Shama at Interbike 2009

My Kirklee shown off at Interbike 2009 at the Rotor booth!!!!

Selle SMP Forma and Carbon Lite. Brand new for 2010 and I already have them in the shop.
Yup, the latest greatest!

Dan B from Kelly Benefits on one of his countless attacks during the Pro crit. He could have won
from his breakaway of 6 but slid out in the last lap...he rolled though last to a cheer and
applause from the crowd honoring how hard he worked during the race.

The GURU Dynamic Fit Unit. Fully motorized bike fitting and more.
Guru shows why they are the largest custom bike company in the game.
Below
Guru Crono 2.0. WOW

Well its here, the biggest bike show this side of the pond. Shama Cycles is here to check out the latest greatest and get new tips and see what works and what doesn't. Especially since I am always trying to push the limits with my bike builds. I would have updated sooner but my feet hurt so bad after the first day all I want to do is lay down by the end of the night...something about walking miles and standing up (even while eating lunch) just kills in this city...not to mention how much of a rip off certain things are here. Like $8 for a tooth brush...or $5 for OJ from the Starbucks at the airport. Might as well gamble and REALLY throw your money away. Ok...enough of my rant. ;-) Bikes...and more bikes and parts! Being in custom bikes there was not alot for me to really drool over. Every manufacturer comes out here to show off the lightest, stiffest, aeroest (just made that one up) latest version of last years bike. We all look at them and go WOW if I only had that bike. Well...not any more. Now, to me, its about can you make that fit me...not can I fit that? Rotor and Kirklee was my one stop where my bike that I race (and wrecked on) was chosen to be in the Rotor booth to show off the new Rotor 3D cranks, S2 stem, and S1 seat post. I was very honored and happy to have my bike that I built as a show bike at Interbike....that is HUGE! Watching people stare, take pictures, comment on my components, pick it up and freak out on a race worthy 13lbs bike. AWESOME!!!! Last year I couldn't get some manufactures to take me seriously and this year I had a bike in a booth, and the top dealer for some of my manufactures that I sell. What a change....that came with alot of 18 our days and not much play. Now over the the Guru booth....yes that was one of the most talked about booths there. Why? Three things...Dynamic Fit Unit, Photon, Crono2.0. The DFU is a fit bike that is fully automated to allow changes in position to be made by millimeters while the rider is on the unit and pedaling. Allowing for the perfect position to be found in really time and position. Guru was the first to try to get this going, its take three years but its finally here. Funny how others came to the show with something similar, even saw a demo of one, the thing looked shaky and not quite ready yet. Guru's demos that ran all day were exact, strong, and the DFU feels like you're on a weight machine at the gym....SUPER STRONG. What an amazing break through. Oh yeah...Shama Cycles will have the first one in the country and exclusively in Houston. So for the latest in bike fitting and custom frame design Shama Cycles is where its at as well as where it will be at. ;-) I love my job! Guru also brought to new bikes to the show. The Photon is a road bike made for the serious enthusiast or racer or anyone who wants a road bike that is in the 700 gram range that performs like a dream. The Crono 2.0 is a tt/tri bike that represents the push for an aerodynamic design that is still customizable. Very tough to get both. More to come on all of these....time to get some food and hit the final day. All exciting stuff. Some though I will not blog about as these are tricks saved for my athletes and clients...sorry. ;-)

La Vuelta de Acadiana- 2009 Stage Race

Chris Lowry second in the first stage to Matt Davis, current National AG champ.

Eric Attayi finishing first with Greg Bauer close behind...the pack is back there...way back!

Me on the front of the crit....that was FUN!

LOWDA on the podium after her crit win on stage 1.

Team work
Aimee giving Laura her feed. Aimee is the best team mate!!!

