Not trying to be rude

I would just like to say that I'm not trying to be rude.

To all the kind people that have sent me e-mails reminding me that you want me to be your friend (FAcebook) and reminding me to join your professional network ("Link" something), please know that I'm not ignoring you I'm just scared of the unknown. I'll have to back burner those invites until I find some time to concentrate on those things.

I can't believe in this day and age we have to feel we need to apologize for not going with the flow of the hectic world of social networking. I learned that buzz phrase this morning.

If Rob Yetter is reading this. ROB! I will have to get back to you too. I went back through some messages and just recently saw your message. Nice to know you are out there. Awesome!

DJB

A weekend of livin' the dream!

More work on the truck.


Inventory some parts finally Friday night. Still missing some stuff though to do a complete build. Aargh!



A little of this on Saturday.


More of this Sunday. I'm getting a good coat of dust on my teeth.


After a quick bite to eat with a friend Sunday evening, back at the shop.


Shane Kramer sent me a pic of his latest hand crafted guitar building talents. I believe its his first "colored" model. I love the black with gold hardware. I can't wait to maybe strap it on and plug it in this summer if he doesn't sell it by then. I very excited to hear all about it.

CD at Redlands

Here is Thursday's winning Prologue bike from Redlands courtesy of Chris "at the office" Davidson.

Ahhhh, I'd rather be at the scene right now. Good old Redlands.

Oh no!

Oh no, Roger does really read this! Ha!

What and Wish

Ah my love! How are you today? I consider this one of my tools.


WIsh I was working on Will's bike (and Erin's and Matt's).


Working on the truck overhaul. Wish I had more moments but to be honest between answering all those e-mails from Roger (seeing if you are reading Roger) and being PLOWED by F.O.T. jobs, I get interrupted. You might be wondering what the F.O.T is? I can't really say but a few who read this know about being PLOWED. Wow, that Forstner bit is as big as my head.


A guys got to eat! Might as well make a bunch so I get more than one meal out of the effort. This time of year I never get a chance to eat properly.


I've got a little of this in. WIsh I had more.


A guy has to eat! (FInger in the Nutella).


Jonathon E. sent me this pick. Good use for the frame... I think. Did we ever think that was a nice bike? I can't remember. I can see a Cannondale Raven frame being put to that use too.


Awesome! I've been looking for a particular Pete Townshend/The Who poster for years. I can't find it but this was kicking around on my computer desktop. Artistic statement?

ORBEA #1

Here's what the other bikes will look if I ever get more parts sent to me.

I've been trying to rush build two bikes for Oceanside 70.3 and the photo shoot. It takes way too long and too much energy and too much money to get things done last minute. It's one of my peeves. I'd like to vent about it but who knows who might be reading.

fun

EMBED-Bicycle Ghost Rider - Watch more free videos

Finally some real work

Sitting at a desk answering e-mails is the suckiest thing I do with my day! Yet here I am writing a blog entry. What the...?

I'm not sure "suckiest" is even a word. My spellcheck says it isn't. Could that be so?

FINALLY, I have some work to do that involves working with my hands in the shop. Since I have so many folks I never knew were looking at this blog (wow 7 comments from the last blog entry), I thought I'd share some sentiments about what makes a quality professional bike assembly. Douglas Jay Berner Professional Bike Assembly (DJBPBA). I put a good deal of care into my builds that you won't find from a regular factory assembly. I deal with athletes that make their living using the bike and the best part of my job is to make sure the bike functions the best it can and I believe that can start right from the initial bike build. I can usually tell by a rider's reaction who got one of my builds compared to most shop or factory builds.


For example, I remove the screws that attach the rear derailleur hanger and the front derailleur braze on mount to the frame. Those bolts can sometimes vibrate loose. Since most athletes don't check them regularly enough, adding some blue loctite can eliminate that possibility of then loosening during a race.


I also like to cut the fork crown races so they are slotted. Why not absolutely necessary, it makes them tool free to install. If I have to replace one at a race it is easily removed with out having to carry the crown race removal or installation tools with me. Thanks to CD for this little pro trick.


Even Tristan had some busy work to do sorting the clothing. I remember a few years ago when we got rid of red/white/black color scheme to go to orange and was told we would be orange from now on. Look what color we are now. I wonder if the West Hill Shop in Putney Vermont still has the same jersey. If they do, then they win the award for keeping the same color scheme FOREVER!

Cheers,
DJB

Who's watching?

