TEAM CLIF BAR athlete Meredith Kessler is an anomaly in pro sport. Although she is a professional triathlete performing at the highest level, she refuses to sacrifice the important things in life in order to achieve success out on the course. Meredith’s daily training routine is, therefore, a super-focused regimen that fills in the spaces between her full-time job, family life, and other passions and hobbies. This is not to say that she trains lightly. Meredith recently took me through her routine, and trust me – it’s brutal. Meredith is on the treadmill at 6 a.m. for an hour-long interval…

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A couple weeks ago, I received this email from Matt Hart, ultra-distance runner from the Montrail team: Hey Eric, Hope this finds you well. I just decided in the early hours of this morning (while pacing at the hardrock 100 miler) to have a go at the Colorado Trail speed record. I'm in the midst of planning it now. Everyone I've talked to that knows says the record is "tight." The 500 miles was done last year in 8 days, 12 hours, 14 mins. I'm wondering if you can send me a few special items for the adventure. For most…

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To say that Todd Wells has been killing it this year would be an understatement. So when he took the National Championship jerseys for both cross country and short track this past weekend in Granby, Colorado, we were super-stoked...but not all that surprised. Here is Todd's report from the weekend. This is definitely one of the best race reports I have ever written. I have always had bad luck at the National Championship races for some reason, but this weekend was just about perfect. I managed to win the cross-country title for the first time and the short track title…

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Have you ever considered doing something really crazy? Like running the length of Connecticut? But, instead of doing it at sea level, you throw in a few thousand feet of elevation and also do it in the middle a hot California summer? Oh, yeah, and you have to do it in under 16 hours. Piece of cake, right? Well, that’s what it’s like when the contenders run the Western States 100, the United States’ oldest ultra marathon. This year proved to be one of the most exciting editions in the race’s history. Remarkably, after completing over 85 miles of the…

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A few weeks back Team Clif Bar triathlete Meredith Kessler sent an email asking for some bars and BLOKS to help her prep for Ironman Coeur d’Alene. Knowing that both she and fellow TCB pro Linsey Corbin would be racing in Idaho, I issued a challenge: “You guys will have to finish 1-2 or we will be forced cut you both from the program.” We play hardball here in the TCB pod. I was joking. Sort of. But, I also knew that Linsey and Meredith had been racing extremely well, and if both had good days they could end up…

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Many of you may have been introduced to Southern California's Conejo Valley by way of the Tour of California. As you may recall, the area provided the hilly landscape that produced the most epic and action-packed stage of the race. Well, the fellas from the Agoura Hills-based racing team Fast Friday have been riding that same loop on Friday afternoons for years – it’s where the team got its name. Well following last Friday's ride, Gary, the team’s notorious leader, was invited by some friends to eat at Leila’s http://www.leilasrestaurant.com/ , one of the region’s most popular and well-regarded restaurants.…

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The Garmin-Transitions pro cycling team pulled off a magical feat this past Tuesday, winning stages simultaneously at two of the world’s premier cycling events: The Giro d’Italia and the Tour of California. David Zabriskie smartly forged a break with Levi Leipheimer and Michael Rogers on the Bonny Doon climb near the end of the Tour of California’s hilly third stage. And let’s face it, once those three are off and working together in a break, it’s going to take a pretty motivated field to bring them back. The three worked as a pair until the finish drew near, with Zabriskie…

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After a taking an impressive 3rd place on the rain-soaked streets of Lisbon last week, Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Greg Minnaar is out to prove he can win on any terrain and in any conditions that the World Cup downhill circuit can throw at him. Not normally know for his ability on muddy, technical tracks, Greg was nonetheless fired up about his chances for a podium this past weekend on the flooded course in Maribor, Slovenia. And although Greg described the track as “The hardest course I’ve ever ridden because of the mud and rain,” he rode like a man possessed…

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The Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Greg Minnaar finished with a solid third place this past weekend on the rain-soaked streets of Lisbon, Portugal, as the city put on the 12th edition of its famed urban downhill race. Minnaar’s teammate, reigning downhill world champion Steve Peat, came into the race as the favorite, having won the event for eight straight years. Unfortunately for Peaty, the slippery conditions got the best of him and he crashed hard into a rock wall, ending his chances for a ninth title. Minnaar rode the track more conservatively, yet quick enough to land him on yet another…

