finish line. Between chores, I managed to follow the race on the five flat-panel monitors mounted for the VIP's as they were being elegantly wined and dined. The tent was situated to provide a direct sightline to the awards presentation stage located just across the finishing straight. The crowd evoked a genuine excitement for the event. As for me, from time to time I had to remind myself that Discovery and the other teams were actually racing in Missouri. Judging from what I've seen after just one day here, I full expect the crowd in St Louis to be truly massive. Tomorrow we send the riders off from Clinton to a finish line in Springfield. The weather looks to be great once again as the teams gear up for another battle on the roads.

Sept 9 - The Millstadt Biathlon took place a mild but very humid morning yesterday. The event challenged participants with a 5-mile run and 20-mile bike ride. After finishing 9th, 8th, 4th, and 2nd in the last four years, Scott Shaw progressively worked his way to the top spot yesterday with a 1:28:40 performance. The perinially competitive Bob Chott (1:30:01) was runner up and Greg Schrick (1:32:28) finished third. As for the women, Amber Mounday picked up where she left off at the Lake St Louis Triathlon— in first place (minus the swim). The women's top three were Mounday 1:42:22, Robin Rongey 1:47:53, and Krystal Giltner 1:48:00...

Ironman Wisconsin was due for some good weather. The last few years either had racers coping with hyperthermia or hypothermia. Even though the weather wasn't a factor, there still was the race course to deal with. Maik Twelsiek (8:52:49) of Germany and Gina Ferguson (09:37:03) from New Zealand each figured out a winning formula as they captured their first Ironman wins... St Louis area triathletes converged en masse on Madison, Wisconsin for this poplular event. Overall finish positions and times are posted are right... The event drew more than 1000 first-timers and doled out a total of 80 slots for the 2008 IM World Championship in Hawaii.		126	George Schweitzer	10:36:20		0910	Chris Floerchinger	12:36:47
		155	Jason Blom	10:45:20		0959	Barb Winston	12:43:02
		195	Tim Battles	10:55:37		1100	Eric Reinsfelder	12:57:50
		225	Corky Miller	11:01:59		1123	Michael Pepper	13:00:32
		342	Kevin Nashan	11:21:32		1248	Bill Peterson	13:18:37
		381	Kate Dewey	11:27:24		1275	Patrick Kirkes	13:20:51
		446	Brian Schoenholz	11:38:19		1285	David Crane	13:22:13
		495	Tim Landewe	11:45:15		1292	Laurie Kreienheder	13:23:01
		542	Fred Wencel	11:50:44		1352	Tommy Rosenthal	13:30:21
		587	George Harrigan	11:55:17		1363	John Strassner	13:31:43
		593	Scott Varwig	11:56:07		1455	Bruce Wilkinson	13:44:26
		603	Shelby Sullivan	11:57:41		1625	Geoff Allen	14:10:29
		682	Luke Hoffmann	12:09:40		1638	Terri Menchini	14:14:04
		724	Micheal Einig	12:16:02		1783	John Quick	14:47:29
		740	Greg Doering	12:17:39		1785	Mina Nashan	14:47:42
		742	John Lofton	12:17:42		1827	Marc Campbell	14:53:45
		777	Lou Jearls	12:21:30		1855	Arnold Levin	15:02:11
		871	Seiichi Noda	12:32:09		1872	Greg Long	15:07:08

Sept 8 - The Octomax and Quartermax Triathlons on Sept 16 will offer a new swim safety feature for participants— the Last Wave Option. CHOICE 1- This wave will be reserved for those individuals who need to swim in a smaller wave in order to feel more comfortable, or are those who are slow but steady swimmers. Those choosing this wave will still be eligible for awards. CHOICE 2- Participants can swim in the last wave and use a swim aid such as a life vest, noodle, flippers, or any other non-USAT approved device. However, in doing so, those athletes will not be eligible for awards or club points. Times for these swimmers will be posted in a special division section of the results. The intention is to provide those athletes who are still not comfortable with the swim, but would like to participate in the event, a chance to get started in triathlon... Even after three crashes in the Vuelta a Espana thus far, Christian Vande Velde (CSC) still hasn't lost his sense of humor. He offers a hilarious take on this race in his rider diary on Velo News. web... What's it like to be a high school cross country runner these days? The Forest Park Cross Country Festival on Saturday drew runners from across the state. 260 varsity boys took to the 5k course and 115 of them ran sub 6-minute pace. The top 30 ran 5:30 or better. Jacob Swearingen of Potosi led the senior boys with his 5:03 pace. A couple of 8th graders displayed their running talent in the 1.2-mile middle school race. Riley Talbut of Jackson and Justin Doss of Potosi averaged 5:32 and 5:39 respectively. And in a dominant team performance, the junior varsity boys race saw St Louis University HS capture the top 16 of the 132 finishing positions, and 24 of the first 32.... What became Missouri high school running phenom Merideth Snow? After winning state crowns in both cross country and on the track (3200m) in all four years she competed (along with numerous other accomplishments), she went on to run for Texas A & M. In 2006 as a freshman Aggie, Snow led her squad in all six meets, winning her first two races at the New Mexico Invitational and Texas A&M Invitational. She placed 8th at the Big 12 Championships and 75th at the NCAA Championships. The 2007 season just got underway and Snow once again led her team at its first meet of the season, the Baylor Twilight Invitational, by clocking a 14:17 in the 4k (14th overall).... The Lewis and Clark Marathon (Half-Marathon) is closed to entry. A combined field of 5,000 runners will toe the starting line in both races on Sunday, Sept 16. The breakdown is 850 full and 4150 half-marathoners.

Sept 7 - Best of luck to the 43 area triathletes competing at Ironman Wisconsin this weekend. The weather should make for some fast times. Partly sunny, high near 75. West wind 10 - 13 mph... The Gateway Cup has evolved into the St Louis area's premier bicycle event. It draws riders from a wide geographic circle for four intense days of exciting criterium-style racing at four distinctly St Louis venues. The 2007 edition provided the additional element of cheering for a hometown boy to win it all, and indeed he did. Dan Schmatz (BMC) captured the top spot in the first three stages (Lafayette, Washington Ave, and the Hill) ahead of Josh Carter (ABD) and Brian Jensen (HRRC/Trek), then only needed to stay close in the Delmar Loop finale to win the overall. Congratulations... Cycling enthusiasts heading west for the opening stage of the Tour of Missouri can visit with the Discovery Channel team as they make an appearance at the Trek Bicycle Store of Kansas City, 5-6pm on Monday, September 10. A $10 donation is required for autographs (funds raised support Headstrong for Jake and the Major Taylor Foundation), but you can hang out with these world class riders for free. Needless to say, a big crowd is expected, so it may be prudent to think of the event in terms of a crit— you'll still be elbow to elbow fighting for position with the others, just off the bike. The Trek store of Kansas City is located at 10412 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Shawnee, Kansas 66203... Will Frischkorn (Team Slipstream-Chipotle) offers his readers a revealing inside look at the exotic and often glamorous life of the professional bicycle racer. Pssst... we've got a giant arch we'd like to sell you. web

Sept 6 - Interbike 2007 is set for September 24-28 in Las Vegas. This is "the" U.S. trade show for the bicycle industry. Seeking to outdo last year's 25th anniversary edition, Interbike 2007 will offer even more events and seminars. Included will be a pro criterium at Mandalay Bay Resort, cyclocross racing, a bike tour of Lake Mead, and much more. web... If you thought circuit racing was just for bikes, you'd be mistaken. The Flatlanders 12-Hour Run was run on a 1.4 mile asphalt loop in Fenton City Park. The male and female open divisions were captured by a couple of out-of-towners— Eric Herdman from Nevada (77.45 miles) and Robin Kokjohn from Iowa (59.55 miles). Those runners "not wishing to go long," opted instead for the 6-Hour Run. Michael Adams of Kansas (46.3 miles) and hometown girl Amy Wind from St Louis (35.5 miles) were the open champs. A combined total of 69 runners registered for the races. results... ITU pro, Sara McLarty, has posted four segments in her journal (Tri-ing Around the World) on the USAT website. If you've ever wondered what the day to day of a triathlon professional is like, this will provide you with a slice of life. part-1, part-2, part-3, part-4

Sept 5 - Registration for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run is closed. The Metro Tri Club opened registration on Sept 1 and quickly filled all 600 slots in four days. The off-road run is a very challenging 7.5 mile jaunt along the trail system of Pere Marquette Park. The race is set for December 8 and is held come snow, rain or shine... The JCC Kids Triathlon drew a remarkable 140 participants on Sunday. The large turnout required 12 starting waves, but eventually all the kids managed to complete their races on the spectator-friendly, fully contained course that ran through the JCC campus. The event even received coverage on Fox 2 news. wmv... The Vuelta a Espana may lack some of the luster of the Tour de France, but it isn't short on punishing climbs. During stage-4 yesterday, Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d'Epargne) led the way up Lagos de Covadonga, a 12.6km climb of 1,100m with an average grade of 7%. The ride propelled Efimkin into the leader's jersey ahead of pre-race favorites Carlos Sastre (CSC), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto), and others. While reporters were busy asking the Russian rider if he can hang on to the lead all the way through the Vuelta, he was singing the praises of his brother who Vladimir claimed is an even better rider than he... The Milan Bicycle Show will include an appropriate yet totally unique aspect. The event will install an indoor velodrome and feature several races during the event. A 240m wooden track will be the center piece for the November 8-11 trade show.

Sept 3 -The Lake St Louis Triathlon celebrated its 25th Anniversary under clear, sunny skies. After exiting from the 1500m swim in Lake St Louise, the enthusiastic triathletes transitioned to bicycles to make their way along a reconfigured 40k route. The new route kept them on the south side of I-70 and was punctuated by a couple of decent climbs, a few fast descents, and several rollers. One section of LSL Blvd. was cause for concern as aging concrete slabs made for a sketchy ride, but overall it was a fast bike course. As defending champion Ted Zderik hammered the bike leg, he had one eye on the pavement and perhaps one in the rear view mirror. Shawn Oneal was just behind pushing hard in an effort to bridge the gap to the front of the race. But Zderik soon found himself all alone when Oneal suffered a leg cramp and disappointedly decided to shut his race down. Zderic went on to register the fastest bike split of the day and in the process earned back to back titles, crossing the finish time in 2:00:06. Rick Barnes (2:04:07) was runner-up and Rodney Adkison (2:04:13) captured third. In the women's race, Amber Mounday led wire to wire but had a nervous moment when she spied a hard-charging Kristen Moore closing on the 10k run. A final burst got Mounday (2:12:05) to the line 23 seconds ahead of second place Moore (2:12:28). Third place saw relative triathlon newcomer, Maureen Conley (2:20:40), outrun both Mounday and Moore by over 4 and 3 minutes respectively. An offseason spent polishing her swim and bike skills could well see Conley become a force at regional races next season. Short course racers were led to the finish by Brian Schoenholz (57:35) who essentially used the race as a speed workout in route to Ironman Wisconsin. Ryan Roth (57:36) officially finished one tick of the clock back, but oddly the finish chute collapsed just before his arrival causing him to initially miss the timing mat and lose what would eventually become costly seconds. The even-natured Roth still managed a wry, post-race laugh regarding his misfortune. Larry Klutenkamper (1:00:33) closed out the top three men with another of his season-long string of strong performances. They say if you wait long enough, history will repeat itself. It only took twelve months for that to occur in the women's short course race when Sarah Sander (1:09:56), Nikki Reed (1:11:34), and Margie Martens (1:12:11) exactly replicated last year's top-three finish order. results... The annual JCC Labor Day 10k drew 198 runners to the Creve Coeur facility. Bryan Calloway (33:53) was first among them to reach the finish line, pursued by Brian Soule (36:31), Joe Thiel (36:31), and Bobby Williams (36:37). Julie Lossos (39:56) was the only woman to duck under the 40-minute barrier and was followed in order by Mairi Burfoot (40:28) and Beth Schueler (41:41). The 5k race drew an additional 204 participants to the JCC parking lot. Ryan Miles won it in 16:47. 14-year old Daniel Everett came across just 11 seconds later in second place (16:58) and Adam Hylan (17:16) rounded out the top three. The women's race showcased several talented junior runners with surprising foot speed. 15-year old Julie Sharp knocked out the 3.1 mile run in a winning time of 20:20. The battle for second went to Lindsey Phelps (21:49), trailed closely by 11-year old Marisa Kutchma (22:03). Finishing 26th overall was 9-year old William Zoughaib with a time of 21:54... The ITU Triathlon World Championships were a three-day festival that drew over 8000 athletes from around the world to Hamburg, Germany. The St Louis area was unrepresented in the Age Group race, but the elite women's event saw the familiar presence of Sarah Haskins. At the end of the day, she finished 10th among all of the top international distance female triathletes in the world (1:55:27). Despite a transition area mishap that likely cost her several positions in a closely contested top ten, the upbeat St Louis native still came away with a positive experience. Vanessa Fernandez of Portugal relied on her customary 10k running strength (33:02) to win the women's world title (1:53:27). results

Aug 30 - Green Means Go! - In the course of a typical training ride, cyclists may cope with a variety of obstacles. They can include potholes, road debris, vehicles, the weather, dogs, and many others. Included in the other category would be traffic lights. If you are inclined to blow through stop lights, then this article is not for you. If on the other hand you are a proper ambassador of cycling, we share your frustration with traffic signals. While we can't eliminate them altogether, some Googling led us to a few possible means of coping with these momentum killers. Now we are left to distinguish fact from fiction. Caveat: Let it be known that this article is strictly for informational purposes only and that we don't advocate breaking the law. President Bush has made the unauthorized use any device to alter stoplight functions an activity punishable by a minimum of 6 months in prison.

The Cross Walk Code — This method of changing the stoplight to green entails pressing the crosswalk button in a specific sequence, namely, 3 short - 2 long - 1 short - 2 long - 3 short. We've tested its efficacy at a number of different intersections and have met with inconclusive results. I'm not yet convinced that on the occasions it seemed to work that it just wasn't a matter of coincidence. Still, I compulsively attempt it at every opportunity.

The Remote Control — This simplistic approach seems too easy to be real. It is suggested that if the proper button on a universal remote control is programmed to emit 9-1-1, its signal can be read by a traffic signal eye and in turn change the light from red to green. This technique may have succeeded in the traffic signal Jurassic period but has since been relegated to the category of urban legend.

The Generic Remote — With $20 and a basic knowledge of circuit board soldering, it is purported that you can create a device that will activate traffic signals. What they don't tell you with this one is that control boxes at intersections record the time and date that they were preempted, and often with accompanying video. These devices are effective in a diminishing number of intersections as municipalities upgrade to more sophisticated and hacker-proof traffic control systems. One additional consideration: If you thought riding repeats on Doberman hill hurt a lot, stupidly let a 500 F soldering iron tattoo your skin.

Traffic Signal Preemption Transmitter — This $5000 box is manufactured by corporate rivals 3M and Tomar. It sends infrared pulses to the control box and allows priority access of emergency vehicles. The time saved at intersections by mounting one of these on your bicycle would certainly be offset by its added weight and accompanying aerodynamic inefficiency, not to mention the loss cycling fitness you'd incur while in jail.

