Monday, June 29, 2009

Man sets new 24 Hour Record on Adamo Racing Saddle

New World Record for distance covered in 24 hours using ISM ADAMOR RACING seat.

June 16, 2009, Jean-Pascal Roux achieved 839 kilometers in 24 hours. Roux battle the elements for 24 hours including a rain storm and still bested the current record by 4k to set a new world record. Here's video of the journey.

http://www.velo101.com/actualite/default.asp?id=16832&Section=V%E9lo101.TV





-Dave

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Washington DC ITU World Cup Race Report

Here's a race report from our own Olympian Sarah Haskin's. It should be noted that both ISM athletes Sarah Haskins and Andy Potts finished 4th and were the first Americans!


Washington D.C. Race Report---June 21st, 2009: World Championship Series Race #3
This past Sunday, I competed in my second race of the season, which happened to also be my second WCS race. I finished in fourth position, just off the podium spot. The race was almost a duathlon, as race officials decided late afternoon on Saturday that the water quality in the Potomac River was clean enough to hold the event. I am very grateful of all the efforts of the race organizers and volunteers who helped to make this race happen and this race a success. It turned out to be a very nice day, as the temperatures were only in the upper 70s, as it could have been much warmer.
The race began with an unusual start, as the men went off first at 9:10AM and the women began at 11:45AM. The swim was a two-lap (750m. loop) with a pontoon dive start. I had a very good start, as I was first to hit the turn buoy, located 300meters from the start. I led the swim for the duration of the 1500 meters and was able to take home the swim prime. The swim was a little rough, with river currents and the windy day correlated to some chop on the water, but I do enjoy the rough and challenging swims as those types of swims are a strength for me.
Upon entering T1, I lost just a couple seconds as my helmet fell to the ground as I was trying to quickly grab it from my bike. The bike was mostly flat, with one hill (4% grade for 1k) and very technical course. Due to the wind, the bike was very tough. A group of about seven of us quickly made a move on the bike and worked very hard to stay away from the chase group behind us. We only had about 20-30 seconds on the chase group during the first four laps and half-way through the bike section of the course; we were reeled in despite our strong efforts. Towards the end of the bike with 1.5 laps to go, I was able to break away with a teammate of mine, Marybeth Ellis, and enter T2 with a 30 second lead!
It is a great feeling to start the run course with a lead and enter transition with just one other person instead of entering with 15 other people. I started the run with very heavy legs, as the bike was quite taxing. As I progressed over the run, I felt like I held my pace and was quickly caught by Australia’s Emma Moffat, halfway through the run, I was caught by Emma Snowsill and with about 3K to go; I was caught by Swiss, Danielle Riff. As each runner passed me by, I tried to stay with them and accelerate to their pace. I was not able to stick with Danielle’s surge with 2.5 K to go, but finished strong to keep my 4th position. So, far I have a 5th and a 4th, so I seem to be just missing that podium spot, but that is my goal for the next WCS race!
The men and the women performed well on Sunday as we each had four athletes in the top 14! Andy Potts was also fourth and the top US finisher on the men’s side. The race location was absolutely amazing in that we were riding and running down Pennsylvania Ave (directly in front on the Capitol building). After the race, a friend from college was able to give Nate and me a private tour of the White House West Wing. We got to see where our top government officials work daily, including the famous oval office (and I did see the swing set that was recently build just outside the oval office, so he could watch his daughter’s play). A new rule was just issued that no photographs were to be taken inside the west wing or the rose garden (to protect the girl’s privacy if they were to be outside playing). I thank Monte Hawkins for being so generous to spend Sunday evening with us and give us the opportunity of a lifetime! On a final note, we also got to bowl on Harry Truman’s personal bowling alley!
I have just five days until I compete in the Des Moines World Cup. So, it is all about recovery and getting ready for the race! I am headed to Minnesota to visit family and make the fairly short drive down to Iowa on Thursday.
Happy official start to summer!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Race Results

Here are a few race results from ISM athletes from the weekend. Congrats to all!

June 7, 2009 Rockman Half Ironman Loves Park, IL Chris McDonald wins on his Adamo Racing saddle!!

June 7, 2009 Ironman 70.3 Switzerland Rapperswil, Switzerland Erika Csomor finishes 2nd on her Adamo Racing saddle.

June 7, 2009 Rev 3 Triathlon Half Ironman Middlebury, CT Rebeccah Wassner finishes 2nd and Joanna Lawn 8th. Both women competed using Adamo Racing saddles.

