Update 1-

As promised here is some overdue blogging. Summer is flying by and once again I know what time of year it is based upon my travel to various races around the country. After the Nature Valley Stage Race (Minnesota), I had a some time in Milwaukee to get some bike riding in of my own and feel normal again before heading west.

Heading west meant 4 days of driving to reach Bend, Oregon. Driving out west is always exciting for me but it has become a little old over the years. I've seen most of what there is to see from all the major Interstates. Would love to take a new route now and then but the Interstates are the quickest way to travel most of the time. I brought my mountain bike on this trip to experience the riding in Bend but it was also fun to ride around various towns that I spent the night in along the way. One of those 10pm rides was to find something to eat for dinner on the 4th of July. The only place open in "somewhere" North Dakota was a chinese restaurant. The Americanized teenage daughter of the parents was a little fidgety because she was concerned about missing the fireworks with her friends. (Note to self: Chinese restaurants are open late on 4th of July as well as Christmas Eve.)

I mentioned that I bought a new camera. I made the purchase (no sales tax) as we left Bend, OR so I have no actual pictures from Bend. All I can say is that I have to go back there someday. Our host families were incredibly nice people. Us mechanics had nothing to worry about other than bike stuff. Great meals, great hugs in the morning, great conversations, great coffee...

I was fortunate to take my mountain bike on some fantastic rides. Someone once said it takes a lot to impress me. I've been feeling like that has been the case as of late. Riding my bike out there was some of the greatest trail riding I've done in awhile. For anyone familiar with Bend, I mainly stuck around the Phil's Trail area. I loved the flow of the trails, the smell of the pines, the dryness of the dirt sticking to my teeth. It was just what this guy needed. A little bit of adventure to psych me up and appreciate things around me. IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!! My last day there, Eric rented a mountain bike and we saddled up with Matt and Cheryl (his host family) for a day long trail ride. Probably my ideal day come true. Riding with a group of friends all day and ending it up with a well earned dinner at the local watering hole. Thanks Matt and Cheryl!

Had a few "small world" run-ins while in Bend too. Bill Warbuton from Lake Placid is a all grown up and living there. He is the only person I've ever sold one of my bikes too. I'm a tall guy which seems to make it hard to sell my bikes for some reason. Anyways, we had a good laugh about that one. He works for the ski foundation in Bend and has started a kids road biking program this summer. He said he tries to remember how he felt as a kid, hanging out in the shop I worked at in Lake Placid, and Kenny and I would talk to him which fostered his interest in biking. That Cannondale 2.8 series bike I sold him is still being ridden by his brother now and then.

At a coffee shop in Bend I ran into Amanda Balding and Luke McKenzie who are some pro triathletes I met while in Kona last year. Amanda is on the Timex team this year but was not at our team camp and Luke is a top pro in the world. What makes them interesting to me is they choose to spend a lot of their time living an adventurous athletic lifestyle together using a van as their home. (I too am attracted to such living. I even owned a conversion van very similar to theirs. For those who know of this van I'm sorry to say it finally is no longer. I've been storing it for awhile but had to face the reality that it was not worth it to fix it. The van has moved on to the scrap yard.)

Now I'm back in Milwaukee getting things arranged for some more trips ahead.

Now let's move on the picture portion of this update.


Coffee from Liquid Planet in Missoula, MT - Comes with a choco covered espresso bean - The names reminds me of Placid Planet Bike Shop


Eric wanted to buy some local Jerky at this gift shop. The lady said she was all out because "The kids going to Japan bought most of it." I don't know what she meant either. It's probably a way to get people into her nick nack store. Eric was considering a rooster lamp for his girlfriend. You would have loved it McKenzie!


Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'


Testing the self portrait capabilities of the new camera in North Dakota.


Out west the bike doesn't get muddy just a thick layer of dust.

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I like when I get to buy a new trail map.


I wasn't able to attend Lake Placid Ironman this year and see all my good friends such as Shane and Athena. Here we see Athena in the boat that Shane made on a beautiful Adirondack lake.


Erin Kummer's sweet set-up deserves a mention on my blog. Bike on Bike!


This is Gwen. Candice and Dave's baby. She is not available to rent yet as a "chick magnet".


I was pleasantly surprised to see that some trail work had been done while i was gone. The flooding along the river caused quite a mess. I'm not sure who does the trail work but a huge thanks to you. I don't own a chainsaw big enough for such work.


That's it for now from good ol' Wauwatosa, WI!

UPDATING SOON

HELLO! I WILL BE UPDATING SOON. I EVEN HAVE A NEW CAMERA, YES!

