Courtesy The Chicago Tribune

Tribune photos by Jose M. Osorio, Chuck Berman, Jim Robinson 

 The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon was cut short for the first time in its history Sunday as hundreds of runners laboring across ovenlike streets were treated for heat-related illness.

The stoppage happened about 3 1/2 hours after the start gun on an abnormally sweltering autumn day, amid complaints of insufficient water for more than 35,000 runners who had come from around the world to compete in one of its pre-eminent marathons.

One runner, a 35-year-old Michigan police officer, died after collapsing in the race's 19th mile, but it was not clear whether the death was heat-related.
Chad Schieber of Midland, Mich., collapsed about 12 p.m. at 1500 S. Ashland Ave. and was pronounced dead on arrival at a West Side hospital at 12:50 p.m., the medical examiner's office said.

An autopsy will be performed Monday.

Despite the heat, executive race director Carey Pinkowski said race officials never considered canceling the race before it began because they believed the number of people running was manageable and that they could be cared for.

 
Chad Schieber is doused with water in the Chicago Marathon

With the introduction of the new 2008 Trek Equinox TTX 9.9 SSL , the fastest bike ever tested at the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel, is now also one of the lightest triathlon bikes on the market. Utilizing a combination of highly machined frame forgings that have been drilled-out or slimmed down to shave weight and Trek’s proprietary OCLV Red carbon—Trek’s most sophisticated carbon material—the new Trek Equinox TTX 9.9 SSL shaves a substantial 300g off of last year’s TTX 9.9 frameset.   

“Athlete’s like Chris Lieto and Levi Leipheimer have shown us—both through their performances and in their feedback—that the TTX is fast,” said Trek’s Road Bike Brand Manager Scott Daubert. “Now with our new OCLV RED TTX 9.9 SSL frame, we have a triathlon bike that’s not only faster than the competition, it’s also lighter.”

To back up the TTX’s speed claims, Trek recently paid a visit to the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel, bringing along a TTX, a “standard” road bike, and two competitors’ aero bikes. Some competitors base their speed claims on naked frame tests (i.e., no drivetrain installed, no cables routed, and no rider on the bike). But this “naked” approach doesn’t necessarily translate into meaningful aerodynamic performance, so Trek’s engineers set out to determine how each bike would perform in real-world conditions—that is, with the drivetrain, wheels, and cables installed, and with a rider seated on the bike. Once in the tunnel, Trek engineers used live digital image profiling to ensure a consistent rider position from bike to bike to bike. The same rider rode each bike using predetermined hard contact points to maintain an identical bike fit, and each bike was fully assembled with identical wheels, drivetrain, and handlebars. Based on repeated runs performed at different times throughout the testing session, the TTX proved itself faster than the competition in these real-world conditions.

 0* YAW

Here is some information that will help you understand that all wheels and forks are not created equal.  In this global market it is easy for companies to purchase "open tooling" products that resemble current category leaders.  Before buying any wheels, do the research needed to make an informed decision, and make sure that whoever you buy from does the research, development, design, tooling and tries to offer the best in technology for those areas to help make you faster.

The following series of photo's will help you better understand the importance of a good fork and show the air interaction with the fork and the potential rider legs and frame.  The wheel is spinning at approximately 22mph.  In the first picture, the air is coming from straight on, notice how the fork has stabilized and straightened the air.  You will also notice that the air has moved back toward the trailing edge of the wheel, this is done so the air will not hit the riders spinning legs.  By re-stabilizing and straightening the air flow with the rim shape and fork shape, when the frame interacts with the air it will cut more easily through it.

Courtesy The Boston Globe 

The push is on to bring back the rider who doesn't want high-end features

LAS VEGAS - To boost bicycle sales, Kozo Shimano is peddling simplified gears to the masses.

He's a third-generation executive of Japan's influential bicycle parts maker Shimano Inc., whose newest components are aimed at getting more average Joes on the road.