Aug 27 - Ironman Louisville took place yesterday and saw Chris McDonald break through for his first IM win in 8:38:39. Heather Golnick won the women's side with a very solid 9:23:22. The St Louis metro area was well represented in the race and several athletes came away with very impressive finishes. Leading the way was Beat Bartlome who was the 19th athlete to cross the finish line. He along with Andy Brendel and Tom Jackson managed to go sub 10 hours. Christina Stiles led all local women to the line. It looks like a few IM Worlds slots may be coming home. Very nice work to everyone who completed the 140.6 miles. North of the border, Ironman Canada took place concurrent to the action in Louisville. , Kieren Doe (8:32:45) and Lisa Bentley (9:41:01) took care of business in their respective divisions. The Accenture Chicago Triathlon suffered a false start that had swimmers 200m along before they could be corraled back for the official start. When the race was finally on in earnest, Greg Bennett (1:48:48) continued his strong season with the win. Emma Snowsill (1:59:45) blistered the run course to capture the women's race. More than 50 local athletes made the trip to the Windy City. Notable performances included: Joe Rother 1/242 M45-49 2:14:31 Dave Ware 3/131 M50-54 2:20:15 Kate Laverdierre 3/340 F25-29 2:23:45 Josh Deakin 14/484 M30-34 2:25:58 Steph Sandberg 8/256 F30-34 2:30:51 Kristen Emilie 4/10 F15-19 3:08:44	19	Beat Bartlome	Arnold	9:41:56
	38	Andy Brendel	Troy, IL	9:58:21
	39	Tom Jackson	O'Fallon, IL	9:58:24
	91	Christina Stiles	Shiloh, IL	10:36:08
	141	Kevin Jokisch	St Louis	11:01:20
	146	Travis Fitro	St Charles	11:02:35
	232	Scott Richter	O'Fallon, IL	11:31:08
	260	Eric Knight	O'Fallon, IL	11:39:13
	271	Paul Schon	St Louis	11:41:17
	273	James Whitehead	Shiloh, IL	11:41:25
	278	Jeff Eddy	St Charles	11:42:47
	285	Jeff Pupillo	Valley Park	11:44:09
	291	Jan De Weer	St Louis	11:46:15
	329	Scott Stern	St Louis	11:53:06
	357	Sally Drake	Valley Park	11:59:02
	413	Curtis Brooks	Maryland Hts	12:11:05
	415	Brad Baum	St Louis	12:11:23
	483	Dave Rogers	Wildwood	12:28:04
	538	Ted Gruener	Kirkwood	12:38:27
	622	Mason Deuchatschek	Washington	12:50:46
	704	J.W. Blades	Ballwin	13:02:54
	716	Jason Smallheer	O'Fallon, IL	13:05:32
	765	Eugene Bocis	Chesterfield	13:14:37
	769	Rick Moll	Ballwin	13:15:16
	859	Katie Mannhard	St Louis	13:32:11
	894	Arash Sabet	Ballwin	13:37:06
	899	Franz Kraintz	Belleville, IL	13:37:59
	1005	Erika Hiller	Wentzville	13:55:35
	1022	Rolando Larice	Chesterfield	13:58:34
	1052	Sandy Weiss	St Louis	14:04:44
	1126	Bedford Otey	St Louis	14:21:32
	1182	Jennifer Cole	St Louis	14:33:28
	1196	Gary Crews	Wildwood	14:37:09
	1198	Tanya Crews	Wildwood	14:37:11
	1245	Christian Espinosa	Fairview Hts, IL	14:46:46
	1314	Joun MacDonnald	St Louis	15:12:34
	1525	Christine Mazurk	St Louis	16:38:11
	1526	John Mazurk	St Louis	16:38:12

 

Aug 25 - SBR wishes to welcome its newest site sponsor, Training Bible Coaching Midwest. Founded by Joe Friel, Training Bible is one of the most recognized names in endurance coaching in the world. Through a combination of science and experience, Training Bible Coaching has helped athletes of all abilities improve their performance. Regardless of your current level or goals, they are dedicated to you... Sometimes you have to differentiate the hype from reality. Ironman.com suggests that the inaugural IM Lou finishing stretch will be one of the most memorable in Ironman racing. We have nothing against downtown Louisville, but despite a plethora of restaurants and bars lining the finish straight, it will still pale in comparison to the final mile down Alii Drive in Kona...U.S Secratary of Transportation, Mary Peters, didn't win any friends in the bicycling lobby by her appearance on the The News Hour with Jim Leher. In a discussion about current spending of gasoline tax money, one of her inciteful statements was, "Well, there's about probably some 10 to 20 percent of the current spending that is going to projects that really are not transportation, directly transportation-related. Some of that money is being spent on things, as I said earlier, like bike paths or trails...."

Aug 24 - In most cases, it would be nothing short of extraordinary for a cyclist in his second year of competitive racing to win a world championship. But given his bloodline, Taylor Phinney, was probably destined for greatness once he committed to the sport. Son of cycling greats Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter, the remarkably mature and well-grounded teenager was interviewed by Neal Rogers of Velo News... The sport of triathlon has not enjoyed the luxury of live network television coverage like so many mainstream sports. That will change, at least for now in Europe, with the 2007 ITU Triathlon World Championships in Hamburg, Germany later this month. Networks in Germany, the UK, France, and Switzerland will broadcast the event as it unfolds providing real-time race drama for viewers.

Aug 23 - Congratulations to Jill Petersen at the Kelowna ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup race up in British Columbia, Canada over the weekend. The first-year ITU pro came home with a podium finish. Hammering out a race best 10k among the pro women in 36:44, she latched onto third place and held. Very nice work... Remember your last triathlon? Did you blaze through transitions, leave nothing on the swim, bike and run legs, finish with no regrets to let the chips fall where they may? Most of us would usually admit that we could have saved time here and there during a race. How about a mere 1.5 seconds? That was the margin of victory for Landon Hough at the Republic Tiger Triathlon last weekend. Bryan Topash (58:40.8) was on his way to running Hough (58:39.3) down for the title but could have used just a few more yards of real estate. results... Ultra-endurance mountain biking not only appears to be the next big sport, it already is. From one-day classics (6, 12, and 24 hour races) to multi-day stage races, off-roaders are embracing greater challenge than simply cleaning the single-track of their favorite, local trails. With more than 150 events offered in the U.S. alone, it's safe to say that the sport has quickly progressed beyond the fringe designation to something just this side of mainstream. For most MTB'ers the thought of riding for 7, 12, 24, or even more hours probably still seems foreign, but the fact remains that riders are migrating to this cycling genre in increasing numbers. .. Most riders just want to reach the finish line under the 12-hour cutoff in the Leadville 100. Chris Carmichael, founder of Carmichael Training Systems and former coach to Lance Armstrong, was gunning for the prestigious sub-9 hour belt buckle. 100 miles, 15,000' of climbing, and the clock stood between he and his goal. Along with a 1000 other "lucky" riders who were selected by lottery, he attacked the 50-mile out and back. Chris filed a race report for Bicycling Magazine. web... On the far end of the ultra-endurance mountain biking spectrum is an event like the Great Divide Race. With its 2,490 miles, 200,000' of elevation, and strict self-support requirements, it offers participants a test of their mettle that is beyond grueling. The race more closely resembles adventure racing on an MTB. Matt McFee posted a race report that successfully captured GDR's essence with a combination of carefully chosen words and magnificent images.

Aug 20 - Participants in the Alligator's Creek Triathlon awoke to the prospects of dealing with rains, trains, and automobiles, in addition to their respective age-group rivals. But the precipitation held off as the heavy overcast actually provided welcome relief from the blazing sun, none of the race leaders appeared to have been held up at either railroad crossing, and traffic control did a competent job of insulating racers from vehicles on the open bike course. The men's division once again felt the brunt of Shawn ONeal's bike split when he knocked off the 18-mile ride in 45:09. That created just enough cushion to hold off a hard-charging Matt Brier who ripped a 17:54 on the hilly 5k run course. In the end, ONeal's winning margin was 18-seconds. 1- ONeal 1:09:35, 2- Brier 1:09:53, 3-Brian Schoenholz 1:12:22. The women witnessed an even closer battle for the top spot. If before the race they didn't believe that every second counts, they certainly would afterwards as just two ticks of the clock separated winner Andrea Robertson and runner-up Kimberly Mouser. 1- Robertson 1:23:32, 2- Mouser 1:23:34, 3-Lisa Lewis 1:26:08. Other performances of note were 15-year old Greg Lowhorn (1:18:24) and 72-year old Robert Klenk (1:54:29)... The inaugural Ironman Louisville lies just a week away. It's close proximity to St Louis was certainly a strong draw as evidenced by the 47 area iron-athletes making the drive for Sunday's race. In all, 2131 racers will battle it out for just 50 slots to the Ironman World Championship (45 age-group & 5 pro). We look for Heather Golnick to hold off Nina Kraft in the women's race and for T.J. Tollakson to break through with his first win at Iron-distance on the strength of a crushing bike split... Our dire prediction of the IronKids Triathlon's demise was apparently premature or unfounded. More than 300 kids took part in the triathlon series down in Atlanta over the weekend. Most amazing about that turnout was the fact that just three dozen participants were out-of-state visitors. Any bets on where the next generation of USAT age group champions might spring from?

Aug 19 - Having endured one of the hottest stretches of weather in recent memory, forgive us Midwesterners if we can't identify with the disappointed registrants of the Mt. Washington hill climb. The event was scrubbed yesterday when that New Hampshire venue experienced freezing temperatures, sleet, ice, and 87 mile per hour wind gusts. Disappointed racers had paid $300 to take part in what is generally regarded as the toughtest hill climb in the world. Course stats: 7.6 miles in length, 12% average grade with extended sections of 18% and a final 50 yds of 22%... VeloNews put together an amusing video of outtakes from their coverage of the Tour de France. web

Aug 17 - Southwest, American, United, Delta , US Air, and all the rest, please make note— Bicycles now fly free on El Al. Passengers on that Israeli airline previously had to pay up to $10 a pound (ouch) to check their bikes, but no more. By contrast U.S. cyclists and triathletes flying domestically with their bikes currently pay $50-110 each way. Not so many years ago, an airline bike pass could be obtained through USA Triathlon, USA Cycling, the League of American Bicyclists, and other organizations, but those options have evaporated like August rain drops on a hot, country road. Up until just this year, most airlines would not charge you to check your bike on trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific flights. Now that perk is gone. If you're not inclined to race your next Ironman on a folding bike, then the workaround seems to be 62. That is, a piece of checked luggage that conforms to the formula: Length+width+height < or = 62". However, it should come as no great surprise that the airlines didn't just pluck that number out of the friendly skies. Try cramming your $6,000 bike and wheels into that amount of luggage space. It can't be done... Paris Velib (Freedom Bike) was instituted about a month ago. The urban bike rental program has become an immensely successful example of two-wheeled possibility. Very simply, 20,000 bicycles were allocated among 750 metered racks throughout Paris. To access one you swipe a card reader, and voila mon ami, you've got wheels. The bike can subsequently be returned to any of the racks. It has been reported that each bike was being used an average of six times per day, or the equivalent of one-million trips in just three weeks. The program however is not without its problems. Some theft and vandalism has occurred, and keeping the bikes somewhat evenly distributed has been a challenge. But these hiccups are far outweighed by positives. The program may soon find its way onto the streets of London which is considering implementing a Freedom Bike programme of its own. Would such a system work in any city in the U.S.?

Aug 15 - Based upon the water temperature of the Ohio River lock and dams in Louisville, measured daily by US Corps of Engineers, it would be very surprising if Ironman Louisville is wetsuit legal... In bicycle industry circles, Walmart has carved a niche for itself by selling millions of entry level bicycles to low-end consumers. In recent years, the global retailer has begun an initiative to change its image by offering more exclusive products in certain markets. That effort extended into its bicycle department when it began selling a "high-end" model, the Corsa FC road bike. Specifications include carbon frame and fork, 10-speed Ultegra, Shimano 105 drive train, carbon fork, and Sella Italia saddle. The Corsa FC retails (without pedals) for $1898. web

Aug 14 - The Alligator Creek Triathlon will take a bite out its participant's legs this weekend with a rolling 18-mile bike course and hilly 5k run. The race is sold out but spectators can view the first swimmer hit the water at 7am. Ensuing swimmers start time offsets posted here. Shawn Oneal will try to make it three in a row after his wins at Wood River and Babler Park last weekend. Scott Shaw, Brian Schoenholz, Matt Brier, and Mike Barro will do their best to prevent that from happening... Dottie Gray of Kirkwood ran in the Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts over the weekend. Dottie completed the historic 7-miler in 1:53:10. Not bad for a lady 82 years young. Great job!... Want to show off that hard body you've masterfully sculpted? Triathlete Magazine is looking for male and female triathletes to model for their June, 2008 swimsuit edition. Deadline is Sept. 15, 2007. web... USAT Club Nationals will take place at Innsbrook Resort on September 15-16. With this year's event being staged essentially in their own back yard, the St Louis Triathlon Club is looking to make a good showing and earn a piece of the $10k prize purse. The Columbia Multisport Club hopes to defend their 2006 title. More than 20 teams from around the country are expected to make the trip to the Midwest.

Aug 13 - The Wood River Triathlon was held this past weekend in that metro east community. A serpentine swim start sent 178 triathletes into the pool before they completed the race with a circuit-style bike leg and flat, fast run. After finishing runner-up in the '05 and '06 races, Shawn ONeal followed up on his '04 victory with a win on Saturday. The men's top three were Shawn ONeal (1:00:58), Scott Shaw (1:01:57), and Jason Lind (1:06:17). On the women's side, Stephanie Petersen became a three-time winner at Wood River ('07, '05, '03). Second place was taken by Krystal Giltner (1:13:49) and third by Robin Rongey (1:14:16)... For the last two years, the Babler Beast Triathlon has been tamed— by circumstances. First, it was canceled in 2005 by rainy weather and then last year's race was converted to a duathlon courtesy of broken pool pump. The West County YMCA may have been happy just to simply stage their triathlon. Shawn Oneal arrived at Babler State Park happily looking for the weekend daily double, having won the Wood River Triathlon twenty-four hours ealier. He didn't disappoint, leading a quartet of men who broke one-hour on the challenging, hilly couse. The men's podium included ONeal (55:07), Dana Riderer (55:50), and John Kovacs (56:46). The women's race saw a potentially similar scenario as Stephanie Petersen tried to make it two multisport wins in two days as well. She was thwarted, however, by Mary Paulsen who won by a convincing two and a half minute margin. The top three women's times were posted by Paulsen (1:05:28), Petersen (1:08:04), and Amy Fruland (1:09:40)... A banged up and bloodied Floyd Landis (7:00:30) finished second at the Leadville 100. He lost time and skin in an early race crash but gathered him enough to finish a strong runner-up to five-time champion Dave Wiens (6:58:46). Landis would eventually flat as well which effectively ended his chase of Wiens for the top prize in that mountain bike endurance event... The preliminary weather forecast for next weekend in Louisville, Kentucky calls for highs in the low 90's F which will make for a challenging factor in that city's Ironman Triathlon. The weather looks to be more favorable for those participating on that same day in Ironman Canada up in Penticton, BC. Weekend highs are expected to be in the 70's F.