Where have I been?

I hope no one has given up on me posting as of late. More like, as of forever! I don’t think I’ve added anything since getting back from Taiwan, which in all honesty seems like so long ago. Even though I’m not sure what I even had for dinner last night, this is my attempt at a little updating from the last several weeks or should I say months.

(I misplaced my camera in Taiwan so I’ve been without one to post any pictures. I’ve scrounged up a few here and there from friends.


In Taiwan sometimes I felt like I had my own fans. Groups of folks were curious about a lot of things. Here I'm just doing some random adjustments.

After the Taiwan trip, Tristan and I drove the Timex truck out to Oceanside, CA for California 70.3 and then Carlsbad, CA for the Timex Team Camp. Camp was good and there are some characters on the team.

Back to Milwaukee for a bit then drove a Team Type 1 van down to Atlanta, GA to meet up with Chris Jones and Valery Kobzarenko to preview two stages of the Tour of Georgia route. We previewed the Brasstown Bald and Dahlonega days. Very pretty and mountainous are two words that come to mind. Met a local hotel owner in some town who offered us a discount on some rooms one night. That was very much appreciated.

Tour of Georgia! When looking back at this year’s race it will be remembered for a few things. The Team placed 4 guys in the top twenty GC, At the Brasstown Bald finish, Moises finished 6th and the team had 4 or 5 guys that day in the top 17 (I may have some of the facts wrong but you get the idea). In the team overall GC we were 3rd. Just behind and ahead of some of the biggest teams out there.

The most memorable part for the staff was the truck breaking down in the center lane of I-85 in Atlanta traffic. I happened to be driving the truck and when traffic started to slow down (because it’s always congested in Atlanta isn’t it) I tried to downshift only to discover that the clutch was gone and I couldn’t get it into another gear. I wouldn’t say I was in panic mode (okay I was sort of) but what was I to do. I was coasting to a dead stop and thinking I was going to cause a multi car pile up. Fortunately, I did not end up as the nightly news story.

I was literally stuck. There was no way I was opening a door into the 80mph traffic whizzing by. I figured the only thing to do was call 911. While waiting for the police I did get a phone call from a friend who sensed my stress level and calmed me down. How she knew the right time to call was weird.

Talk about throwing a wrench into the gears. Having the truck out of service made the rest of the week a bit hectic. Trying to arrange the repair and getting a rental truck all the while tending to the race job was not ideal but to the credit of all the staff we got things done. Staff teamwork gets a reward.


The previous day the Health/Net car accidently rear ended the BMC car. Ed decided to be a little sarcastic so we attached a pillow to our bumper. This is me running to remove it since we only wanted to display such behavior for one lap. By the way this picture made it to the velonews website. I knew one day I'd get my mug in there. Thanks to my friends who saw it.

Beyond the Tour of Georgia things did not slow down. Logistically we had to arrange plans to go to the wind tunnel in North Carolina without the truck. Once again it got done somehow. While Eric and Chris did the wind tunnel trip I stuck around Atlanta to wait on the truck repairs and relax. Yeah right! There was no relaxing. I felt like I drove around Atlanta for two days. I don’t care for Atlanta at all. Never have and now definitely never will.

One of my zombie stories was trying to convince the front desk staff that it was okay with Tom Schuler if I went into his room. I realize they were just following policy but I kept it together and tried my best to name drop and use some humor. Eventually I appealed to the manager’s sense of being over worked and explained to her that I felt like I’d been up for 10 days without sleep. I even asked her that if I slept on the couch in the lobby, would they wake me up. After Kevin Livingston helped to explain the situation, I was given a key to the room. When I offered to get something for the desk staff they politely declined and in unison exclaimed, “ Go get some sleep!”

The truck was fixed and on it’s way to New Jersey with Eric. Next up for me? A week traveling the South (Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia) with some of the riders for a bunch of crits. Once again it was all about driving somewhere, racing, spending the night and driving to the next race. I did get to ride on a couple mornings, which was literally a breath of fresh air as I’ve had very little time to get any riding in.


Walterboro, SC - Man! Do I always look that bored? I'm not bored just observing every thing around me.


Here I am providing some info on the radio to the guys. I was probably saying things like, "The four man break is lapping the field", "Do not sprint for the Mavic wheelset prime. I don't want to carry them around in the van."


One of the highlights was catching up with the ladies from Colavita. I miss working with them so it was nice to hear they miss my skills too. Sniffle, sniffle!

