After a hard week, helping a bit to organize the race it was time to fight. I was a bit tired but I was confident.
I knew the course really good and I want it to make a good impression.I raced the short distance, but with this I didn't had my best start. I didn't push too hard on the first climb because I knew that the second will kill me. And so it was. On the second and the hardest climb of the race (medium climb 17%, max. 22%) when I had 1 km to go my batteries got almost empty and I've decided not to push and to let some riders pass me as I will get back on the descend and on the last part. I've made a small mistake and I didn't filled the bottle with water so i got a bit dehydrated on the last kilometers of the race. Finally I finished 3rd with 17 minutes better than last year, which for me is better and I think that I have a lot of things to improve. The bike went super smooth and really well so the result is only because of me, the only one to blame is me. Is a bit frustrating after having such a good week end the last victory. But this is racing, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. A lot of riders had 1 or 2 flats but I didn't had any problems with my Joe's No Flats Sealant.
I would like to congratulate all the participants and the winners, the organizers, my parents, Simona, and everyone that waited me at the finish area. I would like to apologize for not having my best results, but I can assure you that this results won't affect my motivation for training in the future and I am looking forward to see some improvements for the last races.
I would like to thanks again to my sponsors. Without them I couldn't be where I am now : Cannondale Bikes, Maros Sport, Ashima, Continental, Syntace, VDO, Sapim, Adidas Eyewear, Xpedo, 661, Buff, Sram, Kool Stop and DT Swiss and my new sponsor Joe's No Flats. Also I must thank to: my parents, Simona, Raluca, Aghiutza but also at the guys from Westend.ro for the photos, and to everyone who supports me.
For more photos, please CLICK HEREI will upload more photos when I'll have them.
Now with tubeless tires I feel a bit more safe, I feel faster and I feel that I can control the bike a bit better.
Why Tubeless? * PREVENTS PUNCTURES: - No more flats- Joe’s sealant will seal your tires and offers total puncture protection. - Prevents snake bite, pinch flats. - No need for an innertube
* INCREASE YOUR RIDING SPEED: - Reduce the weight of the wheels. - Decrease rolling resistance. - Ride faster with less effort.
* INCREASE TRACTION: - Possible to ride with reduced air pressure in the tires. - Increase traction in technical terrain. - Increased shock absorption for a smoother ride.
Why Joe's No-Flats?
NO MORE FLATS - Joe's Super Sealant will prevent and seal 99% of all punctures. Joe's No-Flats products are by far the most affordable, most effective anti-puncture products available.
No-Flats Joe's Super Sealant is nothing like the puncture sealant sold by other manufacturers. It plugs up to 1/4 inch punctures and seals small slits faster and more permanently than any other sealant on the market.
Joe's Super Sealant is scientifically formulated to prevent punctures in tubeless tires and innertubes, as proven by world class racers.
Joe's Tubeless System is the most important upgrade available for a dedicated cyclist. Nothing is more flat resistant than a Joe's No-Flats converted tubeless tire or an innertube with Joe's No-Flats Super Sealant.
Joe’s Tubeless Rim Strips are specially designed to secure the tire inside the rim, with no loss of air. When ridden with low air pressure in the tire, there will be no loss of air when cornering or riding through technical terrain.
Bellow you have a short movie to prove you the quality of this products. You should try it too. It's quite amazing and you'll like from the first time.
After a long pause from the last race, I've decided to run a race before the Maros MTB Marathon, to prepare the legs, to get fit, to test myself.
The race was Sunday but we arrived Saturday in Tusnad Bai. Got the room, and after that we went to register. I've dediced to run the short track because I am not fully recovered after the last fractures. Me and my team mate Tudor had a big suprise when we woke up the next morning: 3C outside. We were kinda amazed... Until the race the temperatures raised up to 12C so it was pretty ok. Was sunny and dry.
The race started really fast and after 5 km I've lost about 1min. Slowly I stared to gain some time and managed to get in the leading group at the distance that I was running. The steep climbs were great with my rings and the technical descend were fast with my Cannondale Scalpel. The thing that I didn't like at the course were the 8km of road... were some of the riders tried to escape but I didn't let them, even if that was a bit painful. Also the marks on the course weren't that obvious all the time, but for the first edition of this race was good.