Look what I got today. A nice new batch of Orbea's. Normally I would hesitate letting the athletes know but I'm going to see who reads the blog. (Guys and gals, before you start e-mailing me about your bike, there are no parts yet.)

SCREAMING GOLD

BILL DEMONG WINS ANOTHER NORDIC MEDAL AT THE OLYMPICS. THIS TIME GOLD AND TEAM MATE JOHN SPILLANE JOINED HIM WITH SILVER. FIRST U.S. NORDIC GOLD MEDAL EVER.

AH MAN! UNREAL! THIS IS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS I'LL REMEMBER WHERE I WAS WHEN BILLY WON GOLD. SITTING AT WORK. NO ONE ELSE IN THE OFFICE. SCREAMING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN. ONE COMPUTER GETTING THE EUROVISION VIDEO FEED (fromsport.com) AND ANOTHER COMPUTER GETTING AN ENGLISH AUDIO FEED (linked from cyclingfans.com) AND SPLIT TIMES (nbcolympics.com).

THE ACCOUNTANT NEXT DOOR KNOCKED ON THE OFFICE DOOR TO SEE IF EVERYTHING WAS OKAY. FUNNY!

I MIGHT HAVE TO OFFICIALLY JOIN FACEBOOK SINCE THAT'S THE BEST WAY HE SAID TO GET IN TOUCH WITH HIM. YES, I SAID FACEBOOK.

PHEW!

Scared of NYC

I'm heading to New Jersey tomorrow for a team get-together. Otherwise know as a team training camp. No physical training going on. Just everyone getting together. All the veterans and newbies getting their clothing and goodies. Pictures and media training. Meetings and discussions.

I have to admit something.

We are going to be right near New York City. I've never been to New York City even though I'm from New York State. In many ways New York City has nothing to do with New York State. I don't think I knew anybody that had been to NYC growing up. What I do remember, and what I need to admit, is that I'm scared of NYC. I really don't care if I ever see NYC in my lifetime.

I know this feeling stems from my childhood. One of my earliest memories is hearing of a place called NYC and a big word that coincided with this place. The word was "mugging." I didn't really know what a mugging was, but I pieced things together and it wasn't good. I was pretty it sure it involved someone bigger than you coming up to you on the street and asking for your money. If you didn't give it up you were beat up. Maybe knifed or maybe even shot. Those early media messages pretty much scared me. So even to this day as an adult I really question what does a place like NYC have to interest me.

I know, I know... its supposed to be the greatest place on earth or something. Really? Crowded sidewalks, traffic!

My good friend, the Greek Goddess Athena Fliakos, recently wrote on her blog...

"What do you do when you board a Bronx bound number 4 train to find a man with swollen joints, ashen skin, and a single raggedy rolling suitcase, a man passed out (but twitching), hunched over one crutch, saturated in his own vomit and reeking of cheap whiskey? What do you do the day after the President of the United States spins intoxicating rhetoric about the power of the American spirit, the compassion of the American people during his State of The Union address when you board a subway to find a fellow human being in desperate need? I found out today that most of us just ignore him. Or stare, shake our heads. Many of us step over him, around him, and startle with disgust when we realize that the wet streak running the length of subway car number 1160 is actually this man’s puke-drool, a rotting bile gurgling up from his throat. “Whoa, Caliban.” I whisper to myself, as I hop on the train. “Say, Caliban. Can you see?”

(READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE)


This observation happened to take place in NYC which is a place I know she likes but it didn't help my anxiety concerning the inevitable moment that is approaching. The moment when, at this team camp, someone will make the announcement, " We are headed into the city. Why don't you join us Doug?"

Snow Play

NBC?

In case you didn’t know, I’m a huge Winter Olympics fan. I can’t stand to watch most typical sports on TV. But every four years I get to immerse myself in the Olympic dream and be one of those couch-sport-guys. Right now I’m pumping a fist watching women’s moguls and waiting for short track to come back on.

One of my favorite Olympic memories is of the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics and the Miracle On Ice hockey team. What perhaps is so memorable all these years later is the time spent in the living room watching the events unfold on TV with my mom. My mom typically does not watch sports. Certainly, she probably never watched a hockey game before or after those Olympics. But for those two weeks we were sitting on the edge of the couch, holding our breath. “DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!!”

