Tour of California Wrap-Up
Posted on 17. Jun, 2010 by Jordan in Jordan, Pro Wrenching, The Gear Movers
Arriving in San Francisco for Stage 3 of ToC, beautiful and typical weather of this area
An 8 day bike race wrapped up and done, but geeze, it feels like a grand tour. This 2010 edition of California’s premier sporting event was by far the most exciting and intriguing race I have done in years. I have worked this race every year but one and couldn’t have asked for anything more. I have never worked for a ProTour Team before, and this was an experience. From the late nights, to the extra little bit of work we did all day to set ourselves apart from the other teams at the bike race, it was definitely a good experience. From the outside the Garmin-Transitions ProTour Team looks like a looming fortress of pretentious staff and riders. It is not, this team is a huge family that after spending a week and a half with them I noticed how close they really are!
Jordan with the Specialized Angel at the start of Stage 3
Garmin-Transitions Team Super Fan, this kid was soo adorable!
The 20 some staff and 8 riders gelled really well together during the race. We had 2 personal chefs, 3 mechanics, 3 sougniers, 2 directors, 1 team photographer, and multiple media and sponsorship liaisons. Can you imagine the logistics of getting each one of these people to and from each race every day? I don’t know how it all gets done.
Our Chefs Chris and Barbara Grealish with thier new parking lot toy!
Probably some of the best times at the bike race where had by the 3 mechanics, hanging out in the parking lot after a bunch of bike working, eating the leftovers of a gourmet dinner served by our two chefs! I gotta say, Chris and Barbara Grealish, thanks so much for the food! On stage 7, the Time Trial in Downtown Los Angeles, I got to follow Tom Danielson during his ride. What an experience, he was flying through the course and although he didn’t post a great time on the day, he had an impressive ride through some of the gnarly windy sections and the one steep little climb.
HTC Columbia mechanic Chris Franges and his awesome bikes get ready for the TT at the hotel in Big Bear
Following Tommy D in the TT on Stage 7 in Los Angeles
Hanging out with TT1 mechanic Alex Banyay and Fly V's mechanic Tennyson Hulcy after Stage 7 of the ToC
The SRAM crew poses for a photo op in-front of the Staples Center at the Stage 7 TT in Los Angeles
I gotta say the number 1 experience for me came on the last day of the bike race when I got to drive the 2nd caravan car in the peloton on the unassumingly tough Stage 8. A lot of teams came into the last day unprepared for what was about to hit them. What looked like a simple course turned out to be a leg/lung burner. A super technical, twisty climb of more than 5k, followed by one of the gnarliest descents I have ever witnessed. I had the 4 tires on the super reliable Subaru Outback squealing on the 8k descent, ohhh my gosh it was the most fun I’ve ever had! I definitely envy a Team Director who gets to sit in the front seat and drive on a regular basis, my spot in the backseat is like a desk-job…boring!
Redwood forests from Stage 3, beautiful!
Mechanics Tom Hopper and Jordan chilly and wet to the bone after Stage 2 to Santa Rosa. It was a downpour all day...
We took two stage wins, and the overall team classification win for the entire race, what an impressive performance boys! It looks like I will be working part time with the Garmin-Transitions Pro team for the rest of the year. On tap next will be the USPRO Championships in Greenville, SC in early September. After that I will most likely do my first ProTour races in Canada – Montreal, and Quebec City, if I don’t do those, look for me on TV at the Vuelta a España, holy cow! Adios amigos!!
Post race dinner, me and Dave Zabriskie getting comfy...
Tour of Californa Stage 1
Posted on 17. May, 2010 by Jordan in Jordan, Pro Wrenching, The Gear Movers
The Garmin Transitions Team Bikes before the start of Stage 2
Stage 1: Nevada City to Sacramento. We had about a 1hr transfer this morning from our hotel in Sacramento to the race start in beautiful, quant Nevada City, what a cool little mountain town! This morning all the three mechanics had to do was get the race bikes, spare bikes and spare wheels pumped and loaded up on our many vehicles, wash the two race cars and get rolling. Our standard procession to the bike race is with the bus in front, leading the way with all of our riders, mechanics driving the race cars and everyone else sitting and ready to roll!
Mechanics Jordan Schware and Tom Hopper before the start, looking good!