June 8, 2009 Challenge Niederbronn les Baines Half Ironman France Rebecca Keat wins!! Lucie Zelenkova 4th and Hillary Biscay 8th. Keat and Zelenkova use Adamo Racing saddles and Ms. Biscay on her trusty Adamo Road.

June 14, 2009 Ironman 70.3 Eagleman Cambridge, MD Laurel Wassner finishes 6th on her Adamo Racing saddle.

June 14, 2009 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon San Francisco, CA Andy Potts wins!! Becky Lavelle 3rd and living legend, Michellie Jones 5th. Potts uses the Adamo Road saddle and Lavelle and Jones their Adamo Racing.

June 14, 2009 Ironman 70.3 Kansas Lawrence, KS The pride of Austin, TX Brandon Marsh 6th. Jo Lawn 3rd and Nina Kraft 5th. Marsh and Lawn use the Adamo Racing and Kraft the Adamo Road.

June 14, 2009 Ironman 70.3 UK United Kingdom Bella Bayliss finishes 2nd on her Adamo Road saddle.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Chris McDonald's WINNING Rockman Race Report

Chris McDonald wins on ISM Adamo Racing!!


Hi ,
Well week one of the double is in the bank . This past Sunday I race at Rockman Half in Rockford Illinois .

On all accounts my travel to the race was very uneventful and I arrived in Rockford on Friday afternoon for a Sunday race . The weather man was telling me 75 and sunny for the weekend ... well Saturday it rained 60% of the day and then sunday was not a whole lot better .

Race morning dawned dark and omious. I went about my duties and got all things organized tehn lined up in the water for the 7am start , found my position and we were off . As we started there was one lady who dropped us like a dirty shirt , within 200 meters she had a 20 meter gap??? what the? I was later to find out she was a gold medalist in the 4 x 100 relay for the USA .

Onto the bike . This is really were I wanted to hit the front and get a gap on the feild. However my body didnt exactly agree , I did get to the lead and get a small gap but I just was not really able to push like I wanted to . This was my first race riding with my new Zipp 900 power tapp disc so it is interesting to look back and see that I really was only able to ride an Ironman effort for the entire duration of the ride . I came in with a split just over 2:10 and avg power of 296 watts. Although I did manage to break the old bike course record by some 5 min :-)

When I hit T2 I had roughly a 1:40 lead on 2nd . I decided I would run 4 miles hard ( the first turn around ) and then re-evaluate . I did just this and managed to get the gap out to 3 min . I must say I felt really bad for the lead cyclist , As we hit one of the bridges on the run course ( on a down hill ) he hit a wet metal plate on the bridge and hit the deck . I flet quite bad as he jumped up and chased afterme with quite the chunk out of his knee and spent the next hour rubbing his hip .
With the gap out to 3 min and racing next weekend I wanted to leave as much in the tank as possible there were 4 total out and backs on the course so I was able to temper my effort and hold my gap to 2nd and come in with my 3rd win of the season.

Right now I am sitting in the chicago airport on my way to baltimore for the second round at eagleman 70.3 in cambridge maryland.
Cheers Chris

Friday, June 5, 2009

Kicking it with Bob Roll!!




Last evening I was invited to the grand opening of Just Ride Bicycles, 13431 Boyette Road, Riverview, Florida in the River Springs Town Center. The owners, David & Jody Luppino, have owned several stores in the Tampa Bay area over the last 14 years. David and his father, Joe, were very supportive of our saddle designs from the very beginning and allowed us to use their store for some our local news stories in the early days.

Bob Roll was on hand to talk and sign autographs and Bob led a group ride earlier in the day. 75 people turned out for the ride which was supposed to be a nice easy 38 mile ride averaging 18 mph. Several of the young studs turned out for the ride with the former pro rider and the 18 mph average speed was out the window. Roll was the first to finish and apparently had given a short lesson in the art of professional bike riding barely breaking a sweat and never short of breath. Others followed exhausted and beaten.

It seemed like 300-400 people attended the grand opening with Bob graciously signing autographs, posing for pictures and answering any and all questions. I was fortunate enough to have Bob sign one of our USA Adamo Racing saddles.

When the event was over, Roll needed a ride the Tampa Airport Marriott so I volunteered. It was on way and no problem at all and I'm sure he was thrilled to be ridding in the ISM Expo Van! During the ride we talked about his biking and television career and his pick for the upcoming Tour Day France. He's fairly certain that Lance Armstrong will come out on top once again. He also gave me some insight into the European Cycling sponsorship world which was very valuable.

It was a great evening, good exposure for David and Jody’s new shop and great for ISM saddles. We are looking forward on seeing Bob during the Tour coverage on Versus. You can visit http://alansnel.blogspot.com/ for more on the days events.