Did anyone else make the following observation about the U.S. television coverage of the opening ceremonies? I felt like the announcing duo of Matt Lauer and that other sports guy were a let down. When every nation entered the stadium, they mentioned who the flag bearer was, their sport, and perhaps a little fact about the person. There was no such commentary when Mark Grimmette proudly carried our flag ahead of the U.S. delegation. They never even mentioned his name. It was as if they dropped their 3X5 note cards on the floor and didn’t know what to say. Seemed like the camera was more interested in where Shaun White was standing and what the snowboard ladies were doing.

Do you think there will be any mention of any of the Nordic sports? I miss having access to Canadian CBC coverage.

I was watching a news story about the two snowstorms that hit the Washington D.C. area this past week. Why is that snow storms are talked about as being bad? Apparently people are blaming the mayor because the city is still crippled from the snow and its removal. They budget for 15” of annual snow and they received somewhere around 50”. Hurray for mother nature! As humans we should realize there are some things beyond our control. Deal with it. Things could be a lot worse than some snow in the street. What about the Donner Party? (I recently saw a PBS documentary about that).

Even in Milwaukee the news stations treat a local snow storm as the lead story. As if the world is about to end. Live “on location” spots and everything. One story this week was about a guy up in arms that snow piles restricted views of traffic in certain locations. Once again… it snowed. DEAL WITH IT!

US Flag bearer

'Papa Mark' Grimmette will carry flag for America

by Trey Kirby

Just a month and a half after qualifying for the Olympics, luger Mark Grimmette has been chosen to carry the flag for the United States at Friday's Opening Ceremony. The 39-year-old will be appearing in his fifth Olympics, and will be only the third luger to carry the flag for the U.S.
After being told that he had been voted to carry the flag by the 216 United States Olympic athletes, Grimmette was shocked. He told the Associated Press, "I'm still shaking. I was incredibly surprised when Brian [Martin] told me, and I'm still trying to process it all. To be the person leading the U.S. team into the Opening Ceremony is just such a great honor."
Grimmette – along with Martin, his partner – is the most decorated American luger in history. The pair won the bronze medal at the 1998 Olympics and silver at the 2002 Games.
Grimmette will be one of only four Americans to compete in five Olympics.
Grimmette, nicknamed "Papa Mark" for his age, is well-respected among American Olympians. Looks like all that flexing will come in handy when he's waving the United States flag.

Congratulations to Mark. Mark is a super nice guy from LP. I think his previous nick name around the Lake Placid crowd was the teddy bear. He is an approachable guy and I always enjoyed hearing about his travels. One time, some of my family came to visit me in Lake Placid. As we were walking into the bike shop I worked at to give them a tour, I ran into Mark in the parking lot. I thought I'd introduce him to my family. I introduced him as one of the athletes who had won an Olympic medal that winter (It was June). By coincidence he had the medal in his pocket (He was coming back from a talking engagement). It was a nice gesture by him to be able to show my niece and sisters a real olympic medal and explain a little about his sport. That is the type of guy he is. That is the type of place Lake Placid is.

Doug E Freshies

Back from Utah

Hey,

I was bit sad knowing how much snow was falling in the mountains outside of Salt Lake City and I had to get on a plane to fly back to Wisco. I feel very fortunate to have spent 6 days in Utah and to have been able to experience some of the best skiing I’ve ever done.

Last Monday I took an early morning flight from Milwaukee. Usually there are not that many people for a 6am flight but this time the line to check in and the security check were backed up so much that I barely made my flight. Seems like there should have been a few more people working. That's just my opinion.

I don’t mean to complain but on my two flights that day I was wedged in with some rather large people. I realize we all come in all shapes and sizes but why should I have to pay for a whole seat and then literally only get to sit in ¾ of it?

While waiting for the rest of the crew to show up in SLC, Chris D. came to pick me and we went to a favorite restaurant of mine downtown SLC for some good pizza. Eventually, most of the players arrived and we headed to the condo to wait for some of the other late arrivers.

Monday night we went night skiing at Brighton. Dumping snow and good friends. The lift ride was a bit brutal but the going down was sweet.





Tuesday was the all day epic at Alta. We had deep snow in the morning with clearing skies in the afternoon. I had a great time skiing, but more importantly I got to share it the my bros. It was a great day to remember. We even got to play with some new TIMEX GPS product. I think its alright to mention it. It’s a new wrist GPS that does so much stuff it boggled my mind.



I tried to take my skirt off so I don't think I sucked too bad. I figured if I fell it wouldn't hurt too bad. I did pop out of the binding once. Luckily, the ski was not buried but it was a struggle to "sidestep" the 5 feet back uphill to retrieve it. I had a little help from a passerby. I thought it was a guy so I said something like, "Thanks dude". Then I realized it was a woman and had to backtrack and say something even dumber like, "Thanks lady", even though she was probably 20 years old. Looking back, that was also the day I used the women's bathroom by mistake. I wonder if I hit my head that day?



