Can we fast forward to next year please?

I am already missing the tour.  It has been over for 3 days and there is a huge void in my days.  After all, this was maybe the most exciting Tour de France – Ever! 

Yep, I said it.  If you are wondering where I am going with that, then hang on.  It will all be apparent toward the bottom, or as your tshirt goes inside out.  A base layer of a story here. 

 This was the TDF that was not going to amount to anything more than controversy.  Would Alberto be allowed to race, would the race really just be for 2^nd, and maybe that was really for 1^st, would Andy be awarded last years win before we even got started etc…?  If your like me, you got so tired of all of that that you stopped paying attention. 

Trek did not win the race, yet it was certainly the best Tour de France that I have ever seen.  My readers digest goes something like this for now.  (I might change it later)

-       The first week there were an abnormal amount of crashes.

-       It rained, a lot more days than normal

-       A whole gaggle of riders abandoned early in the race

-       Oodles of favorites were on the ground early

-       Was it the cleanest tour ever?  I have not heard of any positives

-       Alberto (I like to call him Bert as it is just one syllable) proved to be fallible

-       Cadel (we will call him Cuddles from here forward, although I think it is a stretch thinking that he is Cuddly) looked horrible on his bike as usual, but he was a man possessed.

-       Andy made the most spectacular breakaway – maybe ever.  People stopped suggesting he was riding for Ponies after that.

-       Bert can descend like a madman.  Full drifts and the Alberto grimace included on the descents.  Fabulous.

-       Andy and Frank (called Frandy in the press) made the race in the last week.  It would have been boring if it were all left to Cadel.

-       Cadel looked like he was taken over by a fire breathing demon on the TT day.  This was not 2008 for sure.

-       Voeckler looked really good in yellow.  Almost sexy.  It was fun seeing him throw a temper tantrum on the day he lost yellow. 

-       Everyone loved the Tour this year.  People had bad days, people cracked, someone attacked each day, the unexpected happened.

-       As always, the final day in Paris is magical.  It is beautiful and romantic.  It is beyond a spectacle.  It is the pinnacle experience in all of cycling.

-       Hoogerland = badass.  Look it up.

-       The Norweigans rode the race.  Thor, Bosan Hagen etc…

-       Who is that Rolland kid?  - wow.

-       The Fabianese was incredibly fun to follow.

 

I guess that was a little more than just a readers digest version.  That pretty much summarizes it all.

Professional cyclists are tough as nails.  Think about it.  Day after day.  Climb after climb.  Almost 30miles per hour average speed for the 3 weeks of racing.  Crashing.  Cold, rain, hot…  And, all of these guys will be racing a week from now as well.  I just cannot imagine it.

 

Leopard Party

I went to the Leopard party after the race.  It was held in a very nice place near the foreign embassy’s in Paris.  The entire team was there, along with about 50 guests.  The team was introduced like rockstars.  There was a light show, smoke machines, thumping music etc…  It was all a bit campy, but really effective at building up the team. 

The guys being introduced at the party.

Talking to Andy, Frank and Fabian at the party was a treat.  They are the greatest group of athletes in the world right now.  We are honored to be associated with them.  They are all super humble about their accomplishment.  They know that Trek really cares about them, and they care about us.  It is fun.

Andy said to me, “I have 3 goals in life”

1.     Family

2.     Winning the Tour de France

3.     Being on the podium with my brother Frank.

He has one of them down.  He then went on to say. “I’ll be back, and we will win this race, Joe.”  I believe him.  They will be visiting Trek soon, and that will be a party.  I wish that everyone could be there.  Hopefully some of you reading this will be able to.

For us, this was incredible.   The first ever brothers on the podium together.  Both on Trek bikes.  Both part of our growing family of Trek people.  That is why I am excited for the future.

Cadel was by far the strongest in the race.  Chapeau.  He deserved to win. 

Now, can we just hit the fast forward button to get to next years races?  I cannot wait until April for the spring classics and for next July to come around again.

Out,

Joe

 

 

 

 

The Big Gamble and My Heart-rate

Thursday was the biggest and baddest bike racing day in the history of bike racing.  That is a bold statement, I know.  How could I know that, you are asking?  Well, first of all I am older than dirt.  If you are older than dirt, you are just wise.   At least, wiser than I was when I was not this old.  There is something in that, just not wisdom. 

