Triathlon Update...

Better check the under the cushions to find some pennies, it's my fave time of the year. What? Why? Because for only 45000 or so US dollars, Bike-y, or any of you, can buy your way into the Ford Ironman World Championships in Kona this October. Yep, the annual "charity" auction (i refer to it as a way for really rich people to sneak into the race) is on, where 6 slots are up for grab in weekly eBay auctions. This week's auction doesn't end until Saturday night, so some of you can still buck up and get in. Let me know how it goes...

Speaking of Ironman, the spring Ironman series is in full swing. Cam Brown (7 in a row) and Jo Lawn (6 in a row) won Ironman New Zealand in March, while Chrissie Wellington (she's now 3 for 3 in Ironman) and Patrick Vernay won Ironman Australia in April. Then Ironman South Africa was won by Stephen Bayliss and Bella Comerford (by 5 seconds). Ironman Arizona also had a close finish with Jozsef Major winning (the Top 4 were separated by 70 seconds or so) the Men's race and Erika Csomor beating Michellie Jones by 11 minutes in the womens race. Finally, last weekend the inaugural Ironman China event was won by Belinda Granger and Olaf Sabatschus.

Okay, what does that tell us about what will happen in Kona? Ummm, nothing. Lots of Europeans and North Americans have yet to race this year at the full Ironman distance, and last year at this time we hadn't heard of Chrissie Wellington and Sam McGlone was a complete unknown. The only result that surprised me a bit was Erika Csomor winning Arizona (she also won 70.3 at Oceanside) so she is obviously a contender this fall.

Here's a good news/bad news story. It's expected that Andy Potts will race Kona this year in his first attempt at 140.6 distance. Really cool. However, unless he has a great day soon, he won't be in Beijing. In Tuscaloosa last weekend (part 2 of the USA's "Haul to the Great Wall" Olympic Qualifying Program) Andy Potts finished 2nd to Matt Reed for the automatic spot. Julie Swail Ertel (who was an Olympian on the US Water Polo team in Sydney) got the Women's spot. That leaves one race for the final spot (the ITU race in Des Moines) and there a lot of top competitors who need a spot, including Hunter Kemper (#1 in the world 2006) and Andy Potts on the mens side, and Sarah Haskins (#8 in the world 2007) still looking to get there. Should be fun to watch...

On the Beijing front, there are two Canadian updates this week. One, Colin Jenkins, who may get the third discretionary Canadian spot due to his great swim/bike abilities, has started a blog about his Road To Beijing on Slowtwitch. Here's Part 1 and Part 2. Interesting life of a pro triathlete. His Canadian teammates Kyle Jones, Brent McMahon, and Bike-Y fave, and St Albert 10 miler winner, Paul Tichelaar are racing this weekend in South Korea. Also racing on the womens side are Kirsten Sweetland (first race in 2008) and Lauren Groves. And as I just found out, Chrissie Wellington is also racing this race! So it will be an interesting day in South Korea. Watch live on triathlon.org or on-demand Monday during work hours at WCSN.

Sunday is also the day for the coolest-named bike race, Liege-Bastogne-Liege (second place goes to Fleche Wallone). This year there lots of big names favored to win the 261 km (with 12 climbs!) race in its 94th edition. Favorites include Damiano Cunego, Paolo Bettini, Davide Rebellin, Frank Schleck, Thomas Dekker, Cadel Evans, and Alejandro Valverde. Pretty solid group, could make a Top 5 at the Tour out of that group.

One last pro cycling/doping update. Ivan Basso will be back in the peloton in 2009, as he signed today with Team Liquigas. Good for him as he will have served his 2-year suspension for "attempted doping". Hmmm. Anyhow, if he comes back and is competitive it will be good for the sport.

I'm going to round out this week's by being lazy and posting two cool stories I found the last while. One is of Ironman interest (a Sports Illustrated feature on the 1983 Kona race) and the other is looking forward at a cool up-and-coming US cyclist whose parents were both World Champions. Both are worth reading. And on the Canadian non-Bikey side, here is a cool new Nike video featuring Steve Nash, just in time for the NBA playoffs. Pretty cool i thought.