After the last crit, I dropped the riders off in Atlanta (once again in Atlanta!) and Arkansas was the next destination. Fayetteville to be exact. The first day of driving was a waste. I think I only drove far enough to get away from Atlanta and had to pull over to take a nap somewhere in Alabama. Even after a 3-hour sleep in the van, I was only able to drive a few more hours before finding a hotel. That night I was in bed by 7:30 and woke up the next morning very hungry but refreshed.

Fayetteville, AR was the host for the Joe Martin Stage Race. I like Fayetteville for some reason. It’s a small city and there is a bunch of back roads within proximity for riding. They also have a great burrito place. Flying Burrito is worth the trip. The race was fine from what I remember and got to hang with my pal Timmy who is running the Advil/Chapstick women’s team. Also got to catch up with Sue Palmer-Komar over some Cuban Burgers at their host house. Hey Sue!

Onto the Tour of Arkansas next. Russelville, AR for two nights and Fort Smith, AR for two nights. Glenn Chadwick won the race. Orbea gave us some blue 2009 frames to swap in for our current white frames. People were down home nice. I even celebrated my 21st birthday at a Fort Smith restaurant. The staff sang me happy birthday and everything. I have Ed and his big mouth to thank for that one. I know I look young but they were a bit too gullible. Or… maybe they were putting me on too! Hmm, something to think about.

One week in Milwaukee has gone by fast. Sleeping in my own bed is NICE. Making my own oatmeal in the morning is REFRESHING. Getting to ride my own bikes…PRICELESS! I feel more normal now that I’ve been getting some riding in. Even the mtn bike trails are rocking. The local set of trails has been expanded a bit. Sweet! I’ve claimed this past week and the remainder of this week as my own personal training camp. My goal is to ride everyday. So far so good. Today my legs were actually tired from yesterday’s ride. That feels good and I can’t wait to ride tomorrow.

In case your wondering, I have been doing some work in the shop too. But 5 weeks on the road (down south ya’ll), deserves a break to re-charge for the next block of racing. On Friday I fly to New Jersey (ouch!) to meet up with the truck. Arlington, VA, Lancaster, PA, Reading, PA and then Philadelphia, PA. After Philly it’s dine and dash to Minnesota for Nature Valley.

Enjoy Ya’ll



When are we going running?

Cool!

This is a great idea that these folks pulled off. Watch the video.



Here is another attempt in London.

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

The Interview

I may be getting myself in trouble here but I was honored to be interviewed by the one and only Laura Tingle, a member of the Timex Multisport Team. I feel honored considering the many notable interviews she has conducted with some fantastic athletes. I was nervous at first but her top notch interview skills really makes one feel at ease.

To make this easier for you all I have reprinted the interview without any express written consent from Laura Tingle Inc.

The Doug Berner Special
Posted in Racing by Laura Tingle
Upon arriving at our team camp in Carlsbad, California, I found our team mechanic, Doug Berner, eating a sandwich in the back of the team truck. It was the perfect-o opportunity to ask him a few questions.

LT: What is the grossest thing you have ever cleaned off of a bike?

DB: Normally I would say pee, because that is gross, but even worse is when dead worms stick to the bike after it rains

LT: When was the last time you went skinny dipping?

DB: 8 years ago

LT: Care to elaborate?

DB: No

LT: Were you alone, or with other people?

DB: I am not a solo-dipper

LT: What is the best thing you have ever eaten while riding a bike?

DB: Cheese Whiz at the start of a bike race, it really intimidates people

LT: What is the biggest thing you have ever run over while driving the truck?

DB: Curbs and stuff, nothing exciting…ask me the coolest thing I have found in the road

LT: What is the coolest thing you have found in the road?

DB: I found a wrench, actually, two wrenches. I could almost create a new tool box with all the tools I have found in the road.

LT: What is the worst thing you have ever broken?

DB: When I was 6, I was playing the drums with my mom’s knitting needles, and I broke them. I didnt know what to do, so I just put them back and never said anything about it. I still feel bad about it.

LT: Who is a better truck driver, Keith Meyer, Tristan Brown or Ben Harper?

DB: Keith, because he is a master impersonater. All of the sounds that the truck makes, Keith can make, and if he cant make them, he practices until he can.

LT: Best nickname you have ever been given?

DB: For a long time I was called ‘Moose.’ Working with Keith you get a lot of nicknames, like, all of a sudden one day, he started calling me “DJ Jazzy B.”

LT: Dang

DB: Yeah, I know

Tallest building

I'm at the Denver airport. One more flight before I'm back to Milwaukee. I left Taiwan two days ago...I think! One thing about Taiwan is that the people are very friendly and polite (except in buffet lines). At least that's my opinion. And it was really noticeable the minute we were in LAX how un-polite some of us Americans are. Glad to be back in the states but there pieces I'll miss from Taiwan. Mostly the people. The pollution was awful to our standards in the U.S. But considering our consumer appetite for cheap manufactured goods, we might be partly to blame.