Bikes built around Shimano's "Coasting" parts shift gears automatically, brake with a simple backpedal, and generally cost about $500. They are meant for the 160 million Americans who know how to ride but quit years ago - a much larger group than the 20 million who bike at least a few times a year. A typical customer: Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who appeared on a Trek Lime with Coasting parts this summer.

"It's a huge untapped market," Shimano said last week at Interbike, the industry's biggest annual trade show.

It also represents a change of emphasis for Shimano and some of the other big brands. Previously, Shimano and partners like Trek Bicycle Corp. got a lot of attention as suppliers of the high-end equipment that Lance Armstrong rode to seven Tour de France victories.

But this year, the talk of the trade show was simple bikes for transportation around town and recreation. With bike sales level at about 20 million units a year for decades, and doping scandals tarnishing racing, many hope the new models will reinvigorate the industry.

Courtesy Competitive Cyclist 

All the bike industry big guns have tasty treats forthcoming in 2008: Shimano has their carbon fiber Dura-Ace crankset. Mavic revamped their entire high-end wheelset portfolio. And rumor has it that Assos will give their bib short line the same sort of face lift they gave their jerseys in '07. But no new product intro has had the same seismic effect as the new SRAM Red road gruppo.

What is Red? Here's your 50-words-or-less answer: SRAM took the fundamental functionality of their Force gruppo and souped it up with a cost-is-no-object mentality. The shifting (specifically between chainrings) is vastly enhanced. You get significant drag reduction through the use of ceramic bearings. And from an eye candy standpoint Red can't be beaten, especially thanks to its shamelessly NASCAR graphics package.

A decent abundance of technical info exists online for Red already. In fact, you can click on any of the images to get a detailed low-down on individual Red components. The purpose of this What's New entry is different: We want to give you a quick list of our impressions about Red (not to be confused with facts, of course.) Here's what stands out to us:

1. The #1 reason to buy Red. It's not because of weight or looks or durability or ceramic stuff. It's because it remedies the only real complaint we ever had about Force. As you might already know, Force allows you to micro-adjust (also known as "trim") the front derailleur in the small chainring only. This design detail was much to the chagrin of bike racers (Cat 3's and Saunier Duval alike) who like to prepare for the next inevitable attack by staying in the big chainring as much as possible, oftentimes in an ugly cross-chain gear like 53x23. Red now provides this elusive front derailleur trimming ability when you're in the big ring. Bid adieu to the heinous noise pollution you get when you cross-chain! Hurrah!

We had a yellow lab named Hobbes for 14 years, before he passed away four years ago.  
He was so old when I started training for the Ironman, he was never able to really train with me, as much as lick my face when the long runs and rides were over.

After four years of begging from our daughter, we finally gave in and adopted a 5 month old Golden Retriever that we named Kona.

I joked that it was as close to Kona as I would ever get. 

Besides having to adjust to all the things that puppies do (popping in the house, eating my shoes, pooping in the house) one of the coolest things about having a puppy was that she had lots of energy and I could run with her and run and run.
I had a new training partner and one that up until my recent surgery on my knee was always there for me, rain or shine.
8 days ago I had surgery on my knee and my plans for any type of racing have been postponed until at least 2009.  Despite being flat on my back and unable to walk, she never gave up on me and was always there to give me a lick and a smile.
Today while she was playing she got loose, was hit by a car and killed, instantly.

There are no words to describe the empty feeling or the pain we all feel.
I know a lot of you have and train with dogs, when you read this give them a pet for me and my family, take them for a run, throw them a ball give them a bone and say a prayer for our buddy Kona.

It’s not what you think.

When people think of college sports, they tend to think of images of screaming rabid fans, ear-splitting marching bands, bright lights and roaring noise, pretty cheerleaders, adoring groupies, varsity scholarships, equipment give-a-ways, training tables, special dorms, easy grades, and rolling around school being the Big Man On Campus.  As a result, when they hear of collegiate triathlon,  they envision it as part of a blissful world of big-time, supercharged, NCAA-powered athletic traditions.

But it’s not like that at all.