With a prompt race start at 11:45am, we were off! We have two caravan cars here for the Garmin-Transitions team, me in car two, big time mechanic Tom Hopper in car 1. I did a lot of sleeping in the team car today, no real work, it was a little bit different for Tom. The front car saw some action with a few flat tires and a rear derailleur to the spokes in Tommy Danielson’s bike on a climb. After a quick bike change to his spare, Tommy D was up and rolling along!
The craziness before the start...
Mark Cavendish from the Columbia – HTC Team took the win in a final sprint in downtown Sacramento. The Columbia boys have started off the week in style! All the Garmin boys finished with the group and were unscathed in some of the crashes at the finale.
Kevin the Bus Driver and Nick the Swany before the start
After rolling back from the bike race, us mechanics got the bikes and cars washed, cassettes and cranks changed for the hills of tomorrow and the trailer packed and ready to go for its first transfer. Tomorrow Jake is going to be in the 2nd team car, with me doing the transfer of our mobile service course to the next hotel. Cheers and goodnight ya’ll!
We were shooting some B roll for a Cliff Bar commercial today on both team cars...
Tour of California Stage 0
Posted on 16. May, 2010 by Jordan in Jordan, Pro Wrenching, The Gear Movers
Garmin Transitions ProTour Mechanic Tom Hopper Getting the Bikes Dialed!
Ever wanted a behind the scenes look at what goes on at a top level pro cycling race in the United States? Look no further! A lot of websites ask for athlete and race related content, what about the fun times that is had by all the support staff in the pro peloton? There are mechanics, sougniers, directors, logistical staff, chefs, bus drivers and many more important people that help each pro team to get through each day and keep the race running behind the scenes!
SRAM's new Aprila Motos and their sweet custom chromed racks!!
I will be spending this week with the Garmin – Transitions Pro Cycling at the Amgen Tour of California. Talk about the real deal! This ProTour level team has it all. We are totally set up with almost 25 staff members for only 8 riders in the race. This large discrepancy means we have our basis covered and every t is crossed and i is dotted, we are dialed!
Rockstar Fly V Australia Director Ed Beamon, apparently too busy to chat with me...
It is now day two of prep before the race and my legs and feet are already done. Standing in parking lot for more than 12 hours a day while running around doing odd jobs from working on bikes, washing bikes, cleaning cars, setting up radios, applying vinyl stickers to rental vehicles and eating burritos! Thats right, we are sponsored by Chipotle, its pretty sweet!
The Fly V Australia mechanics truck and a bike getting unpacked...
Too many words to put into this quick blog right now, so lets let the behind the scenes pictures tell it all…
Fly V Australia mechanic Chris Davidson
Garmin Transitions Chef RV. This bus is for cooking food for the riders only!
Food all over the chef RV. The guys will be eating very well this week!
The mechanics side of the Garmin Transitions Team, nice setup boys!
I worked on these spare bikes today, ready to go for stage 1!
Tom Hopper checking out the new trainers for the TT bikes, kinda cool idea - LeMond Trainers...
USA National TT Champ Dave Zabriskie's new custom TT rig, this thing is dope!
SRAM Tour of the Gila Recap with SRAM NRS
Posted on 05. May, 2010 by Jordan in Jordan, Pro Wrenching, The Gear Movers
A quick picture opportunity in some of the beautiful New Mexico Landscape with the SRAM NRS Team Car
Long, long, long week! I think that is the best way to describe this last week of bike racing down in Silver City, NM. The SRAM Tour of the Gila outdid itself once again and provided all who attended at the races, on the internet and in the newsprint with a spectacular show! The characters, the racers, the locals, the in-race antics, the insanely tough conditions and the all around fun atmosphere provided by SRAM gave us a Tour to remember. For those of you not familiar with the SRAM Tour of the Gila, if you are interested at all in bike racing I recommend you check it out – www.tourofthegila.com.
Fast Tube by Casper
Fast Tube by Casper
Fast Tube by Casper
More great YouTube videos from Jordan at the SRAM Tour of the Gila – The Gear Movement’s YouTube Page
Jordan checked in after day two of working with the SRAM NRS road crew, but doing much more than that was pretty hard for him based on the enormous amount of work that needed to be done at the race. Here is an opportunity to check out some cool videos from a mechanics perspective as well as some great behind the scenes photos from the Gila.
