Flash Point Blog

Ironman 30 years later by David O

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:14:36 PST

In 1978 a race was conceived to combine 3 annual main events on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The event consisted of the 2.4 mile Oahu rough water swim, the 112 mile perimeter bicycle ride, and the running of the Honolulu marathon. The events ran together and whoever could finish would be called an Ironman. Of course at this time everyone thought it to be crazy and that no one would be able to do this! Well 15 individuals undertook the challenge to prove them wrong 12 of them finishing. I was one of the original 1978 finishers taking third place that year. During that event I had only about 6 weeks from its concept to train. Everything was going well with the swimming and running but a week before the event I still did not have a bike and asked fellow Marines if I could borrow one. I was able to get a fairly new Sears Free Spirit 10speed bicycle for the event. Of course I rode about 30 miles the week before thinking I rode a bicycle as a kid that I could complete the 112 miles no problem. Further the bicycle had no bottle cages or bento bags for nutrition. Standard pedals also with no cages. I handled that with cutting off a pair of jeans the night before as my cycling shorts so I could have pockets to put money in for food and drink.
As you can imagine already what the bike part of the race was like. Aid stations consisted of gas stations, grocery stores, and even a McDonalds for food. Needless to say I finished the bike and couldnot wait to get off of it. The run was tough as there was no knowledge of brick training. I finished in third place crossing the finish line to a whole two people who were recording times. No big hoopla!!!

Fast forward 30 years later to 2008 Kona Ironman. Had not done an Ironman or even a half Ironman since the original in 1978. Still having that craziness I decided to do the 30th Anniversary of Ironman with the blessing of the Gills family, who owned WTC and Ben Fertic, president, who granted me entry to the event. After a 6 month period of training in which I lost 47 pounds and experimenting with different bicycles and wheels I settled on purchasing a new bike and wheels for the event. Brent Emery, of Emery's Cycle and fitness was instrumental in my decisions. Brent is an accomplished cyclist and silver medalist from the 1984 Olympics. I settled on the purchase of a Cervelo P3 tri bike and after testing a number of wheels was hooked on the performance of FlashPoint wheels. After testing the various models I was sold on the FlashPoint 80. I picked these as I am just over 200 lbs and the feeling that the crosswinds would not affect my ability to handle the bike in strong winds. Race day Oct. 11, 2008 and had only rode on the wheels 4 times prior to race day. After the swim I took off on the bike and for the first 30 miles and could not believe the speeds I was tarveling at compared to Easton and Bontrager wheels I had on other bikes. At about the 30 mile mark the winds became strong and gusty with strong crosswinds also. The crosswinds moved me a little bit but when there were no crosswinds it felt like I was just slicing through the headwinds. I completed the bike and went off to run and finished the Kona Ironman just over 30minutes more than what I had done in 1978.

I further had the opportunity to compete in the 70.3 Championships on Nov. 8, 2008 in Clearwater beach Florida. In this race with the FlashPoint 80 on the bike I went from my 17.5mph in Kona to over 21mph in Clearwater. The wheels roll so smoothly that I would just roll by people sometimes without pedaling as other competitors with different styles wheels would be pedaling away.

I have had great experiences with the FlashPoint 80's and look forward to improving my bike.

Thanks for your great wheels.Look for me on them in the future.

Take Care
Dave Orlowski
1978 Ironman 3rdPlace
2008 Kona Ironman

My First Tri by Sean

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:41:40 PST

My first Triathlon was the Santa Barbara Triathlon. I wanted to do it because my friend, Brennan, decided to do it and I wanted to give it a try. Naturally there was an intense rivalry between us. Who could train the most? Who would be the most prepared? And of course, who would be the champion?! We already new I would have a faster swim, and he would have a faster bike leg. We are evenly matched on the run, so it was gonna be close. I got a good lead on the swim, and managed to hang on to it during the bike, even though Brennan had the fastest bike leg in our age group. Must have been those killer Flash Point 60's that helped me hang on to the small gap I had. I had a great run and was first in my age group! I've done two more multi sport events since then, and most were pretty successful. More about that later!

FP60 review by Denham

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:19:24 PDT

Ben Edwards, from Test Rider.com, review looks the FP60 up and down, takes a virtual spin and likes what he finds.

See this video review which highlights many of the advantages of the ever popular FP60.

Decals change for 2009 by Denham

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:38:47 PDT

We have changed the decals for 2009 to reflect the silver and red look of this web site, the catalog and advertisements.

Did you know you can order a 2009 catalog free of charge at the "Contact" web page or simply download your personal copy via pdf?

