


ISM continues its success with 3 athletes in the overall top 5! Olympian
Sarah Haskins finishes 2nd, Olympian Laura Bennett 4th, and this year’s
Chicago Tri and LA Tri winner Becky Lavelle 5th. The Olympic distance
course proved challenging with its relenting hills. 1st – 5th place was
separated by a mere 2:30. All three girls competed with the Adamo
Racing saddle.
Erika Csomor wins 5th consecutive title at the duathlon World Championships! Erika led from race start to finish and is worthy of the title World Champion! She uses the Adamo Road saddle while dropping her competitors.
Bella Comerford wins IMUK! Bella would make her move at mile 20 on the bike and enter T2 with nearly a 7 minute lead. She cruised to an easy victory with an overall lead of nearly 35 minutes. Way to dominate, Bella. Bella’s saddle choice……Pink Adamo Road.
Chris McDonald and Hillary Biscay win!!! Seems this was quite a weekend for ISM saddles. Chris raced IMKY last weekend to a 2nd spot on the podium. This week he moved up a slot with the convincing win and took the fastest swim split and bike split. Chris prefers racing his ISM Adamo Racing seat. Biscay race IMKY just last weekend to a proud 4th place finish. The race would come down to a sprint at mile 25 where Biscay made her move for the win. Amazing performance you two. Hill continues to ride her trusty Pink Adamo Racing seat.
Becky Lavelle wins!! Becky is just coming off her Chicago win a couple weeks ago. She would exit the swim in the lead pack and on a hill, make her move and drop her competitors on the bike. She led the rest of the race for the win. “It feels really great to finish the race really strong, without any weaknesses, and taking off the pressure about the series points championship going into the last race in Dallas”. Congrats Becky. Becky races using her Adamo Racing saddle.

Becky Lavelle wins!! The 26th year of the Chicago Triathlon was won by Becky Lavelle. Lavelle just returned from Beijing as the US Olympic alternate and was in peak form. She hammered hard on the bike and entered T2 with a 2 minute lead over second place. Becky would cruise her way to an easy victory. Way to go! Becky competed using her Adamo Racing Saddle.
ISM would like to congratulate all athletes competing in the Summer Olympic Games with our saddles. These are the World’s best athletes and they chose to ride the most comfortable saddle on the market. Notable results are from Americans Laura Bennett (4th), and Sarah Haskins (11th) in the Triathlon competition. Also, the British took Silver in the Time Trial competition and the Track competition. Not too shabby for our first Olympics!!

