26 November 2005
Team Meeting - Enschede
Last week all the riders and staff for next years team met up at the head quarters in Enschede, Holland. It was the first time I got to meet the team staff in person. The team is run out of Jan's big bike shop, which had more Cannondale's in one space then I've almost ever seen before and an impressive work shop for 9 mechanics! I meet GJ, our new mechanic, and Harry, who is responsible for all equipment.
As I have been off Cannondale's for a few years, I was keen to get the measurements right early. Also, I will start riding Cannondale's production sizes to make it easier to change bikes. Everyone on our team will ride M, so that will make life a lot easier! The weather was absolute crap, but I needed to test the bike size out. So I got GJ motivated and we hit the local trail... with just a few degrees and rain, it was a fast ride just to keep warm!
The next day was for Vredestein, our major sponsor, and tire provider. We made a factory tour.. once again coming out feeling extremely satisfied with the job's we have! Afterwards we had a four our conference on the 2 new tires they have just released, and the development of next years tires. They were extremely open to our suggestions, so we'll see what they come up with.
Dinner was at a nice Chinese restaurant, where Rory from Cannondale revealed the new design for our clothing, always a big moment! There were some big eyes, and not everyone was too happy. The general opinion is we need a very simple design, but this was not the case. So we'll see, maybe they still change it a little.
Photo: from left... Jan, Jocob, Fredric, Me, Peter Riis and Ruud.
The final day was in Cannondale, seeing the European distribution centre. There they order all the different parts, and assemble 150 bikes per day. We also discussed our race bikes and what our priorities are for future bikes. All very productive. Next year we will ride mostly on the Scalpel, but also a hardtail or Rush if it suits.
The last evening we had a dinner with the 'business club'. This is a group of business people who all ride MTB's. Together they help to fund the team, meet for rides, come to the races, and do business together. It's a great idea! At the end of the night we were all pretty dead.. but it didn't bother Peter Riis and Jacob, who then hit the streets until 3 in the morning. Ok, I guess its winter still :)
Last week all the riders and staff for next years team met up at the head quarters in Enschede, Holland. It was the first time I got to meet the team staff in person. The team is run out of Jan's big bike shop, which had more Cannondale's in one space then I've almost ever seen before and an impressive work shop for 9 mechanics! I meet GJ, our new mechanic, and Harry, who is responsible for all equipment.
As I have been off Cannondale's for a few years, I was keen to get the measurements right early. Also, I will start riding Cannondale's production sizes to make it easier to change bikes. Everyone on our team will ride M, so that will make life a lot easier! The weather was absolute crap, but I needed to test the bike size out. So I got GJ motivated and we hit the local trail... with just a few degrees and rain, it was a fast ride just to keep warm!
The next day was for Vredestein, our major sponsor, and tire provider. We made a factory tour.. once again coming out feeling extremely satisfied with the job's we have! Afterwards we had a four our conference on the 2 new tires they have just released, and the development of next years tires. They were extremely open to our suggestions, so we'll see what they come up with.
Dinner was at a nice Chinese restaurant, where Rory from Cannondale revealed the new design for our clothing, always a big moment! There were some big eyes, and not everyone was too happy. The general opinion is we need a very simple design, but this was not the case. So we'll see, maybe they still change it a little.
Photo: from left... Jan, Jocob, Fredric, Me, Peter Riis and Ruud.The final day was in Cannondale, seeing the European distribution centre. There they order all the different parts, and assemble 150 bikes per day. We also discussed our race bikes and what our priorities are for future bikes. All very productive. Next year we will ride mostly on the Scalpel, but also a hardtail or Rush if it suits.
The last evening we had a dinner with the 'business club'. This is a group of business people who all ride MTB's. Together they help to fund the team, meet for rides, come to the races, and do business together. It's a great idea! At the end of the night we were all pretty dead.. but it didn't bother Peter Riis and Jacob, who then hit the streets until 3 in the morning. Ok, I guess its winter still :)