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One of the strange things about the California road [bike] racing season is this: Although our calendar is generally chock full of great racing 9 months out of the year, occasionally we have a weekend where there is nothing more than an individual time trial and a road race. On the other hand, sometimes we have weekend that is so stacked with racing that you’re not really sure what to hit up. This past weekend was the latter. On Saturday, the TEAM CLIF BAR cycling squad hopped down to Los Gatos to compete in one of the all-time classic NorCal…

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After you’ve lived in Northern California for a while, as most Clif Bar employees have, there are certain things you look forward to each spring that make you appreciate life in such an exceptional place. Things like…the end of the rainy season or the completion of the Bay Bridge. Or perhaps the Celebrity Apprentice finale or the Potrero Hill Big Wheel race. As awesome as these things are, though, nothing says spring to a cyclist more than the arrival of the Sea Otter Classic. And, last weekend was proof that even at 20 years old, the world’s biggest cycling festival…

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As most of you know, Clif Bar has a long history of involvement with the endurance sports community. After all, the entire concept for the Clif Bar originated on a 170-mile bike ride. Athletes competing in marathons, triathlons, bike races, and Jiu Jitsu tournaments nationwide have relied for years on our Clif and Shot products to give them the energy they need to perform at their best. Oh, did someone mention Jiu Jitsu? Well, since we’re already on the subject, let’s talk a little bit about Eduardo Fraga. Eduardo is the Head Instructor at Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy here…

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After attacking what remained of the peloton and forging a decisive three-man chase group, Garmin-Transitions’ David Millar looked set to be sprinting for a podium spot at Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. Instead, after missing a couple feeds and losing a few water bottles, he found himself bonking on the famed Mur de Grammont and losing contact with his chase companions. But, as he has shown throughout his career, resiliency is one of Millar’s strongest traits. And, although he was exhausted and depleted, he knew he still had a chance to help a teammate out in the field sprint. That…

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If you know anything about the international downhill bike racing scene, you probably already know how dominant the Santa Cruz Syndicate has been for the last two seasons. But for those of you who don’t know, here are the facts: 2008 UCI World Cup Overall Champion, 2008 World Junior Champion, 2009 World Champion, over a dozen World Cup victories, and the UCI #1 ranking for two years running. So, what do you do when your team has already won everything there is to win in your sport? Well, in the Syndicate’s case, you make sure you re-sign your best…

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Most folks recognize the Montrail name as the leaders in performance trail running and hiking footwear. But, what some people might not realize as that Montrail also fields one of the best ultra running teams in the world. In fact, when I need to purchase a new pair of kicks, I simply phone them up and they have an athlete run them to me from their offices 5 miles up the road. Of course, that doesn’t really happen…don’t be ridiculous. But, it could happen. And most of their athletes could run back and forth between our offices about 8…

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In an attempt to give representatives in congress a different view of global climate change, eight-time Big Mountain Snowboarder of the Year (and Team Clif Bar athlete) Jeremy Jones traveled to Washington last week to meet with key mountain states lawmakers, screen the short film Generations, and shred the infamous Nixon Chute on Capitol Hill. OK, there’s not really a chute on Capitol Hill, but if there were, Jeremy could shred it. Regardless, Jeremy, along with Chris Steinkamp, Executive Director of Protect Our Winters, Steve Jones, founder of Teton Gravity Research, and Clif Bar’s very own Director of Environmental…

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Eric's back with a few words on his final days in the Big Easy and wrapping up a week with In Good Company. Well, we just finished our work here in New Orleans for In Good Company and I have to admit it—exhaustion's setting in. Five emotional days of home construction, garden building, partying through the wee hours and just generally running ourselves far past “E” each day have really put our bodies and minds to the test. As fatigued as we all are, though, everyone is in great spirits—a testament to the strength of our incredible group and their…

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A few days late but without further ado, a recap of Day 4 of In Good Company. Eric fills us in on his adventures in the Bayou and a few (more) reasons why New Orleans is such an amazing place... Well, if you’ve read any of the previous New Orleans blogs from earlier this week, you are well aware that there is a group of us down here in the Crescent City building a house for a family displaced by hurricane Katrina. We've been working hard. Really hard. And one thing I have truly learned so far is…that I am…