SRAM NRS team bikes lined up and ready to go in the Stage 4 crit at the SRAM Tour of the Gila
Jordan atop the custom SRAM NRS Aprila GT 850 support moto, this thing has a nice kick to it!
That is some beautiful SRAM NRS red and black at the Stage 3 TT...
We hope you enjoy and please stay tuned as Jordan ventures out to the Tour of California with the Garmin Transitions Pro Cycling Team for more bike racing!
Roswell, what? Gotta love the New Mexico state bus, government cover up, what??
SRAM Tour of the Gila Stage 2
Posted on 30. Apr, 2010 by Jordan in Jordan, Pro Wrenching, The Gear Movers
Mara Abbott atop the podium at the SRAM Tour of the Gila Stage 1
A few weeks ago Jordan got a chance to shoot on down to the SRAM Tour of the Gila with SRAM Neutral Service Crew to help work the race, hang in the amazing New Mexico sunshine and get away from the office for a few minutes. Jose Alcala – the head of the crew down here, placed Jordan in the women’s pro race caravan. Directely from the source below:
Stage 1, had the women’s race climbing up and finishing ontop of Mount Mogollon, a nasty switched back climb with super narrow roads and racers from other categories riding down! A video of the men’s finish can be be found on The Gear Movement’s Facebook Page.
Working with SRAM crew was tons of fun over the last two days so here a few pics below to prove it!
The beautiful SRAM NRS Volvo's ready for a days work!
Great scenery outside Silver City, NM for the SRAM Tour of the Gila
Number 1 mechanic Todd Downs with the SRAM NRS crew!
Stage 2 brought a late start to the women’s pro race and saw 70mph wind gusts throughout the day. Unfortunately I was not able to grab any pics of this full on insanity, but girls in the race were walking up through the feedzone with their bikes in the hands flying over their heads! Here are some great videos below…
Fast Tube by Casper
Fast Tube by Casper
Fast Tube by Casper
Fast Tube by Casper
Fast Tube by Casper
Stage 2 saw some carnarge with some crashes and bad bad winds. Kelly took a spill just before the finish, which looked pretty bad, but the soldier that she is, she rode her bike back to the finish and finished the race! One of the more impressive things I have ever seen on a bike, go Kelly!
Reigning US Champ Meredith Miller before Stage 1 of the SRAM Tour of the Gila
Tonight we are building some of the new SRAM NRS Specialized Tarmac bikes for the TT tomorrow and going to an amazing restaurant here in Silver City, NM for dinner.
Online Communities and Marketing Power!
Posted on 27. Apr, 2010 by Jordan in Jordan, The Gear Movers
As The Gear Movement grows and flows we have tried to continue our quest to remain a part of the cycling and skiing community in every aspect possible. If it is attending a bike race, event, stopping by local shops, doing community or charity work or partnering with other like minded cycling or skiing businesses, TGM is all about it
Fast Tube by Casper
Starting a small company and figuring out creative and intuitive ways to grow your business through social media avenues is always an interesting challenge. The fun thing about it is that it grows on a daily basis and constantly changes. One day you focus on some fun Twitter games and posts, the next day you are plugging away with something on your blog or sending some cool emails to friends and family. The advertising avenues on Facebook have opened a few doors for us. To those that don’t already know, much like Google Adwords, Facbook Ads are the perfect way to focus in our your targeted demographic. With millions of users worldwide and the ability to choose which demographic to focus on, locally, nationally or worldwide, you can promote the heck out of your company in a heartbeat!
Another great way we use the internet to our benefit is by collaborating with online communities who provide different types of services to their members. One such online community like this is www.raceplan.com.
The RacePlan community was started in 2005 as a community for cyclists to stay connected, organize rides, race, share photos, stories and videos. This site has grown and grown over the last few years with more than a 100 members. The site not only provides users with the ability to stay in touch with each other but they also get great discounts on Gear and other benefits through the community’s partnerships. RacePlan has partnered with The Gear Movement to offer its members great deals on listing fees and the ability to unload their old Gear and Inventory’s.
Communities like this one show us the importance of having an online presence in this day and age. The days of local small clubs run out of bike shops are not gone but the internet and the online marketplace has definitely developed the need for something else; an online based community all over the world!
