Rocky Reifenstuhl

2008 marks my 21st year of human-powered racing on the Iditarod Trail. I finished 5th in the 350-miler, with the 1,000 mile Nome race as my main focus. The 350 miles to McGrath were nearly all ridable, and the best- and most fun mountain biking.

After my 5th in the 350-mile McGrath race, I departed 15 hours later for Nome. I rode the 43 miles to Ophir, and then pushed nearly ALL of the 250 miles from Ophir to Galena in soft, unbroken, snow-drifted trails. And those 5 days of leaning over the bike 15 to 17 hours each day was too much for my right rhomboid back muscles. Additionally, my right arm and hand did not respond to my commands due to severe tendonitis partly from desperately trying to ride impossible trails.

by CycleOps Power Master Trainer, Charles "Joey" Adams

Are you a slow twitcher, a fast twitcher or do you just twitch when you get on your bike? It comes down to the specificity of how you train and knowing your power zones. Cycling is primarily an aerobic sport. The longer you use and develop your aerobic engine the stronger you will ride, unless you are trying to become a track sprinter. As you take a close look at the physiology of muscle fiber types you discover the keys to zone training and your power zones. In a very simplistic sense the Fast Twitch IIb fibers are your sprint fibers (the Phosphogen or PCr system below), the Fast Twitch IIa fibers are your Anaerobic Glycolysis fibers, and the Slow Twitch fibers are the Aerobic fibers. You can see in the graph below how these fibers might play out in the land of track and field (source ACSM).

Team Evotri was founded on the principal of everyday athletes challenging themselves and others to live a healthy and active lifestyle through endurance sports. With the opportunity to train and race with the same equipment and coaching of the pros, they will dedicate themselves to maximizing their potential, to sharing what they learn from their experiences, and to making a positive contribution to the endurance sport community.

Meet the Team

Stu/"Simply Stu" is an avid triathlete who loves to talk about triathlons and sport in general. His goal in life is simple: be a good father, husband, and loyal friend. Stu is married with two children. He has done countless triathlons and 10 marathons for Team In Training in support of his daughter who had Leukemia at 10-months-old.

Among his accolades, Stu is also the personality behind the Simply Stu Triathlon Podcast, which has consistently ranked in the top 100 sports podcasts on iTunes. The show has been featured on iTunes and has been ranked #2 of amateur sports podcasts. He is the team manager for Evotri. Visit Stu's web site.

Young Slipstream rider Martijn Maaskant recently took an impressive 4th place at 2008 Paris Roubaix. His racing steed was equipped with Zipp 303 wheels and a PowerTap. CycleOps Power takes a closer look at the difficult race through Maaskant's power file.

Slipstream head mechanic Kevin Grove.

Sitting in the Slipstream Team hotel the night before Paris Roubaix, CycleOps Power Director of Marketing David Cathcart caught up with Slipstream's Head Wrench Kevin Grove. Kevin reported that the team was feeling pretty good given the combination of the youth and form of Martijn Maaskant, 14th at Flanders, and the health and experience of Magnus Backstedt, 2001 winner. However, as it goes in cycling, there are ups and downs, and no one predicted the unfortunate mechanical that took Maggy out of the race at 165 KM. But the team's inkling about young Martijn Maaskant held true as the rider stepped up to fill his team leader's shoes with a remarkable 4th place finish.