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So, I’m here in New Orleans with 8 other Clif people—all of us here to work with In Good Company, a labor force comprised of employees from like-minded companies who volunteer their time to make positive change in the world. This time we around, we've partnered with a bunch of other great folks to build a community garden and a home in neighborhood that's making a comeback after Hurricane Katrina. Having never been to the Big Easy before, I was pretty excited to get underway. In the Oakland airport, having spotted my Clif Bar T shirt, belt buckle and…

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As I was riding my bike in Sonoma County yesterday in sunny, 80 degree weather, winter was likely the farthest thing from my mind. Well, OK; maybe I thought of winter for a few seconds after the ride as I was putting the hurt on a tasty vanilla shake from the Sequoia burger shack in Sebastopol. Other than that, though, no real winter thoughts. To my surprise and delight, however, when I opened up my inbox this morning, I found this little nugget of video winterness courtesy of Jenn Berg, TCB pro free skier extraordinaire. Seeing all the cool winter…

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During his 15 years of racing at the highest level, Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Steve Peat has won just about every significant race on the UCI downhill circuit, except a World Championship. Well, that all changed over the weekend in Canberra, Australia, as Peaty absolutely killed the upper half of the track to finish atop the World’s podium with a time of 2:30.33. And, since a gold medal at the World’s apparently isn’t enough for the Syndicate, Greg Minnaar figured he would ride real fast, too, and finished in second place, just 5 seconds off his teammate’s pace. The team’s…

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With the start of the cyclocross season only a few weeks away, Team Clif Bar pro rider and Durango resident Troy Wells just checked in to share how his training is taking shape. I have to admit, his ride descriptions and pictures made me long for the days when my only responsibilities involved making sure that my chain had some lube and that I had a ride up to Tahoe for a weekend of trail riding. Anyway…here is what Troy had to say: With ‘cross season kicking off in just over 3 weeks with CrossVegas, people are starting to catch…

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The Tour de France finished up its three-week run Sunday with the traditional sprint finish on the Champs Elysees. And while most of the mainstream press focused on the internal squabbles within the powerful Astana team throughout the race, we here at the Clif Bar world headquarters were extremely happy to sit back and watch Garmin-Slipstream put on an exceptionally professional showing. The penultimate stage on the Ventoux was epic. With all the lead riders represented at the head of the race and podium positions on the line, the pace was fast and the attacks often. Try as they might,…

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Make no mistake: Bradley Wiggins is the revelation of this year’s Tour de France. The Garmin-Slipstream rider again stayed with the leaders as today’s stage 16 took the peloton over two colossal climbs, keeping himself solidly in third place with only five stages remaining. “Wiggo” is already known world-wide as a master of the individual and team pursuits on the velodrome, but his incredible performance in the Tour so far has surprised just about everyone. So, how does a track rider become a podium contender in the world’s most grueling cycling event? Well, to begin with, you gotta lose…

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The Tour de France continued on its march toward the Alps today on stage 11, a mostly flat course containing only two small climbs with a flat run-in to the finish—perfectly matched for the legs of the world’s top sprinters, including Garmin-Slipstream’s young rocket, Tyler Farrar. Nonetheless, two breakaway riders gave it their best to foil the hopes of the sprinters’ teams, riding off the front for over 150 km before being caught near the end of the stage. After a relaxed day yesterday, the Tour heated up significantly during today’s stage, as narrow roads and a four minute…

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With the race’s first rest day in the bag and two transitional stages approaching, Garmin-Slipstream finished up the first segment of the Tour de France in fine form. Bradley Wiggins and Christian Vande Velde remain in 5th and 8th place respectively, giving the team high hopes for a podium spot in Paris at the end of the three week race. What exactly does professional cycling team do on a rest day during le Tour? Well…they ride, eat, nap and mostly perform media interviews. And when you have two capable riders sitting high on GC in the world’s toughest race,…