Aug 12 - Very nice work to Bernie Violand who ran a 1:22:34 at the New York City Half Marathon last weekend, and in the process won the M 55-59 catergory.

Aug 10 - Rieger Road in Wildwood has reopened after a few weeks of bridge repair. However, Ossenfort Road remains closed until bridge construction is complete... Triathletes wishing to learn their preliminary USAT rankings may now do so. Amber Mounday and Kristin Moore are ranked 3rd and 4th respectively among 931 female triathletes across all age groups in the Midwest Region. Others placing in the top 15% are are Jennifer Meyer (19), Maureen Conley (32), Nicole Burdge (49), Shelby Sullivan (67), Sally Drake (72), Mary Blandfort (74), Jennifer Cunnane (82), Sarah Sander (112), Amy Fruhland (119), and Bev Ofsthun (122). web... It was only a matter of time before internet scam artists began phishing their way thru the world of multisport. Here is a copy and paste of the e-mail I received yesterday. Have a good laugh... Goodday, Compliment of the season to you over there. How are you doing today? My name is Mr Peter Johnson from South Africa. I got acrossed your email address when i was searching for an instructors who can give me and my brother a private lessons in Triathlon. We are based in South Africa but in a while, we would be travelling to United States on an holiday in your neighbourhood. We would love to get involve in a private lessons with you,we would be available on mondays, wednesdays and saturdays and we would be having this lessons for 2 months. Kindly get back to me with the fees you are to receive if you are to instruct me and my brother for 2months and also 3times a week, also include your full mailing address plus phone number for my boss to send payment to you because they told us they would have to make payment even before we arrive so once we arrive, we would startup immediately without any disturbance from you pertaining to our lessons fees. I will await your prompt response asap. Best regards Peterson Note: we are still a beginner

Aug 9 - The 2007 IronKids Triathlon Series got underway on July 29 out in Colorado Springs. The second event is set for August 19 in Atlanta with the final four races taking place in September thru November. This venerable and certainly worthwhile series has taken a few steps backwards in recent years by first missing a full year, then consolidating the series, and now scheduling the majority of them well into the school year. From outward appearances, corporate parent Sara Lee has little desire to return IronKids to its former glory days. web.. Envision yourself ripping off a 5k in 14:13. That alone is impossible for most runners, but then imagine that it's the opening miles of a half-marathon. This was exactly the scenario at the New York City Half Marathon last weekend when living legend, Haile Gebrselassie, blistered the course in 59:24. He finished over a minute ahead of runner-up Abdirahman (1:00:29) and four minutes up on 3rd place finisher Alan Culpepper (1:03:34). Gebrselassie displaced Ryan Hall's 59:43 as the fastest half marathon run on U.S soil... The Lance vs Landis duel at the Leadville 100 is officially off when LA withdrew from the event... again... Thanks to SBR pal Tim for sharing his very clever means of recycling race hardware. He re-labels then offers it as incentive to his kids for good behavior. It matters little to an 8-year old that there is a runner on that 3' tall, gleaming trophy for Best Behaved Kid, Smartest 4th Grader, etc.

Aug 8 - Congratulations to Bruce Nie who competed in the USA Masters Track & Field Championships. The event was staged at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine. Bruce ran the 10K and placed 3rd in the M 40-44 division with a time of 35:12.39. The meet record is 30:37... Bicycling Magazine published a list of fashion faux pas for image conscious cyclists. web... August 26 is a busy date in the M-dot world with three Ironman Triathlons taking place. The inaugural Ironman Louisville, Ironman Canada, and Ironman Korea... Wetsuit usage for the sanctioned Lake St Louis Triathlon will adhere to USAT Rulebook. That paragraph reads as follows: 4.4 Wet suits. Each age group participant shall be permitted to wear a wet suit without penalty in any event sanctioned by USA Triathlon up to and including a water temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water temperature is greater than 78 degrees, but less than 84 degrees Fahrenheit, age group participants may wear a wet suit at their own discretion, provided however that participants who wear a wet suit within this temperature range shall not be eligible for prizes or awards. Age group participants shall not wear wet suits in water temperatures equal to or greater than 84 degrees Fahrenheit. The wetsuit policy for elite athletes shall be determined by the USAT Athletes Advisory Council.

Aug 7 - The Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon took place over the weekend up in Michigan. The Professional winners were Wolfgang Guembel (4:04:42) and Andrea Fisher (4:35:05). In the Age Group divsion, the men's race was won by Jason Glowney (4:13:59) while the women's race was nabbed by Elizabeth Fedofsky-Waterstraat (4:40:54). Tim Battles parlayed solid splits in each discipline to finish 6th overall, just 30 seconds off the podium. Kristin Moore continued her long course maturation process with a strong race as the 5th woman, 2:31 from a podium spot. Great work by everyone making the line. Making the top ten of their respective age groups were: 6-Tim Battles 3/289 4:18:38, 7-Joe Company 3/191 4:20:24, 16-Andy Pele 3/222 4:24:36, 23-Jason Blom 7/191 4:28:21, 42-Rodney Adkison 2/133 4:34:26, 54-Rick Barnes 9/222 4:36:15, 103-Ed Breda 8/133 4:45:05, 125-Kristin Moore 3/103 4:49:15, 271-Amy Fruland 8/103 5:03:54, 330-Jennifer Cunnane 10/107 5:10:19, 739-Charles Mabry 3/21 5:37:54... Tommy Lombardo placed 3rd in the 7-8 year old boys division at USA Triathlon’s Youth National Championship at Noah’s Ark Water Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin this past Saturday. Tommy completed the 100m swim, 5k bike, and 1k run in 20:06. No other St Louis area youth athletes took part in the event... It looks like Ironman China is back on, this time for good. April 20, 2008 is the date and Haikou is the exotic locale. Registration opened August 3. web. Any outdoor athletic event within that increasingly industrialized country should raise concerns, but Haikou appears to be a solid choice. The air quality is rated at level I. By contrast, Olympic triathletes may face slight lung discomfort as the air in Beijing is rated level III. (Level V would be deemed hazardous)... Coping With the Heat - The human body does an amazing job of regulating heat production and heat loss so that its core temperature remains around 98.6° F. When we exercise, our body temperature begins to rise as the chemical energy in food is transformed into mechanical energy for muscles. The amount of heat gain is proportional to the intensity level at which we train or race. In cool or moderate conditions the body can generally radiate off enough heat to maintain its optimal core temperature. But if the air temperature rises beyond 98.6°, the body gains heat from the environment. When this happens, sweat evaporation becomes its primary defense against overheating. There are literally millions of sweat glands on the surface of the skin which perform this critical task. It is important to expose as much skin as possible to facilitate this process, of course keeping the use of sunblock in mind. The sweat glands then function to the degree that there is available fluid in the body, thus making it an obvious and direct correlation between dehydration and overheating. The perfect analogy is the radiator in your car. If it runs dry, your car will die. Air temperature does not act alone. Humidity can be an equally important and even subtle factor. For example, a 75° F day with 75% humidity poses a much different challenge. High humidity levels will actually reduce the evaporation of sweat from the skin. We may sweat profusely, but it will primarily roll unproductively off the skin... Key bodily danger signals include: cramps, cold clammy skin, dizziness, weak and rapid pulse, shallow breathing, nausea, or headache.

Aug 5 - The Steel Legs Century drew a total of nearly 100 riders who took part in the 100 miler or metric century routes. Saturday's high heat and humidity added to the already tough bike courses resulting in very challenging rides. Congratulations to everyone who completed their respective distances... The Flat Five took place in St Charles yesterday with 169 runners in attendance. Dan Boyle (26:55) led the charge to finish line, followed by Dan Miner (27:52) and Jeff Neuschwander (28:07). On the women's side, Annie Bellantone (34:13) finished first, trailed by Beth Schueler (34:38) and Rhonda Saltzman (36:29)... With the hugely successful start of this year's Tour de France in its rear view mirror, the city of London resisted the tempatation of becoming complacent. Over the weekend, the city once again showed its remarkable sporting spirit as it hosted the London Triathlon. The event drew more than 12,000 athletes to the Thames River and in the process recaptured the title of world's largest triathlon. A pair of triathletes from Great Britain kept the homeland happy as Tim Don (1:42:01) and Michele Dillon (1:55:29) emerged from the masses to capture the overall titles on a very fast course... Trailnet's weeknight rides for 2007 will come to a close at with Labor Day weekend. These include the Tuesday Night Riverfront Trail Ride, the Central Corridor Ride, and the Thursday Night Road Ride. They will continue once again next year the week after Memorial Day.

Aug 3 - Big River Running Company will celebrate its first year of operation with a Birthday Bash, August 20-26. On tap are a tent sale, contests, attendance prizes, and more. Check their web soon for all the details... The Moonlight Ramble will roll at midnight on Aug 25. With more than 10,000 cyclists participating each year, the event has the distinction of being the largest urban night ride in the country. To suggest that the ride came from humble beginnings would be a colossal understatement. Dick Leary is credited with creating the event back in November of 1964. After organizing a midnight ride from Union Station to which no one showed up, he simply went out and rode it alone. web... Destinations - The Durango MTB 100 bills itself as the toughest off-road century in the country. With riders facing over 18,000 feet of climbing through the San Juan Mountains in southern Colorado, the race is indeed formidable. In its four-year history, no amateur of professional has managed to crack the nine-hour barrier. An extra $500 goes to anyone who can. The race gets underway tomorrow morning. web

Aug 2 - The Lake St Louis Triathlon bike course will deviate from that of last year. The route will be as follows: Transition Area, Cognac, R-Dauphine, R-Freymuth Road, R-Veterans Memorial, R-Bent Oak, L-LSL Blvd, L-Orf, T-at Duello, Cross LSL Blvd, T-at Ridgeway, R-LSL Blvd, R-Bent Oak, L-Veterans Memorial, L-Freymouth, L-Dauphine, L-Cognac, Transition Area... The 2007 Armed Forces Triathlon Championships were staged July 28 at Point Mugu, California. The draft-legal event pitted the various branches of the military against one another. Local triathlete, Tom Jackson, finished 15th overall as he competed for the 2nd place finishing Air Force team.

Aug 1 -Ready for something completely different? Here are three intriguing events that caught our eye: • The TransRockies Challenge is a mountain bike race set for Aug 12-18 in British Columbia. In five short years, the event has gained "Ironman" type status as opens registration on Nov 1 for the following year then sells out almost immediately. web • The TransRockies Run is a six-day stage race in Colorado on September 16-21. Teams of two runners cover 125 miles and 25,000' of elevation gain as they travel through Beaver Creek, Leadville, and Aspen. web• The Alp d'Huez Triathlon (France) offers three adult distances and a kid's race. The long course is actually scheduled for today as it challenges triathletes with a 2200m swim, 115km bike, and 22km run. The bike route takes riders up its famous 21 switchbacks. web

July 31 - Congratulations to Kevin McNab of St Charles who is USAT Duathlon National Champion in the M20-24 Age Group. He blistered the opening 10k in 32:07, followed it up with a solid 40k ride (1:07:2) and finished his race off with a strong 5k run (16:59). Other local athletes competing in the event were Jim Harris 11th M40-44 (2:11:02), Ed Logan 15th M40-44 (2:30:24). Nice work to all.

As SBR suffers through day two of Tour de France withdrawals, it seemed an appropriate time to discover just how much our readers have learned from the events of the past three weeks. The following quiz is designed to test their basic 2007 Tour de France knowledge. Good luck!

1- The central theme of this year's Versus network telecast could be summed up as:

a) Cycling is a truly international sport in a tenuous, transitional phase

b) The Tour de France remains the world's greatest sports spectacle

c) SAAB was born from jets

2- The aspect of the Versus broadcast crew in which viewers took greatest note was:

a) Phil Liggett's clever phrasings that have come be known as Liggettisms

b) Bob Roll's incessantly moving hands and gapped teeth while offering cycling insights

c) This year's glaring absence of buxom female reporter Kirsten Gum

3- The animal that most accurately characterizes the 2007 Tour was:

a) A chicken

b) A dog

c) That demon - drugs

4- Some of the riders burned nearly 8,000 calories per stage. To make the finish line, their diet included:

a) Lots of whole grain pasta each day

b) Plenty of potatoes cooked in every conceivable manner

c) Homologous blood transfusions

5- The Least Inspirational Performance Award goes to:

a) David Zabriskie for his disappointing Tour DNF

b) Dauphiné Libéré winner Christophe Moreau for fading badly after a hopeful start

c) Michael Rasmussen at his press conferences

6- The poorest judgment exhibited at the 2007 Tour de France was by:

a) Alexandre Vinokourov for deciding to blood dope

b) Tour course designers for their continued use of dangerous finishing stretches

c) Tie: The two bruised dogs who didn't look both ways before crossing the road

7- The Tour highlight for many American fans was:

a) Levi Leipheimer's remarkable win at the Stage-19 individual time trial

b) Alberto Contador capturing Discovery's 8th tour win in 9 years.

c) French cycling team Cofidis being ejected from the Tour

8- The best editorial contribution by a Tour rider was:

a) The David Millar (Saunier Duval) blog on Bicycling Magazine.com

b) The Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) video diary on Velo News.com

c) The Cristian Moreni (Dopfidis) scrawling on his jail cell wall

9- Next year's probable Tour winner will be:

a) Alberto Contador in a dominating performance

b) Cadel Evans winning it all for the Aussies

c) A Cro-Magnon-looking Barry Bonds after he is drummed out of baseball

10- Most dramatic change affecting riders in the 2008 Tour will be:

a) The Tour organization breaking ties with the UCI

b) DNA sample contributed by all Tour participants

c) The availability of newly designed, undetectable masking agents

Interpreting Your Results: The correct response to all questions is c). Add your total number correct, then refer to the corresponding implications.

10 Correct: You have spent way too time on the office computer following the Tour, but at least your sense irony is keen and your sense of humor is as whacked as our ours.

8-9 Correct: You had to abruptly change computer screens too often as you spied your supervisor walking your way, thus missing key bits of important Tour trivia.

6-7 Correct: While you can legitimately claim to be a cycling fan by virtue of the four bikes you own, your knowledge of the 2007 Tour was mostly gleaned from conversations overheard on group rides.

4-5 Correct: It seems certain that you accumulated your sorry level of Tour knowledge from that fountain of cycling journalism known as the St Louis Post-Dispatch

1-3 Correct: You probably still have toe clips on your bike, and your quiz responses were a product of the same multiple-choice guessing pattern you utilized on your high school history final.

Zero Correct: In the lunch room, between inhaling gulps of your super-sized Double Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese Extra Value Meal, apple pie, and Oreo McFlurry, you were heard to mutter, "Look man, I don't know what the big deal is. Anyone can ride a friggin' bicycle."

