Hello again from Morgan Hill. I'm back at the Courtyard Inn and am happy to report that my first day at SBCU/Specialized HQ went without incident.
My day did got off to a 6:00 am start as we were to be shuttled over to Specialized at 7:30. So, I got up, had breakfast and got ready to head over to HQ.
When we stepped outside the hotel a caravan of factory vans greeted us; I was, for a moment, a full-on pro tour rider...wannabe. Nonetheless, getting picked up in a factory car was a lot cooler than riding over in the back of a plain Jane shuttle buses.
And it carried with it some shiny new toys...I'll get to ride this on Thursday. I know, I know. Poor me.
After a brief car ride, we arrived at the big S. The really big S. Specialized HQ:
After a few brief moments checking in, we were greeted by our SBCU instructors and led over to the classroom. The whole building is really nicely done; everything is organized, clean and has a very professional feel to it without being overly serious. The meeting rooms, for example, are themed after Specialized's past and current champions. There's the Sam Hill room with wood table, carving tools and astroturf. Right next door is the Mario Cipollini room with, of course, white marble floors, huge pictures of Cipo, and a bottle of Cipo's own wine. The hallways are also bedazzled with the staff's S-Works SL3's and Roubaixs. It is, bicycle heaven.
Following a brief introduction to the day's agenda, we were taken on a tour of the facility and saw lots of amazing stuff, none of which I can tell you about. We also got a brief glimpse of the museum (which I'll get some shots of tomorrow) and met the inside sales reps.
After that, we were immersed in lectures, presentations, and product and equipment training. A particularly interesting demonstration was the one done by Dr. Roger Minkow, M.D. on Specialized's BG Fit saddles. Dr. Minkow used a transcutaneous pressure sensor to demonstrate the differences in blood flow experienced by male riders using BG Fit saddles and other brands of saddles. In our demo, the rider lost blood flow to his happy man parts on a non-BG Fit saddle in less than a minute...yikes!
Which reminds me, a quick pit stop to the men's room is in order. Lo an behold, even at the urinal, I am transported roadside to the Giro de Italia (I think). Like I said, bicycle heaven.
After the saddle demo we hit the road for the Lunch Ride. We were let loose in the bike cage where we could literally have our pick of whatever our heart desired. S-Works SL3? Sure. Di2 Roubaix? You got it! Fantastic. Overwhelming doesn't quite do the feeling justice. We also had our pick of shoes, pedals, and if we forgot a piece of clothing, we could borrow it. The ride was blessed with perfect weather and the loop took us onto rolling terrain with a couple short hills and a big ring kicker at the end. Then it was back to the building, a quick hop into the shower, and just enough time to grab lunch.
The Specialized cafeteria is a wide open room, with coffee, snacks, creamer in the fridge, and water all free for the taking. The center of the room is adorned with giant S table and smaller tables off to the side and in back.
Directly across the way is an employee break room with couches and yet another rack full of bikes to check out.
After lunch, it was back to the lectures and then a quick dinner and car ride back to the hotel. All in all, I'm really enjoying my time here. Tomorrow's agenda looks promising as we plan to: talk about bikes, ride bikes and eat. Last but not least, I need to mention that all of the SBCU professors and everyone I've come across here has been friendly, passionate, knowledgeable and very approachable. It's made for a great first day and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
I hope to bring you a few shots of the museum, a couple quick snaps from our road and cyclocross rides and whatever other tidbits I come across.
Thanks for reading,
Hubert
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