Preparation is the key to success

I get asked on a somewhat regular basis how long things take in my line of work. How long does it take to build a bike? True a wheel? Glue a tire? And in the attempt to sound as cocky as possible I usually say something along the lines of "not that long". Which is true. It's a bike. Building a bike does not take that long relative to other projects. ( I'm assuming this is true, when it comes down to it I don't really do other projects.) The issue is that there is no one task to accomplish when working for a team, there are only many one tasks, so getting your work done early is very important.

I usually start the day compiling my "to do" list. Good feeling to erase things, bad feeling when that spot gets filled by something I forgot to add the 1st time.

 

Case and point, these wheels all need glue and tires.

(Note: if you are not familiar with bike racing, most racers have tires that are held to the rim via a type of contact cement. This is better/faster/warmer/more time consuming.)

 

A few of the tires getting stretched prior to installation.

These tires need to be installed on the training wheels.

Oh and cassettes. Those help with the process of going forward.

Making sure the TT bikes are ready ahead of camp.

But it turns out that bike are not the only thing to be considered.

Dialing in our rack system on the car. We expanded to 4 complete bikes, 2 fork mounted bikes, and a few wheel holders this year. It's going to be one full roof.

 

Also, new rear door panels for the van. Complete with tons of shelving space. Oh the orgainzation!

Plus with new sponsors come new decals. Fortunatley Alan has a friend who enjoys installing car decals. Thanks Danielle.

But all the work totally pays off. Living room staged, ready to load.

 

See you in California.

 

 

 

Trying for internet celebrity

One of the things we at the Hagens Berman Cycling Team like to do is make sure that everyone is up to date on the happenings of the team. To this end we have a new website:

Which can be found at hagensbermancycling.com

There is even a team blog, which will feature race reports and commentary from the riders throughout the year. Good stuff to keep up on.

Another fun feature, returning for it's second season, is "The HB show".

Our regular web series that follows the team through the season, gets excellent footage of our exotic racing locales, and allows the riders to comment on the journey. (Also available through the website)

As part of our early season filming for the show Alan and I loaded up the car and headed to Bainbridge Island to film a bicycle being built.

Our field trip even included a ferry ride.

After the ferry, and a quick stop for some amazing toast with jam, we were headed out to a nice garage to film some bikes.

We even managed to pick up our photographer/ team rider Chris Wingfield on the way. Just a bit of a tight fit with all the stuff. Not exactly sure what he's sitting on...

A view from the outside of the house. Apparently living on an island does have it's advantages.

Not to mention that the garage was amazingly nice. I think instead of buying house, I may just build a garage like this. I could always sleep on a workbench.

(Note: The rest of the day was professionally photograhed, so please stay tuned on the HB website for that.)

However.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It will probably look pretty good.

And somewhat like this.

 

 

 

2 Chainz

My world has been in a state of flux for a few months now. However as of today I am no longer an employee of Recycled Cyles.

They did get me a very nice set of parting gifts.

 

This is now 100% of my job. But it's important to keep things loose and fun, so I am going to introduce the third recurring theme of the blog. Aside from local wildlife and people taking pictures with iPads, which are both fascinating to me, we now have.....

2 CHAINZ!!!!!

but it's a bike related blog, so in my case we have Shimano, and more specifically the fine folks at Modus Sport Group, for providing the chains.

Tre

 

James.

Margo.

 

Nate.

 

Pr0paine, with 2 chainz, makin it rain.

More hotness to come.

 

Team camp #1

After a long winter, the team activities have begun. This past weekend the team got together in Seattle to meet each other, meet some of our sponsors, and just have a good time.

First things first: a trip to the mother ship. Hagens-Berman LLP treated us to an afternoon in their conference room to learn about them and a few of our other sponsors.

Also got a chance to catch a seattle sunset from the 33rd floor.

After dinner we caught the ferry to Bainbridge Island to prepare for day two. David, while posing as an asian tourist, got photobombed but a group of youth soccer players.

 

But as an expert on Shimano footwear, David was also in charge of our Shimano shoe oven for the weekend. I just got to drive it around.

We spent Saturday at GraviTec doing a bunch of team building exercises. GraviTec designs systems and does training for people who work at height (window washers, wind turbine technicians etc). Lots of learning, problem solving, and a few fun exercises with rope and harness. However since they do not allow photos inside their building Saturday will be represented by Peter, mechanic at Recycled, rocking the headset cup dookie rope. Rock rock on.

Sunday I watched the Seahawks play the Falcons while the guys went on a ride. Cardboard Danny, at the front of the van, was the first guy suited up.

Stewart got a chance to rock his Euro kit on this side of the Atlantic. Bold choice.

The weekend ended with a few interviews about the weekend that will hopefully end up on the new season of "The HB show". I might even make it this year. That is, if I can keep a straight face long enough to do an entire interview. Jury is still out on that one.

 

Only 5 weeks until team camp in California. Get ready!!

 

But first...

While curling up and relaxing would be a nice thing to do (or maybe working), why not take a road trip? Where? New Orleans to San Diego. Obviously. What kind of question is that?

My first time standing next to the Mississippi River. I did not fully understand how big this thing is. I guess I'm not used to cargo ships in rivers yet.

And it being the South they're really into Andrew Jackson. If the south is going to rise again they may do so on horseback. You have been warned.

At one time New Orleans belonged to the Spanish so you also get the good old Euro style church. I was told novelty Catholic guilt can be purchased inside.

There were also a number of hitching posts around the French Quarter. Since I had a bunch of time to kill I thought I would find someone renting horses. I mean why hitching posts and no horses?

After about an hour of walking all I was able to find were these more modern horse like contraptions. I'm assuming these need to be tied up when not in use so they do not take off. Perhaps the south will rise again on Segway.

Or ride to victory in a pedicab.

I did feel bad for this tree. Apparently it lost it's spouse in the battle for Eisenguard. Sad stuff.

But all joking aside, the French Quarter is very beautiful.

Plus the clubs have a great pricing structure.

 

Local wildlife.

But enough of New Orleans. This is a road trip. This water was to the right as we headed west. I have no idea which water it is. Maybe I should get my hands on a map.

Welcome to Texas! I think the state motto is "Good luck getting across"

We did manage to get from New Orleans to Junction, TX the first day. I don't understand why more people don't live here. So much to do.

Only 860 miles after the challenge began, we escaped the bounds of Texas.

Things got a bit more scenic when we got to New Mexico. The hills are taller, even if the brush is still sagey.

However Arizona is the state well known for its native dinosaur population. This one is pretty well domesticated. It let my friend Camille pet it and then posed for a photo op.

Dinosaur fist bump!!!

At long last, the ocean. A great view from the Navy Amphibious Base on Coronado Island. This is a shot of where the Seals train. If you look really closely you can see Demi Moore. God she's buff.

Since I like to end with a strange photo, I will offer this challenge: What the hell is this beach bug?

Seriously! This thing is huge and I almost stepped on it. What is this?