Making a Tubular Flat Kit for a Trek Speed Concept Draft Box

My Trek Speed Concept Draft Box

The question often comes up what can you fit in a Trek Speed Concept draft box? The simple answer is a lot. For me I always used it as a flat kit and it would fit everything I needed to fix a flat tire in an Ironman triathlon.  I have since switched from tubulars to clinchers and I no longer use the Trek Speed Concept draft box, but when I did, I stuffed it with the following:

- 1X Genuine Innovations Air Chuck SL

- 2X 16g C02s: Have to have an air source to get the tires pumped up. You could probably get away with 12g cartridges but I always packed 16g ones.

- 1X Spare Tubular: See the following article for the secret tubular tire.  I pre-glue it and pre-stretch it.

Buy Genuine Innovations Air Chuck SL

- 1X Pit Stop Can and Cap: The key here is to take the cap off and have the white stick of the can sticking out the whole of the bottom.  You will only have the hole though if you don't use the hardware used to attach the draft box to the frame and instead use tape.  I'll use the Pit Stop if I think it will fix a small flat otherwise I will just replace the tire.

- 1X Genuine Innovations Flat Stack Multi-Tool: This is needed for at least attaching the Zipp Valve Extender to the tire before mounting.  It is handy as well if something else - like a seatpost - becomes loose during the race.

- 1X Zipp Valve Extender 60mm: I don't have this attached to the spare tubular already because the valve would be too long and the tubular wouldn't roll up as nicely.  The length all depends on what type of wheels you are riding.  If it is too long you may not be able to pump up a disc, if it is too short you won't be able to pump it up in any wheel.

- 1X Tire Lever: Can be useful in getting off a tubular tire before resorting to the razor blade.

- 1X Razor Blade: For getting a tubular off the rim after I super-glued it with many layers of Vittoria Mastik One.

Stock Up On Tufo Tape Today!!!

- 1X Tufo Extreme Tape: If you have ever ripped off a tubular quickly you know that sometimes all you pull off is the base tape leaving the basetape stuck to the rim.  If this happened in a flat situation I wouldn't rely on the pre-glued tubular and instead would put down the Extreme Tape. Be prepared for a struggle to get the tire on though with the extra thickness.

One word of note. I never used the draft box with the top and instead just covered it with a piece of tape.  I find that using the top really limits what you can get in because of the way the top attaches to the draft box.  3M Extreme Strapping Tape is amazing product that I use and can be purchased from Home Depot.  It is: ridiculously strong; somewhat transparent, isn't affected by moisture; is smooth; and can be peeled, put back, and re-peeled many times over.

Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles For May 21st - May 27th

I've made it through my first week at my summer base camp in Madison, and despite no running, I felt pretty good about my training.  Usually it is this time of the year where I start to gain fitness thru racing, but with my Achilles tendinitis I'm not sure how much racing I am going to be doing.  Instead I returned to a base building period and I will continue this for a bit and focus on some other areas that often get neglected in heavy periods of training.

As for the Achilles, I took the first step towards recovery and got in my first ASYTM session at the PT this week.  I'll take it as a good sign that the PT couldn't visibly determine which heel has the issue, but despite that I'm not taking any chances.  I know that Achilles issues can linger for quite some time and even if I do get a few successful runs in I won't be declaring that I beat it.

On a brighter note my brother-in-law ran the Madison half marathon this weekend and I had two nieces and one nephew that ran the kids race.  All the races started and finished at the bottom of our building so it was easy to spectate and for once it was great to be the one that wasn't racing. My only was responsibility was making sure my youngest nephew - who wasn't racing - stayed hydrated.  Pretty easy to handle that with a Trisports water bottle filled with Drip Drop.

As for my training - here are my weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 238 Miles / 25 hours 11 minutes

Swim: 32,182 yards / ~18 miles / 8 hours 51 minutes
Bike: 220 miles / 11 hours 50 minutes
Run:  0 miles /  0 hours 0 minutes
Core:  3 sessions / 4 hours 30 minutes

Weight: N/A
Body Fat: N/A

Calories Consumed: N/A
Calories Burned: N/A

Ironman Triathlon Open-Water Swimming in Madison, WI - Four OWS Swims

(Updated 5/14/2018, Original 5/24/2012)

I have been back in the Midwest for four days and I have done four great open-water swims. The number of swims in Madison and the surrounding area is endless but I thought I would post the following in case other triathletes or open-water swimmers were looking for some ideas. Now I never advocate people trying to replicate these swims, but personally, I take my chances, and while wearing a bright yellow cap I find it more peaceful than getting buzzed by cars on the open roads.

I used a Garmin 910xt for the swims (Garmin 935xt is latest and greatest) and I must say it does a pretty good job. I noticed some of the overlays are slightly off as I stopped at very specific points that don't match exactly, but overall I couldn't be happier with the Garmin. The Garmin 935xt has come along way from the discontinued Garmin 910xt and is much better in my experience for tracking your open-water swims.

Although I didn't use any protection for this swims the New Wave Swim Buoy is becoming a popular item to give people peace of mind while swimming outdoors. Not only does it provide great buoyancy but it also provides great visibility to boats.

#1 - Extended Ironman Wisconsin Swim in Lake Monona - ~4250 yards or 2.4 miles - Start at the Ironman Wisconsin swim start and swim the Ironman course but instead of turning around continue on hugging the shoreline until you get to the sailboat that is docked in the middle of nowhere.  Ends up being about 2.4 miles, or the exact length of the IMOO swim without doing two loops.


#2 - Swim Across Lake Monona - ~6000 yards or 3.4 miles - Start at the Ironman Wisconsin swim start and swim straight across Lake Monona.

#3 - Swim to Picnic Point #TheRealWay -  ~6000 yards or 3.4 miles - Start at James Madison Park and swim straight across to picnic point.  There are other great access points like starting at the Memorial Union Terrace or along the lakeshore bike path but if you want a real challenge then start at James Madison Park. On this particular day there were 25 mph winds kicking up some serious waved and this will probably always be the toughest of the four swims as it is more exposed in general.


#4 - Swim Across Lake Wingra - ~3200 yards or 2 miles - Start at Vilas Beach by the Madison Zoo and swim straight across to the boathouse at Wingra Park.  I added on to the swim to bring it up in yards but it is about 1600 yards straight across.  The only downside to this swim is I find it gets weedier and weedier every year.  There were some points that I was in thick weeds and all I could grab was weeds and very little water.  The overlay shows some of this with some sharp edges where I was navigating trying to find cleaner water to swim through.