Bridgeland Triathlon

Unfortunately no pics yet. But what a great race. Very well run for a first time event. Congrats to the OnURLeft crew!
Shama Cycles athletes/clients/friends had a great day that day! The funniest story of the day by far was that of Laura Meichan. You might know her from the blog or out on the road as a Cat 2 road racer, former State Crit and Time Trial Champion as well. Over the past couple of years she has done a couple of duathlons which she loved and decided it was time to try a tri. Bridgeland was perfect cause it was close to home and a sprint. With the help of Trent Stephen's (www.CoachTrent.com) open water swim clinics she got her swimming in gear and kept up the running...the bike...well that is good if ya know what I mean. She had a time trial bike but sold it recently as her new Guru Magis is being made as I type. But since its not in yet she had to Merckx the bike and ride it on her Guru Geneo, a road bike. I let her borrow my HED Jet 6s and Lazer Tardiz helmet and she was ready to go. Race day! The swim started off well for her, actually getting in the front half of her wave until she felt her timing strap start to come loose. So she just took it off and put it in her Shama Cycles tri top pocket (notice the plug haha) and kept swimming for that T1 to get to her bike. She looks to check her swim time on her watch and its out...totally blank...of course it is. On the bike and pedaling away with no real data just feel she is passing girls and boys as she should until she hears this noise from the front wheel...maybe a flat. Arse! So she sees the parking lot where she parked and pulls into it since she knows she has a flat kit in her car. She pulls up, stops, and realizes that she does not have her keys on her like normal...Double Arse! So she gets off and started looking at the front tire and it seems fine, she looks closer and realizes that there is some one's helmet number stuck in her brake rubbing on the wheel. That was the noise...TRIPLE ARSE! In a fit of rage Laura mounts her Geneo and starts turning those pedals in anger. (thank you Phil Liggett) Having to re pass everyone she just passed before her 3-4 minute blunder she makes it to T2 and rushes to her shoes. Also she stops to put her timing strap back on her ankle. The run seems to be normal for her but after all the mishaps she finishes and is just beside herself. Not thinking that she will even be scored or ranked in the results due to the timing chip issue and for being one of the last waves off she called it a day and put her first tri behind her as most of us do. The drive home was one of reflection and a phone call to me to tell me her story. We both laughed and I gave her the pep talk any friend/sponsor should give. "you did great, I am proud of ya, next time you will do better" But there is more...keep reading.
After talking to Laura it was time to hit up my list of athletes racing and get their race reports. So I called Melanie Sun who was racing her new Guru Magis for the first time so I had to know how she did since I promised her she would be faster (standard sales pitch hehe) on a new bike from me. Of course she was faster...she tied for fastest female bike split of the day. OH YEAH! She told me about her race and how she loved the bike and she got 2nd in her Age Group but just could not run down 1st place who was just 50 yards ahead. Arg! But her big one is ClearLake coming up so she was happy. Then came the interesting news. She asked if I heard from Laura cause they were calling her name at the awards. What were they calling it for? 3rd in her Age Group???? Nope...Female Masters Overall. A-FREAKING-MAZING! Now I know there are some over 40 females who have been racing for years and never gotten Masters are maybe not as excited or happy for Laura as I am more like cursing her for beginners luck and not happy that there is yet one more girl out there making it harder for everyone else. Its all in good spirit right? hahaha So of course I had to call Laura with the news. NO FREAKING WAY was her response as well. We laughed and she quickly realized that maybe she will do more triathlons and next time on her new Guru Magis and hopefully not make any more mistakes.
Also out there was
Collen West, first tri on her new Praemio in prep for her first ironman next year.
Brett Cole clinched 3rd in his AG on his Guru Crono
Greg Witherow got back into the sprint spirit after Ironman CDA on his Guru Merus
Greg Bauer did not drown (swam 3 times and is a Cat 2 road racer) finished his first tri!!!
Greg Colvin who also did IMCDA hit the tri in his new position and had 2nd fastest bike split of the day.
Graham Schooley raced a Guru Crono (mine) for the first time since his bike was recently stolen and now has a Guru in his future.
John Theim rocked in a good race on his new position
Ryan Owens had his fastest bike split on his new rig...

For all it seemed to be a great race for a first time race and we will look forward to this one again next year.

Another Guru Praemio and very petite

15lbs 4oz.
6/4 ti frame
Sram Red cranks, Force brakes, f&r Ds, shifters, 1070 cassette.
Stolen headset (anodized red)
KCNC steerer spacers and seat post clamp
Parlee carbon Front D hanger
Rotor S1 stem, New Ultimate seat post,
Dimension bars...not much of a name but they FIT!
Specialized saddle, KMC chain, Clark and Nokon cables
Reynolds Assault wheels, Schwalbe Blizzard tires
Tacx Tao cages, Look Sprint pedals

Nokon cables are used in a build where ever there is a tight bend since typical housing can not make the bend with out using even more cable.
Which just is not as pretty...