Enjoy...see you on Friday!

Some terrible news...

This morning i got a headline about a swimmer getting attacked by a great white shark off the coast of San Diego. Sad sad sad...

Be careful out there...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20080425-1223-bn25shark3.html

Bike-Y goes NUTS!

Wow,

If you thought last week was bike-y crazy, then this week will push you over the edge. I've also discovered that pushing stories back results in me never getting to them, so I'll just slam all the stuff I've got into one Ultra-Large Bikey on week's like this. And I promised Canadian Olympic Triathlon team stuff, so keep reading to the bottom. But first we begin with…

London Marathon - Awesome stories everywhere here. Mens race was possibly the fastest marathon ever run, with the top three guys running under 2:06. Yeah yeah yeah...so what? Up until Sunday, it had only been done 5 times in history. Yep, that's uber-fast. 3 men were together with a mile to go,Martin Lel, Sammy Wanjiru, and Abderrahim Goumri. At the 26 mile mark, it was only Lel and Wanjiru together, but a full-on sprint by Lel earned him the glory (the last 365 yards took him 57 seconds...unreal). The funny thing is Goumri ran the 6th fastest marathon of all time, and only finished 3rd in the race.

Although Ryan Hall got excluded from the last paragragh, he too had an amazing day. He ran 2:06:17 (47 seconds behind the winner) to finish 5th after getting dropped around mile 15. He caught the leaders at mile 21 (after running about 30 seconds behind) but got dropped again. This is only his third marathon and confirms him as an international superstar. He will definitely be a medal contender in Beijing.

The womens race came down to a relative no-name (compared to the two faves anyhow) from Russia, Irina Mikitenko, who ran the whole race from the front of the pack and pulled away alone in the last 5 miles to win by a comfortable 25 seconds with a solid 2:24:14. The two faves, Wami and Adere, finished 3rd and 7th. Personally, i think Mikitenko won because of her socks.



Oh yeah, the Maasai warriors finished their quest pretty well, and it's estimated they raised about 60,000 GBP (pounds) while running the marathon. Although they took a bit longer (5h24m) and one of them had to go to hospital because his costume or uniform or whatever you call their outfits was too tight.

That last link also contained a note on Haile Gebrselassie, who might have to do the marathon in Beijing because he might not qualify with a fast enough 10,000m time to qualify for the Ethiopian Olympic Team. That would be great (for us anyhow). Stay tuned.

On to Paris-Roubaix, where the race went as expected. Not a lot of breakaways (teams kept them close) then an epic three-person break with about 34 kms to go with two of the biggest names in the sport (Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara). It came down to a sprint (on the finishing velodrome no less), but you'll have to watch the video to find out who wins. But the video does have Phil Liggett, so that makes it extra cool.



And if you'll be in Paris (or Roubaix) in June, you can do a supported replica (for only 20 Euros!) of the 260 kms of Paris-Roubaix (with all the cobblestones). Now that would be fun, except for the 10 or 12 hours it would take most of us. Maybe something for the calendar in 2011 or so? The best part, in the rules, it says "Wearing a helmet is highly advised". Glad they added that little nugget...

Speaking of velodromes, Edmonton is getting a covered one! Yep, city council approved the funding to convert the outdoor velodrome to a beautiful UCI-approved (1 of 2 in North America!) 250 m indoor velodrome. Sweet. This is great for cyclists in Edmonton...can't wait to try it out on a frosty winter day!

Couple of miscellaneous updates: Trek is getting rid of Lemond bikes. Probably should have seen this coming a long time ago, since Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong have never seen eye-to-eye about anything. Anyhow, I guess that reduces our bike choices by one…

...and I found this one interesting too. Turns out in Germany you can dope all you want but get off if you pay a big fine. At least that it what appears to have happened with Jan Ullrich, who was being charged with fraud (deception of public, sponsors, and team). Anyhow, it appears that a cheque of one million Euros makes that all go away.