Respectfully,

Steve Toll
ISM Saddles
Tampa Bay Recreation, LLC

ISM Adamo Racing Saddle Review

It’s been easy for me to maintain my mantra of “Function over Form” since, in life and bike parts, there is usually a functional option that looks good. I’ve been able to have my cake and eat it too until I rode the ugliest saddle ever – the ISM Adamo Race .

The Adamo Race is the first saddle I would consider riding 112 miles in tri shorts. I know many people do that, but I think that unless you are a possible Kona qualifier where every second counts, you are nuts to skip the chance to put on a proper pair of cycling shorts for a 112 mile ride - at least I felt that way until I rode an ISM Adamo saddle. I find this saddle allows me, without a doubt, to be the most comfortable I’ve ever been in an aero position. I’d write more but it’s just that simple - no burning crotch, no numbness, no restriction of movement. I also found that, for me, the saddle required no adjustment time. Often we are told to give a new saddle or position a few weeks before making a judgment but with the Adamo, my first 40-mile ride was just a comfortable as the last ride.

ISM has taken a completely new look at saddles. Not just a cut out, or gel, or more padding in the nose or new rail material but a completely new approach to making the cyclist comfortable and efficient on the saddle. In fact, ISM saddles aren’t even mounted the same way as traditional saddles. ISM provides a good video that walks the user through the proper saddle mounting procedure on their web site. It is a “must see” as this completely different saddle requires a completely different set up than we are used to. After watching the video, I mounted the Adamo Race saddle to my bike and you know, it looked better on the bike than I thought it would. The next day, I set out on a 40-mile ride and my conversion was underway. I was wearing a pair of cycling bibs instead of tri shorts so, as comfortable as I was, I thought that some of it could have been attributed to having a real chamois versus the pseudo chamois found in tri shorts. For the next few rides I used tri shorts but it didn’t make any difference, I was still very comfortable. After each ride, the saddle looked a little better. I’ve also talked to a few folks who’ve been riding Adamo saddles for a while and they tell a similar story of newfound comfort in the aero position.

As always, I will direct you to the company’s web site - http://www.ismseat.com//. ISM has tons of useful and reliable info on their products including saddles for road and touring bikes and more.

If you’ve struggled with saddle comfort in the aero position, you must try the ISM Adamo saddle. You may find it to be funny looking at first, but just one ride will have you believing that this saddle’s beauty is in its comfort.

Mark Still
TriGearReview.com

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Michellie Jones Wins on Adamo Racing

Michellie Jones Wins the OC Duathlon Regional Championships

You can do all the training in the world but nothing is better than racing. Since my last event was the Memphis In May Tri two weeks ago it was time to squeeze in another event in between Memphis and the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon on June 14th. So it was time to transform myself into a Duathlete for the OC Duathlon. Yes, I know I am a Triathlete but sometimes it's nice to be a Duathlete every now and again as well. So Paula's motivation for me was "Hey- you don't have to run a marathon on the road like Heather...your Du is going to seem a whole lote more fun than her marathon and clearly my doggie hike will be by far more fun than both of your events.":) With that is mind my 4.30am Saturday morning start did not seem too bad. It was actually raining on the drive up to Orange County. Racing in the rain is OK especially if it starts after the start.:)Plus I had already washed by bike and it was nice and clean.Phew no rain at the race venue. Luckily we got there early as I had a little trouble getting air in my front wheel. Thanks to Pablo he quickly got my valve undone so I could put pressure into it. I was in a little bit of a panic for a few seconds. I am not sure if that is a good way to get the adrenaline going before a race. I get nervous easily enough already.My goal for the rain was at least make Pablo hurt a little but he really put the hurt on me. The first 5 km everyone went out really hard. I felt like Timmy turtle rather than a hare but as the story goes I was in lead well before the first mile(first female). Luke Bell was crushing everyone on the first run and at least I could still see Pablo.This would have to be one of the hardest 40 km's I have ridden or maybe it was the 5 km run before hand. The first 6 miles were uphill not a lot of fun after running hard. At least that meant on this out and back course you could fly back home to the transition.Ah the second run....this is why Duathlons are much harder than Triathlons....the legs remember the fact you have already run hard. So to say the least the finish line was a welcome site and although Pablo crushed me and finished 6th overall(Luke Bell was first) I was happy to be the 1st female and 15th overall. We made a mad dash back home so I could make the Expert Panel for Rock N Roll San Diego Marathon and sign autographs at the Newton running booth.Revenge will be sweet June 14th back to being a Triathlete for the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon.