Fizik wants your butt, Death on the trails, “Sir” Mark Cavendish, 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.

Some quick business news. This week was a big one for the Front Pack team. We’re officially a business (LLC – heyooo). We got a first glimpse at one of our product features and it’s a beauty. Lastly but most importantly, our app design team is moving forward in creating the first Sports Social Network for athletes looking to connect, support, network, and grow together. We are beyond pumped and can’t wait to share more as the team gets started. Hoping to launch mid-August but will keep everyone posted along the way.

Thanks for subscribing and as always, share with a friend.

Stay moving…✌🏼 – Scott

Headlines

🏊🚴🏃 Great Scott!: If IRONMAN is too easy, I’ve got just your thing. As part of the Extreme Triathlon World Tour, CELTMAN took place this past weekend. As the Scottish arm of the tour, the race is a 2.1 mile swim (+jellyfish), 124 mile bike with 6,500 feet of elevation gain, and a marathon + 4,900 feet of elevation, all while battling freezing temperatures. The winners… Elidh Prise and Ross Creber, both winning for a 3rd time. Read more…

🚴 Bikes > F1: Some guys just have it all. Valtteri Bottas, famed F1 driver for the likes of Mercedes, Williams, and now Alfa Romeo won his first cycling race over the weekend. Didn’t know he was big into cycling? He’s been traveling the world hitting the biggest races. As the top overall finisher in the 114m, the Finnish racer hit his home turf and took victory at FNLD GRVL outside of Lahti, Finland. Called, “The Happiest Gravel Roads on Earth” Bottas and his partner Tiffany Cromwell founded the event and both ironically won, with Cromwell taking the women’s pro race. Read more…

🏃 Tragedy in France: At the Ultra-Trail du Haut-Giffre (UTHG) race, rain rolled through and turned the trails into flowing torrents of water, stranding runners throughout. With rescue calls starting around 3 a.m and with conditions worsening, four runners slid off the mountain with one passing away and the others in serious condition. Read more…

Meanwhile

🏃 Western States Preview: Likely to be the most competitive men’s ultrarunning race on U.S soil in 2024, the point-to-point course from Olympic Valley to Auburn, California, will see runners cover 100+ miles with 18,000 feet of climbing. Seven of 2023’s Top 10 finishers return including course record holder Jim Walmsley. On top of that add in two-time runner-up Tyler Green, reigning CCC, Les Templiers, and Transvulcania champion Jon Albon, and heavy-hitter Hayden Hawks, who took second in 2022, and you all of a sudden have one hell of a race. The women’s race will be without the GOAT Courtney Dauwalter, while last years second place finisher Ellie Greenwood is the odds-on-favorite. Watch it all unfold on June 29. Read more…

🚴 Fizik wants to Map your Butt: Something I’m excited to see more of, the company is using pressure mapping and 3D printing to match the lattice top of Fizik’s Adaptive saddles to your anatomy and ride position. Comfort shouldn’t just be with a proper bike fitting but what your bum is attached to as well. Read more…

🚴 Just chill out: As motorists, remember to take a deep breath when you’re around cyclists. I’m sorry if you hate us but we’re just trying to get some exercise. And while you might have to slow down, you’re still in a 4K pound vehicle and we’re in lycra. For this drunk driver in Dallas, I’m guessing he regrets this decision to hit and then run over this couple. Luckily the injured will heal but because one of the riders had a Garmin Varia on his bike so the entire thing, and license plate was caught on camera. Read more…

🏊🚴🏃 Best Ways to Recover Faster: The build to strong aerobic fitness leaves you with lingering fatigue and muscle soreness more than when you’re at the top. So on your journey to peak fitness, don’t derail your training. Thought these tips to better recovery were all worthy of a mention, especially active recovery. I’ll take an easy day to flush my legs over doing a day of nothing every time. Read more…

