Hi, I’m Joe V. The V is for Vadeboncoeur, but no one ever really calls me that (except my business card). That card also calls me the Global Director of Product Development, Marketing and Creative Design for Trek Bicycle. Yep, I am sometimes not really sure what all that means either. I do know that I dig bikes, oatmeal, motorcycles, burritos, the weird things I see along the way, my family and my job. I get to travel the world helping make great bikes, so it’s a pretty great gig.
I know it's a road bike but I couldn't let this pass without showing it to a few more people. Over the past few months our designers have teamed up with an impressive portfolio of artists to create some special bikes for Lance to ride during his return to cycling. The boys at Nike put together an unbelievable show at the Gallerie Emmanuel in Paris immediately following the final stage of this year's Tour. This bike was created by Damien Hirst for Lance to ride on the Champs Elysee. Check out the bike page to see a bit more. This thing showed up at Trek looking like the Ark of the Covenant in the last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Unreal craftsmanship.
If there's one job, besides my own of course, that when looked at here at Trek from an outsider's perspective would make you say "that's what you do for work?" it would have to be the Astana Team Liason. Basically, you are with the team always and your job is to ensure that they all have all of the stuff that we work so hard to create so that they can go out and win countless races and keep us on the podium. Lots of other companies sponsor lots of teams hoping to hedge their bets. We just sponsor the Goldman Sachs of racing to ensure that we always win. We have a cat here at Trek named Ben Coates who was bestowed with this honor (read "sometimes curse") and he's the best in the biz. Right now Ben's in some hotel or car on his way to the next stage of a race, or he's building wheels, or he's talking with our engineers, or he's wishing he was back home in CO skiing. And sometimes he's talking to Christine Taylor and NOT getting her autograph for a big Dodgeball fan that just happens to write a blog.
Ben's from Colorado and is thus prone to fits of "low speak". However, in this video he speaks loud enough to fully understand and it's appreciated. Much props, Ben. Hope to see you soon!
BTW - I know all of you avid readers will be all, "Hootie, what gives? This is a road story in a lifestyle blog." While that is true I couldn't just let this little gem pass without highlighting it. Big shout out to all the understanding wives out there.
To catch up on what Ben's up to or check out the tour from the inside check out our Document Series
