Bockel Rides Blue: My 2011 Speed Machine…

It’s all about the bike: There is tons of good news and lots to update you all on….I am so happy to have our little place set up here in St. Augustine, I am booking flights, training my butt off, and of course as you can tell from the photo above, the biggest news is that I just signed with BLUE bicycles!  This is another step towards an even faster bike split in Kona and will bring me closer to reaching the ultimate goal of winning on the big island.  I am very excited and proud to be part of Team Blue.  Chance Regina and the crew out in Atlanta are getting my Abu Dhabi bike ready to go and completely outfitted with my Di2 components parts as we speak.  I am going to have one seriously sweet ride.  Don’t worry–I will be sending pics as soon as it arrives on my doorstep.

Let the season begin: Time seems to have flown by and I am already a few weeks out of my first big race for this season. Yes, it is Abu Dhabi again this year and I am very excited about racing in the UAE for the second time.  I have some great memories from last year when I was so close to the win and the big 50,000 prize purse!  This year I am hungry for it and have been hammering in the miles here in St. Augustine, FL.  Continue reading →

Follow my SRM Live Data Telemetry in Kona

SRM is publishing my LIVE watts and GPS position!  Check out www.SRMLive.de to follow me Saturday!  For a live ticker, check out www.ironman.com

How to get the perfect bike fit

I recently spent some time in Hessen with Biomechanic Marcus Blenke, perfecting my bike fit for Hawaii.

Here is a quick clip to show you guys what my afternoon entailed.  Lots of running around for Marcus, and lots of pedaling for me.  My position is now perfect for a really fast bike split in Hawaii in a couple of weeks.

How to pack to win an Ironman

My training partners used to make fun of me for overpacking my bags and bringing way too much with me to races all the time. It was a real pain in the neck (and back, and arms, etc) to carry that huge bike box (or sometimes two!), a really big travel bag (or sometimes two!), and a backpack. Mass transportation was a hassle and I used to get into loads of trouble with airline companies because I would get angry when they charged me for extra luggage. On top of that, I would oftentimes experience airlines losing my bags and/or bikes which is a HUGE pain before a race. I can tell you that I have definitely had my fair share of arguments about lost bags with airline personnel–which is not a great way to get into the right mindset a couple of days before a race! Continue reading →

The Night Before my First Ironman

The adrenaline is pumping and I am very excited to step up and race my first Ironman tomorrow: All is well and i am feeling really good and relaxed at the moment. There are quite some changes compared to ITU racing but it should be no problem to adapt here. Some rules are strange-but its the same for everyone.

The past days went by fast and the training effort has been on recovery mode for some time. We just changed our accommodation in a more quiet place and that will give me the necessary space I need before the competition. My friends Chris and Natasha came all the way from Germany/Luxembourg to support me and give me a hand in the days leading up to the race. Alicia is doing all the organization and planing every day, which turns out to be quite a bit of work.

Continue reading →