Well I attempted another stage race this year. This time building up a tt bike the week before the race...not the night before. The main draw was not even the race but the people going and staying all in the same house. In all it turned out to be a great weekend! For me it started off leaving the shop at 5:30pm to go home and pack and then pick up Joy and Jorge. Support crew/photography. Going out of state I was not sure if there would be a photographer and being the picture whore that I am I had to bring my own just in cases. So we made the hike into Louisiana and after missing the 1,2,3s and the woman's crit race that night we made it to the house about 11ish. Who needs sleep before a race at 8am. I found out the time of my race when we made it in. Yeah an 8am 60 mile race, then an afternoon 3.75mile time trial and a Sunday morning crit. OUCH! I was not the one taking this one serious. Thankfully I have racers who do. Highlight of the weekend...Laura Meichan aka LOWDA won the first stage which was the Friday night crit, second in the road race, second in the time trial (which put her 2nd into the final crit by 4 seconds) and then after winning back hot spot points on a solo break away and then winning the crit by drilling it out of the final turn and holding them all off for the win...LOWDA won GC!!! That had to be one of the most exciting races I have watched and most rewarding since it was one of my girls who won and yes...it was on a custom Guru! ha!
Next up...Eric Attayi won his first race as a Cat 3. Good for him you say? Yes...but this was no ordinary race. This was a SUPER FLAT 80 mile road race of which he was in a break for 60 miles. The pack brought the break back and with Eric rolling as the lone Shama in that race and since ruining GC chances with a wreck in the crit the night before...he offered to help a friend of ours who was going for GC...Chris Lowry of Sugar Cycles. Chris said for him and Greg to get to the front and lead it out in the last 5k. Eric and Greg got to the front and then began to ramp it up and line it out. Greg looked back and saw a huge gap...the pack did not react till it was too late and Greg and Eric rolled to the line with a 15 second gap. Eric and Greg were having a discussion of who would get it and Greg did not want to sprint against Eric aka The Juggernaut. Eric had won his first road race and as a Cat 3 and done it with some serious talent in the field. AMAZING! Greg Bauer (part time Shama wrench and Sugar racer) enjoyed a second place finish. From there Trey Copeland with Southern Elite finished the weekend as highest GC Cat 3. I happened to mention several people on Facebook but then got word from his wife that he felt left out when I forgot that info in my Facebook posts. HAHAHA So I am sure to list it here. ;-)
Next up...Chris Lowry...we were Cat4s together on the same team 4 years ago. Now...he is one of the more respected Cat2s in Texas and I am still a Cat 4....he takes racing WAY more seriously than me. Or maybe he is just fitter and faster than I am. Not likely but what ever!! ha So three weeks ago Chris came in with his road bike and tt bike. We hooked him up to the Retul and played with some cleat positioning and slight saddle adjustments. First test at a Memorial Park Crit his HR was lower for the same power. This weekend all of his training and hard work paid off with his first win in the final crit on Sunday. Brant Speed of Austin Flyers and a Herring Gas guy went off the front in about the first lap. They had 30seconds on the feild and disorganized attacks and efforts did not bring them back until Brant was reeled in on the final turn on the final lap. True Tour de France style. But I was routing for my Houston boyz no matter the team! Greg Bauer (team mate of Chris) attacked and drew out the studs on his wheel...Greg began to swerve all over the road trying to shake em and when he went left...Chris stayed right and drilled an open line right to the line. He held over 1000watts for 22 seconds for the WIN! His first win...yes FIRST! This made it all the more sweeter and everyone could not be happier for him!
Oh yeah...I raced too. Flat 60mile race...PERFECT! The pace was pretty easy and only got a little challenging at times so in lap 2 of 4 I started to get on the front and test the waters. I found my friends there with me (even though on other teams Houston/Texas boys were looking out) and was having a blast. From my last decent TT the weekend before I was thinking maybe I would get top 10 GC or something. We rolled into the 3rd loop and I heard the sound...the sound of a latex tube letting the air out of your tire. But it was cool...I have wheels in the wheel truck behind us and our pace was like 22 or something. I got my wheel and started chasing...actually I was not feeling that great after the stop and was hitting 24 to 25 for about 5 -6 miles getting with in 100 yards of the pack...and