The Gear Movement

SRAM Tour of the Gila Stages 1,2

Posted on 29. Apr, 2011 by Jordan in Jordan, Pro Wrenching, The Gear Movers

The SRAM Neutral Service Volvos ready to rock and roll, sexy!

Hello Silver City, NM! If you have been to Silver City, you have been here for a reason. This town is great but it is way off the grid. Travel down I-25 from the Boulder/Denver area for about 10 hrs and you find Highway 152 just a bit north of the Mexican border. Take that road for an hour or two over the Contintenal Divide and you are in Silver City. A town known for its Silver mine you can see from space or Google maps, this place is remote. Once a year at the end of April the entire community rallies around the SRAM Tour of the Gila and makes a great atmosphere for us cyclists/team staff.

SRAM Staff Michael Zellman, Desira Miller, Jordan Schware! ready to rock for stage 1

I decided the annual trip to see some of my great friends was worth the trip down south for some fun in the sun and a hard working cycling vacation. Working with the SRAM Neutral Service crew is an absolute blast. The team is strong and they are always ready to help a cyclist out and then have a beer afterwards.

Some great friends, Gord Fraser of RealCyclist.com and Ben Day of Kenda!

The Madness! Kelly Benefits Reid Mumford

My role for the race decided by headman Jose Alcala is that of mechanic/jumper in the SRAM car 2 with the Men’s Pro Race. Sitting in the backseat I am accompanied by Desira Miller, my trusty and rad driver and Miss Piera, Jose’s daughter.

Stage 1 saw some nervous and tactical bike racing for the men. A good amount of strong winds and some rolling roads for a large amount of the 151km kept us on our toes. Pair that with more flat tires than I have ever seen in race and the SRAM crew was scrambling all over the road. At the end of the Stage 1 Mogollon Road Race, came a monster climb. The bike race was shattered to pieces and the win went to Francisco Mancebo, putting more than 20 sec on his closest competition and raising his arms in triumph.

The Mogollon climb at the end of Stage 1

Day 2 saw a much more relaxed bike race beginning and ending in the old deserted Ft. Bayard Military Base. From the gun the men set out to keep the pace high and safe. With tons of climbs and gnarly descents we were lucky to only have a few flat tires and no crashes on the day. Our very own Frank Pipp from Team Bissell flew away with the win screaming into Ft. Bayard pumping his fists. Reports from the officials show him leading the Sprinters competition.

Jordan and Jose's daughter, Miss Piera!

The view from my office inside the Volvo all day!

Super busy in the back of the car = self portrait time!

Thats a wrap from days 1 and 2. Tomorrow we have the Stage 3 Tyrone Time Trial. I will check in again afterwards!

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!