WARNING: Kuat Sherpa bike rack, cable included is a failure

In a recent experience in my girlfriend's and my bike being stolen off the back of her company car while they were locked I looked into the issues.

For an shorter rundown of what is going on look here: FACEBOOK

Kuat said they will send out notifications but have failed to do so within 48hrs so I am informing the public.

The messages between Kuat and I:
Me: We had our bikes stolen off of a Kuat rack in July and the part that failed was the loop at the end of the Kuat cable. We thought that it was just a defect or the robber had something strong to make the loop fail. We were sent a replacement and were using the cable to lock our bikes that insurance replaced and thought to myself "I wonder how strong this cable is?" So I grabbed the loop and pulled with my 2 fingers and the loop came apart. I grabbed the other loop with one finger and holding the other end in my other hand and the loop came apart. My girlfriend was standing there watching me and was in shock because when she called about it failing in the theft she was told the cables are tested and have never seen a failure of that sort. This was also repeated when we stopped by the Kuat booth at Interbike.

After 24hrs of no response I posted on their facebook page HERE

In the post they say they will replace it so I respond to the message:
Me: I am willing to give the cable lock another chance if you are willing to send out a new cable. Be sure to test it with pliers too because I am surely going to test it before I use it.

Kuat: Kyle, first we here at Küat would like to thank you for bringing this cable lock issue to our attention. Because of your due diligence, you have uncovered a problem with the cable not previously known to Küat. We are releasing an announcement bulletin on our facebook page and as a direct email to all registered Sherpa owners, asking them to stop using the cable provided with the rack. All of this in hopes that no fellow cyclist will have to relive the nightmare you have gone through. We are working with our suppliers and will be promptly sending out an improved version of the cable to any Sherpa owner that would like one. The bottom line is, we are sorry for the experience you have had. I hope you can find some comfort knowing how many bikes you may have saved.

Me: I appreciate the actions you are taking to resolve this. It is rare for people, let alone a company to admit a mistake and act upon it. I have to ask, how many cables did you test in the office?

Kuat: Kyle, I wasn't a part of the testing process, but I can say that the employees involved were visibly upset. Apparently the testing led them to the conclusion to issue a free replacement to any Sherpa owner that requests one.

Since there has yet to be any posting on their facebook page or messages sent out I have taken steps to help inform the public. Spread the word.

Tahoe Trail 100, Leadville Qualifier

Since it was the day after my birthday and I was in Tahoe I thought nothing could go wrong. Well, start of the race I was feeling amazing. Climbing was no effort and I was passing people left and right. I found myself on Rebecca Roush's wheel and felt she was going too slow for my liking and so I went around her, about a mile later found a cut in my rear tire's sidewall. I stopped and put the tub in and inflated it and the bead came off the rim and the tube was huge, pretty funny looking actually. I had to fix it and hand pump it all the way which took too long. I lost about 12 minutes doing all of this. The rest of the race I was just passing people non-stop and crashed on a fire road corner about 20 miles in and my tire pressure was going low. At the start of the second lap I floor pumped it and it was at 15psi and I just pumped it to 40 so get me through the lap. 10 miles from the finish my chain was sucking like cray cray and found only one gear that my bike likes which was big to mid cassette, and that was not going to fly. I ended up asking a photographer for some lube and he luckily had some. I lubed it and it was like butter. I finished and the tire pressure was back at 15psi. Ended up finishing 3rd in my age group and 15th overall with a time of 4:45:23. Pretty good for wasting something like 25 minutes with things goring wrong. I qualified for Leadville and am registered for the 2013 Leadville 100.


The crash ended up putting a gash in my hip which was borderline in need of stitches, nothing some bandages and GoodGoop won't heal.


Website: http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/page/show/431654-tahoe-trail-100


Results: http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0029/7428/OVERALL_MALE_100K.pdf

Rapha Rising Single Day Challenge

I figured since the one day challenge falls on a wednesday I had a chance to climb as many feet in one day as I could. Knowing I was going to be in Santa Barbara I planned it out. I would be on the road by 6am and do repeats up the Gibralter pass which is a few thousand feet in 8 miles. 10 times should win it with 30k feet of climbing and 160 miles. I was on the bike at 5:45am and read to have fun. A few times up I knew this was going to be hard, at 11am I had 8k feet in and 60 miles. Took a lunch break and continued. At the end of the day I ended up with just over 17.5k feet of climbing and 112 miles because I called it quits early due to a lightning storm overhead that didn't seem a worthy risk to fight against. The winner did something like 240 miles and 42k feet of climbing, took them 20hrs. At least I didnt spend too much time trying to beat that.

Next is the Tahoe 100

The day after my birthday, July 21st, is the Tahoe 100 and my goal is to qualify for the 2013 Leadville 100.