In closing, thanks a ton to our friend Kam over at RacePlan for helping us get this partnership off the ground and for the cool video plug above. If you are interested in joining the RacePlan community please check out their website and contact Kam: www.raceplan.com
Check out these ridiculously large icons Jordan found below and follow us!
Bikes for Barrels – TGM’s Latest Venture?
Posted on 09. Apr, 2010 by Jordan in The Gear Movers
To get a feel for the wine before you indulge, Ranno tilts and swirls
A new direction? Well, not exactly, but definitely a new way to seal the deal. Before we get into things, lets get one thing clear – wine does it for me. I’ve put in the base miles training my palate, and the rewards being reaped are magical. Good bottles stay in my memory for weeks until I get the ‘wine guy’ at Liquor Mart to order the store a case I soon there-after splurge on with the 20% case discount. I just can’t seem to have a meal after 12 noon without the stuff. Not quite addicted to the point of AA, but an admirer of the art form. I also happen to be applying for Italian citizenship, and guess what, that’s part of the application – molto bene!!
Nick tests the value of a possible trade for some bike gear...
A new client of TGM just happens to be the owner of a vineyard. I heard this tid-bit of information through my boss’s closed office door across our warehouse to my lonesome workspace with Pandora set blasting on 80’s pop. I perked up like a 6th grader at a pool party. But at this point it was still hear-say. “What are the chances of that working out” I thought to myself. Well, this morning my skepticism was thrown under the bus. A delivery at 10:30 a.m.? You got it. I could see the alcohol sticker on the blank brown box from afar – brought me right back to my days at Boulder Wine & Spirits where I began to memorize the monthly visits of the reps with “the good stuff” for us to taste and hopefully sell. That’s right, we received our feeler, our taster if you will. Our possible client, who unfortunately will have to remain nameless, came through. Four bottles free of charge – a gesture of good faith. Now its up to us to test the waters… Obviously, we can’t trade 72 cases of wine for a road bike, but who knows, maybe the wine can be his/her form of The Gear Movement coupons, redeemable at Diesel’s desk.
Pop that thang!
Now on to what came out of the box. A 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet, a 2007 Sonoma Valley Syrah, a 2007 Montepulciano – Sonoma (I like him already, he’s importing Italian varietals!!!), and a 2005 Sonoma Valley Cabernet. Boo-yah!!!! An ‘03 Napa Cabernet?! Are you serious? This sucker is going to be a face eraser! Big & balanced forward fruit with, huge nose, lingering berry notes in the back of your tasters as she goes down – surely to flank the palate from all sides. The 2007 Syrah should be a soft, elegant, and smooth fruit sensation ready to swing dance with any savory dish thrown its way. The Montepulciano? This Tuscan gem is hopefully the dry, balanced-tannin and sophisticated fruit I’m after in my $7/bottle budget that I am all-to-often unable to find. And the 2007 Sonoma Cabernet? A possible cellar candidate (yea, if I had one)? Well, I’ll let you know when I get there. We’ll see if I can wait until Friday. Salud ”
The wine is poured by Diesel himself!
New Additions to our Shop
Posted on 28. Jan, 2010 by Jordan in For Sale, The Gear Movers
Jack Bissell shows off his new Crosskate Neck Breaking All Mountain Skates, yikes!
Not only have we been having tons of fun at the shop posting our clients cool Gear but we have added some new employees and some new features in our rad warehouse. Isnt it every grown persons dream where they can work in a cool environment that pushes them to have fun on the job? Well we try to do that here although we do have a custom pool table that has remained unused in the last few months, what a shame. We actually need to have the table re-leveled, does anyone know of someone in Boulder, CO who could do that for us?
New additions to the shop include our employee Mr. Jack Bissell. He hails to us from the great Full Cycle bike shop in town and has so far stated “That he fits into our little operation here just perfectly.” When asked what his favorite part of working at TGM, while posting cool things like the Crosskate Inline All Mountain Neck Breaking Skate (we are still trying to understand these things, check the video below) he states: “The great level of respect everyone has for each other here and the chance to check out cool ‘Foot Hummers’ at TGM.”
