You are likey to end up in the criminal court if you or your family is the victim of a vehicular homicide, hit-and-run or is hit by a drunk driver. Bicyclists who fall victim to criminal conduct have the right to be heard and compensated. Most criminal defense attorneys would agree that victims of crimes should be fairly compensated for their losses. In fact, any seasoned defense attorney knows to work with victims to recover losses in hopes of mitigating his client’s sentence and to demonstrate remorse.
Since athletes are often unfamiliar with a formal court setting, I’ve decided to outline a brief list of your rights to help minimize your stress, anxiety and frustration.

Your rights in court
First of all, you have the right to be heard in court. You can walk up to the podium and explain your losses – emotional and monetary. You can even comment on sentencing of the defendant. Knowing this, defense attorneys will often cooperate with you early on in the case. Being heard, or apologized to in open court is healing.
You also have the right to be notified by the district attorney and probation department of the status of a court proceeding, especially if you’re subpoenaed. You’re also entitled to the return of your bicycle or other property which was needed as evidence.
Finally, you have the right to be informed by the prosecutor of the final disposition of the case and be provided with information concerning the victim’s right to civil recovery. This includes compensation from the State Restitution Fund.

When we launched our site a year ago, we had many goals,  some long term and some short.  Today we are proud to announce that we have taken the first step in total world domination!!!!

Or as we like to call it spreading the T-Dot love.

The T-Dot symbol has been recognized as the official symbol for the sport of triathlon in the country of Nevis!

“We are thrilled to make the T-Dot the official symbol for Triathlon in Nevis ,” said Winston Crooke, President of the St Kitts & Nevis Triathlon Federation .  “Like the people at T-Dot, we are passionate about the growth of our sport and support the positive steps T-Dot has taken to help our sport grow.  We have a strong multi-sport community here in Nevis and host international races that attract people from all over the world who share that passion, we look forward to a long and successful relationship with T-Dot.”

As we have always said, if you have ever crossed the finish line, first, last, sprint or 140.6 distance, you are a member of the T-Dot community and we are happy to have you, and nutty about Nevis.

David Wallach founder of T-Dot is thrilled about the merger, “being able to make this happen with Nevis and their organization is a dream come true!  It’s amazing to think about how far we have come in a year, I can’t wait to  see what happens in the coming .”

To some it may seem like a small step, but to be recognized in this manner is a huge source of pride and something that are excited to be a part of.  

We’re not stopping with Nevis, look for the T-Dot at the Olympics, on national TV and maybe even your country.

Photos Courtesy ITU-Copyright Slike Insel

Spain’s Javier Gomez has firmly asserted himself as triathlon’s best after winning his first elite world championship today in Vancouver, Canada. He joins teammate and friend Ivan Rana as the only Spanish athletes to win elite world titles. Bevan Docherty, the world champion from 2004, took the silver just ahead of Switzerland’s Reto Hug.

The crowd erupted as Whitfield was first to emerge from the water and into transition. But the lead was slim as he had many top contenders nipping at his heels including his own teammate Paul Tichelaar, pre-race favourite Javier Gomez and reigning European champion Frederic Belaubre of France.

With enormous Olympic implications at stake, eyes were on Australian Brendan Sexton, American Matt Reed, Russian Dmitry Polyansky and Canadians Kyle Jones and Brent McMahon in several fascinating races within a race.

Close to 50 men cycled in the lead group for most of the 40-kilometer bike course. In that group were several of the major players including Whitfield, Gomez, Belaubre, Reed, Reto Hug and Bevan Docherty. The first chase pack was down by almost a minute midway through the bike but continued to lose time. By the time they rode into transition, the chase was down by almost two full minutes. The situation was worse for the second chase group who came into T2 more than five behind the leaders.

Click here for exclusive world championship video

Great Gift-November 29, 2007

Sometimes you look for an answer, but you don’t really find it.

Sometimes the answer you get was not what you were hoping for.

Sometimes you find an answer you were not looking for. People often call that a surprise. Recently I found a very nice surprise.

As a licensed coach with USA Cycling and Carmichael Training Systems my job is to give athletes good training advice. As a licensed USA Cycling mechanic I am expected to give people good mechanical advice. As an athlete myself, I am always looking into anything that will help me. Finally, as a bike shop owner customers expect me to give them good product advice. All this means doing a lot of homework.

I continue to study in all these areas and more so I can do those jobs well. However, even when looking for answers, I still run into the occasional surprise. The latest surprise came when I was asked to test and review the new Neo Pro crank set and bottom bracket from the folks at Full Speed Ahead.  

I was eager to take on the task, there has been a lot of buzz about the Neo Pro since Fabian Cancellara won the World Time Trial Championshpis riding on the Neo Pro, but as a shop owner I know that “buzz” and fact can be two separate things.  I was about to find out.

This is what they say about the Neo Pro on the Full Speed Ahead web site:

Photos Courtesy ITU- Copyright Frank Wechsel 

Great Britain’s Helen Tucker pulled off one of the most shocking upsets in recent triathlon history as she became the new triathlon world champion today in Vancouver. It was a thrilling sprint finish between Tucker and American Sarah Haskins down the final stretch. Less than a minute later, the fans were treated to another incredible sprint finish for the bronze with Samantha Warriner edging out Australians Erin Densham and Emma Moffatt. Shockingly defending champion Vanessa Fernandes finished a disappointing 10th place.