2012 USA Cycling MTB Nationals, Sun Valley, Idaho, July 7th, 2012

Nationals was awesome. 

The drive up was not as bad as I thought it was going to be and took a meer 14 hrs. We got up there, checked in and went to sleep. The next few days consisted of Cat 2 and 3 XC racing and Short track racing, so I pre rode the course, made friends and got acclimated. I prerode it 2 times and it gave me a great advantage to most of the field. 

Saturday came and on the parade lap the group hammered it but we grouped back together on the paved bike path. Just off the bike path there was a crash and I was the last rider to make it through without getting held up. The group went from 20 to 12 into the first climb. Riders were falling off the group and found myself in 4th spot with 2 SoCal Riders leading the race 200ft up the trail. With the first climb being about 6 miles and rising 2800ft it separated the men from the boys and the fast descent was to separate the winners from the losers. At about mile 15 I found myself in 3rd due to a rider flatted and stopped. But then a mile from the finish I took a turn too hot and my tire rolled off the rim, with the bike unrideable I stopped to examine the damage and saw the rim wall was bent in and trashed. So I then proceeded to take the tire off the rim and run with the bike, realizing I was losing too many places I rode it with the tire around my neck and went on down the trail on just a front rim.  The next choice I had to made was to take the rock wall and save time or go down the longer easier path. Knowing my rim was toasted and my podium was gone I built up my confidence and tackled the rock garden descent.  It is so rocky and steep that there were many people walking, avoiding and even the pros were crashing on it. Coming around the corner I put on a smile and the crowd went bizerk. After the top of it was maneuvered I let go of the brakes and bombed it. With the crowd going crazy I had a huge smile on my face knowing this was the next best thing to winning.

Coming across the finish line I soon got swarmed with people asking how I did that and CyclingDirt.org wanting an interview.  More poeple came up to me and an employee from Sram gave me his card as he had pictures he wanted me to have. Little kids were in shock and awe as I made their day. Basically the rest of the time I was there I was a celebrity, it was awesome and people knew me as the guy who rode the wall on a rim. Unfortunately I couldn't race Super D since I didnt have a front wheel to race on.

All in all, I had the time of my life up there and would not change anything, well except for a win but next year I will come back for the gold.

Picture of the Day on BikeRumor.com

Short Video Interview Post Race

Race Data

Rim Nordic Series #1 July 1st, 2012

The week coming up to this race I was on the fence if I wanted to race it and risk wearing myself out for MTB Nationals the next weekend but I was convinced it would be a good test and workout.

Waking up I had a horrible stomach ache that would not go away and while warming up I saw a face that looked too familiar, Connor McCutcheon, the same one that is a National road race and TT competitor. He is an animal at the hills and so I knew this race was going to hurt more than expected. At the race start his tire went flat so tactics changed, hammer the first hill and spread the field out to create traffic for him since I knew he was going to be coming for me. 5 miles into the race after the climb he caught up and was waiting for me to play cat and mouse with him.  I went around him but I took a corner too fast and slid out and he was a 100ft ahead. At the lap finish/start line my wheel took a rut and sent me over the bars while doing a bottle swap and the rest of the race I felt sick to my stomach and just wanted the race to be over so I just kept at my own pace and took it easy. I ended up finishing 3rd.


Race Data

CA MTB State Champs Sun, June 17th, 2012

Coming into this race I felt awesome as I was in Big Bear getting ready the entire week prior. As the race started the field flew by me and hammered into the first hill and left me chasing. My heart rate would not get up to full speed but I found myself passing people left and right and found that I passed everyone except one rider, Joel Titius. A junior rider bridged up to me on the fire road and wanted to work together to gain ground be he ended up not being able to pull the same speed I was wanting to go and so he fell back. I caught up the Joel but at the same time Chris Jackson caught up also. The two of them picked up the pace to a level of which I could not maintain and soon they were out of sight. On the last descent I was flying as I prerode it several times the previous week and knew the trail. Soon enough I found myself on Joel's wheel and he started to have mechanical problems. When the trail would widen up we were side by side seeing who would give in and have to push the brakes, knowing I could out sprint him on the flat finish I played it safe and gave in. When it came to the fire road finish his mechanical restricted him from laying the power down and I ended up taking 2nd behind Chris Jackson.

Race Data

12hrs Of Temecula, Sat June 9th, 2012

The past few weeks have been busy so I will catch up as much as I can.

With 12hrs of Temecula I raced the 6hr Open Solo class of which I placed 1st place and the only rider to do 8 laps in the 6 hrs. This put me 1.5 laps ahead of 2nd place in the series. We had a bit of a contest to see who can grow the most ridiculous mustache and that is all I could get in 3 weeks time.