then I saw it happen...it went from a mob to a line...NOOOOOO!!!!!! It broke me...mentally...which for the next two loops broke me physically. There were times I road and felt I could not even do 16mph. I even stopped to stretch and have a talk with self while peeing on the side of the road. I made it in and finished so I could continue to the TT in the afternoon and the crit the next day. I was pretty bummed but what can ya do. I was riding my bike and that would just have to be good enough. I finished just in time to wait about 10 minutes to watch the 123s finish thier 80 mile race. Which was awesome cause I was able to watch Eric come through solo for the win for SHAMA! Ok....back to the house to eat and rest before going back to the TT. I was a little too relaxed about getting there and found myself slipping on my white shoe covers and new Lazer Tardiz tt helmet with 5 minutes before my start time. Who needs a warm up for a 3.75 mile tt??? (thumbs up and silly grin on face) This guy!
I get in line and I don't know the guy infront of me but he looked as serious as I looked and behind me was Todd Stamm, a friend of mine on my old team, so I quickly began to talk smack to him about how this is the last time he will see me till the finish. My time came and I quickly displayed my power by sprinting up to 30 miles per hour before sitting down and settling in to my aero bars. This lasted for maybe the first .75 miles. Then it began to hurt...bad! I had to back it down...shift...catch my breath and try to get the acid out of my legs that quickly reminded me they already gave me a 30 mile TT in the morning after my flat. I settled in again and found myself at 27 and was gaining on my 30 second man. AWESOME! I AM GOING TO KILL IT!!! I hit the line barely able to keep myself from throwing up the Raising Cane's chicken tenders I had for lunch. No sooner did I down shift and start to brake here comes Todd rolling up on me. That dude nearly caught me! Here I am feeling good about my TT and here comes this guy putting just under 30 seconds into me. No matter...I did the best I could and left everything out there. Time to party! We all seemed a bit more tired after that than the rr in the morning. Got back to the house and found the girls and Jorge drinking this wonderful frozen Daiquiri mix from a gallon jug that they got from a drive through. Yes, only in Louisiana!!!! We showered and 18 of us mobbed a nice eating establishment for dinner and good times. Probably one of the best parts of the weekend...just everyone cutting up and talking about the racing that morning as well as just about anything else. Post dinner...Sonics was calling my name and I had to get a Sonic Blast. Did I need it? No...but I enjoyed it none the less. Morning came...I got to the races in time to watch LOWDA attack for the hot spot points and then watch her sprint for the win! I was PUMPED! I saw my effort yesterday in the TT was good enough for 10th place. Had I not flatted I could be in my goal...a top ten. But I am not so what to do??? I notice my friend Todd is in first with the fastest TT. I talked to him and his team mates and said I am in for helping. I would rather see a friend keep his first GC win than try to race for myself since I am second to last in GC. I knew there were some strong teams there that would go for the hot spot and finish to take back time on him. The crit started and I waited a couple laps to warm up and feel the rhythm. Then I started having tons of fun. Attacking the other teams after they pulled, covering attacks and sitting in on them, and then I happened to be off the front when the hot spot lap bell rung. I was caught going into the last turn but then I just ramped it up even more giving it all I had to till the contenders came around me to sprint to the line...Blake (Houston boy sitting in 3rd) nipped 4th place on the line for the time bonus helping Todd keep his lead for now. That effort to the line was hard and I totally blew myself up and was expected to get dropped. As I barely turn the pedals over at 20mph I roll back into a tired group. I guess I did a good job to make everyone tired. So I recovered too and started attacking and driving the pace all over again. Finally I pulled out with two to go to watch the finish. I was done and did all I could do. The result of my sacrificed race??? Todd won GC overall and Blake Krause 3rd overall, so I was proud of that. Not to mention Jorge got some great pics of us all out there. Myself and others that raced could not have done it without the help and support of our team mates and loved ones out there. A special thanks to Aimee and her parents for letting us stay at their house and for Aimee, Joy and Lynn being the best hand up, pre and post race crew anyone could ever have. I drove home tired but happy with a great weekend of racing with great friends! Next year... I want revenge on that road race course!

