OnURLeft Duathlon

Above, the new Guru Crono which did me right today.
Below, Maite updating her FB status. Jorge pointing at the window treatments. Greg pondering taking up competitive bowling after I SPANKED him on the bike. haha

Time to start catching up on the blog. I am being harassed for letting nearly a month go since my last update. Lots going on. But no excuses right???
Today was a sprint duathlon, the Onurleft Duathlon. Not a bad race for the first one. I hope it grows and gets bigger for next year. The first hard part about this race was the start time. 6:45am. OMG! Are you serious? But in light of our triple digit temperatures lately actually a really good call. Ok, to the race. I have not been riding and just this past week built up a tt bike. I hadn't ridden a tt bike since Feb or March. But with a stage race next weekend I figured it might be good to get on it a couple times before the race. So I put in a huge training week finished off with pulling Dacree 55 miles yesterday just to finish me off properly. So this morning as tired as can be and with some very sore legs I made my way to the race. The only thing that made me look like I was ready was my bike. Pretty sick if I do say so myself. I got to the race a little later than planned but still enough time to get my number, bike racked, and pee before the start. Yeah, but my only warm up was the run to and from the bathroom. Had I ran any more I am afraid I would not have been able to finish the race since I have not been running except this week. haha
I am not alone at this race. I am joined by some of my faithful (better trained and race ready) Shama Tri team members and friends. The most fun is the trash talk amongst friends. I spend my time saying hi to everyone trying to keep my mind off of the pain to come. The gun goes off and I start to run. Trying to keep my friends in sight but its not easy. I keep in my mind the advice that Coach Trent gave me...run super slow on the first run, bleed on the bike and hobble in the second run. YEAH RIGHT! But that is about what I did. I cruised the first run. Got to the bike and had a hard time getting past 24 at first. But then by mile two I warmed up and started cruising. I starting passing people and picking off friends and competition. I started seeing 27 and knew not to kill myself past that or I would be stopping. Slowed down, had to drink, but found a good carrot, a fellow road racer ahead and the pain began. It took me nearly 7 miles to make the catch but it was worth it. I was not passed by anyone, the first for me in a du. Also the first time for me to ride a custom (for me) tt bike. Guru Crono. Smooth and fast. Not sure of my tt split I rolled into T2 tired and not knowing how I am going to run two more miles. I am not sure of my first half mile but it could not be pretty. I wanted to stop but I kept going. I got to a turn and some one was calling out a count of runners ahead. After being passed by 7 people before that I heard 26 ahead. WOW had I passed that many on the run? I kept it up. I wanted to come in top 50 at least. (200 racers) So I tried hard and kept a decent pace. My legs were screaming!!!! I was tired and wanted to sleep. I couldn't even keep count of those that passed me. Amazingly the finish line came up on me quickly and I came through the finish. I don't remember much of what I was thinking other than try not to suck too badly. LOL I was happy to be done saw most of The Shama Racers already done. Which is where they should be. ;-) But we still had a couple on course to cheer on!!!! As soon as we were all in...FOOD! We started making plans of where to eat. We packed our bikes and on the way out we saw the results being posted. I rushed over and low and behold I was 2nd in my AG and had the 2nd fastest bike split of the race!!!! (official web results show me knocked down one spot in each. But no worries I still got some bragging rights and with a bike split like that I could not have been happier. I was more surprised than anything. I have not had this good of a split at a race yet. I just might have to keep running and do some more of these....maybe even swim a little and dare I say do another triathlon...

The goods! Shama Team and FOPs

Kristen A 2nd in AG
Jenny H 4 in AG
Laura M 1st in AG (fastest female bike split)
Anne F 7th in AG
Dave D Masters Overall
ME 3rd in AG
Jorge M 4th in AG
Jeremy Rowe 2nd in AG
Greg B 4th in AG (I beat him on the bike!!!!! haha)
Brett Cole 1st in AG
Greg C 4th in AG
Andy A 5th in AG
Nigel W 3rd in AG

CONGRATS TO ALL on a great day of racing.

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.

The Kona Project

Above
Possible sprint and quarter position
Below
Possible half and full IM position

The heart of a bike...the frame. Tailor made to Andrew Strong's measurements and requirements. Being able to "tune" the titanium frame with specific tube selections is key for triathletes and something Guru excels at getting just right for every client of mine.
Also...the welds are beautiful!

So Andrew Strong is a friend of mine as well as an athlete I sponsor. Andrew has made it to Kona for the past two years...which has also been his first two years of competing in the Ironman distance races. So yes...he is a natural...but he also trains intensely and is VERY dedicated. Swimming is not his strong point, with 1:30+ swim times and qualifying for Kona still...yes his bike split is violent and run is vicious. The past two years he has done this on a Cervelo P3C and was wind tunnel fitted on it by John Cobb. Does it get to be any faster than this???
I believe it does. My business is based on the simple fact that fit is key. So if the bike fits better you are going to be more stable, more comfortable, and more powerful.
I am taking Andrew Strong, a man with strong Kona ambitions this year, off of what most consider to be "the fastest bike in the world" and putting him on a titanium frame that does have higher drag numbers in the wind tunnel...will he be faster?
I believe he will. This is what my business is and the proof will be in the real world...Ironman Brazil. This is his first chance to qualify for Kona. The fitting method right now will start from his current fit and then we will implement what I have learned under Dr. Andy Pruitt during my Specialized years and from Dan E's FIST method. I will be looking at everything with a Retul and Computrainer SpinScan.
Stay tuned as I put my reputation on the line for a proven athlete on a proven set up!
Soon I will have postings of the complete bike.
I look forward to seeing how this goes. Should be a fun little test!!!

A long weekend

After a long week and weekend of working and finishing up the last of the 4 Gurus that hit me all at once 10 days ago, I am mentally exhausted and ready for a new week with some new work. Not that I can complain about building such beautiful bikes, but as I also set up the shop to "officially open" soon there is just always something to do. Each bike built takes time and careful thought as the build comes along. In this picture above showing the stem assembly, the owner of the bike and I spent probably 2 hours deciding just the right combo of Nokon cable colors as well as headset and cap configurations as well as some other little bits. I do this with almost every bike built for my clients to make each one as unique as the geometry of the frame its self. Having a custom frame is one thing, but having clients that like to take their bikes and builds to another level is awesome. This Guru Crono above will have some more pics following soon as my photographer was out of town on business. (like there is something more important than this???)
Also I have to drop the news on my own new Guru Geneo and the ride on that. Today was AMAZING and I can't wait to race this year.
See ya on the road...

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.