Local Hero Jake O'connor!

Jake O'connor of Shawnee, Kansas competed at the World Hand Cycling Championships in Crested Butte, Clorado.

Read the entire story here:
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_4252866

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Gary Fisher Update

Steel is back for 2007.

Ben Schloegel TRI Update #3

Fresh off another brutal, brutal weekend of racing and back on the podium with a third place finish at Cat's 1/2 Ironman in Arkansas. Far and away the hottest I have ever been in a race before, temperature in the air 103, heat index above 110 and the pavement, who knows? This is a great race if you are training for Kona, US 1/2 nationals in Innsbrook or any other race where the elements and terrain will push you more than even the distances. The Northern part of Arkansas is extremely hilly, no switch backs there just straight up and straight on each and every climb, in that heat it will kick your ass. Stay hydrated and fueled and you have a chance.The water temp was 86 degrees, about the same as the air temp at race start, seven a.m. The swim was a bit on the long side only a few guys notched times under 30 minutes I was happy coming out just a touch over, I was amazed that to find I was sweating under my cap when I came out. In hind site I wonder what kind of hole swimming in that warm of water would put people in later on. A lot of guys would fall hard as the day progressed.Getting onto the bike, you climb for about 5 miles up to the ridge of the hills out there. All the roads are used for the logging industry up there and are in pretty good shape, it also makes for some great scenery when your racing. I caught all but about six guys within the first ten miles of the race, I had a great advantage of going up a long hill right out of the gates like I did. The ride out to the turnaround is really pretty flat, some rollers but after the first 15 miles it flattens out a bit. There is only three aid stations on the ride and at every one I tried to cover myself with as much ice water as possible, I can only imagine what a differnce it made for Landis to have a car and all that at his disposal his entire day. Anyway, the ride in was tough, more so than I anticipated you could really feel the heat coming on though around mile 35. There was two big hills, not long, but steep and they really played havoc with your legs suddenly using a totally different set of muscles. Getting back to T2 I was sitting in sixth place and new that I wanted to get on the podium I was about four minutes off 3rd and new that is where I wanted to end up, I didn't want to burn too many matches this close to Ironman Wisconsin so I thotled off quite a bit so to not totally trash my legs on that course. The run is brutal, a mile climb out of the lake and then basically a "T" intersection where you peel off both ways both of which drop you off into seprate climbs. The first one is a short half mile leg to the right, you turnaround and comeback about two miles past then back to the finish and/or to the start of the second loop. There is no shade on that run and if it was not for my own supply of GU vanilla bean and GU espresso love I would have been in a world of hurt. I had to pack in my own energy suppply though, the stuff they have out there just doesn't cut it, not in that heat. I finished strong and in the top, just where I wanted to be. I have never been more pleased with my training or condition leading into an Ironman, now if I can just stay healthy here at work and finish with some good speed work I think all the pieces will cometogether on September 10th. Take care.

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Frameset
SIZES
50, 52, 54, 56, 58cm
FRAME
Alpha SL Aluminum
FORK
Satellite Plus Edge, carbon
WHEELS
Bontrager Race X lite
TIRES
Bontrager Jones CXR, 700x34c, folding
Drivetrain
SHIFTERS
Shimano Ultegra STI, 10 speed
FRONT DERAILLEUR
Shimano Ultegra
REAR DERAILLEUR
Shimano Ultegra
CRANKSET
Bontrager Race Lite CX 46/38
CASSETTE
Shimano Ultegra 12-27, 10 speed
PEDALS
N/A
Components
SADDLE
Bontrager Race Lite
SEATPOST
Bontrager Race X Lite ACC Carbon
HANDLEBARS
Bontrager Race Lite VR, 31.8mm
STEM
Bontrager Race Lite, 7 degree, 31.8mm
HEADSET
Cane Creek S-3 w/cartridge bearings, sealed
BRAKESET
Avid Shorty 4 cantilevers w/Shimano Ultegra STI levers