NOTE: Accuracy of the above test was measured at plus/minus 100%

July 30 -Hot and humid weather kept participants honest in the Iron Abe Triathlon yesterday. There was no faking it in those conditions on the international-distance course. Daniel Bretscher (1:54:54) and Sarah Grunner (2:23:58) showed iron-like constitutions as they took the overall wins. He was one of just two athletes to duck under the coveted two-hour mark, the other being runner-up Blake Becker (1:57:22). Grunner emerged victorious from a closely fought, three-way battle with Carolyn Atwood (2:24:32) and Jennifer Meyer (2:24:44)... The Stoneman Triathlon was a sprint distance tri that ran simultaneous to Iron Abe. A pair of Illinois residents took home the champions trophies, Colin Riley of Aurora (56:49) who outclassed the entire field and Michelle Mehnert from Champaign (1:08:03). Complete Results can be accessed from the Springfield TriFest web... The ongoing Missouri State Games staged their multisport events over the weekend. Nate Smith (1:26:26) and Melisa Lemus (1:37:45) were overall triathlon winners. Pat Brown (1:18:00) and Marzenza Tomicki (1:26:41) proved too strong in the duathlon. results... The Wildwood YMCA attracted 129 runners for their 5k run yesterday. In the Men's division, Brian Whitehead had no challengers as he breezed to the win in 16:42. Following him to the line were a pair of 16-yr olds with identical times, Shawn Brands (19:22) and Wes Barger (19:22). The running form of 18-yr old Sarah Flower (20:43) blossomed yesterday as took the Women's division. Sherri Schultz (21:28) finished 2nd and 16-yr old Erin Mirkin (23:12) came through in third. results

July 27 -The Tour of Missouri sponsor list was recently released: Gold- Edward Jones, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Drury Inns, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Anheuser-Busch, Monsanto; Silver- AT&T, Gateway Harley-Davidson/Buell, Mercy Health Plans, Missouri Wine & Grape Board, Gail’s Harley-Davidson/Buell; Bronze- Agri-Missouri Businesses, Ford Motor, Lockton Companies, MMG Worldwide, Spencer Fane Britt & Browne, LLP... The USAT Duathlon National Championships are ready to rumble this weekend in Mason, Ohio. The first three finishers in each age group (roll-down to 5th) will qualify for ITU Duathlon Worlds in Rimini, Italy. Participants in Sunday's race are staring at a 10k run, 40k bike, 5k run. Good luck to Jim and Joan Harris of Chesterfield, and Ed Logan of O'Fallon, MO.

July 25 - Perspective - According to the annual Gallup Polls, rounding out the bottom of the Most Honest and Ethical Professions have routinely been car salesmen, advertising practitioners, insurance salesman, Congressmen and Senators. It's a depressing day for cycling when professional bike racer makes its way to the list. But with yesterday's stunning Vinokourov doping revelation, that seems now to have been the case. Who are we to trust in the sport anymore when athletes, team doctors, and team directors have at one time or another been complicit. We want to believe in that amazing mountain stage, the incredible comeback, or the lights out individual time trial. Heck, we need to believe. But it seems that each time we buy into it, the indomitable human spirit turns out to a pill, an injection, or a blood transfusion. Even the most deeply rooted cycling fan can only tolerate so much. Pro cycling authorities are taking strong and deliberate steps to weed out the cheaters, but it's improbable that the sport will ever be 100% clean. Science moves too fast, the temptation is too great, and human nature will always be fallible. It would be so welcome to finally turn the last sordid page of this current sad chapter...The Boulder Peak Triathlon recapped by Inside Triathlon. web... Looking for that next great bike adventure? The Andes Trail is a ride that may trump them all. It offers 11,000km of travel along the Andes Mountains through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. The ride spans four months and is comprised of 106 stages with 22 rest days. You roll out from the equator on August 9, 2008 and finish at the "End-of the-World" on December 14. web

July 24 - If you are the owner of a Dura Ace equipped, Specialized Roubaix carbon bike that was stolen, the Lake St Louis Police Department is holding your machine. An SBR tip of the cycling helmet goes to the Good Samaritan who spotted the bike laying in a field, and rather than perpetuating the crime, turned it in with the hope than it would be reunited with its rightful owner... The Tour de Kirkwood began as a small-scale, non-competitive triathlon created for first-timers and those with just a couple of tris under their race belt. While its mission hasn't changed, the 2007 TdK took a giant leap forward from the mere 11 participants of its first iteration only a few years ago. This year's production was assigned to the St Louis Triathlon Club which took it upon itself to deliver a well-executed event. They swelled the field to 200, a large percentage of whom were still at early points in the triathlon learning curve. Despite the fact that no awards were meted out, a few elite triathletes showed up, presumably looking for a workout. Very nice work by the StLTC and to everyone who "partici-panted." results... The Lance and Landis shootout at the Leadville 100 is back on. Both cyclists will participate in that classic mountain bike ultra-distance race. After initially expressing his intention to ride in L-100, LA withdrew citing a scheduling conflict. The cancellation was actually made shortly after Landis had agreed to appear and no doubt started tongues wagging. Now both are once again on board for the August 11 race. For those interested in registering for the event, fah-get-about-it. Entries are determined by lottery. The Leadville 100 describes itself as follows: "The race is 50 miles out and back. Start/Finish in the heart of Leadville at 10,200’. 90%+ dirt or double track dirt roads. Steep climbs: serious descents. 7-mile climb to the 50 mile turnaround at 12,600 ft. Approximately 14,000’ elevation gain. Greater than 65% average finish rate under the 12-hour limit. Excellent support stations." Now that sounds like an event to sink your teeth into!!

The 2007 Missouri State Cycling Time Trial Champions
Men 1, 2 Andrew Chocha	Men 30+ Joe Company	Women 40+ Rebecca Cato
Men 3 Brett Johnson	Men 35+ Jeremy Pych	Women 50+ - PJ Walsh
Men 4 Mark Foster	Men 40+ Joe Walsh	Juniors 10-12 Jonathon Sahilling
Men 5 Alan Nippes	Men 45+ Dennis Weinbeck	Juniors 13-14 Joe Esswein
Women 1, 2, 3 Angela Coggin	Men 50+ Mark Gowler	Juniors 15-16 Zach Stein
Women 4 - Jennifer Cunnane	Men 55+ Ken Norton	Juniors 17-18 Martin Lang
	Men 60+ Steve Evans

July 23 - Ironman USA Lake Placid brought athletes to the beautiful Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. Olympic medals weren't on the line, but being a part of Ironman history was for Alex Mroszczyk-McDonald (9:16:02) and Belinda Granger (9:40:20) who took home the 2007 titles. St Louis area Ironletes making the finish line were: 140-Matt Bonastia M30-35 10:47:10; 620-Lou Di Guiseppe M40-44 12:09:42; 1097-Carolyn Davis W40-44 13:17:12; 1214-Bill Petersen M5054 13:32:49; 1720-Bev Ofsthun W40-44 14:52:42... The Spirit of Racine Half Triathlon welcomed 1256 participants to its finish line. Professional triathletes, David Thompson (3:50:56) and Miranda Carfrae (4:16:43) won the overall titles. Congratulations to St Louis area top ten age-group finishers: 49-Peter Boumgarden 3/41 M20-24 4:32:28; 78-George Schweitzer 8/70 M25-29 4:42:16; 221- Kate Dewey 4/87 W35-39 4:59:42; 755-Barbara Winston 10/28 W45-49 5:49:23; 801-Ann Halenkamp 3/13 W50-54 5:53:09; 960-Janice Branham 5/13 M50-54 6:10:39... Nice work to Sarah Haskins (Korteum) who cashed in at the Boulder Peak Triathlon over the weekend. She was runner-up in the challenging, non-draft legal, Olympic distance race with a time of 2:09:46. She was short JoAnna Zeiger's winning 2:08:27. Sarah's husband Nate, finished 12th overall in 2:03:20.

July 20 - Cyclists in Wildwood are generally aware of the Ossenfort Road closure. A more recent one to detour around now is Rieger Rd. Rieger is the connector between Pond Rd & Wildhorse Creek Rd... More than two dozen St Louis area triathletes will head to Wisconsin this weekend for the Spirit of Racine Half Triathlon. Racers will take a dip in Lake Michigan before heading out on a rolling 56-mile bike ride. Lastly, these 2,000 triathlon animals run a 13.1-mile course that will take them through the Racine Zoo. Best of Luck... Haile Gebselassie has already run to 24 world records but would like nothing better than to get another one on January 18, 2008. On that day, the Dubai Marathon will award $250,000 to its male winner and pay $1 million for a world record. The 34 year old Ethiopian would have to take more than a minute from his marathon PR of 2:05:56 to better Paul Tergat's (Kenya) world best 2:04:55. The highly motivated Gebselassie has maintained that a world record has much importance to him than an Olympic gold medal. Now he has a million additional reasons to feel that way.

July 18 - The Touring Cyclist Biathlon was held in Fairview Heights over the weekend. The event drew 119 racers despite a sprint triathlon in St Louis County which probably siphoned off some potential participants. The duathletes were challenged to a 4.3-mile run and 23-mile bike. 2006 winners, Caleb Goldkamp and Kristin Moore, skipped the race, so new reigning champions would be established. Congratulations to the top three overall men: Scott Shaw, Edwardsville, IL 1:28:26; Christian Nieroda, O'Fallon, IL 1:30:38; Jason Lind, Dardenne Prairie 1:32:34. Kudos to the top three overall women: Carol Wright, Wildwood 1:44:36; Robin Rongey, Edwardsville, IL 1:48:02; Amy Ward, Lebanon, IL 1:53:36... The 15th Pan American Games served up triathlon on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. The U.S. trio of Julie Ertel (Swail), Sarah Haskins, and Sara McLarty meshed well together in their effort to place an American on the top podium step against athletes from Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Bolivia, Cuba, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Bermuda, and Ecuador. McLarty is the best female swimmer in the sport and set the pace for her teammates. Once on the bike, the three continued to pull away from the field. By the time they transitioned to running shoes, the gap was two and one-half minutes. Ertel and Haskins ran shoulder to shoulder until the last kilometer at which point Ertel pulled away for the win. Great Work by all three. Gold - Julie Ertel (USA) 1:57:23, Silver - Sarah Haskins (USA) 1:57:46, Bronze - Lauren Groves (CAN) 1:59:50.

July 16 - The Ballwin Triathlon is a relatively short tri, this year made even shorter by the road construction on Clayton. That, however, didn't deter the 223 participants who made it a sellout. In fact, race officials offered to buy back any potentially unused entries (at discount) in order to fill a growing waiting list. On a hot and muggy race day, 25 year old Dana Riederer managed the quickest finish in 45:08. He was followed by Matthew Gipple (49:23) and James Feher (50:01). The women's division was led by Andrea Robertson who managed to earn her second win at Ballwin (2005) in 54:55. Second place went to Stephanie Petersen (56:08) and third place to Julie Harbor (57:18). While the race draws a fair share of local elite athletes, it also has become a popular event for beginners finding their way in the sport. Youth participant 18 & U finishers were: Joe Hoffmann 17 (59:35), Ryan Berra 16 (59:36), Adam Magrecki 15 (1:00:58), Joseph Petersen 15 (1:01:51), Nick Grier 15 (1:03:57), Ryan Marschang 15 (1:04:21), Taylor Maurer 12 (1:08:39), Jill Ruchte 18 (1:09:35), Jason Ruester 18 (1:11:43), Laurel Spencer 18 (1:12:51), , Julia Huck 17 (1:13:50), Beth Grier 13 (1:17:25), Jared Fechter 17 (1:17:42), Megan Demarco 17 (1:20:33), Eric Lampe 17 (1:20:59), Luke Berra 9 (1:25:05), and Justin Ruester 13 (1:31:59). Keep up the good work!!... The Muncie Endurathon is a long-standing and aptly named triathlon that had its participants going long in Midwest heat and humidity. This year, two dozen area athletes made the drive to Indiana. Among them, Jeff Eddy of St Charles had the fastest finish in 4:57:29, good enough for 70th overall. Rounding out the top three local times were Jason Thein (5:01:24) and Paul Schon (5:17:28). The local women were led by Erika Hiller (5:40:59), Terri Menghini (5:56:30), and Stephanie Teague (6:07:50). Nice work to everyone who finished.

July 13 -Congratulations to Kristin Moore who finished as the 3rd overall women's age grouper at Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens. The 33 year old St Charles resident completed the course in 4:50:45, just 25 seconds off 2nd place. The other localite making the line was Kurt Martin of St. Louis (5:56:30). Nice work... St Louis based, Build-A-Bear Workshop, has signed on as a sponsor of the Tour of Missouri.

July 9 - The South County YMCA Triathlon drew 196 participants to the Kennedy Recreation Complex but missing among them were 2006 overall winners Sarah Sander and Barry Knight. So with new champions to be determined, the race moved forward on what was forecast to be a typically hot July day. The men's field saw seven racers go under the coveted hour mark, but Roger Willis was the fastest among them with a 54:33 finish. Scott Shaw (55:42) and Jason Lind (56:36) raced hard to complete the top three. On the women's side, Lisa Lewis (1:03:31) took top honors as Megan Neunaber (1:04:01) finished second and Stephanie Petersen (1:04:45) came through in third. The youngest participant was twelve year-old Kate Schuering of St Louis who finished with a time of 1:35:46. Nice work to everyone... The Joker's Wild Half Marathon sent runners out on a predominantly flat, two-looped course through Creve Coeur Park on Saturday. Despite the expected extreme heat and humidity, nearly 400 showed their support for Ultramax Events. It was the UE's first race production following the tragic day at Octomax. Lee Tittle and Ron Chisholm ran away from the field and then dueled it out on the mostly paved and largely unshaded running paths. Tittle made the line first in 1:15:44 with Chisholm coming through in second (1:16:10) and Pat Brown finishing third (1:20:40). Only one woman managed to break the 1:30:00 barrier and it provided her with the win. Judy Dorpinghaus (1:25:14) finished more than six minutes up. Lisa Tittle (1:32:07) came through in second and Mairi Burfoot (1:33:20) finished third. results pdf... USAT selected its squad to represent the United States at the Pan-American Championships in Rio de Janeiro this Sunday. The women's triathlon team will consist of Sarah Haskins, Julie Swail, and Sarah McLarty. Look for the three to work in concert as they try to set up a teammate for a podium finish. The U.S. racers have employed team tactics in previous races this season with great success. web

July 6 - The 4th of July Biathlon took place in Hillsboro, IL on Wednesday. Straight out and back courses for both the five mile run and ensuing twenty mile bike provided participants with a chance to make their own fireworks. Shawn Oneal finished the run in 18th position, down over four minutes to Kyle Monroe of Springfield, Illinois. Oneal then lit the fuse on his bike averaging a race-best 26mph. He powered his way to the front and won in 1:18:09 as he put more than three minutes on the field. In the process, the only remaining suspense would be found in a hard-fought battle for the runner-up position. Rounding out the top five men were: 2-Lou DiGuiseppe (1:21:26), 3-Scott Shaw (1:21:44), 4-Kyle Monroe (1:21:47), 5-Chris Arnold (1:21:54). The women's race found itself without 2-time defending champion Bette Chesser but not without a fine performance by Leah Boente-Hulcher of Springfield, Illinois. After finishing 4th in 2006, she lopped more than 10 minutes from her time to take the 2007 title virtually uncontested in 1:33:19. Second thru fifth went to: 2-Kathy Hechst (1:37:14), 3-Carol Wright (1:38:06), 4-Gina Richard (1:40:23), 5-Robin Rongey (1:41:24)... The Swan Lake Marathon in Viborg, South Dakota saw a couple of Missouri residents earn 2nd place finishes. Just 85 participants took part in the remote, mid-summer race, but in the men's division Jeremiah Gibbons, 26 of St. Louis MO, was runner-up in 3:09:08 while in the women's race Megan Carlson, 27 of Blue Springs MO, finished likewise in 3:44:49. Lest anyone scoff at the finishing times, perhaps a quick read is in order of the Wall Street Journal article about the fine art of finding just the right race in which to place... With the St Louis multisport community still reeling from the death of Kevin Hunt on June 23, the bike racing scene experienced a tragedy last weekend at the Proctor Cycling Classic near Peoria, Illinois. 24 year-old first-year racer Beth Kobeszka of Chicago was killed Saturday in the women's Category-4 road race when she was reportedly accidentily bumped into the path of an oncoming truck. Witnesses said that the peloton was cresting a hill with riders on the left flirting with the yellow line. They further stated that riders in the pack of 25-30 had crossed the yellow line several times leading up to the incident and were warned by the lead car.