Andy getting after it.

It all started for me last year.  We knew we wanted to sponsor another team, we knew we wanted it to be a team based in Europe.  We had the RadioShack team as our team based in North America, we were ready to have a team based in Europe. 

While watching the Tourmalet stage last year, both John Burke and I made note that the crowd favorite was Andy Schleck.  I had met Andy on one of the rest days earlier in the race and I had to agree with the crowd that there was no question that he was a great rider with a great attitude.  The combination was convincing from the start and it had convinced the crowd on the mountain that he was their man. 

Negotiations for sponsorship of a team are never easy, and there were plenty of moments in that process where it did not look like it was going to happen.  In the end, Trek just wanted it to happen so bad that I did not let the challenges of negotiation stand in the way.  We worked and worked at it, and in the end – presto, Leopard Trek was born.

We have gone through some good times and some tough times with the team.  Fabian was the man in the spring time, but he did not win as much as we all expected.  The situation for the team at the Giro with Wouter's accident was a horrible time.  But they have always represented us as the sponsor in the most professional way.  They have integrity and they are our partners.  They are truly great representatives of Trek and it is an honor to be the sponsor.  But, starting a team from scratch is not easy.  All of the logistics and getting all the staff to gel and work together does not just happen.  It was a huge amount of work, and there were plenty of doubters in the cycling world.  My hat is off to Brian Nygaard (@nygaardbn), Kim Anderson, Ben Coates (@trek_ben) and all the rest of the crew.  It was a huge undertaking.  There have been plenty of bumps along the way, but yesterday made it all pay out. 

Andy and Frank in the race department at Trek last fall.

I remember when the Tour route was announced.  Andy told me that the stage to Galibier would decide the race.  He told me that the goal of the weeks before that stage were to stay safe and not loose time.  He told me all the way back then, that he would be attacking on that stage.  The night before that stage, I did not sleep.  I woke up in the middle of the night with my heart-rate racing. 

I sat down in front of a television from 2pm Central European time.  I did not leave that place to go to the bathroom, to get water to find food – nothing.  I camped out my space and did not relinquish it for anything. 

At 60k to go, Andy launched.  He did not look back, he did not hesitate, he did not wait to see if any other favorites would follow… He just manned up and took off.  I could hear right through the TV the rest of the GC contenders saying “That is futile.  He will never hold that on the descent… He will never hold that across the flat to the Galibier…We will bring him back on the slopes of the Galibier”  We all know that did not happen.

I remember Kim Anderson telling me a few weeks back that it was going to be a great race, and that the team is ready.  I trusted that he knew what he was talking about.  I walked around with a glow for days after he told me that.  He knew.

As I sat there watching, I was a nervous wreck.  In the later parts of the race a crowd of 35 people had gathered around with me.  Most were thinking that I was a lunatic.  I jumped out of my chair.  I chanted “Go Andy, Go Andy.”  I yelled at the television, convinced that I could make myself hear right through the screen.  I had Eurosport in German on the TV screen, I had Europsort in English going on the lap top, and I was following #tdf twitter search for even more info.  (There is no better way to watch a race than with a combination like that.) 

Brilliant.

I was freaked out during the stage.  I still am today.

The Tour de France is not over.  Anything can happen yet.  There is another hard stage today, and a TT on Saturday.  Alberto had a bad day yesterday, Andy – Frank – Cadel could have bad days today.  The TT is coming and Cadel/Alberto is a specialist at that.  No matter what happens in the rest of the race, yesterday cannot be changed. 

Yesterday, Leopard Trek showed they knew what they were saying and what they were doing.  Yesterday, they were just superior – period.

Out.  Watching racing.

Joe

 

 

It's TDF time - I'm in France - Vive la France!

It is a bit like calling out, "Help, I've fallen and cannot get up."  It is at the very least something akin to pass me some more of that butter for my croissant, my heart is beating way too slowly.  After all, we do take all of this fitness finagling way too seriously.  Me, myself and I that is.  Because in the end, it if floats we will race it.