🚴 A New Bike Computer Debuts: Move over Garmin & Wahoo because COROS, which some swear is the best running watch is now in the bike computer game. The all-new COROS DURA costs $250 and comes with a 2.7” touchscreen with a claimed battery life of up to 120-hours for ‘All-Systems GPS.’ It’s solar capabilities can extend these battery times, up to 2 hours for every 1 hour riding. What I’ve read, the device needs firmware updates to get it to where it needs to be. But don’t take my word, a handful of folks got time with the device so check out what they said. Read more…

🚴 It’s “Sir” Mark Cavendish moving forward: As if the legend didn’t already have enough victories on his resume, Mark Cavendish was knighted ahead of his final Tour de France. Recognized for his contribution to cycling, charity work, and role as a sporting ambassador, the sprinting GOAT aims to grab a record 35th Tour stage win later this summer. Read more…

🏊 From NFL Football Stadium to Swimming Pool: Every night this week, the swimming Olympic trials have been on TV. And they’ve been awesome. BUT. Let’s talk about the swimming pool inside of an NFL stadium. It’s so awesome. And if you haven’t seen the time lapse video of how it was built. Read more…

🚴 The Tour Divide Begins

Last weekend kicked off the 2024 Tour Divide, a 2,745 mile fully self-supported bike packing race starting in Banf, Canada and ending at the US/Mexico border in Antelope Wells, New Mexico. Free to participate in, the race gets it’s name from the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route which is the most recognized and important off-pavement cycling route in the United States. It was tirelessly mapped over a 4 year span, and published in 1998 by Adventure Cycling Association, North America’s premiere bicycle travel organization.

This year, 225 signed up with 91 percent being male. Divide racers must not only be conditioned to endure weeks of consecutive 16+ hour days in the saddle, they need to bring other skills to the trail because the route is unmarked and circuitous, requiring navigational acumen. It travels through remote backcountry with Grizzly and Mountain Lion density. Intervals between services are frequently 100+ miles and demand calculated food/water resupply–or else. Riders must also find shelter each night or bivouac trailside.

Here is a great YouTube channel chronicling this years race and here is what a typical bikepacking setup looks like for the tour.

Deals & Steals

GoPro HERO12 Black – $299 $399: I recently upgraded from a HERO4 to a HERO11 Black and the difference was huge (obviously). So if you’ve been in the market for an upgrade or just want to get one for the first time, you cannot beat what GoPro offers. Competitors try but there is only one action camera.

Tech Tip

🚴 I was reading up on SRAM AXS batteries and walked away with a few good reminders.

• Awake batteries = Tired batteries: I leave mine on my bike when I put it on the car rack. But you shouldn’t because if you’re moving and your batteries are plugged in, the battery is awake, draining battery. Does it matter for a 10 minute drive, no. But it does for a 8 hour drive. Take them out and install your included battery blocks. Something to noodle on.

• Remove when cleaning: Acidic or grease-dissolving cleaners can damage any electronic component. Before you get started, remove and put in the battery terminal cover. Then begin washing with no worries. Easy peasy.

• Read more…

Training Tips

Because training is life.

The Great Hair Debate: It’s an age old question; is shaving your legs for a big race worth it? There have been numerous studies but yes, there is a benefit and that benefit can be up to 13 free watts. So get the shaver out and make those stems and arms hair free!

The BEST Advice For Heavier Runners (200lbs+): Not everyone is rail thin and built for the Olympics. Though Fergus starts a little “selling” for me, I do like the video for the fact that it probably speaks to more people than not. Have at it…

Rewatchables

Content for long training days inside or just everyday life.

Running 449 Miles to Win a Secret Relay Race: Follow the Wild Bunch, a group of runners that take on a secret version of The Speed Project which goes from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas, 150 miles longer than the original Speed Project. Completed time, 53 hours.

The US Pro National Championships: Alexey Vermeulen is a US pro cyclist trying to make the US National team and be a part of the 2024 Olympics. This is his qualifying story.