Here is a nice group shot after the last stage in Taipei. The tall building in the background is the "101" (101 floors). It is the tallest building in the world at the moment and an engineering marvel. The morning before our flight back we took the fastest elevator in the world to the observation deck on the 90th floor. It was too overcast to get any view but was still worth it.

Cheers,
DJB

Team Type 1 first victory

As I mentioned in the last update, here is the picture of Shawn winning yesterday's sprint. SWEET bike! SWEET victory pump!

DJB

Another day, another race

I see a certain person has asked about the 'green bucket". WILLY, the green bucket is here and I'm getting to take some photos just to keep the tradition alive. The green bucket has taken a hit but is still has some functionality to it. Keep posted.

We've got 5 days of racing under the belt so things have been rolling along in a daily schedule that looks something like this...Up about 5am because I can't sleep much later anyways. I enjoy the quiet of the morning so I don't have to rush through the morning prep of gettting the bikes out of storage and airing up the tires. This usually involves several trips in and out or up and down a parking garage to the outside world. Once the tires are done, I go get the car and bring it to the front of the hotel. If you were to observe the happenings you would probably see all us mechanics and swanies doing the same thing. After loading the spare bikes on the car and arranging the backseat with spare wheels, I have to find the bus to load the rider bikes into its storage hold for the transfer to the start (sometimes they ride to the start if its close to the hotel). If everything goes smoothly I'm done in about an hour or maybe a touch longer. At this point I can go to breakfast and enjoy a little relaxing at the breakfast table chatting with riders or staff from the other teams.

At this particular race, all the teams go in mass to the start so that no one gets lost in the city streets and highways. At the start, I go get the bikes off the bus and bring them to the car where the riders are getting ready to race in about an hour. The guys are pretty relaxed and usually some good hearted banter is going back and forth. Maybe a seat adjustment or answer question about how much air is in the tires is the extent any bike issues. The bikes are ready to go.

As the riders are assembling on the start line I make sure I'm in the general area keeping an eye out just in case they need me. A start line puncture is pretty abnormal but it could happen. That's why I'm there. During this time the director has the car in the staging area and I've made sure I can see it so I can get in just before the race starts.

During the race, I'm in the back seat of the car ready for any bike mechanicals. I'm also helping the director monitor the race radio and be another set of eyes as we are both multitasking. Back seat management is crucial as we have a little car and no wheel holders on the roof. With the wheels, my tool bag, and other stuff in this car I have space just for my butt to fit. So far we have had one unfortunate flat at the worst possible moment. In order to get a rider back to the field, sometimes a director decides to bend the rules and except a penalty to aid the rider by letting him draft behind the car. Other little tricks are to hand out a "sticky bottle" or to "check the brakes". I can't really say much more but let's just say all teams do it and its acceptable up to a point.

If all went well during the race then really I shouldn't have been doing anything but sitting in the car. By the finish I'm ready to get out and go find a restroom. Then it's a whirlwind of getting the bikes loaded and the riders taken care of so that we are ready to go to the next hotel. Some of the transfers are a few hours and every team is following one lead car that knows the directions. At the hotel, my job really jumps into high gear to compete with the other 19 team mechanics who want to wash their bikes just like I do. Actually, it's not really that much of a competition. I'm impressed how amiable we all are in having to share one hose. In it's own way it's a choreographed session of soapy bikes, diesel gas, and thank you very much spoken in many languages and accentuated with head knods and hand gestures sprinkled with polite smiles at inside mechanic jokes. With sparkly bikes drying, all that is left is to check them over for daily wear and tear and lube them up for the next day. Sometimes tires need to be re-glued or a rider has indicated that something needed checking.

After working on the bikes and packing up the work stuff I have time for a shower and maybe check e-mail before dinner. After dinner I may check e-mail if I haven't already or attend a team meeting. A little socializing perhaps? Before you know it though I'm yawning non stop and by 9pm that rock hard bed we've been getting in Taiwanese hotels is looking really good.

Repeat the next day.

It's long hours but when when things go right like today and we win the stage it is like clock work. Precise and on time.

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This Skil-Shimano rider had some impressive trials skills ... on a road bike.