July 5 - The Firecracker 5k in O'Fallon, Mo yesterday drew 416 runners to the 7am start line. 17 minutes and 3 seconds later, Dan Boyle crossed the finish for the win. The women's division was captured with another steady performing by Debbie Kerber in a time of 19:26. results... Ahead of Saturday's start, it seemed just a matter of time before the ticking ceased and the doping time bomb exploded before this year's Tour de France. Allesandro Petacchi, who is probably the best sprinter in the pro peloton, has not only been banned from the 2007 Tour, but may face a one year-suspension. In the course of winning a remarkable five stages in this year's Giro d'Italia, the 33-year old superstar tested positive for salbutamol. That substance is the active ingredient in asthma inhalers but can't exceed proscribed limits in the blood stream. The TdF house cleaning continued with two lesser know Italian riders. Giuseppe Muraglia is facing a four-year ban while Giampaolo Caruso will likely receive a two-year penance... July Ironman Calendar: 7-22 Vineman 70.3; 7-22 Lake Placid; 7-29 Newfoundland 70.3... The 2007 ITU World Cup circuit recently had two races drop from the calendar. Inadequate resources were cited as the cause for the stops in Brazil (Oct 21) and Jordan (Dec 7) being canceled. The net loss to the series was reduced to just one when it was announced that the Greek island of Rhodes will play host to a World Cup race on October 7... Taking a page from Ironman Hawaii, the New York City Triathlon will stage their own Underwear Run. The Chipotle sponsored 1.7 mile run takes place in Central Park and is limited to the first 300 registrants. As a public service announcement to participants: boxers, boxer-briefs, tighty whities, and sports bras or full coverage bras are encouraged. No thongs or sheer materials please!

July 2 - The USAT Age Group Nationals are now in the book. Ben Collins of Lake Forest Park, WA took the men's title with a time of 1:57:08 and Jennifer Garrison of Naperville, IL repeated as women's champion with her 2:09:36. St Louis area finishers were: Timothy Battles (St L) 2:07:17, Amber Mounday (U. City) 2:18:08, Kristin Moore 33 (St. Charles) 2:18:28, Jennifer Meyer 43 (St L) 2:26:18, Shelby Sullivan 32 (Web Gr) 2:30:41, Patrick McCreary 56 (Alton) 2:32:16, Curtis Brooks 50 (St L) 2:41:47... Ironman Germany witnessed an amazingly close women's race with Nicole Leder (9:04:11) outsprinting Andrea Brede (9:04:16) for the win. The men's side initially looked to be a duel between Normann Stadler and Faris al Sultan but both were beaten to the finish line by Timo Bracht. Sultan finished 14 minutes back in 6th position and Stadler was a DNF.... The Quelle Roth Challenge is the world's most popular iron-distance triathlon that doesn't bear an m-dot logo. With well over 100,000 raucous spectators each year and a very fast course, it is a favorite stop for many triathletes. The race welcomed 2,500 individual athletes and 500 team entries. It certainly has been a favorite race for Chris McCormack who won it for the 4th consecutive time and in the process flirted with the world record (7:50:27 Luc Van Lierde, 1997). Macca gave it all he had and went 7:54:23, missing the $100k bonus. If the Aussie can maintain his form into October, he'd have to be considered a favorite to win his first Ironman World Championship.... The inaugural BC Bike Race is underway in British Columbia. The seven day stage race covers 324 miles from Victoria to Whistler and takes mountain bikers up 36,000 feet of total vertical gain. web

June 30 - Congratulations to area triathletes completing Ironman Coeur d'Alene last weekend. They were: 43-Andy Pele 10:04:08, 466-Greg Sandborn 11:49:48, 472-Lou Jearls 11:49:58, 624-Sally Drake 12:11:09, 943-Al Beers 12:51:56 946-Raymond Petsch 12:52:16, 975-Steve Ingram 12:55:27, 1265-David Morey 13:39:57, 1321-Annette Koob 13:49:05, 1390-Suzanne Smith 13:58:21... Finishers at Buffalo Springs Lake IM 70.3 were: Rick Mann, 4:38:16; Matt Bonastia 4:39:43; Tanya Crews 6:26:19; Jennifer Cunna 5:30:42; Lou Di Guiseppe 4:54:49; Gary Maier 7:22:15; Teresa Telford 6:17:34... If the 2007 Goomna Adventure Race imparted any lesson on its participants, it may have been the most basic of tenets, that is, you have to finish to win. Of the twenty-one teams that started, only Team Alpine Shop (David Frei, Julie Smith, and Jeff Sona) managed to complete the entire course, thus making them the de facto champions. web

June 29 - Utah Blog - Saturday - One year of waiting has finally elapsed before my much anticipated return to the mountains of Utah. Snugly secured for the week within the comfort of Deer Valley Resort, some 8,000 feet above sea level, it serves as our daily launching point. I use that term in its most literal sense as each day begins with us rocketing down a winding, 3-mile long, 1,000 foot descent. Of course the opposite is true as each ride ends with its switch-backing ascent. That particular stretch of road is actually the site of a regularly held 5k time trial, but it's doubtful we'll jump in that race on Tuesday given that we have our own informal stage race in progress. Since the Tour of Utah was unceremoniously canceled this year, we adopted its name for our stay here. Stage one was definitely an adaptation process to thinner air and relentless climbing. A relatively short ride of 40 miles still demanded 5,000 vertical feet of our Missouri legs and lungs. While a few pitches are as steep as those Wildwood climbs we have come to love/hate, they are generally long, seated grinds, two to three miles in length. For a proper analogy, imagine yourself sitting in a leg extension machine doing three or four sets of 900-1200 nonstop, low-weight reps with each leg. Note to self: You're not in Wildwood anymore... Sunday - Day two began with a liberal slathering of sun screen. Senor Sol is very hot at altitude and fortunately yesterday's jaunt didn't result in a nasty burn (excluding, if you will, the burning sensation in my quads). Oddly similar to the previous day, we rode 40 miles and gained 5,000 vertical feet. However, a stiff wind kicked up to create additional challenge even when the terrain flattened out. More than any other condition though, I'd say the dry air is having the greatest negative physical impact on me. The humidity here is very low, in fact too low. The resultant cough I've been experiencing is a result of the normally moist inner tissue of my throat and lungs simply drying out. I've read where veteran RAAM riders will pull a wet bandana up over their mouth and nose as they traverse Death Valley. Perhaps I'll mimic that technique tomorrow when we tackle a very challenging century... Monday - A 7am start found myself, John, Mark, and Matt F. on the road accompanied by a clear blue sky above and enveloped in the early morning chill. Our armwarmers and vests would no doubt be shed in a couple of hours when thermometer rose closer to its expected high in the mid-80's. The 100-mile ride to Mirror Lake and back would put me at 10,000 feet of climbing for the day. Eventually our turnaround point was reached at a snow dappled summit some 11,000 feet above sea level. The 29-mile climb to the top was both picturesque and challenging. Pristine lakes, waterfalls, and Aspen trees provided a glorious stage while rushing streams and waterfalls of cold, clear meltoff contributed the background music. Spray painted graffiti still lie on the asphalt offering encouragement to participants of a recent race up the same road. A bit farther up the pavement, the clean skeletal remains of some unfortunate animal found a final resting place in the roadside grass. As we suffered past it, we cynically concluded that it must have been a cyclist who couldn't complete the climb . It took nearly 2.5 hours to reach the top. The descent, on the other hand, was but a mere hour and six... Tuesday - Another cloudless day greeted us but circumstances found me riding solo today. Consequently, I took the opportunity to perform a recon mission inspired by the July issue of Outside magazine, Tour-Tough Stages You Can Ride in the US. So like any normal challenge-glutton, I headed for one. The out and back to Wolf Creek ended up being one of those rides well-suited for self-sufficient, bicycle-boyscout types. Fortunately on this day I could include myself in that category and was prepared for a 38-mile section that was absent any water and calorie stops. Once I entered Uintas National Forest, the steady 8% grade into a headwind seemed to go on forever as it eventually crested at 9,500 feet. My patience was properly rewarded at the turn-around when I pedaled downhill and downwind for 19 miles. My momentum was slowed just once, and interestingly so, by approximately 200 goats who swarmed the road. At the end of the day, I added 87 miles and 6,200 feet of gain to my weekly total... Wednesday- With my return to St Louis scheduled for tomorrow, the penultimate day of mountain training turned out to be the best. It was another solo excursion and day of exploration. Climbing to the summit of Big Cottonwood Canyon was a challenge I totally embraced and one the group had not attempted in all of their years coming out here. Even though the peak was situated very near our resort, the unpaved, mountain-top access road to it was not at all conducive to road bikes, or so I was told. Everyone I asked recommended an alternate route to the base of Cottonwood. After extensive logistical analysis with a very resourceful resort employee, he eventually suggested that we throw my bike atop his Accord and that he drop me at the beginning of the pavement on the peak. Along the way I could determine whether I could cope with the dirt/gravel road back or opt to ride the long way around (which also meant pedaling along the shoulder of the interstate). Throughout the week, each mountain ride had its own distinct character. But to my way of thinking, Big Cottonwood provided the most intimate mountain experience. The road cut its way down through utterly massive stone walls and steep, Aspen-covered terrain. From my starting perch at Guardsman's Pass, it was actually a 19-mile coast to the base of the climb. While I suppose this was akin to enjoying dessert first, it was really the main course (the climb) for which I hungered. The ascent was a manageable 4500 vertical feet, which had me most often spinning a 39x27 for the 2 hours and 15 minutes it took to reach the terminal point of the asphalt. Oddly, the greater challenge turned out to be contending with the extreme dust bowl of an access road back to the lodge. At times it almost seemed as if the drivers delighted in seeing how much of a trailing cloud they could kick up. In the end, it made a cold shower and colder Corona all that much better... Thursday - It's the final day of my trip and of course the taste is a bittersweet combination of leaving these remarkable training conditions behind and returning to familiar routines. Through the rising steam of my coffee, I stared at the bicycle that has not only carried me over some magnificent stretches of pavement, but transported me along a sprititual journey as well. I became one with that exquisitely simple machine while peeling back layers of self-discovery. The challenge before now me is to return home with that spirit intact and to nurture it. Peering into your soul in the quiet solitude of a mountain top is an easy, almost natural act, but the curtain on that inner window inevitably closes tight while jockeying for position among the cars on Clayton Road. My two-wheeler leaned lightly against the wall with yesterday's dust still clinging it. "OK friend, you've earned a rest day," I whisper to it as I slipped on my running shoes and headed out into the cool morning air.

June 27 - Perspective - When tragedy occurs, it's hard to know where to begin. The immediate grief, horror, shock, and sadness we experience can be overpowering, almost paralyzing emotions as we struggle to find some semblance of sense in things. The St Louis endurance sports community lost one of our own on Saturday and in the the ensuing days an unbearable ache has gnawed steadily at our core. Whether you knew Kevin Hunt or not matters little. If you are an endurance athlete, you are affected in a personal way that only you an he would have understood. You see, we were bound by the brotherhood of sport. The act of pushing oneself in the company of others beyond our own very personal physical, often mental, and at times emotional limits is an act that create bonds. Make no mistake, this is not stamp collecting we're talking about. Triathlon hurts and it leaves an mark, and an indelible one at that, on our very souls. It changes us in remarkable ways. Kevin saw that and wanted it, just as you and I did when we first took up the sport. That's what draws us together in spirit. So now with a dark day in the sport casting a pallor over us, what now? In the course of grappling with the negative experiences this sometimes harsh world throws at us, it's imperative that we balance the scales by finding a corresponding positive. The emotional healing process demands it. Rest assured that a positive will come of what at first seems completely senseless. It's definitely there and it may be somewhat different for each one of us. It's just that sometimes you just have to search a little more closely to find it.

June 22 - USAT Age Group Nationals are just a week away. Many of the triathletes heading to Portland, Oregon for that event will be racing to earn a slot on Team USA. Once the top 16 of each age bracket are determined (rolldowns to 25th), the U.S. squad will make travel plans for Hamburg, Germany, the site of this year's ITU World Championships on September 1-2. The ITU has made it know that the weekend will be the largest assemblage of multisport athletes ever, even greater than that of the Chicago or London Triathlons... SBR had an opportunity to catch up with Sarah Haskins on the bike, that is, both figuratively and literally. The always affable ITU pro was in St Louis for a few days before heading back to her and husband Nate's home in Colorado Springs. Looking sleek and fit, she had just completed very tough but successful back to back weekends— World Cup races in Vancouver, BC and Des Moines, IA. The conversation generally revolved around training and racing. Becoming a member of the 2008 Olympic team has remained a key career goal. I also made note that she looked very comfortable on the bike. Her pedal stroke was both even and fluid. Professional coaching, plus racing against the best in the world week in and week out, will do that. Best of luck moving onward... SBR will update from Deer Valley, Utah beginning Sunday as a member of a group training trip. For those interested in such things, I'll try to maintain some sort of short daily blog during that training block. I'm certain the drastic change in scenery and rarified air will consort to make my twisted thoughts flow more freely... The Tour de France will begin on July 7 with a prologue in London, England. The recently completed Dauphiné Libéré and the in-progress Tour de Suisse serve as a type of annual fitness measuring sticks for pro cyclists heading into the TdF. As handicappers begin the process of determining the pre-race favorites, they are faced with the irony that last year's champion has yet to be determined. More calloused cycling fans might suggest that the wagers be placed upon who actually makes the starting line rather than the finish in Paris. If you are inclined to take the high road, it's still a beautiful sport, just one suffering its way through detox.

