Posted: August 23, 2004

Triathlon: Bastos fourth at Great Buckeye Challenge triathlon

WAYNESVILLE, Ohio (August 22, 2004) Professional triathlete Felipe Bastos (BRA/USA) took another trip to Ohio this weekend and again came home in the money. The 23-year-old Gainesville, Fla., resident’s fourth place finish at Sunday’s Great Buckeye Challenge (1.9 km S/90 km B/10 km R) was, he said, “a great day against some great athletes.”

With outstanding race conditions – low 80’s and sunny, a challenging, hilly course, and a few world-class athletes to chase, Bastos stepped out of short-course familiarity and into the long-course scene. He exited the slightly long, two-lap swim only a minute or so behind eventual winner Chris Legh (AUS) and “felt exceptionally good on the bike,” said Bastos. “It was the best half-iron ride I’ve ever had. My power output was really even the entire time, and I was able to eat well because of that consistency.”

Down with the training trend, his bike is equipped with a power meter. “It made a total difference, because it helped me control my riding so I wouldn’t blow up like some of the other guys did,” explained Bastos. “I was riding about 24 or 25, and I couldn’t believe it when two guys flew by me at about 27 miles per hour at only mile two.” He stayed with his plan and caught them, one late on the ride and the other early on the run. “Typically, I train with a Timex heart rate monitor and Ergomo power meter – it’s an amazing way to track my efforts; I upload everything. I’m kind of a tech geek about it, but during the race, they helped keep me under control and it works.”

Bastos had a very good first lap of the half-marathon run but a horrible second lap, and his splits got slower and slower. “In the end, I ran about an hour-and-a-half, and I was aiming for an hour-twenty. I don’t know if it was because I have been focusing on short-course racing, my GI tract was shutting down, or the tightness in my ribcage leftover from my accident 10 days ago,” he offered. Bastos cracked a vertebra and has spent more time with the chiropractor than his running shoes. “But I can’t use these as an excuse for a bad result, because I am actually very satisfied with my race today, especially against someone like Chris Legh.”

The Brazilian native and Gainesville, Fla. resident plans to race September 11 at the americanTri International Sports Festival.

For more information on Bastos, visit www.Felipe-Bastos.com. He encourages others to find out more about his sponsors: SportzEdicate (www.sportzedicate.com), AccuMed (www.accumedtech.com), Timex (www.timex.com), WinTheSwim.com (www.wintheswim.com), RudyProject (www.rudyprojectusa.com), Paketa Magnesium Bikes (www.paketa.com), Ergomo (www.ergomo-usa.com), TriSports.com (www.trisports.com), Truvativ (www.truvativ.com), Profile Design (www.profile-design.com), Continental (www.bikemine.com), Nokon Cables (www.Nokon.com), Honey Stinger (www.honeystinger.com), JogMate (www.jogmate.com), and First Endurance (www.firstendurance.com).

For more information on the Great Buckeye Challenge, visit www.hfpracing.com.

From: Steve “Hammy” Handwerker, A HREF="mailto:slhcomm@hotmail.com">slhcomm@hotmail.com.