It's hard to capture the cities here in one photo. My impression to take home is dirty, sulphur smell from burning diesel fuel, very polluted to the extent that you can't see blue sky or the stars. Millions of people of scooters everywhere abiding by some sort of traffic law that boggles my mind. I can sit and watch the skooters for 10 minutes at a time convinced there will be an accident at any moment but there never is. This pic was taken from the team car as we went through some city. By the way we are not car 13 we were just out of position at the time.


One of the starts was at a nice spot. Seemed to be a temple of sorts and a park attached.


One of the few trees any where near a city I've seen. The city buildings stretched out all around us. The smog is really bad but this was actually a relatively clear day.

RACING DAY 1

It must be I have enough time over here to play on the computer. Really there isn't much else to do when my work is through other than to join the rest of the multi-nation ritual of accessing the wireless network in the lobby of the hotel.



Day 1 at the races.


1989 called and they are looking for their day-glow pink bikes!

Cheers,
DJB

Arrived in Taiwan

Zao an (good morning),

I made it to Taiwan. Long flight (13 hours?)in which I slept most of the way. Not sure where March 6th went. I left on the 5th and arrived the 7th. Malaysain Air was the best flight I've been on. Not too cramped. Free meals that were like real food. Personal movie screens. Very friendly attendents.

We have to wait around the airport for a few hours then board a 5 hour bus ride to the start city on the other end of the island.


On the bus ride from Tapei to Kaohsiung.

Haven't looked at the bikes yet but hopefully there is no travel damages.

Cheers

California update#2

Team Photo Shoot Day


I don't know!


In addition to bike work we had issues to fix with the washer and dryer


Gluing Wheels


As I mentioned in update #1, I'm going to Taiwan. The Tour of Taiwan is there. I've been so busy I'm just following everyone else. No idea where we are going. Looking forward to sleeping on the plane though. All this stuff goes along with us. Yikes!

Have to go board the plane.

Cheers,
DOUG

California update #1

{Written from LAX waiting for flight to Taiwan}
Yeah, yeah, yeah... It has been busy, busy, busy. I've been hearing update the blog for awhile now.

This past 10 days I've been at team camp in Buellton, California. Took about 5 days to drive out here. NOt much happened on the drive. Had a little bit of bad weather but was manageable. The days at team camp revolve around mechanic work that needs to be done. Things like assembling bikes, swapping saddles, changing stems, gluing wheels, organizing the truck, etc. Even with 3 mechanics we are all busy all day long. The weather is nice and warm so being outside is a pleasure.

Gettting to know the guys although I still forget who is who sometimes. One skinny guy can look like the next skinny guy.

Here are some pics over the last two weeks.


The gateway to the west. I always get excited to "head west". I enjoy reading about the early migration westward in United States history. Especially the mountain men and Louis and Clark.


The truck has shelf bed to nap on.


Stopped in Flagstaff for the night and the storm.


Driving


Working spot



The glow

Thanks CD

[this is a first of sorts. CD has been kind enough to update my blog for me. Thanks Chris!. It's good to have friends in the trenches with me]

A brief update for those fans of Dougie who crave the insight and updates of life as a pro mechanic: Doug has been pinned down under a mass of bike parts and shipping/receiving/inventory duty trying to get TeamType1 off and flying out of the box for 2008. We are currently right at precipice of racing in Malaysia and doing a wind tunnel project in NC with some athletes, all ahead of the team camp in California at the end of the month. Doug has been taking on the bulk of the work at the service course in getting all the racing equipment ready for the diverse TT1 early season ventures. This means Doug has been putting in the late nights, weekends and overtime to coordinate and orchestrate all that is technical for TT1. So please cut him some slack on the lack of blog updates. When we get to camp in California i will make sure that Doug gets plenty of downtime and writes/posts with pics some good updates.

"Serenity now, serenity now", as Doug said yesterday.

Holla-

CD

Working

Hey,

I was playing around with posting videos. This is from back in December at the Team Type 1 media camp. Eric and I were playing around with the camera equiped bike in the parking lot of the hotel.

Okay, I just checked and the video thing worked! Watch out for more behind the scenes highjinks.


Here is my 3rd crockpot creation. I was proud of myself!


Milwaukee has some good winter weather going on. I like commuting in the snow.


We got our first complete SRAM Red groups this week for the race bikes. Eric and I have been busy getting bikes and wheels ready for the first race of the season in Malaysia in a few weeks.


Here is a stable of bikes in assembled condition.


Look there's Jelly in the doorway!


Ian MacGregor"s bike ready to go.


Jelly working it.


We are using mostly tubulars for the race wheels but we have a few Zipp 404 clinchers in our quiver of wheelsets.


Speaking of tubulars. There is something pretty about gluing up!

SEE YA,
DJB