At Sea Otter I met with Scott Peterson from CycleSoles and fitted up a new set of his custom orthotics. During the molding process he created a little support ridge under my toes. Scott told me how despite holding the foot in a static position, the added contour may allow me to push/pull the pedals more effectively across the top and bottom of the pedal rotation.

I immediately liked the idea because I am a long-time user of Powercranks and often feel my feet scoot fore and aft while pedaling with them. Motion inside the shoe means less motion outside and the new trick worked? My feet are now “locked” inside my shoes. Not in tight, uncomfortable way, but rather a supportive, powerful, glove-like fit!

Enter Injinji. I had a hunch that toe-socks would give me even more grip, stability, and even better fit inside the shoe so I purchased some Injinji toe-socks and did some rides. Sure, it takes a minute longer to put on socks and they feel funny at first, but the results were impressive to say the least. I feel like I am barefoot in the shoe and not only have more control but also more freedom. Gone are the days where my toes are all up on one another in some sweaty mess. Now I can ride for hours without my toes rubbing together or even feeling squishy when completely soaked.

Would you rather wear gloves or mittens? Our feet are the some of the most complex power transfer devices in the universe so it seems wise not to forget about maximizing performance down there. I look forward to trying Injinji’s compression socks as I have had great success on longer training rides with them. What could be better than happy toes and improved circulation?

www.injinji.com

Many of you may know that I first partnered with Garmin way back in 2006 when the Edge 305s became available. Their devices have revolutionized cycle computing and have kept me abreast of my location and on course all over the world. Times change and so does technology, so I was super stoked to find these shiny new 500s on my porch yesterday!

Feel free to keep track of me on Garmin Connect under the Explore-Activities tab. My username is “plewse”, so all you have to do is type that into the username field under “show filters”.

There you will find a plethora of cool routes and races. Looking forward to you joining me for a ride this season!

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160&pID=36728

http://connect.garmin.com/

With my truncated cross season officially over, I am able to start “real” preparation for next year. New additions to my arsenal of killer weapons are the Exustar 322 shoes. These babies are awesome because they feature what may be the thinnest platform on the market. Not only are they thin, but also super stiff with the full composite sole. The uppers are soft like slippers and the toe box roomy. Of course, they are some of the lighest shoes I have ever worn, too!

However, no shoe would be complete without CycleSoles inside. I have been wearing Peterson designed footbeds for 10 years and discomfort is a distant memory. Having the lightest full custom orthotics applying every ounce of force to the pedals is nice too!

If you are in need of fast feet check them out!

http://www.qcycle.com/featured-products/sm322-mtb-shoes.html

http://cyclesoles.com/

Last spring, evanplews.com/KENDA teammate Matt Russell indicated he was interested in racing some ‘cross this year. Our partners at Ibis Cycles hooked us up with some of their KILLER Hakkaglugi cross bikes and time flew by.

Matt had some bad luck on the mountain bike this year and as a new father I was sure he was doing his best to meet all the obligations of family, work, and being a super-star regional bike racer. With my leg injury I hadn’t been too keen to tramp on the pedals this fall hoping to heal up in time for Nationals. Bottom line is that we hadn’t raced together for awhile and I had no idea how Matt’s cross endevour was going.

Evidently Matt has been quietly doing his homework and exceeding all our expectations for his first season of cyclocross racing. I have known Matt since he was just a kid and he is may be one of the most talented athletes I’ve been around, so I guess when he won the OBRA Championship last Saturday I wasn’t surprised at all. Thanks for all the years of killin’ it Matt and I hope you enjoy your golden medal!

End of Season Update

My focus this year was on the Oregon XC series. I did a few early season road races to test my form. Fortunately I had a good base and was usually able to keep pace with the state’s elite masters group.

Unfortunately, my form did not progress for the bulk of the XC season. I could not manage to step up to the top 5 to top 10 finishes I hoped for. Life happened to me in the late spring. While, I met family and work commitments, my training became less focused. However, I finished all XC events I entered, (usually in the middle of the field) and managed 7th in the overall State Championship Series. This was a rather lack-luster outcome and less than I hoped for.

