Big REI Changes, RaceRanger to AG Racing, Peloton’s Zwift Competitor, IRONMAN sells Fulgaz, and more…

👋 Good morning and happy Friday. As always, I’m Scott. Feel free to reach me here. But seriously, I like hearing from people.

This is the Front Pack Newsletter, your weekly source for all things endurance. We give you tasty morsels of everything happening in the world of cycling, triathlon, and running.

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This week was humbling. Which I can always appreciate.

Let me set the scene and explain.

There I was, clipped in and ready to crush a pretty hard 1hr 24 minute trainer ride like I was auditioning for a pro team. But this audition was in my garage, and alone, and it was 24 degrees.

5 minutes in. Cool, cool. Standard warm up.

30 minutes in. I’m happily sweating and watching steam radiate off my clothes.

55 minutes in and my legs felt more like overcooked spaghetti than the pistons of power I imagined.

Overall I was building to 300 watts for 4 minutes (above my FTP) but after I hit the first hard interval of 240, the trainer might as well have been set to “soul-crushing” mode.

By the second interval I hit my 285 FTP for 4 minutes and I was deep in the pain cave.

By the third, I was officially evicted.

Workout: failed.

At first, it stung. Failing a workout still feels like it should be some sort of cosmic sign, like the fitness gods are wagging their fingers at me for daring to dream big.

But then I took a step back and remembered: this is just one ride, on one day, in one season. And that season? It’s a long one. It’s like writing a novel and obsessing over a single typo on page 47. Does it really matter in the big picture?

But did that realization come easy to me? No. I actually had gone to the Front Pack chat to highlight my failure and it was backing of others that helped pick my sweaty body off the floor and put things into perspective.

We have to remind ourselves that progress isn’t linear, whether it’s in sport or life. Some days, you’re invincible, hammering out watts like a machine. Other days, you’re just a person who had a long workday, slept like garbage, or maybe ate three too many tacos (no regrets).

These “off” days are part of the process, and they don’t define us. They’re more like plot twists in the story of our training journey. And honestly, every good story needs a little struggle. I’m not different and neither are you. Because nobody tunes in to watch a hero casually succeed at everything—it’s the comeback that makes it worthwhile.

So yeah, I failed a workout, and that’s okay. In the full body of work, this one ride is nothing but a tiny dot on the radar. It won’t matter at the end of the season, just like one typo doesn’t ruin a masterpiece (like today’s newsletter).

What does matter is showing up, trying again tomorrow, and learning to laugh at the occasional spaghetti-leg days.

Because, really, if we can’t laugh at ourselves, what’s the point of all this when we’re actually crushing life when it matter most.

Stay moving…✌️

SB

The Headlines

Record Breaking Effort: At 28 years old, Weini Kelati broke the American Half Marathon Record – for a second year in a row. A bad stomach, frigid temps, and high winds didn’t stop her from taking off 16 seconds from her own record. Read more…

“I’m Not Sporty?”: That’s what Lucy Gossage had to say after winning the 268 mile women’s Winter Spine Race that had her on course for 87 hours, only 3hrs included rest. The oncologist by day racer is no slouch as she’s taken 14 Ironman wins; all of which came after turning 34 years old. Read more…

Big Changes at REI: The company announced this week its President and CEO, Eric Artz is retiring, and named former Nike, Athleta, and Seophora leader Mary Beth Laughton as its next CEO. Read more…

IRONMAN Sells FulGaz to Rouvy: The triathlon king has offloaded its indoor cycling platform FulGaz to another platform. They then concurrently announced a new partnership with Rouvy, to be their indoor training platform partner going forward. Finally, Ironman announced all FulGaz employees (including its founder) were fired. SHEESH! Read more…

More changes at Visma Lease a Bike: This team is built for the drama. The latest. They’re clothing company AGU is leaving and the team is without a clothing sponsor. Rumors are Rapha and Adidas talked to them but nothing came of it. Also. new saddles. Goodbye Fizik, and hello Prolongo. Fizik you say? Yea, they’re now with the UAE Team Emirates riders. Lastly. No more following their riders on Zwift because they got bought competitor Rouvy. Still with me? Good! Read more…

Meanwhile

Other happenings in the world of endurance.

New Fork, Innovative Design: This is dope considering you don’t see many forks that are innovative. Cinelli announced a coil-sprung suspension fork , the Nemo Tig. Co-developed with BMC, Nemo frames are manufactured in-house by Cinelli in Milan. Wonder if we’ll see any of these in the USA. Read more…

The Best Electronic Shifting Group for Your Road or Gravel Bike: From Shimano Di2, SRAM AXS, or Campagnolo, what components are best for you. Read more…

Peloton aims for Zwift: I feel like I wrote this article last year but apparently the time is coming. According to rumors, Peloton is set to launch a full emersive cycling competitor to Zwift. Read more…

Giant upgrades Trinity: Maybe the worst kept secret, the company finally ass disc brakes and improved stiffness-to-weight to its top of the line Advances SL TT bike. Read more…

RaceRanger Moves to Age Group Racing: One of the greatest sights in all of sport. RaceRanger makes drafting (and cheating) harder to do because the technology on your bike tells officialls if youre in a draft zone. It became a thing last year but is also now going to be a part of Age Group racing, starting as a test at Challange Wanaka. Read more…

Training Tips

Because training is life.

How to Execute the Perfect Long Run for Marathon Success: Hear from Stephen Scullion, Olympic marathon runner on ways to perfect the long run.

Sam Long’s TOP 3 TIPS to Improve Your Cycling: The self proclaimed, strongest man in triathlon gives his 3 tips to improve your cycling.

I Ate (almost) Every Energy Gel To Find The Best One – ft. Pro Nutritionist: A fun experiment though Maurten fans will be surprised by how low they finished on the results.

Rewatchables

Content for long training days inside or just everyday life.

How Quitting Alcohol Transformed My Cycling: This hits pretty near to my own lifestyle. I’ve all but quit alcohol but for different reasons not cycling related. Yes, not drinking absolutely changes your abilities but NOT waking up feeling like ass is the absolute best.

Ohana | Ironman Kona Hawaii 2024 – Sam Laidlow Documentary N°2: Sam won the World Championship the year before. This documentary goes behind the scenes as he attempts to defend his title in triathlon’s toughest arena.

HOMEGROWN | A film about The North Face athlete Josh Wade and his ultra-running journey: Dude is a gardener who is also a pro runner. Sweet film.