What Pros Use

Some might say the ‘ball’ sports are under-represented on this blog, but who can blame us? Let’s say it together: there’s no gear.

Granted, Poo-holes (is that how you spell it?) probably has a favorite bat, and apparently Delilah is coming after Jason Terry’s knee-highs, but generally non-standardized gear is sacrificed at the alters of those unholy gods, competitive balance and fair play[1].

But let’s not forget the cleats.

Let’s give props to the folks at Nike, they managed to make two of the least likeable people on the planet seem plausibly humanoid. We see you Nike.

We know how Rafa feels. Some jerk with spikey hair clowns you for the game winning goal and you’re looking at him, hands on your knees thinking:

I work out, I go to practice, what gives? …Man those cleats are fresh.

Inevitably, the jerk with the spikey hair is wearing fancier, flashier, definitely more expensive cleats. And so begins the feets-race[2].

(more…)

1. Nerds [↩]
2. Get it? Feets-race? Like arms-race? Because you wear them on your feet? Nevermind. [↩]

For the better part of my sporting life I considered cycling to be a selfish sport. A sport of solo racers attempting to claw their way to the finish at all costs. How is it possible to be selfless? There are only three spots on the podium – two of them are there for funsies – while a lycra laden field of hundreds awaits to eat the lunch right out of your musette.

There are moments when your entire viewpoint of sporting shifts. As if a trigger has been flipped and you’ve suddenly entered the zone of interested person. Memorable moments include:

• The value of great defense in Puyol’s stellar 2010 World Cup performance for the Spanish national team
• Strategy in mixed martial arts and the rise of Lyoto Machida
• #Linsanity on the importance of an intelligent point guard and dare I say selfless play (lookout Kobe)

I’ve felt this sensation about all the sports covered here and I’ve felt this once upon a time about cycling as well.

I’m not ashamed to say cycling entered my awareness during the era of Lance Armstrong. An intriguing story and the fact that he is the winningest American in pro-cycling would definitely pique the interest of anyone. However, it wasn’t until I was introduced to George Hincapies role in Lance’s success that the switch was flipped.

A domestique is a road bicycle racer who works for the benefit of his team and leader. The French domestique translates as “servant”.

Hincapie was a domestique. Without him, the legend of Lance would be a mere bedtime tale. If this were basketball, people would praise Hincapie for his hustle. The cognitive dissonance of someone so selfless paired with someone so selfish shattered my conception of the sport. It became clear that cycling is in fact a team effort albeit only one man can stand on the podium.

Of late, that man is usually Mark Cavendish: also known as the fastest man on two wheels. The caveats are that he must be in a contestable position 200 meters from the finish line in order to rise to the occasion. So to frame it a bit differently, he is the fastest sprinter on Earth when in the presence of great domestiques.

Look ma' no hands!

He’s won stages in the grand tours and currently wears the World Champion Stripes. This is Cavendish’s 2012 bicycle riding for Team Sky.

Winter in Southern California is like a leprechaun, folks know what it is, but no one ever sees it[1].  Thus, my first introduction to winter sports was ‘Cool Runnings’ aptly titled ‘Rasta Rockett’ in France. The movie recounts the tale of the Jamaican bobsled team and introduced us ordinaries to the world of ice tracks & luging where racers are propelled 85mph down a narrow ice slick in multi-colored onesies.

Skeleton Racing

Now imagine instead of four people per luge, you have just one – head-first on a sled the size of your torso. Welcome to Skeleton – the most hardcore of the sliding sports –  the whisper of its name strikes fear into the hearts of bobsledders. We mentioned extreme sports previously on this blog:

Extreme sports is a term cultivated in the 90′s by marketing henchmen because they didn’t know what to call emerging activities like skateboarding, snowboarding, waterboarding (too soon?). They could have just defined them under sport but that’s not edgy enough.

Extreme sports eat your heart out. Skeleton predates you by a hundred years. That’s street credibility.

Winningest

Kyle Tress – World Cup Skeleton Racer

An unconventional activity attracts unconventional competitors[2], Skeleton is no exception. What Pros Use had the opportunity to interview Kyle Tress, a hardman competing at the top of the sport. Kyle masquerades as a software developer while training as a World Cup-level athlete. Where does the time to compete & make apps come from? He most likely does not sleep.

w: How did you go from techie to World Cup athlete?

k: I’ve always been interested in the Winter Olympics. I remember watching the Lillehammer games in 1994 and telling myself I was going to be an Olympic speed skater. What’s crazy is that I was never really into sports as a kid, although I did play on a few teams. When I learned about skeleton for the first time in 2002, it was from an article on Yahoo.com. Third generation Olympian Jim Shea had just won gold, and the sport was getting a lot of attention. I was working as a freelance web developer at the time, so I had the flexibility to travel to Lake Placid, NY and see if I enjoyed skeleton. I never left.

w: It’s a huge hurdle to go from being interested to actually getting out there and participating. What motivated you to seek out the track, gear, and training for the sport?

k: Skeleton just felt so natural to me. When I saw it for the first time, something clicked. I knew it was the right sport for me. Looking back, I think it was combination of things. Skeleton is under the radar, it’s so unique, and it requires both mental and physical toughness. It’s also a sport that demands a lot of experience and skill. I knew that it would take a commitment of 8-12 years to reach my goal, and that was part of the appeal.

w: Your face is close enough to the ice that you can lick the track, what’s your greatest fear as you are propelled head-first brakeless down the track?

k: I trust myself and my abilities completely, regardless of how difficult or fast the track. What scares me are things outside my control. Are there two sleds in the track at the same time? Did a track worker leave a tool or shovel in the track? These things have actually happened, and I have to remind myself every day that the people who are responsible for my safety are professionals.

w: Aside from the physical gear, are you able to combine digital tools/software to train smarter? If so, what metrics do you track on and off the sled? How have you integrated technology into your training?

k: I use a lot of digital tools to help me succeed. I created a ruby on rails app to track and analyze my runs, and I’m currently building an iPhone app for the same purpose. I use my iPad at the track everyday for video review, taking notes, and killing time during long training sessions. Finally, I’ve experimented with devices that capture speed and acceleration, such as the Ripxx, but I haven’t had a lot of success with them. I’m always looking for new ways to blend my love for skeleton and technology.

w: Is the body suit front zip or back zip?

k: Front zip. Better aerodynamics.

w: Thanks for the insights Kyle.

Checkout all the gear and a piece-by-piece breakdown on Bindle.

1. unless they go to the mountains, where it’s all fake snow anyways [↩]
2. See: Professional gaming, ultimate frisbee, curling [↩]