The Americans and Brits dominated out of the water holding the first five positions including Beijing hopeful Sarah Haskins and Helen Tucker, recent silver medalist at the Madrid world cup. Heavy pre-race favourite Fernandes exited the water in seventh place 14 seconds down. The crowds erupted as Kirsten Sweetland was the first Canadian out of the water in 14th place, trailing by 23 seconds.

Out onto the testing 40-kilometer bike course that included one substantial hill, six women made up the lead group including Fernandes. However, late in the first lap, Haskins and Tucker decided to break away and rode through after the second lap holding an 18-second lead. Their pair worked well together and increased the lead to a full minute by the midway mark. The first chase pack included Emma Moffatt and Fernandes. Just 13 seconds back was the large second chase group which contained a number of big names such as Laura Bennett, Lisa Norden, Erin Densham, Kate Allen and the powerful Kiwi trio of Andrea Hewitt, Samantha Warriner, and Debbie Tanner. The group also included Canadians Kathy Tremblay and Kirsten Sweetland, both looking for top-8 results for automatic selection to the Olympic team.

On the fifth lap, the second chase group caught up to form one huge chase group of 34 women all in pursuit of the leaders Tucker and Haskins. The second chase pack was more than three minutes behind and included Asian Champion Ai Ueda and Canadians Carolyn Murray and Lauren Groves.

The bike portion was similar to last year with Haskins in a two-woman breakaway. Eventually she was reeled in late in the run by Warriner but she managed to hang on for the silver. This year, Haskins and Tucker continued to hammer it out on the bike, building the lead to 1:40 after the sixth of eight laps, and then to 2:02 with one lap to go. The second chase group also continued to lose time and found itself down by almost four minutes.

That's right T-Dot is a year old and we are celebrating the best way we know how, by giving the gifts to you!

This bike literally cuts through the wind.  The TT02 has aerodynamically optimized tube sets, and its heart of carbon makes is the TT01’s little brother. Our time trial machines are in widespread use, wherever fast times in time trials or triathlons are needed.

"It was the little show that could," but it didn’t.

A bonk right at the finish line for the triathlon reality show.

Producers informed us that the network that they were working with passed on the concept for this year and decided to go with another sports related show.

“The interest and the market is there,” said one of the casting producers Steve Michaels, “we received over 500 e-mails from athletes looking to be on the show.  It sucks, but we aren’t giving up, and are targeting another network or might try and raise the funds ourselves to air the show.”

If you applied to be on the show, you should be receiving a “Dear John” e-mail within the week.

“it’s the worst part of our job is letting people down like this, it’s hard.”  Michaels shared with us.

So for now, the cameras will be pointed at something else, 30 plus models, another Real World and romance sick bachelors looking for love.  While we continue to train!

If your performance has reached a plateau you might consider the following drills a few times a week to improve explosiveness, foot strike and lateral mechanics.
 
High Knees
Pull one knee up after the other while striding forward until your thigh is parallel to the ground.  Repeat for 15 – 30 seconds making sure that you feet land square to your hips.
 
Skips
Trying to land flat footed or near the heal push into the ground with each step.   Repeat for 15 – 30 seconds while learning to keep hips underneath you.  
 
Butt Kicks
Raise one heel after the other in a rapid fashion toward your buttocks while keeping your shoulders, thighs and knees in a straight line to increase leg turnover and power while running. Repeat for 15 – 30 seconds.
 
Scissor Kicks
Beginning from a standing position push off from one foot keeping leg straight.  Repeat with other leg using your arms, legs hamstrings and glutes to move you forward.  Repeat for 15 – 30 seconds.

For customized  workout plans Click Here .

For Past Training Bible Workouts Click Here .

 
 Jeff Vicario

TrainingBible Coaching
 www.TrainingBible.com

On-Demand Coverage Includes European and World Championships

 World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) is providing a special highlight show recapping every stop on the 2008 ITU World Cup Series including the highly-anticipated World Championships taking place in Vancouver next week. Fans will get an in-depth look into each event, including athlete interviews, behind the scenes action and highlights from the event all on wcsn.com .

The annual BG Triathlon World Cup Series features 16 dynamic events in some of the most spectacular venues across the world. In addition to winning substantial prize money at each stop, athletes earn points to secure Olympic spots for their nation. The top 8 countries in the men's and women's Olympic rankings will get to send a full team comprised of three athletes to the Olympic Games in Beijing, China this August.

The U.S men's team is currently in 7th place, thanks to a stellar performance by Matt Reed at the Madrid World Cup over the weekend. Reed will be competing at the Worlds in Vancouver on June 8, the final event to offer Olympic qualifying points, to ensure the U.S remains one of the eight countries to have three men on their Olympic team. The U.S. women have already secured their three slots. Both the U.S. men and women will be selecting their final team members based on the results of the Des Moines World Cup on June 22.

ITU Highlight shows will be posted on-demand on www.wcsn.com. Please visit WCSN for updated schedules, news, results, photo galleries and more information.


SCHEDULE*:
June 8 Vancouver, CAN Vancouver World Championships
June 22 Des Moines, USA Des Moines BG Triathlon World Cup
July 5 Hamburg, GER Hamburg BG Triathlon World Cup
July 13 Tiszaujvaros, HUN Tiszaujvaros BG Triathlon World Cup
July 20 Kitzbuhel, AUT Kitzbuhel BG Triathlon World Cup
Sept 27 Lorient, FRA Lorient BG Triathlon World Cup
Oct 12 Chiapas, MEX Chiapas BG Triathlon World Cup
Nov 16 Huatulco, MEX Huatulco BG Triathlon World Cup

*Highlight show posted after the event.