Racing the Driveway Crit on the Kirklee

Taking a flyer in the 3/4 race. Keeping gap in the turns on a 14lbs bike that carves corners like a bowie knife...

Standing up out of a corner...solid!!!
Better side note about the pic below...that is Dave McLaughlin to my left with the body art. He is usually the one who takes shots at these races...always the photographer and never the photographee. Not today. My friend Ned Frost who took these pics got him as well. Thanks Ned for these pics and thanks Dave for all the race images of past and those to come!

Every Thursday in Austin they have a race Spring through Fall. Its called the Driveway and its one of the best training races/weekly crits in Texas. I go up every once in a while to race, have fun, try some stuff, see what works. This was my first race on the Kirklee. It did me proud! Cornering is one of the bikes strong points. Front end stiffness is wonderful! I did not sprint in this race, just hard accelerations...which it handled very well. Not to mention leading up to this race, being able to ride it on some VERY crappy Texas roads, this bike is smooth. Its stiff where it needs to be and smooth where you want it. Now its just whether or not I like the Easton EC90 cranks or not. I might have to swap them with the old faithfuls, Dura Ace cranks and compare. And that is the best part of this race, I can race twice once a week and try something new each time. This bike is coming out again but next week with the Edge race wheels. OH YEAH!!!!

The weekend. Rides and Races

The crew post race at some place in New Braunfels. Andrew's meal was wrong but none of us cared cause we were too hungry...he has great team mates! Our ritualistic Buc-ee's stop. Luling at 7:00 am. Two Rice Treats, 1 bag of Beaver Nuggets, 1 cinnamon roll, 1 gallon of water, 2 cookies, 1 apple lattice, 1 blueberry scone. ALL gone by 3pm.
Above is some friends on a ride Saturday morning, 60miles was not in my "pre race schedule" but whatever. Beautiful day with great friends.


What a weekend! Great longish ride on Saturday, great day at the shop with some business and race prep for the team. Relaxing evening. Then 4:00am wake up Sunday morning for a team trip to New Braunfels for a road race/races. Some of us raced twice...or started two races at least. We roll out of Houston at 5am 8 deep for some fun on the road. My first race and the majority of the guys as well, was the Cat4 race which was 45 miles. Not too cold and 80 guys starting. I have been rolling ok lately and wanted to see how I really was doing, plus its my first race in the Shama Cycles kit on a brand new custom Guru Geneo tricked out to the max with Edge rims. Just a totally nuts bike that got lots of looks. So the pressure was on to do something. If nothing else....a REALLY good photo!!! haha No seriously...
4miles into the race two guys jump off the front into the wind. The field does not react and I am in the back looking at this and realizing on these crappy roads and wind the back is NOT the place to hide. So I jump around the field bridge up to the two guys infront. A three man break. We roll for two miles and hit the last hill that is kinda steep and with a photographer at the top. Time to suck it up and pull out my Zoolander "Blue Steel" pose. With that done I am feeling pretty good. The other two guys start fading and the pack is closing. I look back and here comes two guys charging up and as they get to me I see my friend Andrew Ennis from Team Bikesport. Excited (cause this little Scottsman is strong) to see my friend I jump on with the two and the break of three is rolling again. The wind was brutal and the road surface made a carbon bike worthless. I lasted with these two guys for about 20 miles before I kinda blew up and fell back to the chase group. The Guru was floating flawlessly, just those two sub 150lbs guys hit those hills like I can't...which broke me down. So I am back in and not a minute later I seem to have recovered and on the front of that group taking turns with some team mates and others chasing down the two who I just couldn't stay with. Not that I was bitter or anything. LOL Just racing.
We caught them and then it was on again. More work in to the wind and just plain pain. In that last lap I lost the lead group and fell back to a chase group. Thankfully my team mates stuck up in the lead group. I pushed myself pretty hard and realized how far I can go. It was awesome to have this kinda day. Oh wait...then I had to finish and reload and get re pinned for the second race. To keep it short....everything hurt from the first one and I only completed one 15mile lap. Still happy with my performance and test in the first race. I sat in to watch the finish of my team mates in that race and the Cat3 race that was going on. Very happy overall. Now, then I left New Braunfels and made a trip into Austin...to Kirklee. My frame was finished and ready to be picked up. Wow...just beautiful! Better than I would have thought! I can't believe it. Its 1400grams with the headset, fork and Seat clamp. I just can't wait to build it and more importantly ride it. Now I am tired and time to retire for the night. Or at least log off for now.
I would like to thank my team mates who raced today.
Andrew Strong, Trent Stephens, John Cascio, Jason VanLoo, Jose Caballero, Ahmed King, and Jeff Gardner.
Your support for me and Shama Cycles is humbling and very appreciated.

My Kirklee with my Geometry painted in.

LOVE THE LOGO!!!