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As literally 6-8 of you know from reading my March 18 posting “Our Friend Jeff Goes Big Time”, Jeff Hantman is one of our more storied employees. He has raced his bike all over the place, crafted priceless works of art out of scavenged junk, founded Halfwheel Fenders, twice placed 36th in the World Beard and Moustache Championships (only the Germans can defeat him) and performed somewhat mediocre acts of gravitational defiance for the Cretu Brothers Circus in Bucharest. The good news is though, Jeff is back! And if you call our offices here, you might just get to talk…

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Years ago, when I first got traded from Sports Retail to the Team Clif Bar lair (a dubious move that still has Marketing management scratching their heads), I received a few emails from a young fellow named Chuck Engle, a runner who apparently had been on the TCB roster for years. Interestingly, Chuck signs off all his emails as “Marathon Junkie”, which struck me as a bit strange at the time. The self-applied nickname becomes a bit less odd, though, when you truly grasp the scope of Chuck’s prolific running career. Heading into this past weekend, Chuck had finished over…

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Two things are certain when it comes to pro gravity outfit Santa Cruz Syndicate: 1. they are really freaking fast and 2. they just might have the coolest name in the professional cycling world. The word "Syndicate" gives them a sinister touch of 60's spy movie style while adding enough intrigue to play mind games with the competition. Odds are that L.A. would have won at least thirteen Tours de France had he raced for the US Postal Syndicate. Syndicate has been killing it so far this year on the international gravity circuit, and their performances at the '09…

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For a fan of cycling’s spring classics, things simply do not get any better than this week. In a span of 9 days, pro cycling enthusiasts are treated to three of the most exciting races that Europe has to offer, complete with cobbles, crashes and weather that only the Flemish can truly appreciate. After last week’s Tour of Flanders and Wednesday’s Ghent–Wevelgem, the racing reaches its high point this Sunday, with the “Queen of the Classics”: Paris-Roubaix. Three U.S-based teams are making the start at this year’s edition of the fabled cobblestone classic and Clif Bar is proud to…

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Jeff Hantman (in pink tutu to the left) is old school. He started his stint here at Clif Bar somewhere around 2002, although the date varies depending on who you ask. If you're a Clif Bar retailer, sales rep, or industry insider, chances are you've talked to Jeff, as he was a jack of all trades here at the CB&C headquarters. If you raced cyclocross here in NorCal, you probably knew him as well, as Jeff was one of the best, if not hairiest, riders around. Although Jeff certainly enjoyed coming into the office everyday, eventually the call of the…

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For the second time in as many years, Team Clif triathlete Linsey Corbin finished an impressive second place at Ironman 70.3 at Pucón, Chile. Set in the South American nation’s beautiful Lake District with 2847 meter Volcán Villarrica as a backdrop, Pucón serves as an idyllic setting for what has become one of the most competitive early-season events on the multisport schedule. “Racing in Pucón is much more than just a race” said Linsey. “The people of South America are all friends, they are so excited to see you around town and shower you with hugs and smiles. The food…

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This report just in from Luna Pro Team Media Liason and really fast mountain biker Alison Dunlap… Congratulations to Catharine Pendrel and Georgia Gould for an outstanding race at the Olympics! I went online last night and watched the entire race from my computer. It was amazing coverage, except I had to make up my own commentary. I was thrilled that we actually got to watch the entire race, and not a five minute highlight segment squished into the NBC swimming and gymnastics show. I have few details on the race, but from what I saw and read, it was…

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This past weekend brought some tremendous results for Team Clif Bar cyclists, as BMC's Jeff Louder won the overall at the Tour of Utah, while Brooke Miller from Team TIBCO sprinted to victory to at US Pro Criterium Championships at Downers Grove, Illinois. Louder, a Salt Lake City resident, used his knowledge of the local Utah roads and a strong time trail to claim his first title in the fourth edition of the Tour of Utah. Louder won the queen stage of the tour on Saturday, a grueling race from Deer Valley to Snowbird that featured 14,000 feet of climbing…

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When one ponders the great cycling destinations of the world, the same locales almost always come to mind: The French Alps...Tuscany...the Pyrenees...North Carolina. Well, OK, some might argue that last one doesn't belong. But, after spending a week on my bike with some Team Clif teammates in the Tar Heel State, I'm here to tell ya it’s pretty dang cool! If you need a little more convincing, I've compiled my top 7 reasons why summertime in North Carolina can be quite delightful for an avid cyclist. Read on... 1) The Crossroads Classic criterium series—Neal Boyd and his minions at Charlotte…