Ben Schloegel TRI Update #2

Much like writing your own eulogy it must be painfull to do it once, a second time? Down right evil. Lets go back to a simpler time......
Topeka Tinman:
My second race of the season an Olympic distance race inTopeka, Kansas.
Being my first open water swim with a large group I took it pretty easy in the water. I felt like I had finished the swim strong, passing and catching a bunch of guys in the last 500 yard. I was pleased to exit the water somewhere in the top 10. Out of T2 I could tell it was going to be a really windy day out there, which I thought would be better for me, being a stronger cyclist and a smaller target. Out of the gates I passed a few guys right away, then I caught my cousin Bob (An awesome triathlete and one of the best all around guys in his age group world wide) by mile 7 and blew by him. Up ahead I saw the race leaders, you could tell they doing there best to battle the hard South winds. I slowly but surely had been pulling them in and was only about a 1/4 mile off there back wheel when we came to an intersection at around mile 17. I believe it was here where my entire season was sent off course temporarily. Kind of like that other famous intersection, Four Corners, where the devil made a deal for rock and roll, maybe not. The terrain was really undulating and I couldn't see ahead that far, so when the officer told me to turn left I did. Keep in mind the actual left hand turn was only about a 1/4 mile ahead, in hind sight this made pretty good sense. I rode about 3.5 miles down that rode, feeling more and more alone, kind of like the boy who begins to whistle in the woods at night when he is lost.
When I pulled up
to the next intersection it was painfully clear I was off course, I turned around and blazed back towards the intersection. When I re-arrived the police officer who sent me off course was still there "guarding" the intersection. You could tell he was kind of waiting for me, almost like he couldn't believe how long it had taken my dumb ass to figure out I was off course.
I asked him "officer, why did you send me off course".
He replied shrugging his shoulder and raising his palms up in a sort of clueless manner.
"I didn't think you were in the race".
It all made perfect sense to me then, how stupid I was to have those race numbers written on me, and that helmet with the big number ID and my stupid race wheel set and bike set up. I probably shoud have worn something more recognizable like hunting cammo and carried a shotgun, that way it would have been very clear- "I am here for the triathlon"!
You live you learn, the last time a cop made a technical error that involved me I saved about 2 grand and kept my ass out of detention. I guess me and the law is even now.
I finished the bike doing 28 miles of the 20 miles course, then took it easy on the run, I figured I would never be able to coast on a run again like that. I ended up 47th place overall, just out of the prize money. The only bummer was that if I would have ended the bike in the position I did, I believe I would have had a shot at the race. I am a strong runner and pulling back a quarter mile is always possible.
Spirit of Racine/US Pro National Championships
Well when your hot, your hot! When you got it, you let it ride. I would love to tell you that this race was a disaster because of a flat tire, that seemed to take forever to fix, or from the two times I threw my chain and actually had to stop and get off to fix. No this race was a disaster long before and after all of this happened; honestly in the end it would have barely come into changing the outcome. My first mistake was adding this race as late as I did to the agenda (about two weeks before hand). My second, being completely and totally overtrained, something my coach and I have addressed and corrected.
The swim was brutal, I fell off the pace of the front side almost right away and with it began my hardest day yet in the sport of triathlon. Let me put this in perspective for you, in 2003 IM Kona I caught two flats and was stuck on the side of the road for 30 plus minutes and then proceded to run on a completely busted right hip to finish. That race in Hawaii in no way touched the depths of desperation I felt in Racine, nor came close to matching the emptiness I would feel crossing the finish line. Racine would, in the end, be the toughest race I ever finished.
Back to the swim. The water in Lake Michigan was pretty choppy that day, I do great in flat conditions, okay in large swells, but choppy is really not my deal I think it has to do with the having to really focus on my breathing patterns. I came out of the water dead last of the pros, but I knew that something more was "off" than just being in choppy water. I think I knew even that morning it was going to get worse from there.
Moving in and out of T1 I even felt weird, as if all since of urgency was gone, I am usually pretty good at hustling through T1 and T2. Right away on the bike I could tell I was dragging, I didn't have any "snap" or "kick" at all in my legs, this was all to clear when guys I know and train with started to catch me. Keep in mind I wasn't in pain and I didn't feel like I wasn't working or hurting, but guys that I know who can't hardly keep my wheel during training rides where blowing by me. One of my friends Mark Carey (who I have to give props to for a great race) was a little shocked when he caught me, he rolled up on me and did a double take then just staight up asked.
"You feeling a little flat today?" The bizare part of that statement to me was how bad I must of looked, and been unaware of it, almost as if there was
a sign on my back. I must of looked bad, I even tried to sit on Mark's
wheel for a while, not to get an advantage, my race was long since over, but really just to see if I could find a rhthym again and get things going. It was useless, I felll of his wheel and stugggled in.
I have only DNF'd once in my life, to this day I feel it was justified and do not regret that descion. I have never walked the run or any portion of it in any race. In Racine I wanted so badly to do both, I felt like I totally embarrased myself and that I had no buisness racing as a pro. What was I thinking? Why do I feel like shit? Have I completely out performed my talent and long since peaked? I knew what I was doing this whole time, but when you get in that rut and your falling apart it is so difficult to talk yourself out of it. That was all I thought about for 13+ miles, it took me 1:22:00 to get through that run a long time by my standards and I swear I
was giving it my all that day. My legs, arms and lungs had no answer for
my brain that day.
My bike avg mph was only 22mph my run split and swims a dissaster, I left the race, packed and drove back that night with my friend Adam McIntosh.
Even though I had plane ticket out first thing in the morning I wanted to just get moving. I figured the car time would give me lots of time to try and figure it all out.
In hindsight, I was trying to throw in an "A" race performance in the middle of being totally overtrained. My coach had let me get away from using my powertapp and hr in training. I had begun to be consumed with quantity over quality and so on. My resting HR had been elevated and my sleep sub par in my journaling the three weeks prior. All classic signs of being overtrained, I addressed this immediatley with him and we quickly went into a rest intensive mode, doing nothing for three days and then simply jogging or riding for fun no watch, no gps. It was good to get my brain back on.
Oh yeah, I finished 8th out of the pros putting up a 4:30 something.
Concrete Man-
This race was the weekend after US PRo Champs, we were in town for my wifes 10 year highschool reunion. My coach and I decided that if I felt good it would be a good idea to try and "get back on the horse". I had a solid race, I had felt a slight bug working in my stomach and throat the entire week previous so I had to avoid the "red zone". I knew that I was going to have to go at about a 1/2 IM pace.
I swam well, killed the bike and had a strong run. I ended up crossing the finish line second. True to 2006 form though when I checked the results I amazingly had dropped to 10th place. Apparently I covered the 5 mile run course in 37 minutes (that is somewhere in the 7:20 range) I have had bad days, heck the week before was one of my worst, but I would know if I had ran that pace. All I can figure is that they put in me in a different "heat" and added about ten minutes to my time. I have e-mailed the race directors but heard nothing back from them.
Ladies and Gentleman that is all I can give you for race updates. I told myself afterTin man that I would hold off and couple that race report with the next, surely it would be more positive. I am afraid if I don't do something to break the cycle or end this hex I will end up insane. I am off to Arkansas next week to race in the heat and humidity, where I am most at home.