Before I raced at Racine 70.3 last weekend I spent an exciting few days in Madison staying with our legendary Trek/K-Swiss team mechanic Mark Andrews and his family …. it was exciting on at least two fronts:
1. I was getting given my brand new Trek Speed Concept - here is a preview of the bike I did for SRAM whilst in Racine
2. I got to go hang out with Mark at work and get a tour of the Trek factory HQ at Waterloo: very very cool!!
Trek as a bike company is unique in that they still produce all of their top end frames right there on site at the company HQ and don’t have them mass built in the far east of Asia or elsewhere. They can therefore maintain the absolute highest of standards in their frame production and ensure that the quality of craftmanship and care are unquestionably second to none. Furthermore it means that there is constant development and continued improvement in the whole production process – from the initial sheets of carbon (it really was like holding a big sheet of paper!) to the application of the final coat of paint. For me, as someone who studied Engineering at University and loves learning about a process, it was a fascinating few hours.
Just to prove I was in fact there ….
The front line of Trek racing at the moment … hopefully have a Trek/K-Swiss uniform up there soon enough?!
Where all the fast stuff gets built – Trek Race Teams Workshop … including a US Championship RadioShack frame on the far right and other frames in various states of completion.
And last but by no means least – my new Speed Concept. – SRAM – who equip our bikes with groupsets – came and visited me prior to racing at the Racine 70.3 and did a quick interview talking about the bike and the rest of my season ahead.
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A little belated and behind time (ie April Fools time!) but I want to post a couple video clips that give some (lighthearted!) insight into Trek and K Swiss. Chris Lieto could well give up his day job as a world class triathlete … but I doubt I will be sitting ‘clipper’ in the chair again anytime soon. Laugh out loud – I did!
And finally for now I want to add in this montage of Trek/K Swiss athletes (aswell as other K Swiss guys n gals) who competed at the Cali 70.3 a couple w/e’s back – mostly as it also shows a nice insight into the K Swiss brand and has our ‘head boy’ Eric talking passionately about the partnerships behind our new team.
So, it’s Friday night and I will be getting into the swing of training here in the Shire again over the w/e. Rumour has it Gav will be back from Stellenbosch soon once it gets warm enough - given the mercury will touch 18C I reckon he’ll be back soon…
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Today we rode LONG – ‘5hrs, 150k and hilly’ long – here is me with Ironman 70.3 World Champion Mikie Raelert before we started outside K-Swiss HQ. – Note the loss of hair?!?
All day long we had this crazy van rigged up with a fancy flash system to get cracking shots of us whilst riding. I have been utterly blown away by the level of prefessionalism and support afforded to us during our days here in Santa Monica. The attention to detail has been absolute as we get used to our new gear and bikes and it has been such an eye opener to be a part of it all.
For me, K Swiss is a brand new experience,`and so I have been trying to get as much detail as I can regarding the shoes in particular. The range of footwear is large, and with more exciting models around the corner, there is a lot to learn, hence my expression! Again, note the hair being present!
For some reason, ‘team captain’ Chris Lieto had a set of clippers at the hotel, and he was determined to use them on us all. It was either have a short back and sides or lose it all …. i opted for the former. I’ll be finding a proper hairdresser asap.
My new race rig at the foot of one of the climbs we tackled on the ride today – an 11k monster off the Pacific Coast Highway favoured by a certain Lance when he is in the area apparently. It was a great climb – blew the cobwebs as we had a little playful competition – and the bike felt superb, which is a great indication of the fit.
One of the photoshoots we did yesterday – the ‘Brits’ as we were termed. It’s been lots of fun for sure. More to come…
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I guess they know how to keep busy on lunchbreak?
Shimano, through Felt, are my sponsor for wheels, shoes and groupsets and have been a huge help this year. So it was cool to be able to head up the road and meet with Dustin at the warehouse in Irvine and pick up some new bits and pieces to keep the bike running smooth in the run through to Clearwater.
I asked if was able to pick up a new front wheel for Clearwater, given I had seen some of the new c75 sections in use at Hawaii. Well, I say some … I saw them on Craig Alexsanders’ bike. Turns out they, alongside one other set, are it! So there is Crowie, Ritchie Cunningham, and err…. me, riding these wheels. How. Cool. Thanks! I’ll be careful with it.
I know, you're supposed to get wet in a wetsuit, I know
Anyway, the title has a meaning (or a story at least) – this morning we had a nasty surprise on pooldeck; VO2/anaerobic max sprints …. call it what you will, it’s another way of saying ‘pain’ regardless of the numerous methods of rebranding available. – And I would suggest it is something that triathletes like us tend to suck at. Well, I do anyway.
