Made For You from Stoller on Vimeo.
Rob English is one of the more innovative contemporary custom frame builders. He produces everything from thoroughbred race machines to wildly imaginative concept bikes. I love hear frame builders talk about their process and philosophies and seeing their work with a torch.
Photo by Sara Clawson.
Soigneurs may very well have the most thankless job in professional cycling. They take care of the grunt-work details necessary to keep a pro team running smoothly while remaining mostly anonymous. Sara Clawson is a sports massage therapist in Greensboro, North Carolina who’s making inroads to a soigneur career. This spring, she spent two months working as a soigneur with the US elite junior team at USA Cycling’s training center in Sittard, Netherlands. Over the next month, Sara’s writing (originally posted on her blog) will shed some light on the “swanny life†as she recounts her experience traveling around Europe working with the next generation of American professional road cyclists. In part two, Sara delves into her day to day as she preps for a race in France.
We’re in the car on a long drive to Bretagne, so I have a little bit of down time to write an entry — the first down time in a while!
I’m into my second week as a soigneur and learning fast — mostly from watching and doing, but a lot from making mistakes too. It’s a job with long expanses of furious intensity punctuated by periods of absolutely nothing to do, and at first it’s actually difficult to recognize when it’s appropriate to take a break. But I’m learning the general routine of everyday functions at the USA house, preparations for a race, and the things that need to happen once riders return from racing.
No two daily schedules are the same, but we generally start early with breakfast and a trip over to the Service Course, a separate location where all of the maintenance operations take place. If vehicles have just returned from racing, they need to be unloaded, thoroughly cleaned inside and out, and items inventoried. If the vehicle needs to make an immediate turnaround for another race, many of the items are re-stocked as needed and loaded straight back into the truck. If they won’t be used for a few days, everything is put back into stock, including things like sports nutrition products and race food, medical kits, chairs, laundry, and coolers. A running shopping list is kept of everything that needs to be kept on hand in supply and soigneurs shop nearly every day.
We head back to the USA house for lunch and typically start massages early afternoon, after the riders who aren’t away racing have finished their training rides and gotten a chance to shower and eat. I’ve been doing anywhere from 3 to 7 massages every day, around 30-45 minutes for each. Riders who have just returned from races, are heading off to races, or experiencing particular issues are the priority.
Posted in Everything Else, Racing
Tagged elite juniors, sara clawson, sittard, soigneur diaries, soigneurs, usa cycling
Soigneur Sara Clawson (center) with the USA Cycling juniors in Sittard, Netherlands.
Soigneurs may very well have the most thankless job in professional cycling. They take care of the grunt-work details necessary to keep a pro team running smoothly while remaining mostly anonymous. Sara Clawson is a sports massage therapist in Greensboro, North Carolina who’s making inroads to a soigneur career. This spring, she spent two months working as a soigneur with the US elite junior team at USA Cycling’s training center in Sittard, Netherlands. Over the next month, Sara’s writing (originally posted on her blog) will shed some light on the “swanny life” as she recounts her experience traveling around Europe working with the next generation of American professional road cyclists. In part one, Sara talks about her path from aspiring soigneur to the USAC house in Holland.
The French word “soigneur†literally translates to “one who cares for the troubles of others.†On a bicycle racing team, a soigneur performs a multifaceted job of keeping the cyclists’ bodies and minds optimally primed for competition, doing everything from sports massage and minor first aid to food and bottle prep to tasks like laundry and chauffeuring riders.
When I was first getting into cycling as a teenager, I read a USA Today article about soigneurs that described it as one of the “10 Worst Jobs in Sports.†The article is a fun read (and to my experience thus far, quite accurate), making the soigneur’s job sound like a lot of hard, thankless work. It sounded exactly like the kind of job I wanted to make my career.
The Builder – Max Kullaway from Loaded Pictures on Vimeo.
Max Kullaway’s history in frame building run deep. He got his start in New England welding for Merlin then Seven. He later moved to Seattle where he started his own company 333 Fabrications and builds for Hampsten and Davidson. For more, check out the interview Max did with The Bicycle Story back in 2012. In this neat short film from Loaded Pictures, Max talks about his frame building philosophies, his love for bikes and making things by hand, and more.
Posted in Bike Industry, Everything Else, Frame Builders
Tagged 333 fabrications, custom frame building, hampsten, max kullaway, merlin, seven cycles
I’m excited to announce the release of Cycling Sojourner: A Guide to the Best Multi-day Tours in Washington! This brand new guidebook covers nine distinct tours all around Washington state, from the coast to Walla Walla’s wine region to the San Juan Islands and lots in between. In author/publisher Ellee Thalheimer’s words:
The nine tours in the book provide meticulously laid out nuts and bolts information, including cue sheets, maps, and information about weather, difficulty level, camping and lodging options and how to get to the ride’s start. Yet, the soul of the book lies in the voices of the five authors, four of whom are Washingtonians, who use storytelling, local history, and humor to elevate the book beyond just an everyday guidebook to an inspirational muse that draws out your inner adventurer.
I wrote two chapters for Cycling Sojourner. The first: an easy overnight tour from Seattle to Tolt MacDonald Park in Carnation targeted at beginner bike tourists looking to get their feet wet and experienced tourists looking for an easy escape from the city. The second: a challenging, rewarding, beautiful tour of the Olympic Peninsula. Riding the Peninsula was one of the most spectacular bike adventures I’ve ever had. I wrote a little bit about the experience for the Cycling Sojourner blog.
Interested in getting your hands on this awesome book? You can buy a copy from The Bicycle Story! Get inspired for many summer’s worth of adventures AND support The Bicycle Story’s work. It’s a win, win!