Keeping the red theme going on the stem faceplate, headset, spacers, and Shama Cycles stem cap really sets off the front end.

The ti frame with Kandy Red paint and clear coat all over really made this bike shine!!!!
He first impressions over her old bike that was all wrong for her???
Laughing at how easy it is to pedal, turning, stopping, unclipping, shifting...pretty much everything was way better than before. And that was just from us spinning around behind the shop. I can't wait for the first real ride.
We Retul'd the bike today, fixed some knee and foot movement issues and then we were done. As in with every custom bike so far, the fit is just too easy.

A hard day at the office...with two customers.

14lbs 11oz
6/4 titanium frame, AlphaQ full carbon fork
Sram Red shifters
Sram Force Front D, rearD, brakes
Rotor Agilis Cranks, Qrings, SABB ceramic bb
Parlee carbon braze on clamp
Extralite seatpost collar
Tune aluminum seat post
CaneCreek headset
Selle Italia Diva saddle
Deda Zero 100 bar and stem
Lizard Skins bar tape
Nokon cables
HED Ardenesse wheels
Michelen Pro Race tires
KMC gold chain, KCNC skewers
Mavic Wintech computer
Elite cages

Walt, rolling on his Guru Merus, we played with his position too

Lisa, just enjoying the ride, one of the few times on the hoods.

above
Walt and Lisa sharing feelings or whatever couples do on rides.
(really she is talking trash about dropping him next hill)
below
Man that kit looks good! Oh yeah, so does Lisa and her bike. ;-)

Well today was one of those days that really wears you out. The kind of work day that when you are done you just want to CRASH and sleep and not be bothered. I had to ride my bike for work. Yes, I know what you are thinking "in this heat?". I know...but I am committed to great customer service.
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Lisa Tilton-McCarthy picked up her new Guru Praemio today. This bike is a new frame with a couple old parts from her Crono, which is also being upgraded. Her goal is a Kona slot. A goal I have committed to helping her with anyway I can. She is an awesome athlete and just needs work on the bike. Her run is killer so if she can just stay on the bike she can seal the deal on the run. So we took her 2 year old Crono which still looks brand new, selected some upgrades for it and had to have some where to put her old parts. What to do...what to do??? Its obvious! Get a titanium road bike that compliments your tri position. I mean...everyone does that right? ;-)
So here we are. A 6.4 titanium road bike that weighs 14lbs and 11oz with out even trying.
The goal of the bike is to have something to train in, in groups and be in control a little better for those long rides. We worked with Guru to design the frame to compliment the fit of the Crono I sold her just two years ago. This way training on this bike transfers to the Crono. We also designed it to be raced as well. There are those events in triathlon were sometimes a road bike might be better. Cap Tex Tri for example, tight course, corners, climbing, and lots of people on the same course. If you are at all nervous in your aero bars around people on a course like that then you are on your bull horns and defeating the purpose of the tri bike. We chose titanium so she can put it on the trainer, use it on crappy days, rough road rides, and travel for fun with out having to worry about damaging a carbon bike. Basically a bike that she can relax with and not worry about it falling over at a rest stop or in the back of her car.

THE RIDE!
As I always try to do, I like to ride with customers on thier first ride. One its just plain fun. But really it allows me to see things that you can't see on the Computrainer or Retul. This way if we need to stop and adjust the saddle tilt or handle bars as the true position is found we can do that. We did 72 miles today and this is her first time to ride a road bike. One bike triathletes crack me up. First lesson of the day...shifting. haha Just spinning in the parking lot she was amazed at the bike but I was worried about 72 miles in a new position that she was not used to, not to mention starting out at noon in the heat of the day. We took off and about 5 miles into the ride till about mile 60 she comments "now I know why you roadies ride all the time, this is a blast" "this is so easy" I can ride in my drops and it feels just like my tri bike" "Oh my god these hills are so easy to climb standing up, this bike is so light" The only things we adjusted as the saddle just slightly up and tilted. Everything else was perfect. Needless to say she was loving life and the new bike. At every stop Walt and I would have to chase her down when we started up again cause she would just take off! We finish the ride and she was so excited and full of life, I was dead tired from logging in 9hours in two days.

The ride was actually best for me though, I find no greater satisfaction in my work than days like today. Riding with a friend/customer who could not be happier with their new bike and riding it. This is why I do what I do.
I LOVE MY JOB!!!!

Next up, her Crono reborn and ready for Hawaii 70.3 on the 30th of May!!!!

