Sunday, April 22, 2007

Just in Time Machine!

One week out from my season opener triathlon and I finally got to go to Fedex and pick up my Team Race Athlete BMC Time Machine! I was fortunate enough to be picked for the last slot on the team and was therefore last in line to actually get the bike. As far as gear goes, the Team is set! Now all we have to do is live up to these bikes! Actually getting the bike to me was at times almost a farce of miscommunications and delays. I won’t go into more detail because the absolute last thing I want to do here is seem ungrateful. It would be downright insulting to all the other deserving age groupers out there who are making do on the equipment that they have and would love to have a chance like this.

Let me say that the concept behind Team Race Athlete is to put together a team of ordinary age groupers and give them the opportunity to train and race like pros. I don’t think most of us really give that much thought. We see the pros with the tricked out new bikes and gear. The reality is there are only a few top-tier pros that have enough clout (and marketing potential) to get the newest stuff right away. I know for a fact that there are other BMC sponsored athletes that are still waiting on bikes while our team is now good to go. If you are not one of those top-tier pros it is a somewhat common thing to get your new bike, wetsuit, etc the week before (or after) a race. Suffice it to say that the life of a pro triathlete is far less glamourous than most people think. Now an age grouper being treated like a pro? That is just as glamorous as you think!

On to the bike! Team Race Athlete has been outfitted with tricked-out BMC TT02 time trial bikes. These bikes are similar to the uber-expensive all-carbon TT-01 that Floyd and the rest of the Phonak team used in the Tour last year. The measurements and aerodynamic profiles are the same as the TT01, this model uses an aluminum front end mated to a carbon fiber rear end. Zipp provided us with lots of go-fast parts. I opted for a set of tubular 606s (more on this in a later post). Also from Zipp is an ultra-lightweight crankset and the very sleek Vuka aerobars. Cyclops provided us with their newest wireless Power Taps which are built into the rear Zipp 808. The rest of the parts spec is Dura Ace. Each of us used our own saddles and pedals. I love my Selle San Marco Aspide Tri Gel for long course racing. I am also a long-time devotee of Speedplay pedals.

My lovely wife was patient enough to document the unpacking and re-building process:


So what do you do when you get a brand new bike? Well you ride the hell out of it! There is definitely an element of “living up” to an awesome bike like this. With that in mind I headed out for my longest ride of the year. It just so happened that it was also my first ride on the BMC. This could be a risky move, but I was confident in the fit I did back in January with Tim Troha of Colorado Multisport. So on Saturday I did 95 miles on my new bike. Initial impressions?It rides very nicely- BMC may have nailed that tricky balancing point of stiffeness vs. ability to absorb road shock. Tim's fit was spot-on. I was able to ride 95 miles in relative comfort right out of the box! I will wait until I have closer to 1K miles on the bike and a few races before reporting back with a more detailed review.
A big thanks to BMC, Saris, Zipp and Colorado Multisports for making this team bike happen. Thanks to Ryan at Colorado Multisports for building, packing and shipping the BMC. Finally, a big thanks to Stu who seriously lost sleep over me not having the bike and went above and beyond to get this bike to me! You guys are great!

1 week until local season opener, 2 weeks until Wildflower!

7 comments:

Michelle said...

Yah! You got the bike!! See you soon.

SimplyStu said...

Yeeee Haaaa! Time for me to take a nap! See you in 11 days!

Bolder said...

looks fast, just like you!

look forward to seeing you put it to some good use at Wildflower!!

gavnunns said...

Nice ride, did you get hooked up with two Power meters or you just planning on training full time with the tubs?

Bigun said...

it's a beauty! ride it hard!

Air Capital Wadle said...

Does that thing come with power windows? Holy moly that's one awesome bike, but it's always the motor that's more impressive!

Anonymous said...

Great work.