June 21 - Local finishers at the Topeka Tinman Triathlon were: Long Course 79-David Miyazaki (Fenton) 2:25:18 and 153-Todd Turner (Chesterfield) 2:51:04. Short Course 15-Michael Manley (Chesterfield) 53:19... Approximately 7,000 iron athletes around the world will be busy this weekend racing in one of four events— IM Nice, IM Switzerland, IM Coeur d'Alene, and IM Buffalo Springs 70.3. Add to the mix the extremely popular Quelle Roth Challenge in Germany and the number swells to 10,000... Part of the post race fallout from the 2006 Ironman World Championship was a war of words between winner Norman Stadler and runner-up Chris McCormack. The latter has been racing in 2007 with a fire in his belly. A fourth place finish at St Anthony's was followed by wins at Memphis in May, Honu 70.3, and Baja 70.3. Macca will go long this weekend and barring unforeseen circumstance most likely complete another sub-8 hour iron distance finish in Roth. Notably absent from the Aussie's resume of more than 150 wins is the Ironman World Championship. Will 2007 finally be his year in Kona? Of course anything can happen, but the odds are looking increasingly good.

June 20 - By no small coincidence, two new books are scheduled for a well-timed release just ahead of the biggest bike race in the world. From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France, is the latest installment by David Walsh. This is the same Irish sportswriter who published L.A. Confidential and who has seemed to make it his life's mission of bringing Armstrong down. The other pre-TdF release is by embattled cyclist Floyd Landis. It is entitled, Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France. His tome obviously won't affect the decision on his fate rendered soon by the USADA. Its publication is probably just a form of catharsis for Floyd. The Landis book signing tour will bypass the St Louis market... If you're in need of a slightly more uplifting summer read, Tour de Life - The Saul Raisin Story is the book to buy. Dave Shields recounts the epic journey back to life by up and coming American cyclist Saul Raisin after a horrific bike crash. Web... Good luck this weekend for local athletes making the trip to Ironman Coeur d'Alene. No Ironman race can be called easy, but race officials have assured participants that changes in this year's bike course will result in a significantly more challenging ride— always welcomed pre-race news.... ITU pros will have to snap back to reality at the Edmonton BG Triathlon World Cup on Sunday after the surreal $700k sweepstakes in Des Moines last weekend— not to trivialize $100k. Thanks to the support of the BG Group (a British natural gas exploration and delivery conglomerate), each of the 2007 World Cup races will offer $100k prize purse split evenly between the men's and women's pro fields. Live audio of this weekend's event can be accessed 2pm Sunday at the ITU site

June 18 - Speed and endurance. Those words succinctly sum up Michael Secrest who broke the 24-hour indoor unpaced world record (his own) over the weekend by riding 535.86 miles on the ADT Event Center Velodrome in Carson, California. What makes the achievement even more spectacular for the '87 RAAM winner was that, in the course of doing so, that he battled a prolonged bout of exercise-induced asthma... Jure Robic made the RAAM finish line on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City early this morning with a time of 8 days, 18 hours, and 56 minutes. It was his third win in four years in the world's toughest race. He will go out a winner having promised that it was his last Race Across America. Wolfgang Fasching appears to have a lock on second, but a battle for the the third podium spot is being fought between Gerhard Gulewicz and Daniel Wyss who were just an hour apart with 178 miles remaining.

June 17 - Although the Rec Plex Triathlon was officially a springtime race, it was full-on summer conditions for those who participated yesterday. The heat and humidity didn't seem to slow overall winners Shawn Oneal (1:27:17) and Jill Petersen (1:32:04). A format change for 2007 eliminated the formula division resulting in elite athletes coming back to the general field. Oneal parlayed the only sub 50-minute bike split and a 6:15 pace on the run to take the win. In the runner-up position was Tim Battles (1:29:30). Third place went to Dana Riderer (1:29:39). For her part, Petersen relied on the 2nd fastest swim split and 5th best run of the day to win by a margin of nearly 12 full minutes. She picked up $150 for her effort, perhaps a little traveling money for a pro race in Philadelphia next weekend. Second place went to Kimberly Mouser (1:43:21) and third was won by Andrea Robertson (1:45:22). Typically we don't report on the team division. But with an SBR squad of handpicked ringers, we managed to win the division. Big thanks to Jennifer and Kristin for taking time out of their training for USAT Nationals to participate... The Des Moines BG Triathlon World Cup promised to be dogfight, or perhaps for the women a cat fight, as the largest prize purse in triathlon history was on the line. Sarah Haskins was one week removed from a very tough effort in a World Cup race in Vancouver and yesterday faced a talent-laden field looking for a big payday. That wasn't the only obstacle. Race conditions were brutally oppressive with stiff winds, 90 degree heat, and high humidity. Relying on her swim skill, Sarah nearly always makes the lead pack on bike and on this day that would prove pivotal. The lead group of eight was pulled through the lake by world aquathon champion Sarah McLarty. Once in saddle, they meshed well on the 6 lap bike course and eventually headed out on the run with a 2:46 lead. At that point, the event evolved into a race of attrition as the weather caught up with many of the women. 18 of the 44 starters DNF'd. Sarah gutted out the run for 4th place behind winner Laura Bennett, and like so many others on the day, collapsed at the finish. After a visit to the crowded med tent, a recovered Sarah expressed elation over her performance, and of course, the $15,000 pay day. The performance moved Sarah up to third place in the overall World Cup standings.

June 15 - Earlier this season, Christine Ensign of Liberty, Missouri won the women's division in the Spirit of St Louis Marathon with a time of 2:52:38. Over the weekend, not only did the 23 year old runner succeed in winning her her second marathon in as many tries, she was also the overall winner. On a hilly course in Maryville, Missouri she broke the previous women's record with a time of 2:57:25.

June 14 - Later this month, Ironman Switzerland will qualify 60 men and 15 women for the the IM World Championship. One surprising hopeful in the field is ex-pro cycling star Laurent Jalabert. Ja Ja has run sub-three hours in the marathon on three occasions, but now has set an even loftier goal, namely that of earning a Kona slot... IM Switzerland has inserted an aggressive anti-doping clause in their pro race agreement. It states that athletes either tested positive in doping tests or who unjustifiably resisted such a test within three months prior or after the contest will have to pay a fee of 25,000 Swiss francs to the race organizer.

June 13 - The USAT Age Group National Championships are just a couple of weeks away. Local athletes registered for the event in Portland, Oregon include: Helen Alexander-Kratz, Jennifer Meyer, Kristin Moore, Amber Mounday, Shelby Sullivan, Mary Sundy, Tim Battles, Josh Bone, Curtis Brooks, Tim Schneider, Dave Ware, and Patrick McCreary. Best of luck to all... A new bicycle race was announced yesterday. The Jefferson City Twilight Amateur Criterium will take place on Friday, September 14, coinciding with the Tour of Missouri as if passes through our state's capitol city... Further regarding the Tour of Missouri, a legion of volunteers will be required to successfully stage this statewide event. If you are able to help, we recommend doing so as a course Marshal. You will get an upclose look at the race from numerous vantage points while leapfrogging other marshals along the longer stages. web

June 12 - Swim start times (PDF) have been posted for the Rec Plex triathlon this Sunday. More than 400 individuals and team members will take part in this popular event. The women's race should mark Jill Petersen as the prohibitive favorite. The men's side may see a a very fit Tim Battles push Shawn O'Neal. Unfortunately the two have a 13-minute differential in their start times which will preclude a tactical race. Predictions and 25 cents won't even buy you a cup of joe these days, so as they say, just wait until race day... The professional triathlon world converges on Iowa this weekend for the Des Moines BG Triathlon World Cup. A galaxy of international distance stars will fill the transition area vying for a share of the richest prize purse in the history of the sport. $700k and two new Hummer H3 vehicles will be on the line. $200k will go to each of the overall male and female winners, probably just enough cash to fuel an H3 for a year. web

June 10 - Great work by Sarah Haskins at the Vancouver BG Triathlon World Cup yesterday. A second place medal represented her first podium spot in a World Cup race and catapulted her six spots to 11th position (first American) in the overall World Cup rankings. In a very exciting race, she and American teammate Sarah McLarty exited the swim first. Working together on the bike, they managed to build nearly a minute and a half lead before heading onto the 10k run. McLarty eventually fell off of Sarah's run pace and it came down to whether the strongest runners in the field could bridge the deficit. Samantha Warriner of New Zealand put forth an amazing effort with a 33:56 in the 10k run and went by Sarah in the final kilometer. web... The Race Across America got underway yesterday, and to this early juncture, the event has played out pretty much as expected— a three way battle among Jure Robic, Wolfgang Fasching and Daniel Wyss. As of this writing, none of the three has slept yet and it remains to be seen how far they ride until they do. It is expected that each will average no more than two hours of sleep per day as they push one another for 3000 miles. web... Huge congrats to SBR reader, friend, and extraordinary athlete Elizabeth Waterstraat as she earned a slot for the Ironman World Championship over the weekend. Her 4:32:25 at the Eagleman Ironman 70.3 placed her near the pros and was good enough for 10th women's position overall. If that weren't enough great news in the Waterstraat household, husband Christian also accepted a slot for the big dance by winning the M 30-34 in 4:08:54. In the pro race, former Race For Sight winner TJ Tollakson averaged an impressive 27.5 mph on the bike to build a sizable lead heading into the half marathon where his solid 1:18:09 was more than enough to hold off the rest of the field. The women's pro race saw Natascha Badmann smash the women's 70.3 world record in a time of 4:08:17. The sole local racer was Big Shark athlete Kevin Jokisch who was all business as he completed the 70.3 miles in 4:47:09. Nice work!... Great job by Sam Yount who finished 1st in his AG and 6th overall at the XTERRA Eureka Springs Triathlon in Arkansas. Coming away from the event totally gassed, the former ITU pro and Clayton resident still gushed post race about how much fun the extremely challenging course had been. WTG!... George Shrick (1:10:42) of St Louis and Cathy Ruf (1:17:23) of Boulder, CO were the overall winners at the Route 66 Duathlon in Rolla, Missouri. results (Word doc)

June 8 - Thirty-two area runners finished the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego last weekend, the majority of whom were charitable fund-raisers. Nice work on making the line and making a difference... Ironman Coeur d'Alene is just two weeks away and most racers have begun their taper. Local athletes registered for the event are: Al Beers, Sally Drake, Steve Ingram, Lou Jearls, Annette Koob, Davie Morey, Jill Morey, Raymond Petsch, Jodi Renner, Greg Sandborn, and Suzanne Smith.

June 7 - The ongoing effort to purge pro cycling of performance drugs took another ugly turn when it was announced that that early morning raids by Belgian police on the homes of Quick Step-Innergetic staff and riders have resulted in the discovery and seizure of illicit drugs. web... Live online coverage of the 2007 Vancouver BG Triathlon World Cup begins 1:45pm this Sunday, June 10. The coverage will include live commentary, picture, text and timing updates. Video highlights and video podcasts will be available shortly after the race. web... The Race Across America begins Sunday, June 10 with the rollout of the solo riders (teams start on Tuesday). Three former champions are expected to battle it out in the men's individual race— Daniel Wyss, Jure Robic, and Wolfgang Fasching. Overall, 220 individual and team riders will take part in the 3,042 mile race making it the largest field in the event's history. web

June 6 - The Susan G. Komen Foundation will celebrate their 25th anniversary on June 16 as more than 60,000 pink clad participants will converge on downtown in what has morphed into the single largest race/walk in the St Louis area. The 2006 event drew 64,585 participants, at the time making it the largest Komen Race For the Cure in the country. That notoriety was short-lived when Denver subsequently recaptured the title with 65,395 participants four months later. Now it's up to St Louis to set the pink bar even higher in 2007... SBR would be remiss if we didn't offer a few marketing suggestions: 1) Let pop singer Pink perform the National Anthem, 2) Parade of pink Mary Kay cars, 3) Pink vodka and pink grapefruit juice as the official energy drink, 4) Free Pink Floyd ring tones for all pink Motorolla Razr phones... OK Denver, now top that!... For at least the second day, the Springfield Trifest website has remained hijacked by a computer hacker. Why he chose that particular site to stage a political protest is a mystery to us, but the act serves as a jarring reminder of just how vulnerable some networks still may be despite security measures.

June 4 - Winning teams in the Conquer Castlewood Adventure Race last weekend were: Male- Eric Buckley/David Frei; Female- Catherine Wolf/Jamie Harper; Coed- Jeff Schleiche/Robin Rongey... Good luck to local triathletes racing at the Eagleman Ironman 70.3 this weekend. The event takes place in Maryland and is one of the few remaining half-iron races that qualifies entrants for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. 28 age-group slots are on the line. The race will also allocate 71 age-group slots for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Clearwater, Florida. web... Sarah Haskins heads to British Columbia for this weekend's Vancouver BG Triathlon World Cup race and looks to be in good postiion to earn her first World Cup podium. As if that weren't incentive enough, the women who finish in the money will split $50,000. May the force be with you.

June 4 - Nice work at Ironman 70.3 Hawaii to Lou Di Guiseppe who finished 68th overall with a time of 4:54:57 and to Chris Arnold who finished minutes afterwards in 78th position with 4:57:31... The Flint Hills Triathlon was held over the weekend. This International distance event had earned the status of USAT Regional Championship and special qualifier for the USAT Nationals. Local athlete finishers were: 32-Mitch Faddis 2:21:19, 79-Helen Alexander-Kratz 2:30:37, 105-Holly Ball 2:39:20, and 137-Brian Kratz 2:53:39... The Pigman Sprint Triathlon welcomed a handful of St Louis area triathletes to Palo, Iowa. Their overall finishing positions and times were: 198-Jason McKnight 1:25:02, 505-Terry Wiersch 1:47:20, 554-Patricia Wiersch 1:59:21, 555-Deb Statter 1:59:43, 581-Russell Weil 2:15:53... The Need For Speed 8k Run drew 123 runners to the Chesterfield bottoms. Tim Bradley made it first to the finish line in 25:52, followed by Jason Olszowka (26:25) and Andy Koziatek (27:44). The womens top three all finish within the top ten overall. Lauren Hendrix took top women's honors with her 32:19 effort. Just behind her were Mairi Burfoot (32:31) and Carol Wright (33:21)... The Marygrove 5k up in Florissant managed 112 participants Sarturday on a crowded weekend calendar. The top three men finishers were: 1-Neehall Philogene 18:12, 2-Matt Biehl 18:45, and 3-Tyler Malone 19:16. On the women's side, good job to the top three overall: 7-Debbie Kerber 20:47, 16-Meghan Neunaber 22:44, and 23-Katie Logan 24:20.

June 3 - The 2007 Old Appleton Triathlon has unfortunately been canceled. Race officials cited and an insufficient number of reigstrations as the principal reason to pull the plug on this year's race. They hope to bring the event back to the race calendar again in 2008... The Lake St Louis Triathlon is now closed to entry. A complete list of confirmed entrants can be viewed in an an Excel spreadsheet... A USAT sanctioned youth triathlon is currently in the works for September 8th at St Alban's Country Club. Complete details will be posted here as they are made available.