Lisa Tilton McCarthy's new Guru Praemio

above
Lisa's blue Praemio and Colleen's red Praemio...pre build.
below
Lisa is on the computrainer just for a quick check on the frame, fit, saddle, stem length, steerer tube height and such. We select everything when we design the bike. Before the build happens I check what determines fit of the bike to see if any changes need to be made now or if any select parts need to be ordered. But as usual with custom and careful design and planning...everything was perfect. Now with the build to follow the cabling and such will come out that much nicer and the Retul fit will be the cherry on top.

Lisa is a triathlete that upsets overall and Master's placings at the triathlons around town. She is wanting that Kona slot this year and is taking it pretty seriously. As in she is not racing double racing each weekend all over Texas with what ever she can pin a number on for and go when the gun goes off. She is choosing her races carefully and actually trying to peak for certain races and rest a little in between. (un heard of for this athlete) This goal calls for the best equipment. She already has a Guru Crono with Sram Force on it I sold to her 2 years ago so how do you get better? Buy a Guru Praemio made out of 6.4 titanium tubing to be able to train more in group rides where the paces can be higher to work on speed...also have the geometry designed as to compliment your tri position so the training translates between bikes. Lisa also went with the ti road bike to have something to travel with, ride on crazy courses and poor weather days. This way the gorgeous carbon Crono is saved for the races and specific training days. Along with this upgrade, we are putting Sram Red components on the Crono and her Force is going on the Praemio.
More to come as these bikes get built up and evolve into the works of art they are.

Riding Chappell Hill on Good Friday part 2

This is my daughter...taking pictures of herself through out the ride. Gotta love it!

My friend Steven was along for the ride as well...he rode tough on Saturday with us again.
Steve Quick and myself chillin behind the trailer...she took the picture and actually captured alot of great shots! Amazing what kids can do.
After 30+miles into the wind and hills, I could not go any more. Chris Lockwood took over...I think in a way he regretted it but at the same time loved the challenge and the pain. The last 13 miles in to the finish of Chappell Hill...well I not ashamed to say I am glad it wasn't me.

Riding Chappell Hill on Good Friday

I found out a term that best describes Shama Cycles rides...non denominational. haha We like them all from all teams and shops. I just want to ride my bike with good people and enjoy the ride!
The view my daughter had that morning...I don't mind pulling her, but never again on a hilly ride...
The Guru Praemio is the perfect bike for pulling a trailer...but take my advise...and stick to the flats....
One of the few times I have noticed Chappell Hill to be pretty.
We had a group of 20 or so out that day. Team mates and friends had a great Good Friday...sorry to those that had to work. ;-)

A weekend of riding in cold wet Houston

The Saturday ride...I am back left, Jeff is cold back right, Andrew is good left, and Gary is staying as warm as can be.
Above: Post charity ride breakfast at the Pearland IHOP. They were not down with egg whites and no butter there.
Below: Myself on the left and Steve on the right. As you can see above he is still wearing his kit like a good Shama Cycles faithful. I know how to push myself and my business but this guy puts me to shame sometimes...what am I talking about...almost all the time. LOVE THAT GUY!!!

In the midst of the horrible weekend weather of cold and rain I was able to sneak in two rides with out getting rained on. Good training and good hard miles with friends. You can't really complain about that. I rode the Ti Guru Praemio (which with the new HED Ardenesse wheels I am trying out weighs 15lbs) both days as I think I might race it in the stage race this coming weekend. Just to further get the feel for my customers as to help selecting whether they should do ti or carbon. Yes, its a tough job but someone has to do it. ;-)
Points that stand out from the rides?
Saturday was a pretty good 50 miles. Parts were easy, then parts were fast. There were 4 team mates on the ride so we did hill repeats Houston style by going back and forth over this series of 4 overpasses team style. LOL It was great. We were thinking of riding longer as we headed close to the park but we felt a couple rain drops and the cold was settling in. So we packed it in for the day.
I went to the shop at 11 am and went home at 2am. That whole work thing gets int eh way sometimes of quality napping and recovery time.
Sunday morning I was up at 6:20 am to meet up with Steve and his lovely wife Evelyn to head down to the Great Escape MS150 charity ride. No clue of what mileage or anything. We met up with another friend/hammerhead down there and we knock out 7omiles with a vengeance. Matter of fact...I think we won that ride. LOL I know what you are thinking, but of the 70mile groups, we caught the "leaders" at mile 30 something which was tough cause we started like 10 minutes after the ride got underway. We knew this cause we finally stopped at a rest stop after that and asked who all had been through. We were the first ones to roll through is what we were told. I ate like 4 cookies in celebration of having the lead. Only to watch the two guys we just passed roll on by and take the lead away from us. But oh what fun cause we had a "carrot" again. We rolled back out and the three of us taking turns made quick time and caught the two and kept it rolling. By this time we had already started to run into riders out on the shorter routes and kept it safe as we sounded like a broken record with the whole "ON YOUR LEFT" business.
Towards the end of the ride I was REALLY CRACKING! Maybe I didn't eat enough cookies...or maybe I ate too many...but I was trashed and was so ready to be done. Finally the school was in sight and I could dismount. Proud of my riding and happy to have missed the rain...it was time for IHOP!!! Which was great...till I went to stand up from the table...my legs...oh my poor legs. Did I break them? Why aren't they working? What is this pain? ahhhh nothing like a good weekend of hard riding. Which at 12am Wednesday morning I am still feeling. Gotta love it!!!!