Fast Tube by Casper
Well these skates are truly cool, check out the auction and win them for yourself in our eBay store: Crosskate Inline Backcountry All Mountain Ski Skates
Our groovy unused custom pool table and new frame and wheel racks - full!
Along with the addition of Jack, we have added new storage in our “Pool Table” room for the overwhelming inventory of frames and wheels we have been recieving from our consignors recently. As we travel into the new year we are starting to sell through our once large Ski, Skate and Snowboard inventory and start to focus more on the bicycle aspect of the business. A note to summer – “You can’t come soon enough!”
A new addition - more wheels and wheel racks!
Peace out from The Gear Movement, we are going to go try these neck breaking crosskates, but only after we update our health insurance plans!
French Skinsuit Dance Show!
Posted on 08. Jan, 2010 by Jordan in Ben, For Sale, The Gear Movers
Fast Tube by Casper
Sometimes our emplyees and owners alike need to go the extra mile to sell our products. Such is the commitment here at TGM that we offer to our clients. We will slave away to sell your gear at the top dollar price if that is what it takes to make you happy!
The above video was shot by Jordan, with Ben as our model and just about the whole TGM crew in attendance, laughing hilariously! Sometimes you just got to have fun. Crazy thing about it was that we got these skinsuits sold no problem, and for maximum dollar. I don’t like to use this space to pump our ego our our services, this is more a space for us to tell our fans and potential new clients that we use a fun atmosphere to seriously get the job done!
Ben Duke, modeling the latest in ski slope fashion!
One of the perks of working here at TGM, is that you get to pose in our ridiculous photo booth wearing some of the crazy clothing we get! Here is to you, our brave employees!!
The Latest in Jelly Belly fashion wear from TGM! Modeled by Nick "Diesel" Ranno
Matt Cooke – Our Resident Pro Cyclist
Posted on 29. Dec, 2009 by Jordan in The Gear Movers
Matt Cooke racing his TT rig to perfection with the Ride Clean Team in 2009
After spending the last two years on big and successful professional cycling teams, racing as an amateur with a smaller budgeted team was not what I wanted to do for the 2009 season. The experience proved to be a really good one for me and turned out to be fun at the same time. The Ride Clean Team for 2009 was composed of mostly young guys from Arizona and I was the one stand out from Colorado. Even though we had a small budget we were still supported at every race, I was really impressed with those guys. At Redlands we stayed in a mansion that makes me think twice about having cycling as a career. The 12 year old kid at the house could play the cello, speak Chinese and annihilate me at Nintendo Wii. Redlands was such a hard race, that damn Sunset Loop on the last day never gets any easier. I really don’t want to think about it, I am only now just getting over that pain.
Matt Cooke on the podium, second from left - looking fit!
The next race was Tour of the Gila where the big news was that Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner were racing. The first day was a mountain top finish and I ended up getting 4th and beating Lance! I was very happy to be riding so well. All week long everything felt so easy and I was looking forward to the last day’s stage, which featured a lot of climbing and another mountain top finish. Sadly I never made it that far. After only a few miles the peloton was sheltering itself by riding in the shoulder of the road because of strong winds. Everyone was racing fast, wheel to wheel trying to stay safe and save energy for later in the race. Without any warning the rider on my right hit a large rock in the road with his front wheel. I can still remember seeing his wheel make impact with that damn rock. He went over his bars and into me. I hit the ground with my head and shoulder. I was taken to the hospital with the other rider who had face planted into the concrete. My collarbone was broken and my whole race was over even before it began.
I ended up getting surgery to fix the collarbone. The doctor did an amazing job by the way, and I was riding again after a month, pretty amazing I think.
I think this picture explains it all, not a fun time for my poor collarbone!
I bounced back and had a good end of the season with a 12th overall at Tour of Utah and 3rd at the Green Mountain Stage Race, a race I had won in 2006. But 3rd was great and I’m happy with it.
After many phone calls and sending out even more resumes I am happy to say I am on a pro team again for 2010. It is called Team Mountain Khakis. They have been mostly a criterium focused team but they are making a strong push for stage racing success next year. I hope I can live up to what they want out of me and what I want out of myself. For now stay in touch for some more updates from me throughout the New Year, and check out the site of my new team – www.teammountainkhakis.com
Happy New Year!
Recent Comments