Faster, Faster!

It has been a busy few weeks and as the Rocky Mountain Bike Show get closer, I think I will need to keep up the pace.

One interesting thing though is a few enquiries for a short turnaround for bikes. I sure appreciate the interest out there for my work, but in all honesty, a custom bike within a few weeks is close to impossible. For many other builders, it is absolutely impossible. Just getting the bike to paint and back can easily take up 2 weeks at the quickest, and in many occasions it takes 4 weeks plus.

I hope I do not sound like I am complaining, but in order to have a good experience for future customers, I would like to be open in communications. One thing that is crucial to customer satisfaction is what kind of expectation the customer has. Expectations can be shaped by the customer's previous research or experience, but is also promoted by the builder. I do not like to hype up my customer's expectation and run the risk of not delivering.

So, if you are considering a custom bike and you have to have it on the road by a certain time, please let me know a few months ahead and I am sure I can get that ready for you.

BTW, the Di2 stuff is dope and I have a good source for it! Here is a pic of a frame built with it in mind and you can see it painted at the Rocky Mountain Bike Show, August 22 - 23.

Cheers,

mission accomplished

The MS150 weekend happened in a quick blur, Leigh had a good time and felt that she had helped a good cause and accomplished something meaningful. She wrote a few words to sum it up:

Just finished the MS150 Colorado Ride. It was a fabulous ride! Saturday’s route started in Westminster and took us through the scenery of Niwot and Hygiene with a challenging finish in Ft. Collins after the Masonville and Horsetooth Reservoir climbs. On Sunday, the 28^th we headed back through Horsetooth and Masonville enjoying the scenery of Buckhorn Canyon after a well earned descent. The route continued through Berthoud, Longmont, and Lafayette with a steady climb back to Front Range Community College in Westminster via Lowell Blvd. Excellent weather both days was an added bonus.

Our training paid off – the last several months I have been getting in a combination of short sprint rides, hill climbing rides, and longer weekend rides. Overall, I am feeling pretty good at the end of the event. Thanks to Rose, Arica, Mary, Mike and my husband Renold for the last several months of training rides – we were ready!

I am sure over the next few days many moments of the ride will enter my thoughts and stand out as memories. I rode on Team Intrepid – a big thank you to Ken Heisel (Arica’s dad) and all of the family in the Heisel clan as well as the associates of Intrepid Potash for their support of our team. Congratulations to all Team Intrepid riders! All of the volunteers who supported the ride were wonderful – rest stops were well organized with plenty of food, drinks, and bike shop support. The folks along the route who cheered us on were also awesome – a ringing cowbell, someone misting water and the shouts of encouragement helped me to keep on pedaling. Hearing the words “thanks for riding” from those individuals who have MS truly made the effort worthwhile. Finally, thank you to all who made a donation and supported me as a rider.

Most importantly, a huge thank you to Renold (my husband a.k.a. Yipsan) for all that you have done – the custom bike you built for me rocks! Thanks to the custom fit I have absolutely no aches or pains! (Just tired muscles……). The new component group (more in another blog at another time) was a dream – smooth, responsive and easy shifting all day long. Thank you!!

This is an awesome ride and I look forward to next year!