Johan visits Trek HQ

Trek's president John Burke invited Johan Bruyneel to Trek HQ in Waterloo, WI after the Tour of Missouri.  The invitation was extended as a courtesy to Johan after our 9+ years of working with Johan's top notch cycling programs, namely USPS and Discovery Channel.  Johan had previously visited Trek in 2006 where he toured the factory and was given a liveSTRONG edition Madone 5.9.  On Johan's previous visit to Trek the team's history wall had not been completed so on this trip a considerable amount of time was spent reminiscing.  Johan's insight and behind the scenes comments were moving.

Discovery visits Kansas City Trek store

The Discovery Channel team took time out of thier busy Tour of Missouri race schedule to visit the Trek store in Kansas City, MO.  A recap of the store's efforts and pictures of the crowd the team drew are downloadable here:  Download DiscoRecap.pdf

McCartney wins in Spain

I'm a big fan of Jason McCartney.  He was a pleasure to work with when I was doing the team liaison job (Ben Coates does that now).  Jason was always easy to talk to and gave great feedback on products Trek and Bontrager were developing.  I'm stoked to see Jason win a stage in the Vuelta.

A Better View

Here is a little better look at Levi's new Trek Madone painted up special in honor of his recent win at the US Pro National Championships.

Computer powered by Trek

Check out these Treks powering a supercomputer.

Bada Bing!

Discovery does it again today.  Levi on the top step for the day and George for the race.

George put a pretty good hold on his lead, there are still 3 days of racing but things are looking good.

Levi gets to add another stage win to add to his list of accomplishments for 2007, not a bad year....

By the way, you can see John Devine warming up behind Levi in the picture above.  I caught up with him for a minute after his first race on a Trek TTX.  He said that it was easily 5% faster than his previous TT bike, saying that he was going quite a bit faster today with less effort.  There were a couple of "sweets" and "awsomes" thrown around as we talked about what he likes about his new TTX.  The TTX gets another win and another rave review.  Missouri a nice place for Trek this week......

Trading Stripes for Stripes

Unfortunately I arrived in Missouri too late today to see George win the stage and take the lead.  I did however get to have a quick chat with him in the hotel lobby.  George mentioned that his last race of the year, possibly his last race on a Trek bicycle, will be at the World Championships.  He is using the race here in Missouri to help tune his form and hopefully trade the Stars and Stripes for the Rainbow Stripes.
Next year you might see George in another color of stripes......

Stars and Stripes

I arrived at Trek this morning at quarter to seven and this was the state of the new Stars and Stripes bike for Levi.  The boys at Trek really out did themselves on this one, from designer to race ready in 3 days is a huge feat.  This is a standard Black Series Madone pulled right off of the production line that was specially painted for Levi.

The mechanics hate  it when I show up with a box; they always know it means more work for them....  Actually Chris happily built the bike as he joked about how much work I make for him. 

As night began to fall the final touches were being put on Levi's new racing stead.  This bike will likely only be raced for three days but it is our way of saying congratulations to Levi and the Team.  Look out for more pictures on the web as this new National Champ paint scheme is likely to turn some heads..

A New Bike

Don't tell Levi but I am on my way to Missouri with a new bike for him.  I am sitting in the Madison airport some 6 hours from arriving at the Tour of Missouri.  I have with me a one of a kind Trek Madone specially made for Levi.  There are not that many people that get to say they have a one of a kind anything in this day and age......Stay tuned to see what it looks like and how it goes over.
Sent via my Blackberry

Tour of Missouri

The Discovery team is back racing in the US.  Ben Coats, Trek's inside tech with the team no matter where they go, is in Missouri making sure the team everything they need.  In fact, keep an eye on Levi's bike later in the week.  I'd show you photos of his new Madone but it was still in Trek's Project One paint booth on Tuesday night so I never saw the final product.  Ben flew the bike to meet up with the team on Wednesday. 

Stay tuned for more inside information!