June 2 - In the continuing educational process by the cycling cognoscenti of the non-bicycling (or in some cases anti-bicycle) American public, another offensive situation was recently addressed. Online merchandiser, Cafe Press, was informed of T-shirts being marketed on their website with the caption: "I don't share the road," accompanied by the image of a car striking a bicyclist. The company eventually deleted the shirts after an orchestrated flood of complaints were registered by League of American Bicyclists members... After what has seemed like an eternity both in its making and eventual arrival in the St Louis market, the cycling science film "Wired To Win" will open at the Science Center's Omnimax Theater on June 15. The film offers an inside look at the brain while following a of Tour de France riders through their ordeals. Tickets are $8 for adults and $7 for youth/seniors. A $2 off coupon may be printed off here. Attendance prizes will be provided by Big Shark Bicycle Company and the Tour of Missouri... Construction is set to begin in 2007 on the Chesterfield Levee Trail. This is a $896,000 project that will create a 17-mile, looped asphalt trail situated primarily atop the Chesterfield Levee and will encircle the Chesterfield bottoms. When completed, the trail will provide cyclists and runners with a car-free environment as well as some potentially interesting possibilities for rides and races.

May 30 - SBR wishes to extend a warm welcome to its newest site sponsor, FitPro Bicycles. Owned and operated by Tim Ray and Dave Schindler, their facility is located at 516 South Hanley in Clayton. Expect highly personalized and thoughtful service that will measurably improve your performance on the bike. For more information, you may call them at 314-863-6455 or click through the banner ad at right to visit their website... Ironman Brasil was won by Oscar Galindez (8:21:14) and Nina Kraft (9:12:39). Nina crafted her first Ironman win in over two years and served notice that she may be back in the hunt for a World Championship after serving her penance for doping... Ironman flags around the world fly at half-mast for the late John Blais who succumbed to the terminal effect of ALS over the weekend. Many in the triathlon community will be forever touched by his emotional 2005 Ironman World Championship performance so well documented by NBC. His return to Kona in 2006 as a spectator opened eyes as his physical condition had markedly worsened in twelve quick months. Others may remember him for the ceaseless energy he demonstrated in raising awareness for the fight against that short term death sentence known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The Blazeman will long live on in the hearts of those he affected.

May 29 - Early morning rain showers and a dreary sky didn't deter 210 duathletes at the Highland Biathlon on Memorial Day. As it turned out, the rain finally abated for the start of the race but wet roads, an overcast sky, and high humidity were the rule. After a strong run, Jay Orr took the corners very judiciously on his bike but was still too much for the rest of the field in the 5 mile run and 15 mile bike event. His 1:07:56 led the way to the finish by more than three and a half minutes over runner-up Scott Shaw (1:11:39) who himself was fresh off of a win at the inaugural John Howard Biathlon. Greg Schrick finished third in 1:11:44. Amy Strahan utilized her strength on the bike to overtake the faster female runners and win the women's race in 1:18:44. Katrina Brown (1:20:07) came across the line in second and Laura Scherff (1:21:57) finished third. results

May 26 - Off Track Events announced that the Impossible Ride has been canceled. This was to be a double Katy Trail crossing originally scheduled some time in the Fall. The event production group cited time conflicts and logistics as the principal culprits. However, they still have in the works: a road race, a cross country run, a bike ride, and an urban adventure race all taking place in the Columbia, Missouri area. web... Big SBR thanks to James Glickert for sending us a copy of his film chronicling the 2007 Bonk Hard Chill. It is a thoughtfully produced recap of that February 3rd adventure race held in Lake of the Ozarks State Park... The St Louis Track Club has settled upon a new location for their 2007 Track Series. Vianney High School located at Highway 44 and Lindbergh Blvd. will serve as home to the series for five consecutive Tuesday evenings beginning with a 3000m run on May 29. PDF... The much anticipated Hy-Vee Triathlon is set for Sunday, June 17 up in Des Moines, Iowa. Just a few St Louis area athletes are registered for the age group race, but they will be privileged to watch the pros race later that day in the ITU Hy-Vee World Cup for the largest cash purse in the history of the sport. $700,000 is up for grabs with payouts 15 deep in both the men's and women's fields. The event is an equal opportunity payor with first place paying $200k in each gender division. web

May 24 - As a reminder to all, no swimming is allowed in Creve Coeur Lake outside of the Multisport Training Series staged there every other Wednesday evening. You will be ticketed if you are found swimming in the lake at any other time.... The ITU announced that it completed a deal with Fox Sports Net (FSN) to telecast four events from its World Cup series. First on tap is the Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup from Australia which will air on Tuesday, July 3. FSN will follow up that race for three consecutive Tuesdays with the Ishigaki world cup from Japan, the Lisbon world cup from Portugal, and the Richards Bay world cup race from South Africa... The Rockman Triathlon is a half-distance race (1.2M-56M-13.1M) that takes place on Sunday, June 10 in at Rock Cut State Park near Love's Park, IL (just north of Rockford). Registration is $110 and available online at active.com. This is a USAT sanctioned event. Any event that makes the pre-race meeting available in a podcast earns our respect. web... If your holiday weekend includes a trip to Chicago, we recommend you take your bike. Sunday brings the return of Bike the Drive, an annual bike ride along a 15 mile stretch of Lake Shore Drive totally closed to vehicle traffic. Bicycles will rule that road 5:30-10:30am. $40 for adults. $5 kids 13 and under. Bandits will have no access to the amenities. web

May 22 - Congratulations to Sarah Haskins for her finish at 2nd place finish at the Honolulu Triathlon. Sarah landed a podium spot and a nice pay day by going 1:52:54 in the draft legal race, just 21 seconds behind winner Julie Swail. results... Great work goes to Missouri native and cycling powerhouse, Brad Huff, who won the Pan American Road and Track Championship in Valencia, Venezuela over the weekend. Brad earned the gold medal by producing the best results in the five event competition... Oscar Pereiro, the man who stands to gain most if Floyd Landis is stripped of his Tour de France title, is now himself under fire from the Italian newspaper Il Giornale. It published a story without identifying sources that links Pereiro to bags of blood found in Operation Puerto last May. Pereiro lashed back by saying he'd quit cycling if he's forced to provide DNA to prove his innocence. His indignancy is hard to comprehend when he competes in a sport where the cloud of suspicion has been cast over nearly everyone. The song remains the same and the chorus is, "If you've got nothing to hide, what's the problem?"

May 21 - Participants in the inaugural John Howard Biathlon basked in beautiful weather as they broke in a new event in St Charles yesterday. Scott Shaw took a little greater pleasure in the day as he notched a win in 1:05:22. The runner up was Brian Schoenholz (1:06:41). Bob Chott (1:08:00) finished third. The women's side saw Kathryn Schoenholz (1:15:27) waltz to victory by over ten minutes. Heather Dunlap (1:27:22) came in second and Vincee Walz (1:29:20) was third. In all, 65 individuals and two teams took part in the event which started and finished in New Town. results... The Steps For Research 5k took place in Tower Grove Park on Saturday. With a wealth of race options facing them for the day, 297 runners opted for this event. 57 year old Bernie Violand was glad he did as he led the charge to the finish line in 18:53, five seconds ahead of runner up, Bob Chott (18:58). It was essentially a two man race as third place finisher Dave Walch made the line in 19:51. The women's side held little drama with Deborah Kallman (22:51) taking the win pretty much unchallenged. Amanda Williams (24:31) and Amy Smith (24:33) rounded out the top three. Results... Ironman Florida 70.3 is in the record books. Craig Alexander (3:50:27) and Katja Schumacher (4:28:28) took the wins. The most amazing finish of all had to be that of women's second place finisher Karen Smyers who showed that she still has pro-level speed at 45 years old. Rick Mann cracked the top fifty as he finished 43 overall in 4:29:54. The athlete tracker unfortunately does not provide data fields for city or state. We'll post complete St Louis area results when available... The Memphis in May Triathlon demonstrated that Chris McCormack (1:47:36) is perhaps the most versatile triathlete on the planet. His win at this international distance event seemed just a pit stop as he channels his focus for the Ironman World Championship in Kona. Laura Tingle took the women's top spot in 2:02:32. St Louis area performances of note with top-ten age group finishes:

6 - Peter Boumgarden (23) 1:58:36	3 - Lauren Hendrix (23) 2:26:06
9 - Sam Yount (26) 1:59:54	4 - Maggie Conley (24) 2:27:32
3 - Timothy Battles (37) 2:01:03	6 - Nicole Johnson (23) 2:35:50
8 - Roger Willis (35) 2:04:49	10 - Sarah Sander (28) 2:20:20
4 - Rick Barnes (43) 2:03:16	5 - Kristin Moore (33) 2:08:55
6 - David Ware (50) 2:13:36	9 - Jennifer Cunnane (37) 2:21:50
10 - William Grebenc (53) 2:19:41	2 - Jennifer Meyer (43) 2:12:05
3 - Paul Tripodi (61) 2:34:50	6 - Sn Iverson (46) 2:33:08
8 - Michael Briggs (64) 2:52:50	8 - Carol Wright (47) 2:37:42
2 - Jim Wright (65) 2:38:26	10 - Patty Nooney (51) 2:40:59
10 - Doug Wynd (CLY) 2:28:41

May 13 - The Iron Abe Triathlon scheduled for July 29 has been designated by USAT as a national qualifier for the intermediate distance championships in 2008. Iron Abe is also a national qualifier for the USAT junior development series. The International distance event will also dole out prize money to the top three finishers in four categories. The break down includes: Men 500, 300, 100; Women 500, 300, 100; Clydesdale 300, 200, 100; Athena 300, 200, 100... How will you spend your summer? For most of us, probably just like we did last year and the year before that. But for three St Louis cyclists, one week in July will revolve around the magic number 7. Nigel Taylor, Mark Neuman, and Bert Berla will team with UK resident Chris Davey as the four of them embark upon a 777 mile ride thru 7 countries in seven days, finishing in London, of course on 07/07/07, for the start of the Tour de France. The ride will generate funds to support World Bicycle Relief (US) and Jole Rider (UK). For more info on how you can help, visit the allsevens, a ride for Africa web... Much like making the cover of Sports Illustrated, you've arrived as an athlete when you are featured by Wheaties. Hunter Kemper realized a lifelong dream when the cereal maker recently placed his image on their packaging. If it isn't available at your local grocer, there's always e-Bay, as you might expect.

May 12 - The Children's Miracle Network staged the Race For Miracles over the weekend. It was a first year event that came about after the Chevy's Cinco de Mayo 5k never found its way onto the 2007 calendar. The two organizations have had a working relationship, Children's Miracle Network benefiting from the significant generosity of Chevy's and its CdM 5k each year. While falling short of the 1200 runners who toed the starting line in last year's Cinco de Mayo 5k, the Miracle Run still drew a respectable 323 runners. In the men's division, Brian Schoenholz, a 29 year old from Wentzville won in 18:33. Larry Lentin at 18:50 was runner up and the amazing Bernie Violand at 57 years old ran to third place in 18:58. The women's division outnumbered the men and in the end outraced them. Judy Dopringhaus didn't require any miracles as she relied on her running talent to carry her to the overall win. Carrying a 5:46 pace through the 3.1 miles, she finished over a half-minute up on the men. Lauren Hendrix (19:44) and Debbie Kerber-Rehr (20:05) finished two-three. results... The Lewis & Clark Expedition Family 5k took place in Hartford, IL on Saturday. Probably due in part to a very crowded race calendar on that day, the event drew a sparse field of 58 runners, but there was still quality at the top. Jason Olszoka of Greenville, Illinois knocked out the 5k in 15:47 to take the win. Kristen Saenz from Godfrey, IL won the women's race in 21:49. results... The Big O Triathlon and Duathlon in Olathe, KS were victimized by violent spring storms on May 6. Unfortunately, lightning forced the event to be canceled not long after it was started. The electrified atmosphere must have affected some racer's neuro-activity as 16 of them drove home with timing chips.... In contrast to the Big O the weekend before, the May Mayhem Triathlon enjoyed near-perfect weather conditions on Saturday. Tim Battles traveled to eastern Illinois and took advantage of the event as he continued to tune for USAT Nationals in June. He finished second overall in 1:03:40 to Craig Robinson (1:01:10). Gabe Lee Runyon (1:05:30) came home in third. On the women's side, experience counted for much as the division was won by 51 year old Martha Whitacre in a great effort (1:14:28). Kathy Wiesen (45) finished 2nd in 1:19:41 and Sydney McCrae (41) came through third with her 1:20:35. Results

May 11 - Dirt Rag presents its 2007 "What's Your Mission?" contest. Submit the winning photo and written description of your favorite off-road ride and earn a Diamondback Mission 3 equipped with Deore XT and a trip to Interbike in Las Vegas, among other prizes. The winner will be deemed as the most inspiring and best written piece with the highest quality photo. Web... Giro is branching out yet again. The bicycle helmet maker who began selling footwear last year will launch a line of eyewear this fall. Five styles of sunglasses will be offered... The Race Across America is one month away. 29 solo riders and 42 teams will set out from Oceanside, CA on a 3,000 mile bike race to Atlantic City, NJ. The route will once again pass through the St Louis metro area with control points in Marthasville, on Hwy 67 just before the Alton Bridge, and in Greenville, IL... The lone St Louis area team appears to have withdrawn its entry. Web... Cyclists embarking upon Katy Trail crossings this weekend are advised to check for details on flood water possibly encroaching the trail. Some western sections of the trail may have been more vulnerable than others, particularly near Jefferson City and Rocheport. Web

May 10 - The Memphis in May Triathlon takes place on May 20. This event typically draws a sizable St Louis area contingent as they travel to Edmund Orgill Park in Millington, TN for a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and 10k run. Whether one chooses to race the MIM mountain bike triathlon on Saturday, the road bike triathlon on Sunday, or both, the trip alone is worth it for some Memphis barbeque. web... Who is thinking about Autumn in the middle of Spring? Runners, that's who. October 7 seems to be a red-letter date in the sport of running. Advanced registration is booming for some of the biggest runs in the country. Taking place on that day are the sold-out Chicago Marathon (35,000), the soon to be sold-out Twin Cities Marathon weekend (16,000) and Army 10-Miler (26,000). In total, there are 19 marathons scheduled across the US on that date... Sarah Haskins posted a race recap from the Lisbon BG World Cup Triathlon. web

May 9 - Florida 70.3 Ironman lies 11 days ahead for more than a dozen local triathletes. This sold-out event takes place at Disney World in Orlando. Participants should anticipate a non-wetsuit swim and blazing bike course. Then after 70.3 miles of redlining, racers will see (perhaps both real and imagined) large, cartoonish characters prowling the Disney property. web... National Bike To Work Week begins on Monday, but now may be the time to start planning those two-wheeled commutes. For some riders, that may mean dropping off a proper change of clothes at the office ahead of time or scouting out shower facilities located nearby. Whatever it takes, you are encouraged to leave the fossil fuel burner in the garage and add some bonus miles to your training regimen. The week culminates in National Bike To Work Day on Friday, May 18. As they have done in the past on that day, Trailnet will host breakfast stations. This year they will provide bike commuters with calories and hydration at four locations. The Continental breakfast will be provided 6:30-9:00am at: Memorial Park in Clayton, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Missouri History Museum, and the American Institute of Architects (305 N Broadway). web