I must admit that my legs were hammered after Tuesday’s ski. We were all feeling it, so Wednesday was a welcome day to transfer to the Marriot downtown and rest up for another day of skiing.



While my other mates had to work the Outdoor Retailer Show, Tristan and I took advantage of the bus system to get us up to Snowbird for more powder skiing in the morning. Once again I had a blast. I wouldn’t say I’m the most accomplished alpine skier. I stay within my comfort zone that’s for sure. I can’t imagine a better feeling than skiing in snow up to your knees and linking some sweet turns together. I imagine surfing gives you a similar feeling. It’s definetly addicting and I would live in a shoe box if I could experience that on a regular basis.



After a full day of being back in Wisconsin I’m glad to be home with my own bed, kitchen, and guitars but I do miss being in the mountains and seeing everything covered in a blanket of white.

A weekend of skiing noteworthy-ness

Hey,

What a weekend it was for skiing all over the world.

Tim Burke made history again! With his 2nd place in Sunday's World Cup Biathlon race, he became the first American to podium in a Biathlon Mass Start event. He was 2nd behind the great Ole Einar Bjoerdalen of Norway. Holy Cow!

Check out the video below for a short behind the scenes video from the event. Timmy is wearing a dark blue Adidas suit. This race was in Germany wear the sport of Biathlon is huge. It is shown on primetime television and their athletes are very well known to the public. In the U.S. we have never done extremely well until now. The whole team has experienced forward momentum with new coaches and funding to help these US guys compete on the world level. It's exciting to see.

Tim Burke from J Teela on Vimeo.

In Italy, Billy Demong and another US skier, Todd Lodwick made history by placing 1 and 2 in Sunday's Nordic Combine World Cup race. Way to go Billy.

My weekend was spent in Cable Wisconsin attending the 24 Hours of Telemark. While I was not competing, I had an enjoyable time working with the set-up and tear down crew. It was not all work though. I got in plenty of skiing. Northern Wisconsin has tons of snow. It bought back memories of snowy Lake Placid winters. There were two highlights of the weekend. One was the excellent classic skiing conditions. It wasn't hard to find the right kick wax at -18 below one morning to watch the sun rise or to ski out onto the Telemark's vast network of trails at night where it was totally quite and still. The other highlight had to be cranking Hendrix's version of the Star Spangled Banner before the race start. I pegged the volume on PA system to eleven! (I'm waiting to post a video or two once my camera battery charges up so check back.)

Cheers,
DJB

Tim Burke makes history books

A native Lake Placid friend of mine, Tim Burke, has made the history books as the first U.S. biathlete to reach the top of the World Cup rankings. HUGE! I know it has been a lot of years and a lot hard work.



Here an article about Tim's latest success that appeared in the NY Times.

He Shoots, He Skis, and Europe Takes Notice

By KATIE THOMAS

As an American in the biathlon, Tim Burke is used to being overlooked by the sport’s most passionate fans.

His German and Norwegian rivals are celebrities in their home countries, where biathlon is broadcast live on television and races draw up to 30,000 spectators. In Germany, he is perhaps best known as the boyfriend of Andrea Henkel, a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

So when Burke took first place in the World Cup standings last weekend — the first time an American has ever done so — his achievement stunned the sport’s mostly European fan base.

“They’ve always been at the top of these sports,” Burke said by telephone this week from Oberhof, Germany. “I think it would be like our Olympic basketball team getting beat by the Germans. I don’t think that would sit so well at home.”

Back in the United States, however, Burke’s achievement is being hailed as the culmination of a plan hatched four years ago to transform the Americans into world-class competitors. Aided by an infusion of cash from the United States Olympic Committee, U.S. Biathlon, the sport’s governing body, has made changes as momentous as hiring a new head coach, and as seemingly trivial as tinkering with the way that athletes hold their rifles.

Now, team leaders say they are hoping that Burke’s spectacular season will propel the team within reach of an even bigger milestone: becoming the first Americans to win Olympic medals in biathlon.

“The kind of consistent, strong performance that Tim has had this season really does give us more confidence than we’ve ever had,” said Max Cobb, executive director of U.S. Biathlon. “I think what we’re seeing now is the coming together of four years of really concentrated effort.”