The goal
Race w/u and start simulation
The Set
Minimal w/u into 2 * (12.5m MAX on 3 mins, 50m MAX on 4 mins, 100m MAX on 8 mins!!)
The boys
Gavin ’seriously-who does a 1000m w/u before a race? Who?’ Noble, David ‘Maccers’ McNamee, Mike ‘I’m in training for the Blenheim/Winsdor lead out double’ Adams, and myself – Fraser ‘clutching at straws’ Cartmell.
The gear
One very nice and perfectly normal race suit, as worn by Maccers, one all singing and dancing brand new TYR Sayonara swimskin (that’s me clutching at those straws for ANY available seconds) and two sets of back to basics old school budgie smugglers as fashioned by Noble and Adams.
The results
Serious amounts of lactate (it’s a deep burn as Gav pointed out), heavy breathing and less than spectacular times – with only Mike dipping under the minute on the ‘from a push 100s’.
The conclusions
We would probably have swum almost as fast on the 1.20 turnaround cycle, and budgie smugglers are still the way forward. – Oh, and it’s a deep burn.
I told you I was lashing two topics together....
Anyway…. I was in the Granite City to get some snaps with Iain Adams, the Mangaing Director of Norwell, who are my only Scottish sponsor. I enyoyed it, and I think we got some decent images from the afternoon at the beach, which hopefully can be used in local media here at home.
smiles are over rated!
Norwell is the longest running Drilling Project management and Engineering Consultancy group in Europe. They have operated in over 40 countries around the globe, managing in excess of 100 projects since 1989 – and given my University years spent learning about Chemical Engineering, I have a real interest in this line of work.
It’s superb having a local sponsor who are really supportive, and actively involved in triathlon here in Scotland. – On June 21st Norwell are sponsoring the Knockburn Triathlon just outside Aberdeen. Iain himself will be doing a triathlon over in Canada later in the year aswell. Hopefully I will be able to visit schools in the Abeerdeenshire area so that I can try to encourage youngsters to take part in sport of some type. In that way the help I have recieved from Norwell can hopefully spread further.
My new AR1 (Pringle/Argyle print paint job) and DA Felt bikes.
Awesome.
Rocky (yup, I wrote Rocky) finished building up my bikes this afternoon at the Nytro bike store down in Enchinitas. These things always take longer than you think, so I hung around for an hour and a half or so waiting… very patiently! By the time I got home it was getting late (and cold would you believe) but I was deffinately hitting the road for a test drive – The road bike was hands down winner for first dibs. I haven’t ridden the road bike for so long, and my first ride on the AR1 was superb. It fits like a glove, even though it is only a 54cm frame (I am possibly shrinking in old age?) compared to the 58cm road frame I was last riding a couple years ago.
The time trial bike looks fantastic and I am contemplating keeping it soley for racing useage! – I have my ‘old’ TT bike here with me also, since I needed something to race on in Miami last w/e, so I may do the majority of the donkey work aboard it. But then again … who am I kidding?
I know, I know ... the saddle is WAY too high, and there are no tubs on the rims. Yet.
One final close up. And then I will stop showing off. I promise. Well…. I might do just the one post about them next week. Just a little, not-bothering-anyone-post.
I really love the colour scheme on the road frame – in the Garmin Pro cycle team colours. Apparently some of the other guys on the triathlon squad at Felt were none too happy about getting the ‘Argyle’ graphics, one even wanting to send it back to the factory for a regular?! Maybe because I am Scottish, who knows, but I really like it. Plus, it is a rather exclusive bike frame to have; these only getting given to the Pro team riders, and the triathletes. So I guess I might have the only one in Scotland?!
The Argyle colour scheme. Like it? I do
The list of world class athletes working with Profile reads like a ‘who’s who’ of multisport and so it is very exciting to be linked with such a prestigious company within our sport.
Profile are also based in California, which is nice, since this will once again be my main base for the year whilst racing in the US. Alongside Felt (Irvine) and TYR (Huntington Beach) I am going to be within driving distance of them which is great for keeping in contact, especially for something like wetsuits, where sizing can be so crucial.
I will meet the guys at the Miami International Triathlon next month, which has Profile as the main event sponsor. Miami will be my first race in the US for 2009, which I am really looking forward to. I raced there last year and it seems like the event has grown much bigger for this, it’s second year running.
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