May 8 - In a bit of pro cycling news that may have been sadly inevitable, Ivan Basso finally admitted on Monday to his involvement in the blood doping scheme unveiled by Operation Puerto. The rider came clean after months of vehement denial. He no longer wears the Discovery jersey and will likely face a two-year suspension. This turn of events would appear to elevate Levi Leipheimer to Disco's number one man at the Tour de France... The Lincoln Marathon took place over the weekend up in Nebraska. The race saw 1075 runners cross the finish line with the first making it in 2:30:47. Local area runners completing the 26.2 miler were: Steven Chorma (O'Fallon, IL) 2:55:29, Thomas Jackson (O'Fallon, IL) 2:55:35, Chris Arnold (St Louis) 2:57:42, Richard Witt (O'Fallon, IL) 3:00:58, Dewey Barsaloux (Clayton) 3:06:17, Carol Wright (Wildwood) 3:31:55, Jay Disman (St. Charles) 4:01:11, Amy Warner (St Louis) 4:51:27, Kenneth Butts (Florissant) 4:52:59

May 7 - The Race For Sight triathlon took place yesterday in Columbia, MO. The Age Group divisions were led by: Male: 1-Kevin Nickel (Goessel, KS) 1:03:42, 2-Jason Halfpap (Urbandale, IA) 1:05:30, 3-Josh Littrell (Kansas City, MO) 1:06:40; Female: 1-Kristin Moore (St Charles) 1:11:26, 2-Karla Lang (Boonville) 1:13:08, 3-Meghan Lapeta (Downers Grove, IL) 1:13:36... The men's and women's Formula Divisions were won by Matt Chrabot (Virginia Beach, VA) and Jill Petersen (St Louis) respectively. results... The Run For Sight 5k didn't require swim goggles or a bike, but it did necessitate foot speed if you wanted a prayer of winning. Tim Bradley possesses that attribute and it showed with his 15:36 effort. Ben Glass (15:50) finished second and Michael Aitken (16:06) came through in third position. On the Women's side, Candace Caveny of Mascoutah, IL hit the tape in 19:05 for the win. Amy Fruland (19:24) was runner up and Chris Williams-Mrotek (20:57) finished third... Congratulations to Sarah Haskins for earning her career best World Cup finish. She narrowly missed the podium with a 4th place finish at the Lisbon BG Triathlon World Cup Triathlon. Sarah took home a nice pay check and valuable points. The day was won by Vanessa Fernandes in her home country Portugal before tens of thousands of fans. Some very nice still shots of the race, including several of Sarah, and a video can be viewed on the ITU web

May 6 - Big Shark is offering a complete travel package for the Tour of Missouri. The six day and five night trip will include lodging, meals, rides, SAG, mechanical support, Tour viewing, and all transportation. This is a great way to fully experience world class bike racing. web... If you are one of the 9,500 runners registered for the soldout Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN, you'd better leave your iPod at the hotel on race day. The event will enforce USATF rule #144.3b which prohibits the use of electronic devices on the racecourse. Those carrying/wearing these devices will be given the option to surrender their music device to a designated race official prior to entering the starting line gates. Participants who choose not to surrender their device will be disqualified. The USATF rule specifically states: "The visible possession or use by athletes of video or audio cassette recorders or players, TV's, CD or DVD players, radio transmitters or receivers, mobile phones, computers, or any similar devices in the competition area shall not be permitted." Until now, the rule has not been as aggressively enforced by road race event directors. It will be noteworthy to see if other USATF events follow suit. Triathletes have complied for years with a similar rule in USAT sanctioned races... For the fifth year, the World Triathlon Corporation has auctioned Ironman World Championship slot on eBay. This year they have four to sell, the first of which went on the block April 29. The $10,000 minimum bid was immediately met and has since risen to $33,200. Good luck to all bidders. web... The Ironman Lottery is complete and 150 lucky US citizens had their tickets to Kona stamped. The complete list of winners may be viewed here. Perhaps even more compelling than their stories may be the odyssey of Scott Rigsby— think Sarah Reinertsen x2. Triathlon is nothing new for this double leg amputee but the iron distance, that's a whole different game. Scott is scheduled to start at IM CDA on June 24, but in the meanwhile threw his name in the PC lottery for Kona. Bingo, he's in. Most Ironman fans felt that Rudy Garcia-Tolson, the determined spokesperson for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, would be the first athlete with double leg prosthetics to cover 140.4 miles... The 2007 Ironkids Triathlon schedule has been released. The once extensive national series has been winnowed down to just five events. July 29 - Louisville, CO; August 19 - Gwinnett County, GA; Sept. 2 - Lawrence, KS; Sept. 16 - Allen, TX; November 18 - Tempe, AZ web

May 3 - The Steamboat Classic Triathlon took place under summer-like conditions last Sunday. At the end of the day, the men's overall champion's trophy once again rested in the familiar hands of the ageless Barry Knight who won this event for the umpteenth time. Congratulations. Men: 1-Barry Knight (40) 1:16:16, 2-Jay Orr (36) 1:18:11, 3-Eric Sullivan (26) 1:18:49; Women: 1-Kirsten Sass (27) 1:24:44, 2-Jennifer Meyer (43) 1:27:17, 3-Maureen Conley (23) 1:33:11... The Sullivan Civic Center Triathlon drew 240 individuals and 5 teams to east central Illinois to swim .25 mile, bike 13.4 miles, and run 3.1 miles. Men: 1-Daniel Bretscher (23) 55:15, 2-Chris Sweet (28) 59:01, 3-Tim Battles (37) 59:15; Women: 1-Jessica Aveyard (27) 1:10:41, 2-Kim Genenbacher (39) 1:13:23, 3-Aimee Dziekan (33) 1:13:50... American marathoners have been a long-suffering group while awaiting the next hopeful capable of challenging the juggernaut of Kenyan, Ethiopian, Moroccan, etc. runners. The time may be now and the name is definitely Ryan Hall. A few months removed from shattering the American half-marathon record, the Stanford graduate ran his first marathon at Flora London— and did he ever run. His 2:08:34 placed him 7th in one of the strongest marathon fields in recent time. At just 20, Hall is years ahead of his peers who have amassed much more experience. With a little more seasoning, look for Hall to bring prominence back to American marathoning... After cashing in with 2nd place at the St Anthony's Triathlon, Sarah Haskins is off to Portugal for the Lisbon BG Triathlon World Cup. She'll have to put her time trialing back in the cupboard as she returns to the draft-legal ITU format. A $100,000 USD total prize purse will be doled out between the men and women pros. Among the elite women at the swim start will be: Michelle Dillon, Vanessa Fernandes, Annabel Luxford, Kathy Tremblay, and Joanna Zeiger. Live web coverage begins at 4am CST. web

May 2 - The 2007 Tour de Grape has unfortunately been canceled. In what was to have been a fund raising event for the Haven House, the bicycle ride experienced lackluster registration resulting in its demise. Event coordinators hope to revamp the 2008 edition... The inaugural National Guard Freedom Run was staged on April 27. As rare as Friday evening races are, the 5k still drew nearly 75 runners to Collinsville, IL. The podium spots were filled by: 1-Justin Wieduwilt (24) 17:53, 2-Glenn Ezell (20) 18.58, 3-Greg Jackson (29) 18.44, 1-Chelsea Knaak (14) 22:56, 2-Kim Jackson (38) 23:56, 3-Stephanie Adams (24:53). The event was made remarkable not only by its teen-aged female winner, but also by a couple of fourteen year old males who placed top eleven while running sub-21 minutes, 9-Chris Beebe (14) 20:22 and 11-Steven Jackson (14) 20:49. Then there was William Zoughaib. This remarkable eight-year old runner came through the finish chute in 22:51. Results... The Jokers Wild Half Marathon course has been determined. Two highlights of the run are a lane closure of the Page extension and a jaunt up Marine Avenue to the top of Creve Couer Park. The event will offer all of the great amenities you've come to expect from Ultramax Events and is one not to miss. Map... The Steel Legs Century route is has been finalized and we can tell you that it is a doozy. If you are a cyclist looking to challenge your legs, as well as your resolve, we highly recommend this ride. A registration form can be found in the SBR Event Guide or downloaded here... FitPro Bicycles has opened their doors for business in Clayton providing highly personalized service for their clientele. Tim Ray and Dave Schindler bring considerable experience and know how to their digs at 516 South Hanley Road. Fits are by appointment. (314) 863-6455. web... Trailnet begins its annual series of ongoing weeknight rides this week. The Tuesday Night riverfront Trail Ride meets at 5:30pm at the parking garage at Lucas and Leonar K Sullivan. The Wednesday Night Central Corridor Road Ride leaves at 6pm from the Shaare Zedek Synagogue parking lot at 829 N. Hanley Road. Finally, the Thursday Night West County Road Ride assembles 6pm at the Des Peres City Park parking lot. Expect to find a wide range of cycling abilities at each of the three events.

April 30 -The St Anthony's Triathlon in St Petersburg, FL has become for many the "official" start of the triathlon season. With big prize money and a spectacular venue, the event draws an extremely competitive pro field and huge number of amateur athletes. After finishing 2nd in 2006, Sarah Haskins was poised to take the title this year. However, a wrong turn on the bike cost her critical time and she finished runner-up to Michele Dillon (1:57:45) by a mere 4 seconds. Jill Petersen of St Louis, who made her professional racing debut in the event, came through in 2:09:42 (14th position). In all, more than two dozen St Louis area triathletes competed. Ten year old Hannah Ossola of Collinsville, IL finished the Meek and the Mighty kids triathlon (1M Run-3.6M-100yd Swim) in 34:57... Traveling to St Petersburg wasn't necessary for St Louis area athletes to bask in Florida-like weather over the weekend as the Metro heated up. It seemed that area race directors must have somehow known this months ago having scheduled an overflow weekend of road races... The Run For the Stars 10k was not the Senior Olympics, but a glance at the results might have led on to believe otherwise with all three top men and two of the top three women over 45 years of age. Kudos to those remarkable runners for maintaining their fitness and competitiveness through the years. 1-Bobby Williams Florissant (54) 38:33; 2-Bernie Violand Wildwood (57) 38:53; 3-Bob Chott Manchester (49) 39:12; 1-Mairi Burfoot Ballwin (38) 41:22; 2-Carol Wright Wildwood (47) 43:59; 3-Nancy Planells St Louis (46) 44:46... On the other hand, the March of Dimes 5k witnessed some young blood making a statement as a couple of teenagers made ran their way to podium finishes. 1-Ron Chisholm (45) 17:00; 2-Chuck Clark (16) 18:43; 3-Miso Orecanin (42) 20:06; 1-Stephanie Tuttle (38) 23:18; 2-Christina Sperling (23) 23:25; 3-Brittney Caramatti (15) 23:52.

April 24 - The Max Trax Duathlon took place over the past weekend. Overall winners in the long course event (2.5 mile run - 15 mile bike - 2.5 mile run) were Ted Zderic of Columbia, MO (1:08:20) and Stephanie Hood of Elsah, IL (1:16:08). The short course (1.5 mile run - 7.5 mile bike - 1.5 mile run) was won by Brian Schoenholz of Wentzville (39:45) and Sacha Dodson of Columbia, MO (49:06). Congratulations to the quartet. 250 individuals made the starting line between both races.

April 23 - Tour de Georgia Blog - Friday - My week in Georgia is nearly complete and one lesson I'll bring home is that southern hospitality is more of an actual phenomenon than cultivated myth. The people I've encountered have been as pleasant as the Georgia spring. I took a moment to introduce myself to TdG race director, Jim Burrell, and convey how genuinely impressed I was with his staff and organization, many of whom will make the trip to the Show Me state in September. I also managed to raise a few eyebrows as well as inquiries at dinner while donning my black Tour of Missouri t-shirt. Hey, some early pre-ToM publicity is a good thing... Thursday - This morning found us driving a huge truck up the steep, winding road of Brasstown Bald to deliver product for the race hospitality room. That was far easier than pedaling up it but still presented its unique kind of excitement (event more so on the descent). The Forestry Dept. worker who lives on the mountain gave the two of us a private tour of the fire observation tower, a place tourists are generally not allowed. The view was spectacular as the sun rose over the bluish, misty mountain line to the east. For a few moments, the top of my head was above everyone on the ground in the state of Georgia. After a drive back to Rome for product, we settled into to a Holiday Inn in Dalton. For me, an hour session on the elliptical machine was a poor substitute for the fantastic ride I was privileged with yesterday, but sometimes we have to take what we can get. We ended the day at very nice (operative word for attendees: free) staff dinner where a curtain partition separated us from the rider dinner, and yes, I'll take two desserts please. Wednesday - After the excitement of seeing the race yesterday in Rome, we were assigned the task of making a product delivery to the finish of Friday's stage at the summit of Brasstown Bald. While I unfortunately didn't get to see today's race, I definitely made the most of the day. Our work was finished by early afternoon which allowed me ample time to rent a road bike from the shop just one hundred yards from the hotel. A fifty miler in the Appalachian Mountains was just the tonic for this cyclist jones-ing for pedal time. Very smooth roads, virtually no traffic and a seemingly endless series of mountain climbs and descents were capped off with a climb up the incredibly difficult Brasstown Bald. That was 3 miles of grinding in my lowest gear. I can't imagine how the pros will fly up this very daunting climb come Friday. Tuesday - The 139 mile stage was the beneficiary of sunny and warm day as the thermometer nearly reached 80 degrees. The jumbo video screen at the finish area allowed spectators a nice telecast of the race until the peloton reached town. Three laps of the circuit in town had these world class riders simply flying though the streets of Rome. The atmosphere was electric. My lasting impression of the day was that of anticipation for the Tour of Missouri come September. Monday - I spent the day in Rome preparing for the peloton's arrival on Tuesday. After my work was completed, I rented a bike from a quaint local shop and headed out for a spin. I rode partially along the small circuit the peloton will traverse a few times after they hit town, including a few climbs up the famous Clock Tower Hill. But mostly, I just rode along some very smooth roads, soaking in the sunshine and the wooded scent of the Marshall Forest until I purposefully got lost and then GPS'ed my way back to the shop. Once back in town, I happened upon one of the PC athletes who will race in an exhibition. When we bid adieu, I got very good sense from his handshake of the massive strength in this athlete's arms. My work partner and I will remain in Rome today instead of driving ahead of the race so we'll get to spectate a bit.

April 19 - Congraulations to all to the local finishers at Ironman Arizona.
12:05:59 Sean Brennan, St Louis M18-24 22/83
12:37:52 Kevin Brennan, St Louis M50-54 27/94
12:55:15 Curtis Brooks, St Louis M45-49 80/203
12:35:07 Lou De Guiseppe, St Louis M40-44 134/330
13:44:16 Mason Duchatschek, Washington M35-39 271/426
14:26:58 Charles Duggan, Glendale, M35-39 311/426
10:57:36 Derek Freund, St Charles M25-29 21/133
14:29:35 Andrea Marshall, St Charles W25-29 28/45
11:47:34 Scott Torneten, St Charles, M40-44 88/330

April 17 - Charter Cable will retain the Versus channel. Here is the e-mail that was sent out: "After a long discussions with Comcast Networks about how to best serve our customers. We are pleased to report that we will continue to have both the Golf and Versus channels. Our services will continue without interruption. Thank you for taking the time to email us and express your concerns."... The 111th Boston Marathon was won by Robert Cheruiyot (2:14:13) and Lidiya Grigoryeva (2:29:18). For the Kenyan runner, Cheruiyot, it was his second in a row at Boston and it put h