The move to transform the program began after the close of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, where the Americans twice came tantalizingly close to winning a medal. Jay Hakkinen was in position to win a bronze in the 20-kilometer (about 12.4 miles) individual event but missed a target by a fraction and ended up in 10th place. Then, Hakkinen briefly held first place in the team relay, but his teammates lost ground and the Americans finished ninth.

Despite the disappointing performance, the team showed promise, said Mike English, the chief of sport performance at the U.S.O.C.

“We could see they were going through some much-needed change and they had a good, credible plan,” he said.

Since 2006, the Olympic committee has increased its financing of U.S. Biathlon from about $250,000 in the year leading up to the Turin Games to $1 million this year, Cobb said. The governing body’s total revenue has increased from about $1 million to about $2 million over the same period.

One of Cobb’s first steps was to hire Per Nilsson of Sweden as head coach. Other Europeans soon joined the team, including ski technicians from Germany and the Czech Republic. Cobb also promoted Bernd Eisenbichler, a German who had been the team’s head ski technician, to high-performance director.

Nilsson said the Americans were not necessarily deficient in shooting or cross-country skiing, the sport’s two elements. “They were pretty good in both but not good enough in any of them to be up in the top,” Nilsson said. “We saw that we had some work to do, for sure.”

For Burke, the change represented a renewed opportunity to make a name for himself after a series of setbacks. In 2002, Burke had hip surgery to correct a degenerative condition that doctors warned might end his career. In 2004, he had mononucleosis and had to sit out the season. And at the Turin Games, he failed to finish in the top 30 in any of the three events in which he competed.

Burke, who is 27 and grew up outside Lake Placid, N.Y., has always excelled at skiing. But as with other members of the team, his shooting has sometimes suffered. So in April, team leaders made one final change: they hired Armin Auchentaller, the former coach of the Italian men’s team, as a shooting coach.

Auchentaller began by taking a fresh look at every movement the athletes made as they switched from cross-country skiing to shooting — a crucial moment in the race because the competitors must lower their heart rate and get into position to take five shots at a target that is 50 meters (about 164 feet) away.

Burke changed his transition routine and practiced the movements as if they were choreographed. “I practiced 100 times a day,” he said. “I was doing the transitions when I was in my apartment, with my eyes closed.”

Since Auchentaller’s arrival, the Americans have shaved off one to two seconds from each transition, an improvement that can trim as much as 15 seconds off the longest races. Those seconds can move a competitor ahead seven to eight positions.

Given the relatively simple fix, “I’m surprised the amount of teams that aren’t working on it,” Burke said. But given his success this season, he acknowledged that some teams may try to catch up. “In fact, maybe over the Christmas break,” he said.

Despite Burke’s recent success, Cobb and others caution that biathlon is a notoriously unpredictable sport. “It is akin to batting in baseball; people get on runs,” Cobb said. “It’s really not uncommon for someone to be on the podium one day and to be 35th the next day.”

That is what makes Burke’s lead in the standings so meaningful, said Eisenbichler, the high-performance director. “This was not happening after one or two races, but after seven races and after one-third of the whole World Cup season,” he said. “This was a very important step for Tim, to show that he’s a world-class biathlete.”

If you haven't seen biathlon before, try to watch it at the upcoming Olympics. With the real time graphics it can be pretty exciting to watch the shooting range action and skiing. You never know what might happen. I doubt the US coverage will show it much but who knows. Having Tim as current WC leader might change their minds to show it at 2am in the morning. HA! As always, I bet Canadian coverage on CBC will show some. If you are lucky enough to live near the border...can I come stay with you for two weeks so I can watch more than just figure skating and hockey.



Along with Tim, there are several other Lake Placid Olympic athletes I'm proud watch compete at the world class level. Watch for them! Lowell Bailey is on the biathlon team with Tim. Haley Jonhson is on the women's biathlon team. Nordic Combined World Champion Billy Demong will be there. Andrew Weibrecht in Alpine skiing. Crazy sliders Mark Grimmett and Brian Martin, Olympic silver and bronze medal winners along with six World Championship bronze medals, will compete in their fourth Olympics together, going back to 1998. It will be Grimmette’s fifth, adding Lillehammer in 1994.

Cheers,
DJB

Irondequoit

A trip home to Rochester, NY would not feel complete without poking around the "Great, Great, House of Guitars." I made my niece snap this pic on Christmas Eve after we went to church. The church I went to as a kid is conveniently located across the street. A few days later, I was back rummaging through the guitars.