Living The Tri Life!: The COBB MOBB!!

Raise your hand if you've ever heard of John Cobb.

I've always referred to him as the "Guru of Aerodynamics" - a bold title, but well deserved in my opinion. I met John back in (I think) 2000. I lived in Dallas and I had quite a few friends who rode bikes that they got from John. I went to race a the Gulf Coast Half Ironman and was able to get my measurements taken at the Expo and they ordered a bike for me from Javelin.

Me on my Javelin at the 2001 Heat Wave Tri in Jackson, MS

In 2000 finding a stock tri bike that was small enough for me was basically impossible. Today, it's a different story, there are quite a few small bikes on the market. But back then there were very bike manufacturers making bikes small enough; they were custom AND expensive. It was also going to be "buy before you try" on anything I decided to get. They were able to get me a 44cm Javelin frame and I took my old bike and had some of the parts transferred to it.

Shiner

I had an awesome Golden Retriever named Shiner back then and I told them to just ship me the frame and I'd have a local shop do the work. It would be a long day with the 3 hour drive each way and I couldn't leave Shiner that long. They told me to bring him along and he could run around the shop all day. They convinced me that not taking advantage of being fit on my Jav would be a big mistake. Okay... sold! So Shiner and I spent the day in Shreveport.

That day I also got one of the saddles that John was making. Basically is was a Terry saddle with the back sides cut off (to prevent your upper hamstring from coming in contact with the outer edges of the seat removing pain at the hamstring insertion and also reducing the chance of sciatica.*) and the leather stretched back down and over the edges, it looked like the V-Flow. Awesome saddle! On my third one now and would never use anything else! Should have kept that first one, it would be a collectors item now. *Sciatica is most commonly caused by of the compression of nerve roots L3 – L5, or at the Piriformis. The sciatic nerve can also be impinged at the hamstrings and can reproduce some of the same signs and symptoms.

February 2011

When I moved to Hattiesburg, MS in 2011 I met some girls to train with and one of them wanted to get properly fit on her tri bike. I told her about John Cobb and off we all went to Tyler, TX! I got a new bike, a Felt B2R shortly before we moved from the bike shop where I'd worked in Fayetteville, NC and wanted to get John to help me with the set up.

We all spent a couple days in Tyler working with John. My friends all made fun of me because while they were all chatting with Jeff, the guy who was working with John at the time, I was over there with my nose into everything that was going on with my bike. We swam, we rode, we ran.

I learned a lot and enjoyed every second of it. I was Sports and Medical Massage Therpist for years and his theories and techniques of using an individual's bio-mechanics to fit saddle fore and aft made perfect sense to me. Power related to the contraction and release of the quads and hamstrings to achieve more power from the 12-6 position. And then there is the whole shorter crank discussion - I went from the stock 170's that came on my 50cm Felt (how ridiculous is that?) to a 155. John wasn't making cranks yet, so I contacted Hawley's Bicycle World (where I got my bike and worked in NC) and my good friend Mark Taylor hooked me up with some BMX cranks. I'm not going to go into a big discussion on shorter cranks and opening up the hip angle today... maybe in a future blog post.

This year right before USAT Nationals I finally invested in an aero helmet! And.. what do you think I got? Why yes, a Rudy Project Wingspan... huh... who do you think designed this helmet?? Guess!

I've raced for Team Aquaphor for 6 years and it goes without saying that I love this team, Active Ambassadors, and being a Brand Ambassador for Aquaphor. I believe in the product and have unbelievable support from my teammates. The team is comprised of 200 age group athletes from all over the country. It would take a lot for me to choose to also represent another company.

When the posting came out that John Cobb was starting a triathlon team for 2014 I gave it some serious thought. And applied.

On the application you could check Elite or Grass Roots Team. There is also a Pro Team. I checked Grass Roots. I'm really not that fast compared to the elites, I am pretty good compared to my peers in my age group. So when I got the call from Jeremy Brown who is heading up and managing the team and asked to be on the Elite Team I was flattered and floored! I accepted and am now on the COBB MOBB Elite Team for 2014!

Now... those of you who are wondering about Team Aquaphor? If I'm asked back I will continue to represent Aquaphor too! Each team has a race requirement and I can fulfill both! 10 races... piece of cake!

Looks like I have my work cut out for me in 2014! Time to represent!!

Would you like to be a part of Cobb's Mobb?

Cobb Cycling is pleased to announce the opening of the "Open Wave" for their 2014 team (link).

Requirements: Buy a Cobb Mobb tri kit and Cobb Mobb t-shirt to become a member of the team. Upon purchase of those items together you will also receive a custom decal kit and race tattoos.

The benefits of being a member of the Cobb Mobb:

● Cobb Cycling Team Gear - Tri Kit, Cycling Jersey, Podium Shirt, Team Water Bottle, Race Tattoos available for purchase

● Tri Camps with some of the sports best (announcement of pricing, dates and locations to follow later in the year)

● Media exposure via social media and our media outlets

● Dedicated team manager and social media director to support you

● Possibility of the Cobb Mobb team "party" tent at a race near you

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