USA Triathlon Rocky Mountain Regional Newsletter #2 - 2nd Quarter 2002
Covering the Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, El Paso and Colorado area.

From the President: The race season is in full swing now. I hope your
racing season is going well and you are training hard for the races
in your area. The Regional Sprint Championship was a big success in
Colorado Springs (Cheyenne Mtn - June 23rd) with many of the US's top
Pros competing. The upcoming Regional Championships left are the
Kids/Youth in Louisville, CO on July 14th, and the Olympic Distance
and Club  Championship in Las Vegas, New Mexico on July 28th. The
National Club championship will be in our region at the Boulder Peak
on August 11th. For a complete calendar listing, please go to
www.usat-rockymountain.org

Just a reminder to renew your license far enough in advance before it
expires since it can take several weeks to receive your new card and
you don't want to have to pay a one day license needlessly. If you go
to a race as a spectator, ask if you can volunteer. A general rule of
thumb is you should volunteer once for every five races you
participate in. How long has it been, really? Another opportunity
for volunteering and being paid a small stipend is to become a
certified USAT official. The next official's clinic will be at the
Boulder Peak. For more information on the officials program, contact
Jim Flint our official's coordinator at jim.flint@galileo.com.

If you are a race director, please include USAT numbers on the
results file you send in and send an electronic version to me at
larryseidman@hotmail.com so we can include your race in the regional
rankings. Don't forget, if you complete your post race paperwork and
send it in on time, you get a partial refund of your sanctioning fee
as a rebate.

Thank you for belonging to our electronic email newsletter. Please
spread the word to others on how to join at
USATRockymtn@yahoogroups.com

Larry Seidman - President USAT Rocky Mountain Region

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Utah Region: Trajan King is the new Utah representative for USAT in
our region. Trajan lives in Salt Lake City and has completed in
triathlons for several years including participating in Ironman Utah
this year. Trajan is a Financial Planner and holds a black belt in
Taekwondo. Welcome to the team Trajan! To be added to the Utah
Triathlete newsgroup, Tri-Utah, send a message to update@triutah.com.

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Ironman Utah Update: As many of you know, the inaugural Ironman Utah
was unusually eventful. We all mourn the loss of John Boland and our
thoughts and prayers are with his family. Tony DeBoom put things in
perspective in his letter, posted on the Ironman Utah website, "In
this difficult and challenging time in the history of our sport,
let¡¦s all reflect on the positive aspects of our life, and on the
fact that when you get right down to it, finishing an Ironman is
not what's important. What's important, what's really important, is
the journey. It is this journey that teaches us how to persevere
amidst the challenges and adversity each of us face every single
day.¨ 

Ironman North America announced that the 2001 Janus Charity Challenge
raised more than $500,000 for many different charities.  For
information on the lottery procedure and registration for next year,
go to www.ironmanutah.com.

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Boulder Peak Update: The race will fill by early July, reaching the
capacity of 1500 earlier than ever. Teams from several Midwestern
states are coming to compete for the National Club Championship. This
is a great base to increase the championship to a more nationwide
race next year. Some of the pros that have already committed for the
$17,000 in prize money are Tim Deboom, Nicole DeBoom, Lori Bowden,
Brad Bevan, Cam Widoff and many more.

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Workshop Corner:

Travel Tip: Published in a recent Ironman newsletter and worth
reprinting: Did you know that carrying some cans of aerosol chain
lube could land you a federal prison sentence and up to a $30,000
fine. Did you also know that those CO2 cartridges for fixing flat
tires have the same potential to get you in hot water if you pack
them in your luggage when you travel on an airline? Purchase
pressurized products at your race destination and avoid the risk.

Chains:  Ok, you have lusted for that new Shimano Dura-ace rear
derailleur or Campagnolo Record derailleur for years. This year you
finally went ahead and purchased it along with a cassette to finally
have that unobtainiumly smooth shifting feeling you have always
lusted after. Problem is, you live in the Rocky Mountains and an
11/23 for race day use won't cut it for training on the hills or for
that week long bike tour. Ok, you'll really bite the bullet and
purchase a long cage derailleur and a 13/26 or 13/29 cassette for
those rides. THEN YOU READ THE FINE PRINT ON THE CHAIN
INSTRUCTIONS. "Warning, do not install more than two connector links
in any chain". Ouch, you mean you can only change the derailleur/
cassette once before you have to discard the chain? This can't be.
You paid a small fortune for the chain alone. No way are you going to
throw it away, but still,  you don't want to be stuck walking your
bike in from Old Stage Hill because that third connector link you put
in with your $60 chain tool broke. But wait, there is an answer. It's
called a special connector link that can be put on and taken off
many, many times without a problem. There are two versions
available that we found in our research. One is the Wipperman Connex
Link but availability of the 10 speed version is currently hard to
come by. Also there is the SuperLink for Shimano or Campagnolo and it
is available. Check your local bike or multisports store and have
them order you a couple and give it a try. You really can use
different cassettes without having to compromise the integrity of
your chain.

Rule Tidbit:  What rule violation is most commonly seen at the races?
Overtaken. That's right, not dropping back 3 bike lengths immediately
after being passed. Once passed by someone, you have 15 seconds to
drop back 3 bike lengths. So don't just drift mindlessly 1-2 bike
lengths back from somone for a period of time. That's cheating!

Next Newsletter: 
- How to fix over tightened or stripped handlebar cap, stem bolts.
Did you know that after about 3-5 removals and re-installations, you
are at risk for the handlebar becoming loose during an event? That
nifty little cap that lets you take the handlebars off for packing,
has a real liability. Well give you the information on how to
permanently fix the problem and eliminate the risk without losing the
ability to quickly remove the handlebars for travel.