On tap this weekend: the Granddaddy of Marathons. The 253rd running (okay, not that many - just the 112th) of the Boston Marathon is Monday. With so many of the top men and women in the world having run London this past week, the pro field is a bit weak (although they do have almost $800, 000 in prize money). But the Monday race is overshadowed by Sunday's running of the US Women's Olympic trials. 162 women are supposed to start, the top three go to the Olympics, the rest go home. Very cool. The race is live on nbcsports.com at 8 am ET on Sunday. The fave here is Deena Kastor (who medalled at Athens, qualified with a very fast 2h19m) with a whole bunch of other women who have a chance (34 women qualifed with times between 2h31 and 2h41). From a Bikey point-of-view, I'll be cheering for #25 Desiree Ficker (2nd at Kona 06) who is trying to qualify. Although her best time is only 2h40 or so, who knows what could happen on Sunday? Plus she's much cuter than the other Texan who's running Boston on Monday...that would be Mr. Armstrong...



Okay, Canada's Olympic Triathlon spots. Here's the latest...Canada should get three Mens and 3 Womens spots for Beijing. Based on last years very confusing criteria, two Canadians (Simon Whitfield and Lauren Groves) already have their tickets to Beijing. Now for the rest of the probable candidates they need a Top 8 World Cup finish PLUS a Top 8 at Worlds (in Vancouver) to get an automatic spot. Then Triathlon Canada has some discretion on a potential third, as they have language in the rules to pick an "Team Concept Team Member" which I think means a domestique for the medal faves. They can also pick the discretionary third member as "potential podium winner for London 2012". Okay, where are we right now? Men: Paul Tichelaar already has two Top 8's so far this year, so he just needs the Top 8 at Worlds. The other 3 guys (Kyle Jones, Colin Jenkins, Brent McMahon) all need to get their first Top 8 before they get to Vancouver. If none of them make it, my personal fave for the last spot is Colin Jenkins, since he can swim fast and thus protect Simon on the bike. Plus he has a blog on slowtwitch.

For the ladies, Groves is in. That leaves Carolyn Murray, Kathy Tremblay, Kirsten Sweetland, and Jill Savege fighting for two spots. Tremblay finished 5th last week, and Sweetland/Murray/Savege are all signed for next weeks race in Korea. We'll keep watching this battle closely, but I'll pick Sweetland and Murray right here.

Oh yeah, the US has their second Olympic Qualifier this weekend. First male and female across the finish line at a race in Tuscaloosa. As of right now, 11 women and 9 men are registered. Both Andy Potts and Hunter Kemper still need a spot on the mens side (i'll pick Potts) and i'll pick Sarah Haskins over Becky Lavelle for the second womens spot.

And, since we're talking, Australia picked their team for Beijing this week. Only notable since Greg Bennett got named to their team. Family reunion for him, since his wife Laura has already got one of the US spots for Beijing. Their kids will be wicked fast I guess...

Next week, tons and tons of IRONMAN updates, plus some other triathlon tidbits...

More good news for Canada!

Yep, I decided to stay up late and get a close look at how Canada's own Simon Whitfield did in his first race of 2008. And, since I did that, he decided to make it worthwhile for me and WON the ITU World Cup race in Ishigaki, Japan. He made the lead bike pack of 15, managed to stay away from the chase group, and then outran the rest for his 11th (i think) World Cup victory.

Kudos also to Colin Jenkins for being second out of the water, winning at least one bike prime, and being a loyal soldier to Simon's cause. He might be a good teammate in Beijing after all...I promise to discuss the intricacies of this on Friday...

It's now 240am and I'm going to bed...see you on Friday...

Welcome back bike-y!

Sorry All, my little holiday has made updates a little sporadic lately, but I'll make two promises. 1. I dont see another holiday coming for a while, so we should be back to regular Friday (plus others?) updates and 2. There will be plenty this week to get your bike-y groove on...

Where to start this week...let's start with the runners. This weekend is possibly the biggest non-American Marathon, the Flora London Marathon. Although Paula Radcliffe is out with an injury, the womens race still has two Ethiopian superstars Geta Wami (who ran with Paula for 25 miles at NYC Marathon last November) and Berhane Adere (who won last years Chicago Marathon with a huge kick and won this years big money Dubai Marathon - $250,000) . Wami is disappointed that Radcliffe won't be racing (which sounds suspiciously fake). How can you be disappointed if Paula doesnt race? She's won every one but one of her marathons (and that was 2004 Olympics). Anyhow...if the women's race doesn't grab you...