Michellie Jones is arguably the greatest triathlete in
the world, male or female! She has 160 career wins at every
distance. In the early 90’s, MJ dominated short course
racing and won 12 ITU World Cup victories, including 8 World
Championship medals. Michellie has won every major triathlon
in the US and earned a Silver medal representing her native
Australia in the 2000 Olympics. She had been quoted saying
she will never race IM distance, but in 2006, she won IM
Hawaii World Championships. We are very proud to have such
an incredible talent join Team ISM and look forward to many
more wins on her ISM Adamo Racing saddles. After a few
rides, Jones was eager to share, “ISM saddles have made my
bike enjoyable again. One less thing to worry about when
training and racing”. Rock on , girl!!
Hillary Biscay…….Again? Yep, you read it right. ISM’s
Hillary Biscay raced her 2nd Ironman distance event in the
same week!! She PR’d in Germany last Sunday and made the
trip to NY to finish an impressive 3rd place. Today’s
forecast….Hills and Rain!! Not one to let a little rain get
in her way, Biscay would lead the bike and enter T2 with an
8 minute cushion. She would lead until the last few miles
and finish a strong 3rd. Hillary was 1 of 3 gals to complete
the event in under 10 hours. Color me impressed!! Ms. Biscay
blistered the bike on her Pink Adamo Road saddle.
Congratulations goes to Bella Comerford for her 2nd place
finish in the 10th Anniversary event! Bella rode away from
the women’s field, and would exit T2 with a 6:40 lead. She
would eventually get caught in the last few miles. Comerford
finished the event in 8:51:15, the 3rd fastest official
Ironman time in history! Bella rides an Adamo Road
saddle.
Patrick Vernay wins!!! It was a great race for ISM athletes.
ISM is very proud of Patrick’s 1st place, Erika Csomer’s 2nd
place, and Hillary Biscay’s 6th place. What a weekend for
our Ironman athletes. Patrick and Erika competed with their
Adamo Racing saddle and Hillary used her trusty
Pink Adamo Road.
Another tight race between two ISM sponsored athletes. Olympians Sarah Haskins and Becky Lavelle would finish 2nd and 3rd respectively with less than a minute separating them. Both girls compete with ISM Adamo Racing saddles.
June 22, 2008 ISM Heads
to Beijing Today’s Lifetime Fitness event in Des Moines, IA results has two more ISM athletes heading to the Olympics. Laura Bennett already clinched her spot on Team USA. Sarah Haskins won the second spot and Becky Lavelle will be alternate. We are so proud of you ladies. All three women race exclusively on ISM Adamo Racing saddles. Check out the new USA Racing Adamo on our homepage. GO USA!!!
Bella Comerford wins! It would be cold conditions for the day’s
event. Bella had a great swim and would continue to push the
bike to keep the leaders within 5 minutes to T2. Within 7
miles, Bella would take the lead and never look back. Nice win,
Bella. Thanks for riding our
Pink Adamo Road saddle.
Sarah Haskins earns Silver Medal!! Quickly after exiting the
swim, Sarah and a group of 5 others formed a lead pack. Late in the
first lap, Sarah jumped the group with Helen Tucker in tow. The two
girls would continue to gain time on the chase group and eventually
arrive in T2 two minutes ahead!! Haskins and Tucker would run neck
and neck for the entire 10k, but Haskins would be out-sprinted by a
mere 4 seconds! “Getting to the podium was definitely a goal. I
couldn’t ask for anything more”. Sarah proudly races on her
Blue ISM Adamo Racing Saddle.
Becky Lavelle finishes 2nd in one of the Nation’s premier events! It was a wonderful day of racing in the Bay Area. Becky tackled the day’s event and would finish just 15 seconds down for 2nd place. Way to go, Becky! That’s one tough course. Becky chose to use her Black ISM Adamo Racing Saddle for the race.
Hillary Biscay finishes 2nd!! Hillary would take the lead at the
100k point on the bike. She continued to dominate the bike course and
led to the 20k point on the run. It was a tough day, but Hill would hold
on to 2nd for the day. WOW!
Bella exited the water 4 minutes behind the leader, but soon rode her
way into 3rd place off the bike. The bike leg was brutal, but Bella had
a win in mind for the day. She would eventually catch the race leader at
mile 13 on the run and would increase her lead to the end. Bella won the
race with a convincing 10 minute lead! Congratulations on a well played
race!!

Sarah
Haskin Wins!! It was a beautiful day of racing. Olympic hopeful
Sarah Haskins was first out of the water and quickly settled into
the bike leg of the 25th year anniversary St. Anthony’s Triathlon.
She would go on to set the fastest run time and win convincingly in
1:59:24. You’re on a roll girl!! Also noteworthy was new ISM
recruit, Becky Lavelle finished 5th in the event. But let’s not
forget ISM co-owner, Laura Toll. This owner “walks the talk”. Way to
go, ladies!!