So it is Tuesday.  Or rather, it is Friday and earlier in the week it was Tuesday.  The calendar just keeps doing that to me.  Wait a few days, another Tuesday will come around.  It is a circular thing.  When it does, you probably will not know where you are then either. 

There is a bike race going on in France, in case you have not recognized.  (That is a circular thing also...) I am not sure why you are reading this when you could be watching that.  Or at least reading something about that race, probably from people who are a lot funnier and better informed than I am about the whole thing.  Either way, THERE IS A BIKE RACE GOING ON!  

Each year I like to go to a few different stages of the TDF.  Last year I made it to the Morzine stage in the alps, just as comeback 2.0 was unraveling for Lance.  It was a tough time at that team truck, but it was still such a beautiful circus.  I met LIam from California there.  He and his Dad ride all over Europe together, and have a fun little blog to follow.  Check them out at Fathersontour.com. 

This is me meeting Liam last year at Morzine.  Check the Converse, those were nice.

This is Liam this year.  Still riding up mountains with his dad.  Pretty cool.

This year, I am hoping to get to a couple of mountain stages where the up part of the race is such a big deal.  Not sure how that is going to go, but I am here in France and going to be for the month.  I will be starting out by going to the L'Etape du Tour, then going to our dealer event in Austria (I know that I said France and I also know that Austria is not France - Geez, after all you can barely get a bratwurst in France.)  After the dealer event, I will make it to the finish in Paris and then down to Madrid to visit my daughter who is living there (Once more a place that is not France.) 

It's kind of a long trip.  I have packed a couple of pieces of cycling kit and a few pair of converse and flip flops - oh, and of course a roll of duct tape.  You never know when you might need that.

L'Etape du Tour

Liz and I made our way to Alpe d'Huez to do the L'Etape du Tour.  This is the 2nd time we have done one of these.  It is a citizen race with 9000 of our closest friends over one of the big mountain stages in the Tour de France.  This year was up over the Telegraph, then over the Galibier and then up to the top of Alpe d'Huez.  Wow.  Not super long, but it was tough.

We were being taken care of for the trip by Trek Travel.  They really know how to put out a spread and make it work for everyone there.  We did a couple of nice warm up rides the days before the ride, and then they had us sorted for the day of the race.

That's a Trek Travel lunch after a ride.

To start with, there are 9000 riders at the L'etape du Tour.  This isn't the same amount of logistics as a local group ride or a local race.  The roads are closed, just like when the pro's ride that stage, and the pace is hard.  Our ride started out with a 10 k long down slope.  It made a left turn, and bang we were on the slopes of the Telegraph.  The climb was pretty cool.  All in the trees, and not really exposed.  Nice and cool.  There is a short down slope onto the Galibier, making those 2 climbs really just one long climb. 

The Galibier is incredible.  High up in the air, exposed everywhere, no shade, hot, tough.  I did not really get any pictures, but I borrowed this one from fathersontour.com to show how it is exposed. 

Pretty cool view from up top, and you can see the road snaking out below.

Liz was really tough on that climb.  It is long, and she has not had much chance to do any climbing this year.  She made it to the top with a smile on her face. 

Look closely and you can see the Galibier summit sign in the background. 

The descent off the Galibier was incredible.  Pretty scarry and fast at the top.  Very exposed.  But it was downhill for 30 kilometers all the way to the base of the Galibier.

The really freaky part was the tunnels along the road.  For the most part they were not too bad.  Reasonably lit, and decent pavement.  But there were more than just a few.  They seemed to get more poorly lit and poor pavement the more the route continued on.  Eventually, there was one that was long, and not lit at all.  You piled into the tunnel at a fast pace, and all of a sudden you were in pitch black.  You could not see the rider in front of you, only a vague outline.  People started hitting their brakes in panic.  A rider crashed, there were brakes squealing, riders screaming to slow down, other riders screaming to pedal on - terrified that they were about to be slammed into from behind.  It was not a great feeling.  Somehow, Liz and I both made it through the tunnel unscathed. 

Then we hit the bottom of Alpe d'Huez.  The road pitches up really steep at the bottom.  It is tough.  21 switchbacks that just do not seem to end.  The road flattens out just a bit in each of the switchbacks, but then angles up steeply again after that.  Up, up and up.

