Studded bicycle snow tires fit XTERRA terrain

Aleksandr Dorovskikh’s decision to bring his bicycle with studded snow tires worked to his advantage, as the cyclist-turned-triathlete had no difficulty in negotiating the wet and muddy bike leg of last Saturday’s XTERRA Saipan Championship.

Aleksandr Dorovskikh poses with his studded-snow tire bicycle after meeting with members of the media yesterday at the Marianas Visitors Authority’s office in San Jose. (Jon Perez)

Dorovskikh also brought two other bikes, a road bike that he used for the 26th Tagaman Triathlon, and another mountain bike for dry terrain.

“I tried to experiment with the tires. I decided to use the same tires designed for snow courses when I ride in Alaska,” said Dorovskikh through interpreter and Marianas Visitors Authority marketing specialist Tatiana Babauta.

Continuous rain in the early morning of race day made the bike and run course wet and muddy giving most of the participants a hard time in maneuvering their respective mountain bikes.

“The tires gave me more traction on the muddy terrain and it gave me the knowledge on what adjustment to make during the bike leg of the race,” added Dorovskikh, who has also been competing in the Hell of the Marianas since 2012.

Despite the slight advantage in the bike leg, Dorovskikh said that he wasn’t satisfied with his time and finish.

“It was dry when I was training but it rained really hard on Saturday. I also failed to release some air pressure in my tires and I regret for not doing that. If I’ve released some air, the result would have been different.”

Dorovskikh placed fifth after Saturday’s race, completing the rain-soaked course in 2:55:51 or 15:26 behind eventual winner Ben Allen of Australia, who collected his fourth straight XTERRA Saipan crown.

He said that competing in triathlon or other cycling races was his personal exam. “I would know where my level is at with training and what areas that I need to improve. At the same time I enjoy the challenge.”

“I need to work on my swimming and for one year I worked with a pro swimmer. I’m more used to road bikes, I need to also learn more on riding a mountain bike. I still need to learn and improve on its technical side, specially in the trails,” said Dorovskikh.

The Khabarovsk City, a part of eastern Russia, native said he got curious about Saipan when 2007 XTERRA Saipan eighth place finisher Sergey Makarenko shared stories of his experience in the CNMI.

He will next prepare physically and mentally for the Sochi Ironman in September since he has no plans of competing in the XTERRA World Championships in Maui, Hawaii in October.

Dorovskikh placed ninth out of 13 in his first time to compete as a pro in last year’s XTERRA with a time of 3:01:14. He topped the 25-29 age group, and second overall, in 2013 completing the course in 3:19:51.