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The 14th X Games start up this week in LA, and as always, they are sure to supply a year’s worth of extreme entertainment in just 4 insane days. Clif Bar may not be the first company that comes to mind when the subject of extreme sports pops up, but we do occasionally like to get our board, skate or BMX on. One of the things we are most proud of here at the Team Clif Bar world headquarters is our relationship with Andy MacDonald. For those of you not in the know, Andy is a legend in the world…

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What do you do when you train hard and travel a long distance to a race only to find out that your competition can’t race? Well, if you’re a pro…you do what the pros do and race anyway! Pro mountain biker and Team Clif Bar athlete Joanna Petterson traveled all the way from Boulder, CO to the Catskill Mountains of New York State to compete at the Windham dual slalom, downhill and super D races, only to find out that most of her competition for the dual slalom didn’t make it. “Unfortunately, the turnout for the dual slalom was slim…

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Pro triathlete and Team Clif Bar athlete Linsey Corbin has been on a hot streak of late. After finishing fifth, fourth, third, and then second place consecutively in her last four triathlons, Linsey jokingly told us last week that “this can only mean first place is right around the corner.” Hmmm…maybe she wasn’t joking… The Victoria Half Ironman Triathlon is one of Canada’s most popular multisport events, drawing close to 600 athletes into the sold out field. The event has a reputation for being super organized, incredibly scenic, and very fun. “The [Victoria] Half is very much a grassroots triathlon…

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Our reliable friends at Wikipedia define free solo climbing as “a form of free climbing where the climber (the free soloist) foregoes ropes, harnesses and other protective gear while ascending and relies only on his or her physical strength, climbing ability, and psychological fortitude to avoid a fatal fall.” Those same folks describe BASE jumping as “a sport involving the use of a parachute or the sequenced use of a wingsuit and parachute to jump from fixed objects--with the parachute unopened at the jump.” Combine these two acts and you get something called BASEclimbing… Castleton Tower reigns supreme as the…

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In a nation known for its hilly stage races and flat, fast criteriums, northern Michigan’s Tour de Leelanau is a bit of an anomaly in the U.S. With its one-day format, relentless rolling hills, and cold, damp weather, this race is more typical of a Belgian Classic than a standard American road race. Knowing the tough course would whittle the race down to a select few by the finish, BMC race director Gavin Chilcott made sure his team was represented well in the 16-man break that finally escaped the peloton at 72km. “The race unfolded as we expected,” Chilcott…

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Sometimes dealing with the stress of starting a major athletic event can have adverse effects on an athlete’s performance. Strong athletes tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves to do well in races, only to have that pressure render them exhausted during the event. Having only recently come back from an IT band injury that slowed her training over the winter, TCB athlete Kelly Couch rolled into last week’s Wildflower Triathlon with no expectations and reaped the benefits of competing in a relaxed-but-focused manner. Since she was unable to run with much intensity during the off season, Kelly…

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Oh Erik and his mind games...A ghost? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It was, after all, quite a blustery day down at Sea Otter. It's not every day your ragtag three piece blues/punk/funk outfit gets asked to jam on the top of the 2 Mile Challenge bus during the Clif Bar party at Sea Otter. And when you throw in the fact that Clif Founder/Owner Gary Erickson had offered to sit in on the trumpet during the gig, it was an offer we couldn't refuse. And, despite gale-force winds that forced us to play more like under the bus rather than on…

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Slipstream-Chipotle neo pro Martijn Maaskant rode like a Classics veteran this past Sunday to place 4th in Paris-Roubaix, arguably the world’s toughest single-day bike race. Marking moves like a rider 10 years his senior, Martijn rode intelligently to stay with the best riders in the world, eventually ending up in a chase group of three which could not catch a strong winning breakaway. Maaskant attacked his chase group as they entered the historic velodrome in Roubaix, finishing his final lap on the track solo and missing the podium by only one spot. The Dutch rider, known by his teammates as…

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