I rather like the red flash on the new stickers gives them a more classic and classy appearance methinks

Any comments on the 2009 look and feel? Pleasae drop me a line at denham@zipp.com

Initial Thoughts by Mark Arnold

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 08:41:28 PDT

I got out for about 2 hours on Saturday morning. First let me say...is there anything better than a ride in the sunshine at roughly 67 degrees? Thought so.

Yes, there was wind. 15 mph is not my favorite riding conditions, but who can complain. I was out riding, right???

The wheels look amazing (as you can see). Spin up is surprisingly fast and rolling is even better. They are so smooth. I am loving these wheels already. Now, I would be lying if I said I could not feel a difference between my FP80's and my 24mm training wheels in a 15 mph cross wind. I could feel it, but it wasn't something that I felt was unsafe. I will take the aero advantage any day over the ever so slight crosswind pull. The real difference was when I turned into the wind. SLICE, baby...! Like butter. :) And the tailwind sections were even bettter.

My first impression of this wheelset is that I am VERY pleased to have them.

More impressions and ride reports to come...

It is no secret by Denham

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 09:18:00 PDT

SRAM wheels are being made in the Zipp factory here in Indy. The production presses are running with the pedal to the metal after the highly successful product launch of the S40, S60 and S80 wheelset at EuroBike and InterBike. FP users will recognize many similarities with their favorite wheels, with a few striking differences in the wheel, hub decals, and new color options.

There are big plans afoot for expanding the SRAM wheel range and adding wheel assembly in Taiwan. SRAM rims will continue to be hand made right here in Speedway where they benefit from the knowledge and quality design of the Zipp factory and engineers.

Many of us here at Zipp wonder if Lance will be riding these beauties anytime soon?

Flash Points on the Road across America by Hubie

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 15:48:10 PDT

I had the opportunity to coordinate an event across the country for charity this past spring. The event was called the Freedom Run across America. The main runners for the event were Tom and Warren Knoll. A feisty Father and son team no doubt, with a history second to none in the multisport arena. Tom 75 years old, a 33 year marine vet and an Original Ironman from 1978, with Warren following in his footsteps. The run started in San Diego and ultimately finished in Washington DC on july 4th. Imagine the run, but dial in biking with this insane effort! The P60 Flashpoints on a Blue frame was my ride and when I began to ride with these wheels be it in the California desert, or the Oklahoma flats I never had such a good time riding! period.

My experience with racing and riding for the last 25 years has gone from using your standard clinchers for training and when race days came along throwing on a front lightweight wheel with a campy hub and the good old ZIPP white disc for speed weaponry! (early 90's)The advancement in speed technology over the years has been phenomonel. I can recall going to my bike shop for every race to have to buy matching freewheels to switch out my wheels on race day, should I use a disc should'nt I? If I switch the wheel out is it going to shift perfect during race day? Enough, its to much! As we all know, on race day you want to have your A game on especially your equipment. When today with Flashpoint technology, I can train on my Flashpoints and race with them just the same with no worries. Riding on all the different types of roads that America has, the durability of these wheels held up increndibly. With our hardcore past winter with tons of snow and the roads just hammered, I need wheels that are going to stand the test of strength, durability, and performance.

There is a ride that I like to do which goes through downtown Milwaukee and these wheels light up the street! I call it the "Urban Assault", and talk about tough roads! I have to be confident with my equipment and the wheels are obviously huge. When you go 0-20MPH in 4.0 seconds, I know I found my wheels! Flashpoints Rock and so does the price! You will not be dissapointed. Set yourself up and light up you streets......

Got em! by Mark Arnold

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:22:27 PDT

I came home last night to a big box sitting in the living room floor.

What can Brown do for me? He can bring me a brand spankin' new set of FP80's! :)

I quickly de-boxed the wheels and sat staring at them for several minutes, just spinning them in my hands. They look even nicer in person than they do on the website. And lighter than I expected.

A cassette and tires will be installed today and if all goes well (weather, etc.), I will be taking them on their maiden voyage Saturday morning.

Thanks so much, Flashpoint for this wonderful opportunity...

I just want to be able to go to the bathroom in peace. by Susanna Loewy

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:58:43 PDT

I remember saying that quite a few times this summer.

We would stop along the route to get snacks or refill our water or go to the bathroom... and inevitably, someone would ask us what we were doing - our jerseys and bikes and our general psychotic sleep-deprived demeanor made us very obviously outside of the norm.

And so, enter canned spiel: "We're part of a group called Bike and Build. There are 32 of us, and we're biking across the country and building houses for affordable housing groups, like Habitat for Humanity. We each raised $4,000 before starting the trip, so our group raised $130,000 before we left. There are 7 different routes traveling across the country right now, so there are about 210 of us biking and building across the US. We're the Southern route. We started in Jacksonville, FL and are finishing in San Francisco, CA in August. Look, you can see our route on the back of my jersey - we're the yellow line traveling across the bottom of the country..."