Article Mentions #1 #2

Race Data

US Cup Series Finally, Sun, June 3rd, 2012

I thought I was feeling good going into this race but on the first climb I was getting left in the dust and my heart rate was higher than usual. I ended up finishing in 2nd behind Dan Bensen but nearly all of my race data showed that I was slower than usual. I am just going to blame it on the bike and too much tire pressure since I was bouncing around.  Ended up finishing the series in 2nd but even if I were to get 1st I would have been 2nd also.

Race Data

Some big races coming up...

In the next few weeks I will be quite busy with the biggest races of the year and possibly my life. This coming weekend is the second 12hrs of Temecula in which I am 2nd overall in the 6hr Solo series. I am feeling really good, went on a 75 mile ride today and when I got home I wanted to continue riding but to resist an overload I called it a day.

The following weekend is the State Championships in Big Bear. This will be a good race since I am going to be acclimated and know the course really well.

At the Beginning of July I will be partaking in the MTB Nationals held in Idaho. I just got word that SDBC will be sending me there and funding my trip, which I would not be able to do without them. Up until I got word of the support I had not even considered such a trip with my dusty college student pockets.

The weekend after that I was invited by Specialized to participate in the Leadville 50 so that I could qualify for the Leadville 100 but I do not have a means to get out to Colorado for such an event. If something comes up I would love to go but right now it is not looking good.

Thank you to everyone that has given me these opportunities of a lifetime. That means you San Diego Bicycle Club, Specialized Bikes, Pink Shorts Photography and all of the team that has pushed me to become faster and stronger.

Results for 2012

Mountain:

November 20th: 12hrs of Temecula #3,

July 22nd, Tahoe 100,

July 2nd-9th, MTB Nationals XC, Cat 1 19-24, 9th Place
July 1st, Rim Nordic #1, Cat 1 19-24, 3rd place

June 17th: US Cup State Champs XC, Cat 1 19-24, 2nd Place

June 9th: 12hrs of Temecula #2, 6hr Open, 1st Place

June 3rd: US Cup Big Bear Finals XC Cat 1 19-24, 2nd Place
May 20th: US Cup SageBrush Safari XC Cat 1 19-24, 4th Place

April 1st: US Cup Riverside XC Cat 1 19-24, 4th Place

March 25th: US Cup Fontana XC Cat 1 19-24, 2nd Place

March 24th: US Cup Fontana Super D 19-29yrs, 8th Place

March 4th:US Cup Triple Crown XC Cat 1 19-24, 1st Place

March 3rd: US Cup Triple Crown Super D 19-29yrs, 1st Place

March 3rd: US Cup Triple Crown STXC Cat 1, 6th Place

January 22nd: SoCal Enduro Stage Race Cat 1, 1st Place

January 21st: 12hrs of Temecula 6hr solo Open, 2nd Place

Road:

September 2nd: SoCal Crit Finale,

August 12th: Ladera Ranch,

August 5th: Brentwood GP,

July 29th: San Marcos Crit,

May 28th: So Cal Crit Series, Group Finish (We controlled the field and on the last lap we were lined up for the sprint until someone attacked on the inside of a corner and nearly crashed everyone)

May 6th: Dana Point GP Cat 3, DNF (3 Laps to go there was a crash on the last corner and the rider behind me plowed into my rear derailluer)

May 5th: Barrio Logan GP Cat 3, 31st Place (Was in Breakaway for a few laps which drained me)

April 14th: San Luis Rey Cat 3, 33rd Place (worked last lap holding field, teammate in the break)

March 18th: San Dimas Criterium Cat 4, 7th Place (14th overall GC)

March 17th: San Dimas Circuit Race Cat 4, 23rd Place (2:31 off leader) (18th Overall GC)

March 16th: San Dimas Time Trial Cat 4, 22nd Place (17:06) (22nd Overall GC)

March 11th: UCSB Road Race Collegiate B, 3rd Place (5points, 20 total)

March 10th: UCSB Criterium Cat 4, 30th place (Too tired from Coll B race earlier just sat in)

March 10th: UCSB Criterium Collegiate B, 11th place

February 19th: SoCal Cup Criterium Series Cat 4, 2nd Place (5points, 15 total)

February 18th: UCLA: Shut Up Legs RR! Collegiate B, 5th Place (3points, 10 total)

February 12th: Roger Miliken Memorial Criterium Cat 4, 10th Place

February 5th: SDSU Red Trolley Criterium Cat 4, 8th Place

February 5th: SDSU Red Trolley Criterium Collegiate B, 3rd Place (won 2 primes) (3points, 7 total)

February 4th: UCSD Boulevard Road Race Collegiate B, 3rd Place (4 points)