Today I just got some pictures of my Kirklee that is a "showroom" bike that just happens to fit me...EXACTLY! hehehe This bike will tell the story of custom frame making. Guru, Kirklee, and Parlee all make each frame for each person to fit them exactly. This sometimes is hard to realize from just talking about it so I had this frame finished in a very special way. The design notes, or CAD drawing measurements that go into each frame for tube lengths and angles were all hand drawn on this frame by Brad at Kirklee and then custom paint sealed it in by Dave Simms.
Its a project bike that shows off what Kirklee can do as well as showing each client what it means to have a custom bike that is tailor made for them.
These are pics of it at Kirklee in Austin...next week there will be pics of it in Houston getting built up.

What is a custom bike?

Notice the BB above with the notes there...that is a beefed up BB area as well. Lets just say to handle my "power". ;-)
But how many carbon bike manufacturers would let you see the frame in the raw? No paint, no fillers, no primer? Just the naked frame. I can count on one had the ones I have seen...which are the ones that I offer at Shama Cycles. Ever seen "other" bikes show off carbon in the center of the tubing but never the joints...whats under that subtle fade in paint job???
Above is the front end, and below is the drive side view...that is a AlpahQ GS40 fork. Not the lightest but its definitely got some BEEF too it.



A custom frame...kinda like tailor made clothing...not only lets you pic the color...but every aspect of the bike that affects fit and handling is up for grabs. Every tube length and every angle affects the over all outcome of feel on the road for each rider. Sorry, but no two people are alike so why are we all riding the same bike? It does not matter you say...then why do we alter our clothes, get custom gold clubs,
To this end one of my bikes will be what I call the "My Geometry" bike. Its a Kirklee and since I am able to work with them and the painter very closely I can get just about anything done I want for myself or my clients. (for a price of course) So instead of having some killer crazy paint job I am going to show off the true art work that goes into a custom carbon frame, the craftsmanship and the exact geometry of that frame. So its getting shot with a pearl clear coat to show off every bit of carbon work on the frame as well as the builder of that frame hand wrote all of the design notes used to build that frame on the tubing. Each tube length, gram weight of each tube, and angle used to the next tube is on the bike. There you can see what it is that I am riding and why that bike is different than say the typical 54cm bike I would normally ride if it was off the floor.
This frame should be back from paint in a week or so...the build...well I am wanting a 14lbs bike again with the Quarq power meter....I think 13lbs and race ready is possible but we will see. I wonder what the Sram Red shifters, Edge Tubular wheels and Tiso cassette will do to drop this one down over my previous Kirklee...OH THE FUN!

Don't get me wrong, there are alot of good complete bikes out there that cost less than what one of these frames cost. I have ridden alot of them and sold alot of them. But when you want the absolute best in what riding a bike can be...custom is the only way to go.

Quarq Power Meter install

Quarq has been that company that has been teasing us for two years with another option for power that seemed to be great but never came out. Well finally it did and they are opening dealers now as well. Friday I got in the Quarq Cinqo Power Meter and Garmin 705 unit for my Kirklee and Rotor Agilis cranks. After taking care of some client's bikes I was able to look at my own.
The Kirklee was sitting at 14lbs 7oz. Post Install its only up to 14lbs 11oz. Not bad for a power meter upgrade! Mind you I only removed the Mavic Wintech ES computer with cadence.
Pretty straight forward to install and the Garmin is very user friendly. Plus I like the idea of being able to select your display screen format.
I have had a Power Tap and an SRM. Easy to use like the PT and almost as easy to install...when talking about the wireless one. The true staple has been the SRM and this was WAY easier to install than an SRM but with even more display info over the SRM and you still get to use any wheel you want. What a great little meter.
Oh yeah, and it has GPS positioning so you can map routes or see where you are at. I am gonna have some fun.

Today's wet and windy 90 miler

A picture of the money makers (my thighs) and my beautiful Bont shoes just covered in grime.
The Kirklee just covered in muddy spray. Jack and Adam's water bottles...showing love to my Austin friends!
Chris and Gary getting some food and below is Gary...who looks more like he did a cross race rather than a road ride.
The crew who HTFU and rode hard today! SPOT ON!

