That time TSA lost your gear
Week 2 of the Tour, Crusher Cancelled, Bear attack, Race Tactics, and more...
👋 Good morning and happy Friday! Welcome to the Front Pack newsletter, your source for all things endurance. Click here for the web edition.
🚴 It’s been a whirlwind week. After Austin’s cremation level heat in July 2023, we made a pact that once the kids summer swimming was done at the end of June, we’d leave the city and head North to see family in various places over 3 weeks, ultimately ending up in Lake Placid, NY where I’d do Ironman Lake Placid.
All fun and good until I took apart my bike, packed it into a borrowed Bikebox Alan (thank you McKenzie!) hardshell, checked it into the airport and let TSA do it’s thing. During the inspection process where they open the case and go through everything, they of course lost the proprietary headset that you can only get from Scott, the bike maker. Only after I put the bike back together in Asheville did I notice I couldn’t get the front end tight enough. The Syncros headset is the Oreo cream that keeps the carbon frame, cockpit, and front fork nicely together. In a panic, and on a Saturday I first reached out to every Scott dealer in Asheville. There were 3 of them and nobody had the part. I then panic emailed the general Scott contact page. And lastly I found a place in Germany that had what I needed. So as a last resort, ordered it, but not knowing when it would arrive.
Saturday happens, then Sunday. Not thinking I’ll get the part from Germany in time, I call one of the Asheville bike shops back and see if there is anything he can do. Jeff at Must Asheville Bikes looked and could special ordered it from Scott on Monday. Whew. Lifesaver.
Monday comes and Jeff special orders me one and by some miracle, Scott did write me back, apologized for TSA and said they could also send me it ASAP at no cost to me. Crisis averted. People do want to help. It’s just finding them that can be the journey.
The part arrives on Wednesday and guess what, it’s not the right part. Scott didn’t send me the headset, just a headset washer. ARG! So as I’m writing this it is now Thursday afternoon. I haven’t biked all week, don’t have a headset and we’re off to upstate New York beginning tomorrow where I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the Asheville bike shop gets the headset they ordered for me and can ship it to our next location. But at this point - 🤷🏼♂️.
As always, thanks for subscribing and hope it was a great week.
Stay moving…✌🏼 - Scott
Headlines
🏊🚴🏃 Roth Breaks Records: Challenge Roth is a special race. Arguably the biggest triathlon from a spectating and participating perspective, it would be Magnus Ditlev and Anne Haug breaking both the men’s and women’s course records. For Magnus, he broke his own record set last year with a time of 7:23:24, and Anne Haug destroyed Daniela Ryf‘s world-best time, set just last year in Roth, by almost six minutes with a time of 8:02:38. Read more…
🚴 ❌ Cancelled ❌: As the 3rd race in the Life Time Grand Prix series, Crusher in the Tusher was supposed to be 69 miles of gravel in Beaver, Utah this coming Saturday (July 13). But due to the ongoing wildfires in the area, organizers cancelled rather than taking away local emergency resources and/or harming athletes. So instead of 7 races in 2024, there are 6. Racers will choose their best four performances out of six, still dropping their two weakest event results. Read more…
🚴 First to 3️⃣: After 12 days of competition, Biniam Girmay is the story of the tour and rightfully so. He’s the first to capture 3 stages wins through 12 races and generally seems like an awesome dude. But alas, he’s not even in the Top 10 of the overall standings. Read more…
Meanwhile
🚴 Youngest to Complete the Tour Divide: At 15-years-old, Edyn Teitge is the youngest cyclist to ever complete the Tour Divide, a 2,700 mile trip from Canada to the US Southern border. An already experienced bike packer, Edyn’s quest is nothing short of astonishing. Read more…
🏊🚴🏃 Lucy Charles-Barclay talks battling coeliac disease: The reigning Ironman World Champion opened up about finding out she is gluten intolerant. Some insightful stuff should you be battling similar symptoms. She highlights, “joint pain if I pushed hard in training, and after swimming races, my knees and ankles were in agony and I’d have stomach cramps. My stomach would be bloated and painful and I couldn’t get off the toilet at times.” Read more…