By the time we got to the Alpe, it was hot.  The climb is exposed to the west and the sun was baking it.  For us Americans that do not live where we can climb on our bikes, it was (Alabama) hot.  Had to be 100 degrees, and the heat was reflecting off the pavement in great waves. I saw an egg frying.  I saw a small person lying in the shade in the fetal position.  There were people walking from the bottom, no one was going very fast.  It was a death march up the climb.

On Alpe d'Huez.  Smiles all around.

We finished.  I knew we would.  Liz drove us to a respectable time also.  It was only 110kms, but it is a lot of climbing.  I do not know the total meters climbed, but it was more than 3.  We had a great time. 

I would imagine when the pros go over it next friday, it will be alot faster and it should decide the tour.  I cannot wait.

Out,

Joe

They start them really young in France.  These kids were suited up at the bottom of Alpe d'Huez one day, just doing a training day up the road.  Wow.

 

 

New Stuff!

Andy, Frank and Fabian all got new stuff to use this week.  They kinda like them.  I hope it makes them go even faster.

Vroooom!

Out,

Joe

 

Summer and Bikes

I love bikes.  Duh, right?  Why else would I be here, and why else would you be reading this? 

But, what you did not expect is the combination of summer and bikes, or maybe you did.  Lots of time, to most people summer just means mowing the yard, the lake, a cold beer and of course bugs.  I get that also, although I do my best to avoid the mowing the yard part.  (What is the problem with a jungle for a yard anyway?). I can become sunburn and feed the mosquito's with the best of them. 

Summer means bikes.  Of course, everyday means bikes at Trek - but there is just something so much better about the combination of bikes and summer than say bikes and winter.  I know there are some of you out there who think that winter is just fine.  I'm not one of them.  I know that does not make me a very good midwesterner, but I cannot help it.  I would take 100 degrees over winter any day.  Besides, winter is supposed to be at the end of a plane ride to Snowbird, not in your front yard.  Seeing people on bikes always makes you smile, seeing people shoveling the snow out of their driveway almost never makes you smile.  (but this is taking me in the wrong direction.)

Back to the bike thing.  It's summer, and bikes are in full swing around here.  What follows is a few examples of the kind of bike frenzy there is at Trek in the summer.

Bike Show!

We had an internal bike show at Trek in the parking lot a week or so ago.  The call went out with a week or so notice, "bring in your bike, show it off, win a prize" - a fabulous free Bratwurst and a beer, it is hard to get away from our midwestern roots after all.  So on a Friday afternoon in the summer, this is what it looked like out in the parking lot.

Fancy 360degree photo app on the iphone

It was very impressive, people brought in just about any kind of bike you could think of.

It seemed to be a good direction back in the day, but nowadays you do not hear people talking about a tandem mountain bike very much.

A bike that carries a beer well is highly praised, even if the bike itself is a bit odd.

Jordan's 19lb race 29'er, of course you have to be in the race department to get your hands on the custom carbon sew up MTB wheels.

Somebodies sweet little dirt jumper.

My dad works at Trek.

The kid across the street from Andy in Toy Story 1 built this bike.

???

Eric from Project One loves old race bikes.  This one was actually one of Pantani's

When you need to get there fast!

When you need to get there really fast, a bike with a rocket attached is key.

It was a fun day.  That is just a sampling of some of the more interesting stuff.  It went on and on.  Good stuff.

New Race Bikes.

Speaking of bikes, the road teams got a few new race bikes as well.  There is a little bike race going on in the summer in France and we wanted them to enjoy a few new bikes also. 

This is the new scheme that RadioShack is on for the TDF.  It is a new color picker scheme that will be available in Project One.  You will be able to put whatever color you want into it.

Andy and Frank get to ride something new for July.  Maybe you will also.

If your the best rider in the world, you get to ride something like this.

Dang I love bike racing.

MTB trails

We have been very busy at the super secret Trek trails.  We have turned one of our favorite trails into a fantasticly fun little jump infested midwest version of A-Line.  This is a little video that the Trek MTB brand manager took from a helmet cam, while trying to follow Vance from the race department. 

 

Another view of the same trail.

  

time to go for a ride.

Out,

Joe