Welcome to Paradise: Team Rev3 Summit

2013 Team Rev3 and Staff

Well, now it's official: I am a member of Team Rev3 for 2013!

One of the great things about this team is the dynamic of the individuals involved. There's such a wide variety of personalities that it's impossible to feel disconnected. Just a crazy bunch of people!

This year, Rev3 had nearly 500 applicants for the age-group team, of which 13 new members were selected to join the 40 of us from last year and beyond. Over the next few weeks, you'll see their blogs appear on the right-hand side of this page, along with our sponsors for 2013.

Without further adieu, a running commentary of Team Summit:

Thursday: Travel Bingo!
A trip to the western part of the country wouldn't be complete without filling out a Travel Bingo card. Some spaces that got filled in include: Delayed Flight, Guy Snoring in the Chairs In Front of You, Screaming Baby...you get the idea. Everyone wins. And everyone loses.

My flight path took me from Portland to JFK before flying into Denver. Luckily, I had some time to kill:

Thank you, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Made my flight to Denver, and had the welcoming crew of team members Jordan, Maggie, and Tonia. Drove out to Boulder, and promptly crashed.

Friday: Let Summit Begin!
We headed on over to the Hotel Boulderado, the site of Team Summit. We started meeting up with all of the members, and then began with an engineering project: had to build a protective method to make sure an egg dropped would survive. All eggs made it.

We then started learning from our sponsors for 2013:

• SBR Sports: makers of TriSwim, TriSlide, and Foggle
• NormaTec: compression boots
• Compex: Electrostimulation systems
• Quintana Roo bikes
• Reynolds Cycling wheels
• PowerBar
• Pearl Izumi
• blueseventy
• Biotta beet juice

Pretty awesome!

We drove on out over to Pearl Izumi HQ to learn about their products for this year. It's crazy seeing this massive building, and just how small the brand is overall from the number of people working. I think there might've been a total of 50 people in the building. Nuts!

That said, it was awesome to tour around; meet the person behind the Project: EMotion running line; get fit for our 2013 kits; meet up with Tim DeBoom; talk about how the custom line works; how the pros have completely custom items done up, and usually have two uniforms made: early-season and late-season (aka "Now I'm actually at race weight"); and more that I'm missing.

We then headed to dinner, which is where we really started to bond as a team. I think we were at the restaurant for four hours, just having a blast.

Saturday
I may or may not have had a couple of drinks on Friday. I may or may not have had a killer headache Saturday morning.

We rolled on over to Summit to do some more education from our sponsors. My favorite presentation on Saturday was from Reynolds wheels. Not just because I'm in the market for a new set of race wheels, but because there's been a lot of questions about the direction of cycling wheels in general. Most designs are moving from a v-notch or hybrid toroidal shape to a fully bulbous, wide profile. Reynolds, on the other hand, still has a sharper rim shape, but with other technologies they can make the wheel stable and reduce drag. In fact, it stays in its' aero "sweet spot" longer than any other wheel, and worth some pretty solid time savings, including against the almighty brand that starts with a Z.

In the interest of "in God we trust, all others bring data," the white paper for Reynolds appears here.

We also got to test out some of the beet juice from Biotta. I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed it! There's also some recent study suggesting that pre-loading with beet juice during the course of a race week can improve performance on race day.  That being said, be prepared for the first time you head to the bathroom following taking it. You will think you're having internal bleeding. Don't worry. You're not.

We also learned a little bit more about the Ulman Cancer Fund and the ties that we have to it. I've decided that for one race this season, I'll be fundraising for Ulman.

Part of the reason I'm in this sport is because Hannah's father passed away from sarcoma so damn quickly. I decided that life was too short to let dreams stay in the distance, and rather just pursue them relentlessly. It has lead me to some fantastic places, including being a part of this fantastic team.

Well, I figured it's time to help put some of those efforts to give back, to try and help those who are my age who are battling cancer. To help those families who need support now.

I'm still debating which event I will be racing for Team Fight with. But I'll figure it out soon enough.

Saturday also brought us to Team Dinner in Denver, which was fantastic. Really felt like we've bonded as a group this year, beyond the e-mail connections.

Sunday: Skiing!
Oh, come on, you didn't think I'd go to Colorado without skiing, did you?

Jordan, Maggie, myself, Lauren, and Jeff. Rocking the R with Rev3!

We went to Winter Park. It was fantastic.

Of course, this wouldn't be complete without me eating sh*t at least once.

Whoops. Note to self: Keep the tip up.

I did say at least once.

Chopping down this tree...with...A HERRING!

Well, at least I looked good when I was upright.

In all, an amazing trip. Really looking forward to all that 2013 brings.