John Cobb has done it again. He’s always coming up with stuff
that helps me ride faster, but now he’s making me more comfortable,
too.
I’m getting back into time trialing this year. I used to do these
quite often. One of the biggest obstacles to racing well, I found,
was that my butt got so sore in the aero position that I had to wear
two pair of cycling shorts for the extra padding. As the hips roll
forward into an aero position body weight shifts toward the soft
tissues. The more aggressive the position, the more discomfort I
experienced. For a man to be even moderately comfortable (which
means significantly uncomfortable) he must adjust his equipment to
one side or the other of the nose of the saddle. There is simply no
way to eliminate the discomfort of that damned saddle nose sticking
out between the thighs. That is until I came a cross the Adamo
saddle that John helped to design.
But getting back to my training… I found I wasn’t looking forward to
my once or twice weekly aero-position rides on my Cervelo P3c
because of the discomfort. So I decided to shop around for something
that would feel better. I had recently seen John’s Adamo saddle at
the Blackwell Research booth at the SICI conference in Denver. So I
decided to give it a try.
The Adamo certainly looks different. It doesn’t have the long, sleek
look of my Specialized Toupe. It’s a little goofy looking with a
short length and a pair of stubby rails sticking out in front (see
picture). It is about one to two inches shorter than a traditional
saddle. The UCI rule is that saddles have to be 240mm long. The
Adamo is 245mm. My Toupe saddle is 270mm. What this means to the
rider is that there is nothing sticking out between the legs. You
are sitting on the “nose” of the saddle, if you can call it that. As
the hips rotate forward they roll onto the gel-padded rails and
there is no pressure in the perineal area which is where the
discomfort usually is experienced.
It took a while to get it adjusted. You don’t set it up the same as
a traditional road saddle. The first ride I carried allen wrenches
with me and kept stopping to make adjustments. After a half dozen or
so I finally got it pretty close. I’ll be going into to see Chris
Pulleyen, my bike fit specialist, soon to have him dial everything
back in. (For instructions on how to set it up go to http://www.ismseat.com/pdf/adamo_setup.pdf.)
Once I got it adjusted, riding on the Adamo was very comfortable. No
more gauging, numbness or shifting around looking for a spot that
wasn’t already achy. What a difference! I should have done this a
long time ago. I now stay centered on the saddle rather than moving
from side to side as I did before. The name “Adamo” is appropriate;
it is Latin for “pleasure.” Riding the TT bike has, indeed, become a
pleasure. I now look forward to these TT workouts.
Triathletes also might also like the Adamo because of the built in
“tri-hook” at the rear of the saddle for hanging the bike on a rack
in transition. For the roadie, however, this is just additional
weight to carry around.
Speaking of weight, the first thing I noticed about the Adamo
saddle, besides its strange shape, is the heft factor. It is
definitely heavier than what I’m used to. The Racing saddle
(pictured) weighs 270g, and the Road saddle is 320g. On the other
hand, my Specialized Toupe saddle weighs in at 150g. Using the Adamo
Racing saddle means about a fourth of a pound more to carry up a
hill. What does that translate to in terms of power? Assuming I
climb at 2 watts per pound, the 120g difference requires using
approximately one extra half watt to climb a hill at the same speed
as with Toupe. The trade off to be comfortable for 40km is well
worth this miniscule cost, in my opinion, especially considering
that time trial courses are seldom hilly. The hillier the course,
the more likely I would be to use a road bike anyway. So that’s how
I justify giving up a bit of speed to have a crotch that isn’t in
agony.
The company says that the saddle works as well for women as for men.
As they explain, this is because the as the hips rotate forward into
an aero position the support portions of the sit bones are more
closely spaced with the difference between a man’s and a woman’s in
this position not significantly different. I’d be interested in
hearing from women on this matter.
Sarah Haskins 2nd!! This weekend marked the second Olympic
qualifier for the Beijing Olympics. The race began with a one loop
wetsuit swim in an Alabama river (watch those gators). Sarah would
exit with the lead pack and quickly work together with 3 other gals
to a solid one minute lead into T2. The race would come down to the
run where Sarah would finish an impressive 2nd, just 29 seconds down
from the winner. “Although it was my goal to clinch the automatic
Olympic spot, I am in great position for the final Olympic spot
heading into the last race in June”, commented Haskins. We are proud
of you, Sarah and look forward to having you in our town next week
for St. Anthony’s.
Bella Comerford wins!! The UK National was
having a stellar bike leg, but would be stopped cold by a puncture.
Bella had to regain 12 minutes!! She would ride like the wind and
come off the bike in 4th and eventually run her way into
2nd. In the last 10k, Bella overtook first place and
would go on to win by a mere 5 seconds!! What a spectacular win!
Hillary Biscay finishes 8th! This year’s Ironman Arizona had a star studded women’s field. The swim conditions were perfect, but the wind and heat on the bike and run proved too strong for 500 competitors who would eventually DNF. It was the 3rd highest dropout rate in Ironman history! ISM athlete Hillary Biscay would persevere and finish a strong 8th place in 9:53:21. As always, Hillary is pretty in pink with her Adamo Road saddle. Congrats on a tough event, girl.
Patrick Vernay (France), wins Ironman Oz on his ISM Adamo Racing saddle!! The race started with torrential rain, and then more rain, but cleared as the day progressed. Vernay had a stellar bike split and once off only had two guys ahead. He would catch them before the halfway point and cruise in for the win. Congrats Patrick!! What a great way to start the year.
Sarah Haskins WINS!! Sarah completed the International distance event in 1:58:12, beating her next competitor by 2 minutes. This was her first race of the season. What a way to dust off those cobwebs, girl! You are well on your way to an Olympic spot in Beijing this year. Sarah proudly races an ADAMO Racing saddle.
Hillary Biscay competes in her 24th Ironman distance race! Not only is this a great achievement, but she got 2nd place (10:11:17), despite not having seriously trained in the last 3 weeks. Hillary was plagued with a bit of bad luck. She had elbow surgery less than a month ago and had blood poisoning! Hill went into the race less prepared than she liked, but managed to find her competitive spirit at about mile 40 on the bike. She hammered home and finished second for the day. Way to go, girl!!!