Specialized is a funny name for a brand - it is a very common adjective.

Triathlon Team is a confusing name for a triathlon team - triathlon team called triathlon team.

Saying that some members of a Specialized Triathlon Team are also members of Triathlon Team triathlon team is a weird sentence.

Until semantic web gets seriously going machines like Google might have a hard time with statements like this.

Check out the just announced Specialized Triathlon Team.

Bike companies are into videos…

Is it easier to watch, to listen or to read?

What about touching?

International Women’s Day is not celebrated in a lot of places but it is a nice idea.

It is still an official UN event.

We definitely need more women in Triathlon Team!

We are working on it…

One more bike brand…

One more shoe brand…

One more triathlon team…

One more viral wannabe video ending up looking like every other commercial video…

But… Fraser is there and thats what counts!

Gavin is still in Stellenbosch and he loves it.

Tell your story?

I have been competing in triathlons since the single digits. If there was a race within 300 miles of my home in Virginia you better believe my dad was packing up the car and driving my brother and I to race. During high school my swimming became a focus and I went on to swim at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

I was accepted to the USA Triathlon National 23 and Under Team after finishing university where I went on to live and train at the Olympic Training Centers in Chula Vista, California and Colorado Springs, Colorado to focus on ITU draft legal racing. A highlight of my first year as a professional was competing in the 2006 U23 World Championships where TT member WIll Clarke shot off the front on the bike and never looked back. I was named the 2006 USA Triathlon Professional Rookie of the Year and accepted to the 2007 USA Triathlon Elite Development Team.

I raced for ALZ Sigmaringen for the Germany Bundlesiga during the 2008 summer, but experienced a stressful and injury filled season and made the decision to take a step back from triathlon for a year. I helped mange Bonzai Sports, a multisport specialty store in the Washington DC area, and ran a marathon. With renewed motivation I’d like to have a successful 2010 season in both triathlon and career. Career? It is what I make of it.

I enjoy coffee in the AM and hoppy beers in the PM. Breakfast is by far the best meal of the day, but pizza and quesadillas are good as well. I studied film in school and would like to explore this passion along with triathlon.

What do you like most about triathlon team?

I like the fact that TT is not a triathlon racing team, but simply a collection of professional athletes - some ITU, some long distance, some xterra. triathlonteam.org is an access point to these athletes and the design is clean and straightforward: complete with unique branding for each athlete. From a marketing and advertising point of view it is brilliant. The magazine is very cool and a great tool for the athletes to give to supporters and sponsors.

What do you like least about triathlon team?

I would like to see TT become more international. More Americans, some Asians or Australian/New Zealand athletes which would not only give the team more depth but provide TT with more exposure.

Check out Mike’s tumblr.

Rafael Rozendaal is a young visual artist based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

His involvement with the triathlon team was in Dan’s race kit design.

I was very happy to connect Rafael and Dan because both are young, emerging and at similar points in their career: Rafael is very young for an artist and promises a lot with his already substantial body of work, while Dan is a very young XTERRA triathlete with very interesting potential.

Art and sports are very similar - both are highly irrational yet essential. Both are inspiring and beautiful. We pretend both are not important but if we would not have arts and sports even for a week we would probably suffer greatly

Rafael makes very interesting art - he focuses on online art. His art format are websites. This makes him interesting as a partner of triathlon team because we are an internet based team

Great thing about online art is that it is accessible to everybody - you do not have to own it, buy a ticket or buy a book to experience it, you can just go online, open a browser and enjoy.

Rafael’s art is extremely popular - more than million people view his art works every month, which is more than 10 million people a year. Probably most than a lot of museums put together. Probably more than most top sports brands.

Check out Rafael’s art websites:

THEPERSISTENCEOFSADNESS.COM
NEKROMISANTROP.COM
RINGINGTELEPHONE.COM
INTOTIME.COM
DEEPBLACKHOLE.COM
CLOSEDSHUT.COM
FROMTHEDARKPAST.COM
HOTDOOM.COM
HYBRIDMOMENT.COM
ELECTRICBOOGIEWOOGIE.COM
ONMYLEVEL.COM
BEEFCHICKENPORK.COM
OUTINTHEWIND.COM
ANNOYINGCURSOR.COM
AESTHETICECHO.COM
TINYCURSOR.COM
INVISIBLECURSOR.COM
COLDVOID.COM
BURNINGCIGARETTE.COM
KAZIMIRMALEVICH.ORG
LEDUCHAMP.COM
COLORFLIP.COM
POPCORNPAINTING.COM
JELLOTIME.COM
BROKENSELF.COM
MIRRORMOUSE.COM
FLAMINGCURSOR.COM
UNLIKETHEREST.COM
JESUSDROWNING.COM
FUTUREPHYSICS.COM
BIGLONGNOW.COM
VAIAVANTI.COM
ALLICANDOIS.COM
PAPERTOILET.COM
MUCHBETTERTHANTHIS.COM
ONLYNOTHING.COM
PLEASETOUCHME.COM
NOSQUITO.BIZ
ITWILLNEVERBETHESAME.COM
ONAHORSE.COM
FATALTOTHEFLESH.COM
LETMESLEEP.COM
MINUTESTOGO.COM
THEENDOFREASON.COM
SEETHROUGH.ORG
ONANDOFF.ORG
EVERYTHINGYOUSEEISINTHEPAST.COM
WEWILLATTACK.COM
IAMVERYVERYSORRY.COM
STAGNATIONMEANSDECLINE.COM
WHYWASHESAD.COM
MISTERNICEHANDS.COM
WHITETRASH.NL

I think adding Fraser to any mix is a good deal.

I do not know him as well as I would like to know him, but I know that Fraser is not your typical kind of triathlete (ment in the best way).

Sure… he does not have Conrad’s unique point of view on world, he is not eager to meet and talk like Dan, he is spontaneous like Aleksandar or does not smile like Lisa… but there is something about him.

So… make sure you add a bit of Fraser to your mix and it will be just right.

And some Britain as well!

Conrad Stoltz is your nemesis but also your friend? How does that work?

That work very good, XTERRA is a little family, and I think most of athlete are friend, we fight in the race but before and after we are friend, with a lot of respect. There is not enaugh money yet on this sport to kill that. Also we start XTERRA the same year on the same race with Conrad, he speek french, and he is the best but I’m one of the guys who can bit him, so we share something…

What do you think of Dan Hugo? Any oposition there?

Yes Dan is realy strong specialy swim and bike, but he still have to work the run a little bit and mostly the up hill, he’s a told guys so like Conrad he needs a lot of power to climb, but it’s not impossible, it’s just more work. He young so he will have the time to do that, to work also on his head to be more confident, but he’s a way stronger than i was at his age !!!

How do you like the triathlon team? Are you a fan? What can we do better?

Yes I’m fan, because you do a great job to try to make our sport more famous, more serious, so it’s good. I don’t know all the athlete’s you have, but most are realy nice people, with a very good way of life, and good exemple for the young kids who want to do sport. To do better is to put some “eco” respect on your site, to push the athlete to use only plant when they are sick, eat only organic food, to be not sick, recuce and recycle all the trash…. that my fight in France, we work on a kind of “organic athlete” and “organic organisation” to respect our body, the others and the earth that : athl’éthique.

They did not have luck with the weather (it was -10C) but they made it up with fun, learning and cakes.

Some of the themes explored were Pose Running (as Ole has a close relationship with Pose founder Nicholas Romanov) and breathing tips inspired by freediving.

To sign up for the next running or triathlon camp please email Aleksandar or Ole… it is probably going to in Denmark but it is a nice place to visit.