Guru Praemio

We all had that first bike. One that was simple and when we rode it was all about the ride. We did not know about cadence, what speed is actually fast, heart rate, or even watts. Till a couple years ago watts were only in a light bulb for me. Since we have become enlightened as to how little we know about bikes, training, getting a coach, racing harder, train more, every ride is then spent watching cadence, hr, wattage. Speed means nothing and distance is not important, you finish the ride and it was not natural, just a workout. Don't get me wrong, I love working out, I race and a coach is the way to go if you want to progress and have great races. But sometimes we need to remember why we started riding and find that original joy of riding our bike...that love affair for the road and the wind with just you and your legs turning over the pedals...

I love my Geneo, its an amazing machine and at times I think it has a motor on it. But its work...its my tool for training and racing. Which is fun for me, but sometimes you just need to be simple again.

So what do you do when you need a bit of an escape from something that you started doing to be your escape??? You go back to the simple part of riding a bike...like the first rides on your first bike. Of course I at this point I don't really want to ride what my first bike was so I had to select a new rig. I needed something that I can ride anywhere, anytime, over anything on any road with just airing up the tires. I chose the Praemio. A road bike made of 3.2 double butted titanium. I built it up this past week using Shimano DuraAce 7800 group, SABB ceramic bb, Tune seat post, Deda bars and stem, Clark braided cables, and absolutely NO COMPUTER of any kind. Now the fun part, riding it...

My new rig did not disappoint. I met up with some teammates at 6am Saturday morning and by 8am I was out with the West Oaks ride. First impression, it was ultra smooth, better power transfer than I thought it would have, and of course fun! Maybe a couple things to tweak position wise but what a ride! So here I am assessing the situation, looking at the mix of guys who showed up for the ride and feeling the wind. This is going to be a suffer fest. Maybe I should have stayed on the Geneo with has a dialed in position and weighs less and is a rocket. But I am on the fun bike and might as well have fun. After getting tons of looks and compliments it was on. To ensure the pain is going to be inflicted I found probably the strongest guy out there and immediately began talking trash to him about how bad I was gonna drop him. He laughed and shortly after he was at the front stringing it out. This was one of the 4 guys in the 123 race the weekend before in the front break...a power house. The bike was amazing and when I finally got separated from the front group (a couple groups behind) a couple miles from the turn around. I don't really thing it was the bike that made me get dropped, just being out gunned and caught out in a crosswind. So of course when I got the Fulsher gas station I found my friend who was killing everyone and gave him some lame excuse why I rolled in a little after his group did and how he was lucky I fell back to ride in with some teammates of mine. haha We rode back and again, it was a hammer fest, tailwind doesn't mean its easy. Tailwind with this group means you spin out your 53x11 trying to hang on and you wish you had a 54 or a 55. Or maybe you think Shimano needs to make a 10 cog for the rear. Either way you hope it stops soon. Finally we hit Briar Forest to head into Memorial Park which begins the slightly slower portion of the ride where we all talk about how little we all have been riding and who had been sick this week or who is rolling with a brake rubbing and all that. Kinda like when women go out and they talk about how fat they are so their friends can tell them they are crazy and they look great. Except guys don't dish compliments that easily and mostly we just mention how some one looked bad out there today or ask if their tire was low or were they stuck in their small ring. You know, nice encouraging things like that.

I rolled into the park with Trent and Andrew, the two guys who I started with at 6am. It was now 11:40 and we clocked 100.6 miles. (I asked Trent who had a computer) I had to rush over to the shop for a 12pm appointment. While I ate my McDonalds and chocolate shake as I rushed over to the shop, I thought of the ride and while I suffered most of the time, I had a great ride and I felt great! The ti bike was amazing, not having a computer was relaxing, and knowing I burned enough calories to suck down that shake was worth all the pain my lungs and legs were in. I love to ride and I love riding this bike.

Sunday I was out on it again. With a couple other friends for an easy 40miles. I loved it as much the second time as the first, maybe more. Easy miles in the horrible wind still took over 2hours but still it was fun, social,and with a great group of friends. Again, there is something great about being on a simple machine...

Ok, my Geneo gave me the stink eye when I walked in this morning so I might have to ride that out today to keep it happy.