I got a voice message from WTC’s CEO, Andrew Messick, and it was not business as usual. It was about typhoon Haiyan, and in this case the heart was riding shotgun and EBITDA took a back seat.

This edition of the Mailbag covers two questions. First, why does my GPS show a different distance than the published race course? Next, how much speed can I gain from a new bike?

We review two lights from Serfas. The TSL-550 packs a punch for its price, and the multi-purpose Thunderbolt can be mounted just about anywhere on your bike.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Under Armour acquired MapMyFitness – the brand best known in the running, cycling and triathlon world for the popular MapMyRun and MapMyRide applications.

This weekend 17 ACTIVE Network employees will line up at Ironman Arizona and according to ACTIVE that is the largest corporate starting group in any singular Ironman race.

British age grouper and medical student Catherine Faux had a super impressive performance at the 2013 GoPro Ironman World Championships with a 9:15:16 time and she thus took the overall female age group title.

Brit Helen Wyman won her third Koppenbergcross title earlier this month and looks very solid this season. Enjoy this Tom Prenen photo gallery of the women’s race.

Tom Meeusen of Team Telenet-Fidea won the 2013 Bpost Bank Trofee Koppenbergcross earlier this month and here is a gallery from the event.

Scott Poteet recently finished the GoPro Ironman World Championships in a very respectable 9:38, but when he is on his day job he can move as fast as Mach 2.

We cover a very basic question – how do you pick the right tire size? Is there one ‘right’ width for all situations? What should you consider?

Andrew Starykowicz and Meredith Kessler won the 2013 Rev3Tri in Venice Gardens, Florida and here is an image gallery from the action – slowtwitch friendly.

In this Weekend Box we cover the final Rev3 race of 2013, the Ironman 70.3 Australian Champs in Mandurah, the WBR Mobilize Me campaign and a very sad image gallery.

24-year old Portland, Oregon resident Eric Lagerstrom has really stepped it up late this year with several fine results and we had a few words with him to understand how this all came together. Now watch out.

We cover in-depth service on rear hubs with shouldered axles, such as Renn discs and FLO Cycling. While not the easiest service, it can be done with the right tools and some time.

We review the latest 11-speed groupsets from Shimano – Ultegra 6870 Di2 and the ‘non series’ R785 Di2 with hydraulic disc brakes.

We selected Gus Ellison as a random age grouper because he happened to match a specific fashion rule we had determined earlier. Now you can meet this triathlete who came to Kona with his wife and very young son.

Amos Gollach now resides in Australia, but this M18-24 GoPro Ironman World Champion was born and grew up in Zimbabwe. Gollach recorded a 9:01:15 – a 46 minute improvement over his previous Kona effort.

Pedro Gomes followed up his Kona race with a start at Ironman Florida and the fast Portuguese finished 5th in 8:08:34. Here now are his numbers.

Victor Del Corral’s win at IM Florida was in jeopardy but WTC has allowed his result to stand, citing no protest filed in the prescribed time, and rules that do not allow a disqualification in this circumstance.

Our Tech Editor attended a test of the new Shimano R785 hydraulic road disc brakes. This included descending for over an hour down Mt. Haleakala in Hawaii.

Samantha Morrison won the F18-24 age group at the 2013 GoPro Ironman World Championships with a massive margin, and we expect to see much more from this talented Air Force 2nd Lieutenant.

WTC’s domestic Ironman for foreigners was invaded by an entourage from one of the world’s richest families. Who knew Bahrain was Ironcrazy? And they want an Iron race of their own.

We stumbled upon our first random age grouper in Kona at Lava Java and you now get to meet Aussie Christine Lefeaux who qualified for the GoPro Ironman World Championships at Ironman Melbourne.

Spain’s Victor Del Corral won IM Florida this past weekend with a superb 7:53:12. Now he faces a DQ because he wore the same helmet Frederick Van Lierde wore in Kona.