So since I got the keys to Shama Cycles I have not ridden my bike nor seen my pillow before midnight as is evident from the timing of this posting. But I love what I do. Also from over doing it last Friday I have not been able to ride or run due to some nerve damage in my left leg. Its slowly getting better and today (Friday the 26th) I went out for a ride with some buddies.
Chris Lockwood, John Cascio, Gary Zimmerman, and myself met at Euan MacKay's house there next to Memorial Park. I of course was running late and had them roll out a couple min late.
Since I had not ridden in a while I had my bike cleaned up, kit right out of the dryer, freshly shaved legs, the whole nine for a great ride with a big group we were supposed to meet up with. I roll out of the house to realize that the roads are wet, its kinda misty and the wind is blowing out of the south it seems. What a day for rolling with a gimp leg after not riding for almost two weeks anyway. Our ride starts with Chris contacting some of the other people we are supposed to meet up with. Apparently we are the only cyclist in Houston who HTFU (or are just sadists) for a ride this early in the morning. We get down on our main road heading south out of Houston and I am drafting last in line to get out of the wind but having to drop back because of all the muddy spray being kicked up through one section of some nasty road. We are all just getting just as dirty as can be...except Euan who is pulling up the ENTIRE time into the wind. I think we were holding 21 to 23 most of the time. My legs are on fire and I am having to be mindful of my pedal stroke on the left by about mile 3o. I can tell I have not ridden and been over working. OUCH. John is fatigued as well and is cursing Euan for the pace he is setting. Chris and Gary just sucked it up and sucked wheel. Of course when we hit one section and Euan took a wee break he had a very sinister grin after hearing the about the pain he was inflicting on our small group. GEEZE. Finally as we hit our turn around point and were about a mile from first rest stop I took a go at Euan. We were straight on into the wind and I just knew he was gonna go, I took off after him and we start laying it down side by side Poker Faces the whole way. Laying it down was at about 400+ watts at only like 21 mph. I kept trying to edge my wheel in front of his but even after 45 miles of pulling, he still would edge back in front of me...finally I popped and limped the last quarter mile into the country gas station. Of course to save my fragile male ego from any damage I quickly reminded myself and Euan that I am only using one leg here and that I have been off the bike for over a week and I have been working alot and blah blah blah. I feel much better now. LOL
So we stock up on some calories for our ride back looking forward to some tail wind, laugh at how bad that sucked riding through all that crap and comment on how dirty we all are. AHHHH...we are feeling pretty bad a$$ right about now. ;-) The ride back some how did not seem that easy. Like a dumby I tore off with Euan again, this time at 30plus for several miles and over shot our turn. So we had to turn back into the wind to make the right turn and catch up to the guys with Chris who knew the route and made the right turn. Everyone is getting tired and ready to be off the bike. Its been a harder day than normal. Chris though realized towards the end that he is only about 20 miles from hitting his goal of riding 10,000 miles in 2008. WOW WOW WOW!
We near the end about a mile from Euan's house and John (who has been tired and complaing the whole ride) tears off to attack Euan up a common sprint hill. Just watching them take off made lactic acid rush into my thighs. John basically gave Euan a perfect lead out but not with out making Euan work for it...as they hit 34 going up the hill. CRAP!
We got to E's house and washed off our bikes before heading home. Each of us knowing that this was a great ride and would not have had it any other way.

Kirklee, demo frame, my parts

Rotor Agilis Cranks, ceramic SABB bottome bracket...spins forever too, Q-Ring is on ALL my bikes. New Ultimate bottle cages might not be the best option in a crit, but they only weigh 11grams a peice.
So here is the rear D, red kit from Tiso on thier rear D (156grams as its seen here)that is CNC machined...also thier ceramic pulley wheels are not only color matched for the bling affect but spin FOREVER! Red Nokon cables for the tight turn for the cable, red KCNC skewers.
The 75gr rear brake red anodized. KCNC seatpost clamp
14.7lbs of some seriously nice carbon work. Full carbon frame. Fulcrum Racing Zeros. Rotor stem, cranks, SABB ceramic, Ritchey WCS Evolution carbon bars, Easton fork and seat post. Dura Ace shifters, KCNC Brakes, TISO front and rear D with ceramic pulles. New Ultimate bottle cages.