...the Mens race just might. Let's see. Ryan Hall (ok, i'm already interested) is racing for the first time since the US Olympic Trials. Martin Lel is racing (NYC champ 07 and London champ 07). So is World Champion Luke Kibet. 2004 Olympic Champ Stefano Baldini is in. The 21-year-old world record holder (Sammy Wanjiru) in the half-marathon (58m53s) is in. So it should be an epic clash. I just can't wait to see what Ryan Hall can do...Actually, if you can't sleep on Saturday night, you can watch race video live and FREE here...but since it starts at 355 am ET, I will probably wake up and watch highlights...


Whoops, forgot one last London marathon story. 6 Maasai warriors will run the marathon, in their traditional garb (red robe, beaded jewelry, sandals made from car tires). I love the sandals...who need shoes?

Anyhow, the story about these Maasai warriors (drink fresh cows blood, kill a lion to prove their manhood, run for days on end while hunting, dont drink water for days) is pretty amazing. But they are running London as a way to raise money so their village can afford a new water source. Looking forward to hearing how they do, in both the marathon and in the fundraising.

Paul Tichelaar doesnt need to kill a lion to prove anything. Dude is tearing it up on the ITU World Cup circuit. The kid (ok, not a kid) from Edmonton has been great so far this year. Needing a top-8 World Cup finish to be eligible to qualify for an Olympic spot (more on this in another bikey i promise), he used a 31 minute 10K off the bike to finish 7th at Mooloolaba two weeks ago (in a race won by Javier Gomez). Then he went to New Zealand and finished 6th at the World Cup race this past weekend (also won by Gomez). In the NZ race, he actually led the race during the run after making a great move on the bike. It appears that his training with Simon Whitfield and the rest of the gang this winter in Arizona is paying huge dividends. He is not racing this weekend in Ishigaki but Simon Whitfield will race for the first time this year. This too can be watched online, and starts at the reasonable time of midnight ET on saturday evening. Heck, just stay up all night and watch triathlons and then the London Marathon...

You might have noticed that Javier Gomez seems to win most of the ITU races he competes in. That's because he is a world-class runner. This past weekend he ran the 10 km segment (which was actually measured at 10.2 km) in 29minutes and 37 seconds. Ridiculous. He's been on the podium 15 straight races! If this guy doesnt win the gold in Beijing it would be a major upset. It might be a battle for silver in August...

Ok, let's stay Canadian. Last weekend Canada had it's Olympic Swimming Trials. Over 700 swimmers started the week, and 27 lucky (and really fast) swimmers punched their tickets to Beijing. Oh yeah, 2 of the soon-to-be Olympians are only 15 years old! 10 Canadian records were broken during the week, so it appears Swimming Canada has got the ship turned in the right direction headed into Beijing. Actually, it could have been way better, since the newest must-have race accessory, the Speedo LZR Race Suit, was banned in the trials. Why is it banned? The suit is soooo fast (13 world records set with the suit in the month following it's introduction!) and sooo expensive ($550) that getting them for everyone would have been impossible and thus a competitive balance would have been tough to maintain. Here's a picture of the suit...


Since I do call this blog "Bike-Y" i guess i should get to cycling. Sunday is the day for the "Hell of the North", the biggest and most famous one-day cycling race in the world, Paris-Roubaix. It is 259 km filled with cobblestones, train crossings, and generally horrendous weather. How much fun does that sound like? There are actually 28 sections totalling 52 kms of cobblestones! We get jittery if we ride 50 m on cobblestones. Most of the big names are racing, with CSC's Stuart O'Grady as the defending champ. Cyclingnews.com wont let me "borrow" their pictures of the cobblestones, but here's a great shot to give you all a general feeling of what happens during the race.



Ok, thats it for now. Sorry for no videos this week, but I'll try to catch up with one or two next week! Enjoy the weekend!