Thursday I picked up VisitPARay around 12:30pm and we hit the open road for the trip north. I’m a big OCC fan. I don’t care for motorcycles or anything like that. I just love watching the show. I knew they were in New York not far beyond the PA border so we checked our road map and found the town we needed (Montgomery) and took a slight detour to look for the OCC guys. We actually found the factory fairly quick but I thought they had built a new factory so I dismissed the one I was parked right in front of to search out a newer one. Didn’t find it. We did find their retail store but nothing else. I know the factory I was at is not where they film some of the more recent shows so it must be some top-secret place. It was cool to see it none-the-less. We stopped in New Paltz for some good Mexican food. Made it to Saratoga Springs by 6:30pm. We checked in and immediately had to find the conference room for a couple beers and a meet and greet sorta thing with our instructors for the weekend.
Shut up and do some work!
Day One. Outta bed at 6:15am to quickly grab some grub and do a tour of the Serotta factory. It was not what I expected but not in a bad way. I thought it would be larger than it was, but the place was very clean and well organized. A tight ship. After the tour it was time for classroom instruction. Translation: time to sit on my ass for 30+ hours in the next three days. Surprisingly I did ok. The information was very well presented and easy to stay focused on. Paul Levine ran the show. His big toe is Grant. Dr. Pam Wilson was on hand to dumb down some serious physiology for us idiots. The day went quick. Ray and I searched out a recommended Mexican joint. I ordered a couple steak tacos. Our waitress was puzzled by my order. We have ground beef, she said. Don’t get me started on mex food, just ask The Wifey. I ordered the pollo instead. Crap.
Day Two. One of the things I loved about how the class was presented. Paul would discuss the methodology of a bike fit on Day One but start over on Day Two but add more to it. I found it easy to keep up. Which is not to say anyone could. There we 16 people in total attending the class with very different levels of experience and backround. We had numerous shop owners from Hawaii, Seattle, and Mass. Wisconsin, I think too. St Louis was in the house. We had Mike Cavaliere, Canada’s assistant National Cross Country Ski coach. We had Matt White, FiordaFruita pro AND most importantly a fellow ’crosser. All in all a great group of guys. Even Dr Pam is an accomplished stage racer. Anyway, back to the point I was going to make. It seemed that people were picking all the info up but at different levels of comprehension. Ultimately, I think everyone did get it. We had some good hands-on stuff going on which, in my opinion, help immensely.
Matt getting a TT fit. Doesn't that team kit look way better this year?
Ray and I cruised the mean streets of Saratoga looking for a place to watch some ‘Cuse bball. We found a cool sports bar and watched some tele with the locals. Saratoga is in close proximity to Syracuse so it was a very partisan crowd. The ‘Cuse had to win to ensure entry into March Madness. Good game. Down to the wire. It was cool to experience it with the locals and most importantly no riots ensued after the Orange won.
Day Three. We got into aerodynamics and Tri stuff. Some more hands-on stuff. A review. A test. A review of the test. Ben Serotta said some stuff. Paul wrapped it up. Handed out some diplomas. Bang! Out the door we went. Gassed up the Holmes bang bus and we were well on our way by 7pm. It got foggy as a mf’r somewhere after we got off the NY Thruway which meant some white-knuckle driving for a few hours but I dropped Ray off at his place at Midnight. I was in bed with my wonderful wife and snoring by 12:45am. That about does it. Thank me for leaving out all the technical stuff I am now armed with.
I really enjoyed the instruction from Paul and his crew. He is the #1 Serotta dealer in all the land. He’s got a very nice operation. He does fits and sells high-end. Simple but amazingly successful business model. Also a great staff. I was concerned for my own sanity about sitting on my ass for that long over the weekend but as I said earlier, I found the information very well presented and is a true testament to our instructors. Good show.
Now, I sit here as it’s 70 outside trying to figure out what I need to get done. Ride. Yes. Unpack. If I must. The Wifey didn’t leave me a Do list as she loves to do on my days off. I do need to buy a case of Spaten for Uncle Willie(Father of The Mrs Legend). He’s allowing us to stay at the condo in Cape May this weekend. All he asked for was some brew. Nice. So a short week at Holmes and then another long drive.
Late.
2 comments:
Oh Gus......can you hear my violin playing for you poor poor thing having to get up at 6:15am TWO DAYS OUT OF YOUR LIFE??? You can't hear it? Oh, that's because THERE IS NONE! I get up at 6am five days a week and sit in an office for 9 hours a day! Try that for a month! You, my dear, have it made......nice job, nice people to work with, and it's something that you love. You have it MADE in the shade my boy!
You've validated the point I was making. I NEVER get up that early. I NEVER sit down during a typical day. Now make me do that three days in row. BTW, I wasn't complaining about any of that, only to point out how atypical my weekend was. Remember, I diagnosed myself with ADD. That sitting down stuff ain't easy for me.
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