The bike went awesome and I was feeling really good so with 5 km to finish I've pushed a bit the tempo, got some time in front of my pursuiters and on the descends I've pushed a bit the limit so I've gained some time winning with a few minutes. I'm glad that I had a good run, I was feeling better than last days and now I am trying to get better for the last big event of the year: Maros MTB Marathon. I'll run the short distance here too, but with the 1600m of elevation won't be so easy. I'll do my best and I am looking forward for a good result.
For going to this race I would like to thanks again to my sponsors. Without them I couldn't be where I am now : Cannondale Bikes, Maros Sport, Ashima, Continental, Syntace, VDO, Sapim, Adidas Eyewear, Xpedo, 661, Buff, Sram, Kool Stop and DT Swiss and my new sponsor Joe's No Flats. Also I must thank to: my parents, Simona, Tudor, Raluca for the photos, and to everyone who supports me.
But the special thanks go to Maros Tudor, the team manager and sponsor that supported our trip !
Sapim is preparing a new coating treatment for nipples.
Coating is the new way to reduce friction on alloy nipples. The coating is the thread on the nipple. Friction between both spoke and nipple and rim and nipple is significantly reduced.
Coating also seals the surface reducing corrosion.
Now standard Sapim production. Oiled or dry alloy nipples are a thing of the past.
Benefits of coated Sapim nipples: - Silent, effective truing with no more squeaks. - Virtually torsion free spokes. - High tension wheels without problems. - No overtight nipples on spokes threads. - No more oily and dirty wheels. - Just efficient dry working and clean hands. - No unnecessary cleaning. - wheels thar are easier to true.
The coating treatment of nipples is not as easy as simple oiling.
Different production methods have to be employed but from 10/2009 all stock will be coated.
Sapim spokes and nipples are produced with the most exact thread-tolerance for durability and the highest level of quality. The Sapim Total Traceability System (STTS) guarantees perfect quality control. All Sapim components are conform to DIN 79.100. Threading DIN 79012.
That's the Cannondale Group motto. Actually I guess that's a good motto for the whole Eurobike. We got there with our team sponsor Tudor Maros and my team mate Eli after almost 20h of driving (including a nap) and after 1350km. I've prepared some photos from the way there and from the city of Friedrichschafen, which I must admit that is a really nice and clean town. CLICK HERE
After getting a good sleep we've started the first pretty though. There was a lot to visit, to see, to photograph, to ask, to learn. Of course a think that captured my eyes was the new Tune SRM Crankset, the Van Nicholas bikes, the new Sram XX Groupset (all the new cool bikes have the XX), the new Cannondale Flash, but also a tuned version of the Flash weighting 5977 gr, the Scalpel of Roel Paulissen who won the 2nd World Marathon Championship in a row, the new Cannondale Urban Super Light with Shimano Di2., Also the new Ashima PCB Brakes and the colored AiRotors, some flying Zepelins, some Rotor Cranks, the new Conti Rubber Queen 2.2 and new Conti Air King 2.2 which are looking awesome and I can't wait to test them. I also saw the new Adidas Evil Eye 10th Anniversary, some new Xpedo Pedals, and a lot colored cranks, handlebars, stems and so on... to see some photos from the first day CLICK HERE
2nd day was one of the coolest days. I got some new sponsors, I saw Eddy Mercx and Garry Fisher, and also some new products that I've missed in my first day. CLICK HERE to see photos from my 2nd day. You must check out the weight of the new Cannondale Flash. Is weighting no more than a filled water bottle and a small toolbox :-)
3rd day was the last day for me and the last before the public day. I thought to take som more photos to other thinks that I've missed the first 2 days. Also watch the Flat BMX Show and the 4X Training session. So guys for the 3rd day photos CLICK HERE
First off all I would like to say a big thank you to Tudor Maros for taking me there, to my sponsors to offering me the chance to continue with them in the next season but also to my new sponsors that will support me in the next season. I will present them soon, so stay tuned.
I knew the course really good and I want it to make a good impression. I raced the short distance, but with this I didn't had my best start. I didn't push too hard on the first climb because I knew that the second will kill me. And so it was. On the second and the hardest climb of the race (medium climb 17%, max. 22%) when I had 1 km to go my batteries got almost empty and I've decided not to push and to let some riders pass me as I will get back on the descend and on the last part.