And it's not that I wasn't enthusiastic about it; I was - and really, that little speech was part of the whole point of the trip. We were supposed to be spreading awareness as we rode across the country; otherwise, we might as well have just stopped in one place and built for the entire summer...

But, as our legs and minds got tired and we occasionally got frustrated with biking and each other, it was sometimes hard to muster up enough pep in my voice. Sometimes I just wanted to drink my chocolate milk and not think about anything else.

So today on the way back from teaching Spinning, as I stopped at a convenience store to get milk and cereal and got questioned as to why I was wearing spandex and dripping sweat all over the aisles, I smiled and told the guy I was a Spinning teacher at the gym up the road. He started to tell me about someone he knew who rode 80 miles over the weekend. I smiled and nodded (hell, it's more than I did this weekend!), and he asked me if I had ever done that sort of thing.

I grinned, and said yes - over the summer I biked across the country - from Florida to California... and I helped build houses along the way. And I realized I had a note of pride in my voice. I went on with the speech and it didn't feel forced or contrived. I was talking about it because I wanted to - because it's worth talking about. The guy was duly impressed, told me I was a good person, and held the door open for me as I left.

I don't know if I deserve the 'good person' treatment, but I do know that the little time away from Bike and Build has renewed the spark; I knew it was awesome at the time, but it's just easy to get bogged down in the every day trivialities and forget that what you're doing is kind of amazing.

The 2009 Bike and Build applications are online and I spent the better part of an hour just clicking through the different routes and letting my heart beat and mouth water with anticipation... I'm thinking of being a leader next year. There's a new route (South Carolina to Santa Cruz) that features a week long Blitz Build in Colorado Springs, CO where you build an entire house. It's the longest route to date (10 weeks and 4,500+ miles, I've heard), and travels up the Rockies instead of 'just' over them.

I'm not committing yet; I have too much going on right now to know what I'm going to be doing this summer... but it's definitely on my mind. Being a leader would be good for me; both with organizational skills (procrastination, anyone?) and with being able to assert myself in a group situation (public speaking is not exactly my forte; think I could get away with just playing the flute in morning circle?)...

At the very least though, now Bike and Build is novel again, and regardless of what next summer brings, I can't wait to get back on the road and be questioned about what the hell I'm doing in a stinky uniform jersey at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere.

Day 2: Glen St. Mary, FL - Live Oak, FL by Susanna Loewy

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:16:14 PDT

Made it out of Jacksonville! Today I rode a bit faster - averaging around 17-8mph, most of it in a pace-line. We played Categories for a good hour before lunch, with the leader calling out the category and everyone in the line calling out an answer until someone messed up - then the leader dropped back and the next person pulled and picked a Category. Our categories were Bike Parts, Brands of Bikes, Elements from the Periodic Table, Gas Stations, Types of SUVS, Methods of Contraception, Sexual Positions, Capitol Cities, etc...it was fun.

We rode 55m today, so we're now 115 into the trip. It doesn't seem like much, but the miles will start to add up pretty quickly and we'll move through the South faster than I'd like.

We stay in the gyms of churches (churches with gyms? who knew??), and the churches tend to supply food. I'm starving all the time though; no amount of peanut butter or ice cream can possibly be enough.

We stopped at the site of the largest Civil War battle in Florida (picture below); apparently the South Won, which made the man setting everything up very happy.

I guess that's about it. It was a short day; I was in the next city by 12:15. Now it's 3:30 and I need a nap. People are going to stop being on their best behavior and start getting cranky soon, I think. It's going to be interesting as true personalities start to appear.

The only other thing that happened today was that my cleat broke on the way to ice cream this afternoon. I still haven't gotten my shoe off of the pedal. I didn't fall, but I had to walk back to the church barefoot, and now the bottom of my foot is burned from the hot sidewalk. And I didn't even get the chocolate shake I really wanted...

I'm feeling a little out of it right now. The weather has been cooperating and it hasn't been nearly as hot as it could be...but I'm still drained by the end of the day. It's a nice kind of exhaustion, but it's still makes me pretty damn tired.

We have a presentation to on Affordable Housing tonight at the church, but other than that, we're all free. Most of the time that's the case...all we have to do is get from city to city, sometimes give presentations, and otherwise just hang out and explore the town. I've been trying to practice a bit everyday. So far it's been pretty manageable; I think I'll be able to stay in decent shape. It's making me actually look forward to practicing. It's relaxing to warm up slowly and play a little Bach; it gives me a little space to do my own thing.

I've gotta say - I never quite thought I'd be doing something like this...but here I am...