I didn’t race at all from July through August, but instead focused my weekend riding on solo MTB rides of 4-6 hours with lots of climbing and technical trails. This prepared me well for my last-ditch effort to make the podium at the “Fat 55″ in Oakridge OR in September. With a field of approximately 60 athletes and no “pro” riders toeing the line- I was pleasantly surprised to find myself with the front group after the first 30 minutes of climbing.

Inspired by my turn of fortune– I probably rode too hard over the first 30 miles as I rode steadily in the top 5 overall. Over the next 27 miles I focused on holding my position but lost a couple of places having to stop and fix a slow leak in my front tire. I endeavered on and managed to hold onto 2nd place in my age group and 9th overall. This netted me my first cash prize since I was 16 years old. Then, as junior rider in 1986, I won $10 for 3rd place in Bend’s “Lava Lands Stage Race.” 25 years later, my inflation-adjusted beavy was a generous $95 in cash (+ cool swag and grog). This was nearly enough to cover my expenses for the day.

All in all, 2010 was a good year, both on and off the bike. A few months disappointment made the end all the sweeter.

Thanks to EvanPlews.com and Kenda USA for continued support. I’m looking forward to yet another year of battles on the bike.

Mark Rasmussen

This story actually starts over a year ago when I ran into Darren our Felt rep at Santiam Bicycle. He told me about a program they were doing to get some VIPs out on a new full suspension XC race bike. Of course, I have been a bike tech geek for ages, so I was all over this one!

After a few phone calls and some conversations at Interbike, a new Felt FRD 100 showed up just in time for me to race the Pisgah Stage race. While I was in total trial and error test mode, and I didn’t even have the proper shock for the bike, it was almost true love at first ride.

The FRD had a long top tube, steep head tube angle and was as torsionally rigid like a hard tail. This provided razor-sharp handling and gobbled up the North Carolina knarl like a rabid animal. Minus an unlucky flat tire, it would have carried me onto an unlikely podium finish despite weather conditions that didn’t favor me at all!

The key to success? Felt’s proprietary Equilink suspension design. Designed to eliminate pedal induced suspension movement, the little linkage behind the seattube does much more. It accomplishes this by pushing/pulling the wheel towards the sag point of the shock. Take the shock off the the suspension finds the proper postion whether one lifts or pushes on the saddle.

While it may be a subtle effect, it does its job remarkably and once I obtained the properly valved Monarch shock, I never needed to close the low-speed compression “gate” to eliminate movement from pedaling. Even better, the suspension stays low and level on steep downhills and under heavy, even panick, braking!

This is the most incredible attribute of the design and allows the rider to weight the middle of the bike without fore and aft movement due to unnecessary suspension activity. Less movement equals better balance, equals more convidence and more speed!

Early this season, I rode the now dialed FRD to victories at the El Paso Puzzler and 12 Hours of Santos proving its excellence on two vastly different courses. It continues to be my weapon of choice for nearly all my singletrack shreading “training rides” to this day!

Fast foward to Interbike Outdoor Demo 2010 and my first opportunity to ride the fruit of the FRD 100 labor–the Edict. Felt went directly after the only chink in the FRD’s armour…extra girth. While Felt could have trimmed and skimped to make the test mule lighter, they instead took the learning to heart and did a total redesign.

Well total except for the ride qualities that made it so successful! The Edict has the same awesome race geometry, similar shock placement, no pivot at the rear axle, but otherwise is completely different. The entire frame is carbon composite and the promising Equilink is now… GONE!

I was willing to try the cool-aid, but dubious about that the flavor would be the same. Turns out the Felt’s engineering crew delivered the unique Equilink ride with a little structural trick the makes the rear triangle accomplish the same objective.

By using the composite rear end as a spring, and manipulating the rocker linkage geometry, Felt made the rear suspension home in on the sag point just like the FRD successfully did. Mission accomplished with over two pounds of carbon induced weight savings!

I took the Edict out for an exceptionally long test ride and a few not-so-hot laps with fellow elite rider Robert Marion–his comment, “You look right at home on that thing!” Which isn’t far from the truth after months on the FRD 100.

The new Edict does everything a great race bike should: absorbs bumps a rider can’t, induces traction and confidence, doesn’t sap precious energy, and most of all make it’s rider FASTER!

Felt’s project of making a great XC race bike was years in the making starting with the Virtue then the FRD and now the final Edict. Deliberation seems well worth it as they may have now the best suspension bike available!