🚴 Fastest Tires Ever?: That is what DT Swiss, SwissSide, and Continental are claiming with the new Aero 111 Road Tire. Actually pretty cool. It was DT Swiss and SwissSide who patented the tire in 2023, then ultimately brought in Continental to make it. Even cooler, the companies are seeing performance and drag benefits down to 18 mph. So plenty of us AGers. Read more…
🚴 9 Zwift Racing Tactics: Strange to think Zwift involves tactics and strategy, but like real road racing, it does. Check out these 9 things to think about ahead of your next race. Read more…
🏃 Which Marathoner are You?: If there is a wet myself thinking about doing a marathon Marathoner, that’s for me. But maybe you’re a Hot-Bibber, Sub 3 Speedster, or Outbacker. Read more…
🏊🚴🏃 What Makes Challenge Roth So Fast: One pro triathlete gives their thoughts on what makes that race so speedy year-over-year. Essentially, it’s a music festival (minus the music) disguised as a bike race. Sounds like a ripping good time. Read more…
🏃 Ultra-runner attacked: If a 50 mile trail run isn’t hard enough, imagine a black bear attacking you with only 1 mile left. That’s exactly what happened to Jon-Kyle Mohr who planned his Yosemite Valley trip for years, only to be attacked and survive. Though it looks to be a wrong place, wrong time moment, It was Mohr who was able to fight and shout his way to safety. Read more…
Key Dates
🚴 Week 2: Best of the Tour (so far)
The Tour is just Groundhog Day: That’s according to Tadej Pogacar who gave his thoughts after more than a week of cycling, calling this years Tour, “a bit strange. We had four interesting opening stages. But after that, there was nothing to look forward to. If there had not been a time trial, it would have been an entirely boring, strange Tour. There were so many flat stages where no one had the ambition to go on the attack." He’d go on to say he, “can’t wait until we finally hit those climbing stages.” Read more…
Stage 9 Controversy: Does gravel belong in the Tour de France? I say, hell yes! But Soudal Quick-Step general manager Patrick Lefevere disagrees, saying he’s totally against it and that it is “entertainment for the masses, bread and circuses.” Whatever that means. But the actual cyclists? It’s another stage; another obstacle. They don’t cry about climbing mountains, rain, or the TT so why is gravel any different. Read more…
What a Tour Rider eats in a day: I’m shocked it took us until week 2 of the tour to get to an article like this but like you, I was curious what these guys are eating in a 24 hour period to keep up with being elite every single day. From ketones and carbs to cheat meals and candies, these 8,000-calorie food plans fuel the Tour de France. Read more…
Training Tips
Because training is life.
How to Train your Cardiovascular Fitness: Hear Peter Attia discuss the pyramid of cardiorespiratory training, his zone 2 training and recommendations and recommendations for VO2 max training.
Rewatchables
Content for long training days inside or just everyday life.
🏃 The Gold Rush, a Story of Hardrock: When discussing the races that have shaped the history of trail running, the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run quickly earns a special mention. Established in the early 1990s, this race is steeped in a strong local history. The Colorado territory, marked by the gold rush in the mid-19th century, boasts some of the highest mountains in the United States. This intriguing mix makes the race a true adventure, akin to the miners' quest for hidden gold in underground tunnels. This is the story of Hardrock.
🏃 Jim Walmsley | The Return of the King at the 2024 Western States 100: This short highlight film captures some of Jim’s key moments from our pre-race interview as well as certain times out on the Western States course at spots like Dusty Corners, Michigan Bluff, Forest Hill, and the Rucky Chucky river.
🏊🚴🏃 Challenge Roth Documentary | The Home of Triathlon: 3500 athletes. 300.000 visitors. 7000 volunteers. One family. Each year in June a quiet little village in Germany transforms into a prestige triathlon race.
How riders eat on the Tour is so interesting! 🍝